A review of August

Well, August has come and gone. It was a pretty cool summer here this year, which was nice in some ways: minimal broiling days, easier running. Not as nice in others: cold nights and rainy days put a crimp in our camping plans. We used to camp in any weather, but with young kids, we've become fair weather campers.

I achieved some pretty cool things.

We (my husband and I) returned to backpacking after a 5 year absence and spent our fifth anniversary on a mountain top and by a beautiful lake.

I ran a non-stop 5K. This is huge, given that I never considered myself a runner, and 30 seconds was pushing myself before.

I swam a non-stop km. Again, huge. I don't know how many of you remember my post in May, detailing my fear of water. Not to mention my complete lack of knowledge when it came to how to swim.

Now, we get to August's goals. As pleased as I am with my accomplishments, I am a little disappointed in myself in my lack of achieving these goals. Having said that, one of the biggest reasons to blog is accountability, so here we go...

1. Track my food intake everyday.

Nope. I did pretty badly at achieving this. The month started off with the backpacking trip during which I planned to not track. That was okay, but then it took me weeks to get back on the ball. In fact, looking back through sparkspeople (which is where I track), I've only been regularly tracking since August 18. Prior to that, it is very sporadic and there is a lot of information missing. Not surprisingly, the start of losing weight again coincides quite closely with when I started tracking.

So, good that I've picked it up since then. Would have been better to be on track the whole month.

2. Run 3 days a week, Bike 3 days a week, Swim 3 days a week.

Pretty much. I definitely ran 3 days a week, and swam 3 days a week without fail. Some weeks, I only biked a couple times, though there were weeks when I biked more then 3. Biking to the pool definitely helped get it in more often.

So, great on the swimming and running. The biking could improve. I think the biggest reason I have more trouble getting it in is that I don't have a regular routine for it, the way I do for swimming and running.

3. Time how long it takes for me to swim 500 metres.

15 minutes, 30 seconds, all in front crawl. Plenty of room for improvement, but I think what I really need is to improve my technique to get better, rather then just pushing harder. I'm signed up for another swim lesson starting in October, so I'm hoping that will help.

4. Keep my dishes up and keep the island in my kitchen clean.

Ummm...

Yeah, not so good on this goal. I did manage to keep the dishes at a point where I could catch them up fairly easily. And the island was clean more often then usual.

I need to work on this though. It's all connected. When I start to feel overwhelmed, I have this tendency to go into shut down mode. Then I don't get things done, which makes me feel overwhelmed... Not only does the stress from this put me at danger of eating poorly, but the simple fact that my kitchen isn't clean makes me want to grab something more processed and less healthy.

5. Hike to Floe Lake in Kootenay park.

Absolutely. Definitely a highlight of the month and it proved to me how much stronger and capable I have become.

I can't wait to start doing more backpacking in the future years. Until the kids were old enough to be left overnight, it was a no-go, but they're getting older every year. In a few more years, they'll join us, but for now, I'm thankful to have such helpful grandparents. :)

This month, I'll be working a little harder to hit those goals.