It’s November, which means we’re in the final stretch of the year. To say that this year has gone by fast would be an understatement. Every month I find myself saying “Where did the month go?” I feel like others can relate to how I feel as well!
October was a busy month, and that’s putting it nicely. I definitely feel like there were things that I could have done better, but that just means that there’s room for improvement, right?
Do you set monthly goals? I love doing these posts every month because it helps to hold me accountable, especially with my yearly goals. Sometimes it’s easy to get a little lazy with all of the day-to-day responsibilities that we have, but I always try to make my health a top priority.
First, let’s take a look at my goals from October:
Complete my StepBet Game
Grade: A+
I will be done with my StepBet game on Sunday and I’m in it to win it! I’ve hit all my required steps every day over the past 5 weeks and it’s looking like I’ll make a few bucks profit on the game I’m currently in – hooray!
Do 30 mins of lunchtime activity
Grade: B
While I didn’t do this daily due to a few factors (rain, traveling), I did aim to get this done at least twice a week. This will be a little harder to do as colder weather rolls in, but I’ll continue to try my best to get it done. I can honestly say that it makes a difference in my workday. I always come back from my activity energized!
Continue hip rehab
Grade: B+
I was way more diligent with my hip strengthening exercises in the beginning of the month, but definitely fell off with this towards the end of October. But since this is something I KNOW I can’t slack on, I have to get back at it!
Before I state my goals for November, I have a confession to make. For the last 2 weeks I haven’t felt super motivated at all. I’m getting in workouts because I know I have to, not because I want to, so I’m hoping to change this outlook next month.
Here are my goals for November!
Start using my training journal again
I was really good at logging all my workouts in my training/running journal earlier this year when I was training for the Shamrock Marathon. After that race in March, slowly but surely, I’ve been tracking less and less workouts in that journal every month. Mentally I think because I wasn’t training for a marathon, I felt like I didn’t need to track my workouts, but that’s just silly. Even when I’m not training, I should track everything and write down the workout, how I felt during the workout, what went well/didn’t go well, etc. It’s important to have that data, so this month I’m committing to using it daily.
A minimum of 30 mins activity daily
This is the time of year when it’s easy for the wheels to fall off. This is even more true for me as I haven’t been feeling motivated lately. Because of this I’m aiming to get in a minimum of 30 minutes of activity daily. It can be anything – running, spinning, yoga, going for a walk, etc. As long as I’m making time for exercise and my body is moving!
Practice gratitude daily
My friend Michelle (@Runattitude) posted a 30 day gratitude challenge on Instagram yesterday and I really love this idea. The idea is that everyday you post something small (or big) that you are grateful for that day. I love this daily reminder to take joy in the small things in life that make us happy. It’s often easier to complain than be thankful and we should change that!
Get back on track with my diet
I really need to get back on track with this. I’m up a few pounds and I don’t like it. There’s been a lot of work travel and eating out (due to a few farewell parties for work colleagues) but I need to get back to meal prepping and using my WW app to track my meals.
Did you have a good October? If you set monthly goals, what are your goals for October?
I’m linking up for Fridays with Fairytales and Fitness.
Also, I’m a few days late this week (oops!), but I’m also linking up with Annmarie from The Fit Foodie Mama and Nicole from FitFul Focus for Wild Workout Wednesday.
I’m also linking up with Rachel from Running on Happy, Lora from Crazy Running Girl, Marc from Train With Marc and Debbie from Coach Debbie Runs for Coaches’ Corner!
Wendy says
One of my friends did a 100 days of happiness challenge on Facebook and I really looked forward to seeing her posts! I don’t post every day on IG but I’ll be grateful (see what I did there) to see both your and Michelle’s posts!
kookyrunner says
That’s also a great idea for a post! I think that we are so bombarded with negative images and news all the time, it’s nice to have something positive to look forward too!
Judy @ Chocolaterunsjudy says
Congrats on winning a little money for doing something healthy!
It’s such a tough time of year when it comes to motivation (but hey, look at my giveaway) and yes, I obviously runfessed to my lack of recording runs. It happens ever year at this time but it’s bad! Next year I want to know what the heck I did. Must get back to it.
I do have a daily gratitude practice, just writing things in my planner at the end of the day. I missed the challenge, you know I’m not on IG every day!
kookyrunner says
Thanks! The StepBet is definitely a motivation tool – that’s for sure.
The tracking is something that seems to be so hard to do, but yet it’s literally the easiest thing to do! I just don’t get why it’s so hard for me to remember to track!
Patrick@looneyforfood.com says
Those are great goals Kim! I like the gratitude one. Everyone can work on that daily in my opinion!
kookyrunner says
Definitely! The world could definitely use a bit more positivity.
Marcia says
I have a really nice Believe training journal I never even cracked open. Perhaps Marathon training would be a good time to do so. Ha! Love the idea of the gratitude challenge. All the goodness around us gets crowded out, especially by world/political affairs. That needs to stop.
kookyrunner says
Definitely try to use the journal for when you start marathon training. I found it to be so useful!
Agree with what you said about the goodness getting crowded out. Hopefully we will have more feel good stories to focus on after the election.
Farrah says
Glad the StepBet game is going well! I feel like I should look into that! 😛
I need to try to get more regular workouts in–I’ve been so unmotivated lately! :[! Good luck to you on this month’s goals!
kookyrunner says
Definitely check out the StepBet and let me know if you have any questions!
