My 2014 Year In Review

January 1, 2015

I usually do my previous year reflection while I am out on a run, but since I went for a run Tuesday and did some speed work during that run, I didn’t go for a run Wednesday.  With Dopey coming up, I am in taper mode and I wanted to be careful that I don’t hurt myself.  Considering I am in taper mode, I feel like I have been out for more runs lately because I am off of work and I enjoy getting out there.  This Christmas I got my family Fitbits to use and I now have one myself so I have been actively making sure I am getting in my steps so I can earn my mileage on my non-running days as well.  I love it.  If I am behind on my steps I head outside to the driveway and get in some steps or I make sure I am active in the house and start doing laundry or the other night I began packing my kids’ clothes for their surprise trip to see me for marathon weekend.  I am doing what I just heard Jeff Galloway recommend doing on a Mickey Miles podcast episode. which is to get out of the subconscious mind and into the conscious mind and make smart decisions on my eating and activities.

So about 2014… it was a good year for me.  From January to present I have accomplished many things!  In January I did my second marathon (which was my second runDisney marathon) and met more runner friends.  I ran the 10K with Mandy and met her friend Diana Boucher (who is from CT!)  For the marathon, I ran it with Kimberly Markey who had her last chemo treatment just prior to the race weekend and was doing the Dopey challenge.  I also ran it with Alison Nicklas who is a friend of Kim’s that I had met at the Cheshire half marathon in 2013 and ran with her at various times.  At that race I met Gail Savidge and had the opportunity to run races with them all throughout the year in various locations like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California and Florida!  At the 2015 WDW marathon weekend Gail (aka Perfect Goofy Gail) will be earning her 10th Goofy medal so this race weekend is a big deal for her!  I also met Linda Ambard at the starting line of the Marathon.  She was being profiled by runDisney for their “Why I Run Disney” stories, which Kim was also profiled in.  Oh I also had the chance to meet Chris and Heidi Powell in the Magic Kingdom!

 

In February, I ran the Princess Half Marathon in Florida which was one of the most fun half marathons!  I got to meet Jindy and shared a room with her and I met Gail’s friend Rebecca Bastian one night at dinner and also gained a new friend. I had the chance to meet Eddie McCoy in person and I ran the race with Eddie, Kim, Gail and Dave Dunkowski (another new runner friend). We sprinted from picture stop to picture stop and had the best race photos!  I was in training mode for May for the Providence marathon but was still recovering from issues that I seemed to have developed during marathon weekend in January with my hip/quad muscles.  I was being careful and trying not to make things worse.  But speed was not something I had at the time.

In March I was training for the Providence marathon in May, and March was my birthday month.  Nothing too exciting happened in that month for me.  I didn’t have any races on my calendar for March because I was focusing on my training.   My job was getting very stressful and intense.  I recall working many, many hours and having trouble with the balance of work and family.  It wasn’t a good time.

In April I was happy to welcome Spring as usual.  I ran an innaugural race in Middletown, The Harvard Pilgrim Middletown Half & Legends 4-Miler.  Jeff Galloway, Amby Burfoot and Bill Rodgers where there!  I went to a seminar Jeff was having the day before the race and on race morning I got Jeff, Amby and Roger’s autographs on my bib!  The day after Easter I went up to Boston to watch friends who were running the Boston marathon.  Eddie McCoy, Linda Ambard and Michelle Scribner-MacLean were the three people that I knew of who were running that race.  I did get the chance to see Eddie run by me briefly at mile 20 and then I went over to mile 25/26 to watch for Linda and Michelle but I didn’t get the chance to see them before I had to catch my train back home.  It was so amazing to be at that race and to be a spectator for such a large event.  I do want to run Boston one day; but I don’t know if I will run it by my own qualification.  It will be a major life commitment for me to qualify for that race.  I did run my own Boston marathon event as a fundraiser and a long training run for Providence on Good Friday.  I even earned a medal for it!

 

In May was my chance to get a PR for a marathon.  I ran the Providence marathon with Gail Savidge who helped me get my PR.  Kim and I drove up to Providence and met Gail who flew in from Arizona.  We stayed at a hotel right near the start line and ran the event together.  Kim was recovering from her hysterectomy surgery so she was forced to do the half by her coach and doctors and Gail and I ran the full.  I was so excited that I got my PR!  I think it is so awesome that you can meet friends at races and continue to run with them in other races in the future.  I felt really good during that race.  I think I may do it again in 2015.  We took our annual family trip to Disney and while I was there I met up with Becca twice to do some runs around the hotel.  That was great to meet up with her while I was on vacation and get in some casual runs with her.   I love making new running friends!

