Whatever ... so is the life of a busy new mom, I guess.
Since I'm already late with this post, let's just get started, shall we?!
2016, a year in review!
Races
As you well know, something kind of slowed down my race schedule for 2016.
Yes, that's me, literally the night before I delivered. I was having contractions every 3-5 minutes in that picture, can you tell? LOL! To be fair, I didn't know at the time that I was so near to delivery, since contractions didn't become painful until almost 24 hours later (or just roughly 3 hours before I had a baby in my arms). So that may just be why I look so footloose and fancy free in that pic!
Baby talk aside, my race participation for 2016 was a record low with a measly 10 races.
Feb - Tri-U-Mah, Indoor timed tri, no bib provided
June - Rainbow Run 5K
July - Freedom Five 5K, Froyo 5K, Gandy Dancer Fly In 5K
August - Webster Education 5K w/stroller
September - Lake Run 5K w/ stroller, Waconia Nickle Dickle 5K, Women Run the Cities 10K
October - Carreras de los Muertos 5K
Total miles raced - about 35ish miles
**Worth noting, the majority of these were done when I was 6 months or less post-partum, thank you very much. You could also sort of add in the Volksmarch for 10K here, too, though it wasn't a race.
Cumulative info:
Races 72 - 81
Bibs 69 - 77
Costumes
Let's face it, there's no way in hell you can put a costume on this and still actually race:
That being said, life in costume was a little easier once the baby was out! LOL! Though I was still hesitant to wear a lot of my "good" stuff and risk stretching it out since I am still fighting off my baby weight. Hence the somewhat smaller collection of pictures this year:
And of course, being an InkNBurn Ambassador helped in that category just a bit, too.
Check out www.inknburn.com
As you know, gestational diabetes was a really PITA for me in 2016. Despite being active my entire pregnancy, and trying REALLY hard to not gain too much weight, I just didn't win in avoiding my family's curse (yes, others in my blood line also suffered this fate).
Luckily, after having the baby, my blood sugars normalized and I'm no longer diabetic. But regardless of that news, I do know that having gestational diabetes means I'm at an elevated risk of becoming type 2 in the future.
That being said, moving into 2017 my focus will be to lose the body fat I gained in, or prior to, my pregnancy (because although technically I weigh less now than I did when I first got pregnant, my clothes don't fit right, so I can tell I'm carrying much more fat than muscle right now).
Of course my weight loss and toning goals for 2017 are within reason - I'm still breastfeeding, which throws a real wrench into diet & exercise programs, as aggressive plans can hinder milk supply. Therefore, this goal is really more long term and will likely see most progress mid to late 2017.
Changes
2016 was a rough year in terms of changes. Before I could even celebrate bringing a new life into the world, I had to say goodbye to my 16 year old beagle. And while his heath was failing, I was in the mist of trying to prepare for my first child, so it was really a tough balance ... which was made even harder as I had to manage a lot of it alone, since my husband was out of the country for weeks at a time, doing business in London.
In addition to that, at the end of 2016 I made a major change that's been a little depressing for me, hence why I haven't shared it publically until now. In October, I put in my notice as a group fitness instructor. A lot of things in life were changing at that time, both for me and at the gym where I worked, and it just didn't make sense for me to keep working there anymore. I miss teaching - a lot ... like, really A LOT - but I try not to let it get me down. Hopefully I'll be back in action and teaching again some day soon.
Finally
In my 2015 recap, I took a minute to revisit my last few years of blogging / years in review as follows:
2013 was when I was peaking in my physical fitness, my life was finally coming together, and I was feeling great about things.
2014 was a year of struggle where I tried to cope with a miscarriage, some physical setbacks, and I still tried to maintain a healthy attitude and life balance.
2015? I can't really say 2015 was an AMAZING year. But I wouldn't rate it as bad, either. I say this because I think coming into my mid 30's (yikes, that makes me feel old, lol!), I finally settled into a happy place in my life. Some time around 2012 or 2013, I learned to accept things in my life for what they were, and to eliminate things from my life that didn't make me happy. And somewhere in that process, I found an authentic me that I've just become ... happy with. Which means, I don't really go into a year expecting it to be AWESOME or BAD anymore, I just hope that I can continue to maintain that authentic me. And have a good time while I do it. And in 2015, I did just that. So I think that's just fine.
So that leaves me with 2016. Which I have to say was just what I expected - authentic me, new baby in arms, and more adventures to come!
