Do you remember my big goal for December, 8 hours of sleep at night? Remember how I was really confident it would all work out perfectly? I said, “I’ve identified all the little obstacles to achieving the 8 hours of sleep a night goal, and I’m actually feeling good about getting there, even with the holidays approaching.”
I’ve been doing such a great job with my mini-monthly goals since using my Believe I Am Training Journal and I was feeling confident about my sleep goal. When mapping out all the reasons behind my lack of sleep and making an action plan, I knew I could definitely start to sleep more.
The month started off great… sort of. December 1st = 9 hours of sleep! Amazing! December 2nd = 4 hours of sleep (the night after my marathon)! Uh-oh… This was easily explained by my normal trouble sleeping the night after a marathon, plus early morning flight, with the added problem of a domestic abuse situation right outside our hotel room leaving us listening to screaming, crying, security coming, then finally the police taking the people away. December 3rd-6th, all solid 8 hour days.
First 6 days of sleep, not too shabby (except the 4 hours night!)
Then, some curves. Christmas shopping and prep. Get-togethers. Jeff out-of-town. Being home for the holidays and just wanting to spend every minute with family. The list continues… the sleep declines…
So, while I was far from the 8 hours a night every night, I did hit 8 hours more this month than any in the past since my daughter has been walking. And that says a lot considering everything that was going on this month. It’s nice to have a goal written, in my own handwriting, at the top of a page that I look at every single day. It makes me more mindful, more likely to do what I set out to do. It reminds me of a friend who was keeping a food journal this summer and she started choosing the salad bar every day for lunch because she knew she had to answer to the food journal/herself.
I’m thankful for this journal. It’s helped me through a lot the past 3 months. I use it in addition to an online running log that auto-uploads my garmin data. I like the handwritten process of the Believe I Am Journal. How I can write anything I want (including space for a novel in back if I wanted… well almost)! How I can see my own handwriting, my own thoughts, my dreams, desires. As I said before, this is the second Believe I Am Journal I’ve owned and it’s even more helpful the second time around because I’m finding more uses, more deeply ingraining the visuals, and figuring out more about myself. I now carry it around in my purse, a great idea I got from another Sister in Sport. I would recommend the journal to anyone and EVERYONE. Except my 8-year-old nephew who called it “a girly little thing” when I pulled it out after a run during Christmas festivities. Maybe ask before buying it for your 8-year-old nephew.
I’d like to finish by saying that I used the GRATEFUL visual a lot during my training and racing these last few months. After a few heartaches in early October, I started using the visual shown below:
I really connected with the last line “It’s amazing how many doors start to open when you are grateful for what you already have.”
I loved it so much I got it in cozy sweater form.
So there you have it! For January, I’m back on the strength goals again. I’m already feeling weak in the glutes/hips/hamstrings from just a month of taking it easy post-marathon. I need to get back on board. This time, adding some … weights!!
