Good bye 2011, Hello 2012

Yes I know we are two weeks into 2012 and I’m late with this but better late than never. 2011 was full of wins and failures for me.

Accomplishments

Mile 10! Also racing photos are expensive

My Job – I am loving it. I am excelling at it. I enjoy it a lot. This is the first job where I feel appreciated for my hard work and effort. Some of the other ones have been fun but I never felt like I truly belonged.

Running – I used to hate running but then I started training for the St. Jude Half Marathon and found I really enjoy it. I have written about why I started running. In the 3 short months that I “trained”, I logged over 150 miles for the year. I put training in quotes because I never really had a plan, I just went out and did 3 – 8 miles whenever I could and felt like it. I had a plan at one time but then I got hurt due to falling off a ladder. So after two months in a wheelchair, I gave up on my plan. I also found a hobby that I really enjoy.

If you had told me a year ago that I would run a couple of 5Ks, a 10K, and half marathon; I would have laughed in your face.

Weight loss – It was an accidental by product of my running and training. I dropped 40 pounds. I gained some of it back because of a work related injury that put me in a wheelchair for two months.

Fails

Training – As I stated above, I really didn’t have a plan for my runs. Sure I researched all sorts of running plans and what to do but I never implemented them. I just went out and ran. Reading enough about running and training those are called junk miles. I did 150 miles of junk. I had no real purpose to my runs. The only time I put any effort into running is my 2 5Ks, my one 10K, and my half marathon. 2012 is going to be different.

My blogs and websites – I got so caught up in work and the holidays that I ignored every email and phone call from GoDaddy and let my hosting expired. My blog went down and I lost everything. I was so busy that I did not even notice until a co-worker told me. GoDaddy was awesome with their customer service and helped me get it all back and get it all back up running.

Before it went down I wasn’t doing the greatest job of updating any of them. I can’t tell you the last time I have thought about www.rulesformydaughter.com. I am not very good at making sure my other sites are up to date either. This blog has not been updated regularly.

Work Life Balance – I have always sucked at this, just ask my wife, but I want to be better. Two factors have attributed to this in the past. First, I was learning my job and how to do it properly and successfully. Two, I did not really have the right person on my team with the exception of one and he got prompted very quickly. I have hired and trained the right person to be an extension of me so hopefully I can start making a change in 2012.

I’ll be back tomorrow with goals for 2012. Yes I know I am already weeks into 2012 but I have already started these goals.