Darlene says
Great goals and congrats on your achievements.
No goals. I struggle to just get the basics done. Work is very time consuming and I do try to get in my runs. Otherwise zippo.
kookyrunner says
I understand what you mean. I found it very hard to balance everything in October!
Lacey@fairytalesandfitness says
It is so hard to keep on track with the holidays soon here and parties to attend. I travel so much for work and it’s hard not to eat pot all the time. I try to pack as much as I can. Great job getting your steps in!
kookyrunner says
Agreed. It seems like there is always a party or event to go to over the holiday season.
Michelle @ Running with Attitude says
Thanks for the shout-out on the gratitude challenge! I’m looking forward to seeing your posts!
You did a great job with your goals for the month! I like your idea to track your workouts in a journal even when you’re not training for something. I have a Believe journal that I had originally picked up to track my fall training – I should go back to using it. Thanks for the reminder!
kookyrunner says
You’re welcome! I hope that a lot of people join you for the challenge.
I’m hoping that tracking my workouts might make we more excited to do them? We’ll see!
Cari says
Congrats on the StepBet.
As I said to Lisa, I just can’t with mid-week month endings. I’ll catch up at the weekend. Because so many of my goals are numerical, monthly helps them seem manageable without stressing over a down day.
Way to go
kookyrunner says
Thanks Cari! I agree – it’s always weird when the month ends in the middle of the week!
Kimberly Hatting says
I did a similar grateful (or thankful?) thing last year on Instagram…I think it was during Advent, though. It was a great exercise in seeing the big picture and not dwelling on the negative in our lives.This is the first month (in several LOL) that I’ve come up with some monthly goals..all that marathon training took a huge chunk of my time over the summer 😉
kookyrunner says
I think it’s good for us to slow down and do these challenges from time to time. Like you said, it really puts things in perspective.
Laurie says
That gratitude challenge sounds so cool. I may have to check it out! Glad to hear your hip is improving. Mine is kind of ouch-y again after the marathon. Ugh!
kookyrunner says
I hope that your hip starts to feel better soon. I’m sure it just needs some rest after that marathon!
Coco says
Congrats on doing so well on your stepbet! I’m impressed with your lunch break walks – I know how hard that is to do even if it sounds simple. OTF Hell Week motivated me through the past two weeks. Now I’m tired, but also wanted to get back to the workouts I missed – like spinning, I’m ready for a thankful November!
kookyrunner says
Why is it so hard to leave the office during the day?!
Congrats on getting through OFT hell week!
Hannah says
You had a good month! I am with you on getting back to rehab exercises. As my PT starts prescribing more exercises for me knee I seem to be skipping more days.
kookyrunner says
The PT exercises can be tedious but I know that they are so necessary.
Denise @ runheartfit says
I’ve gotten away from using my journal as faithfully as I was. Thanks for the reminder.
A few years ago I wrote down something I was thankful for on a little piece of paper and put it in a jar every night before bed. At the end of the year you are suppose to go back and read them, kind of a reminder of what you have to be grateful for. My Mom passed away that year, so I haven’t wanted to read them, but maybe I should.
kookyrunner says
I’m going to try to keep up with writing in my journal through the end of the year. It’s one habit I really want to start doing again.
I like your idea about keeping a jar of things you are thankful for. I can imagine that it would be hard to go back and read those, but it could bring you some unexpected joy and happiness whenever you’re ready to read them.
Renée says
Great goals Kim! I love the idea of tracking and writing down your trainings – I use my bullet journal for all kinds of stuff; mostly to plan things out but I always write something about the day or my training. Except, well, lately “always” is not in my sentence anymore… it’s occasional. The last few months have been nuts and I have subsequently had all my wheels fall off at the same time. Same with WW. Same with consistent cross training. Everything. I had some goals brewing in my head for November and I need to adapt them a bit because… when I fell Sunday during my run, I apparently bruised my ribs (yes. I did.) So some exercises I can’t do at this moment. Grrr. Anyway, still brewing them, hopefully they will come to me in black and white over the weekend.
I love the concept of the gratitude challenge, I find it hard to come up with different things to be grateful for after two weeks. What does that say about me? Ha!
kookyrunner says
You’ve had a really intense couple of months so it only makes sense that the wheels fell off with one stuff. I hope that we can both use these last two months of the year to get back on track!
For the gratitude challenge it can be little things. I think that makes it easier to find things to be thankful for 🙂
Megan @ Meg Go Run says
My current goal is to stop biting my nails! I have bit them my whole life… they are so short and brittle. It’s going to be really hard to stop but I’m going to try. I just painted them for the first time in like a decade to see if that will deter me. They look ridiculous painted be cause they are so short.
kookyrunner says
The one thing that finally made me stop biting my nails was getting Invisalign. Because of the trays in my mouth, I can’t bite my nails when I’m bored so now my nails have finally started to grow lol
Lisa @ Mile by Mile says
This can be such a hard time of year to stay motivated and to stay on track! I really like using a training journal or having somewhere to keep track of my workouts. Even posting on instagram and my blog makes me feel like Im holding myself accountable!
kookyrunner says
It really can be! I just think I’m in a mini-funk which happens a few times a year and I’m sure I’ll snap outta it soon 🙂