A 50K Broken Into 10 Reflections for 2015

I’m running a 50K tomorrow, New Year’s Eve, and it involves 10 3-mile loops at our local cross country park. (For those of you who say, “That is only 30 miles! Not a 50K!” We do one 1-mile loop at the start before we start the 10 3-mile loops.) I’ve decided I’m going to spend each loop reflecting on something for 2015. Either a big event coming up, or changes I’d like to make, or people I’d like to do better by. I’m going to write each of these on a notecard and just grab one on each loop. Hopefully this will really get me in the right mindset for 2015 and all it has in store for me.

Here they are in no particular order.

1. My brother and his soon-to-be-bigger family – My nephew should arrive some time in January and my heart aches that I won’t be there to meet him. I want to think about my brother and his beautiful wife and his beautiful son(s) and try to think of ways I can try to be present for them from the other side of the country.
2. My sister-in-law and her soon-to-be husband – We have a wedding this year! And I’m so very excited I actually cried a little when I went and saw the venue. I want to spend some time thinking how I can help and how to express my love for these very special people in our lives.
3. Mountain Mist – This race is a few weeks away and I’ve been thinking about this race for 4 years. I want to spend some time thinking about how ready I am and how I want this race to be the beginning of a long relationship that will lead to me some day being on the 10-timer list.
4. My First Oly – I’m doing my first Olympic Distance triathlon in 2015…July 12th to be exact. I’m terrified already so I want to spend some time thinking about what I’m going to do to get ready.
5. My Dad – Because all of these reflections lead back to him in some way.
6. Donnie and the Kids – They deserve the best me they can get and I know I’m better in many ways than I’ve been in the past, but there are so many ways I can still be better. I want to spend some time thinking of concrete things I’ll focus on this year that will make me a better wife and a better Mom.
7. My Career – I love the company I work for but it’s still very small. I want to spend some time thinking about how I can use my efforts to help us grow.
8. My Book – I would really like to make some progress on at least one of my 19 million book ideas this year. Maybe I’ll send some time thinking about which idea I’ll focus on.
9. My Community – I’ve really tried to take more of a leadership role in several of my favorite communities so I can try to give back in some way. I want to reflect on how I can keep doing that throughout 2015.
10. LGBTQ Youth – The story of Leelah Alcorn hit me very hard today when I read it. I need to be more active in my local organizations that support the LGBTQ youth in this area. I’ve gone to a handful of events and meetings, but I’d like to think about how I can do more. Especially now that E is off on his own and my day-to-day connections have gone with him. I felt more involved when he was here, even if it was just as a positive adult presence, but I need to do more now that I don’t have him as my anchor.

I’m actually proud how easily I came up with 10 reflections that have nothing to do with my weight or my emotional addiction to food. Every year I try to conquer that demon, and while I’ll try again this year, I’m glad that 10 more important things popped up before that one.

Let’s do this thing.