In June I did another race that was new.  Runner’s world was doing the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon hat trick event.  I couldn’t do the 5K and 10K on the Saturday of that event weekend because it was my son’s birthday and the kids had a baseball game Saturday night that I didn’t want to miss.  But I did plan on sleeping at home and waking up early to drive up to Boston University and run the half marathon with Kim and Gail and Alison.  It was a “hot and hilly” half marathon!   But I actually ran the Heartbreak Hill that is so famously talked about with the Boston marathon.  It will always be a joke to Kim and Gail when I asked if I can get a PR at that race, because they ran the races the day before the half and it was HOT and HILLY!.  I also had the opportunity to attend a Social Media Mom’s Disneyside even on the Road Conference in Philadelphia, PA.  Kim drove us down there.  That was a great time!

In July, I didn’t have any races on my calendar and I was trying to train for a triathlon with some swimming.  But I was only swimming in my pool, no open water swimming.  I had done some biking in the spring, but in July I was not on my bike.  I was maintaining my mileage because I would be ramping up for the Dumbo Double Dare races so I didn’t back down much during the summer months.  I mainly did my evening runs and then on weekends I would set my alarm and get up very early and do my long runs while everyone was still sleeping.  Then I would have the rest of the day with my family and it wasn’t taking up too much of my weekend time.

During the summer we volunteered at the North Haven Animal Shelter to help out walking the dogs and playing with the cats.  I wanted my kids to experience a summer filled with memories so that when they grow older, they can look back and remember their summers as a kid and all of the fun things that they had a chance to do.  We went out for ice cream, had fires and s’mores in the back yard with the neighbors, went for walks, saw fireworks, swam, and went to camp.  It was a great summer!  I didn’t want it to end.

In July some major shifts happened in my work life.  I received an email in late June that the President of my company was retiring.  It wasn’t his choice to retire and everyone knew that. The moment I received that email I knew it was time for me to leave the company.  I made a few changes to the resumes I had posted online to include the SharePoint experience I had and within days I was contacted by someone about a job in Bloomfield.  She wanted to talk to me on the phone.  On July 3 I talked to her on my cell phone out in the parking lot of my work for an hour.  It was a very hot, summer day but I stood out there in the shade and talked to her very casually about why I am looking for a job and to see what she had to offer.  Little did I know that it was going to end up being something I truly wanted.  We planned to meet in person and I went to their facility several times in July to meet her and the other team members I would be working with.

In July, I also applied to be a member of Team Chocolate milk.  I made a video and submitted it for review and it was selected to receive votes.  I asked everyone I knew to vote for me every day for 2 weeks and they did!  My son especially enjoyed voting for me each night from his kindle.  They knew that it was important for me to get onto this team.

In August I was pretty confident that I would be leaving my job at Honeywell and I knew for sure that I wanted the job that I interviewed for in Bloomfield.  I had several other calls with other companies, but the Bloomfield job was looking solid.  I was getting anxious.  The job had fallen into my lap and I was pretty sure I wanted it.  I just couldn’t believe that after 24 years with the company I would really be leaving it.  It was a 2 mile commute, I had flexibility to get my kids off to school and I had 4 weeks vacation.  But I was very unhappy with the atmosphere there.  I enjoyed the work I did and I really enjoyed working for and with Jack; but I wasn’t happy. We went to New Hampshire for our summer vacation and stayed up there for 10 days.  It was a challenging trip.  I was anxious about the job and Kevin was at a point in his career and life where he just wasn’t himself.  It was a challenging time for me, but I was trying hard to make sure the kids were still having their #EpicSummer2014.  While we were in New Hampshire I received an email that I had made it onto Team Chocolate Milk!  I was so excited and my family and I celebrated.

I had one final interview scheduled for after I returned from New Hampshire and I was mentally checking out of my current job.  I knew I didn’t want to stay.  Waiting isn’t easy for me.  I am not a patient person.

Labor Day weekend came around and I was heading to California for the Dumbo Double Dare.  I was hoping to have news of the job by then, but I didn’t.  I got out to California late Friday afternoon and met up with Kim, Gail and Becca.  I also discovered on this trip that flying was giving me migraines.  This one I got from the trip out west was so severe that I almost threw up the morning of the 10K race.  It was real tough, but once I got running I started to feel better.  I love California and the Dumbo Double Dare races.  I helped Becca earn her Coast to Coast medal during the half marathon.  It was her first coast to coast and she had tears at the end.  It was great.  I love helping people reach their goals.  She had been through a tough summer with her back and wasn’t sure how she was going to do with the race.  She did great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I became a Jamberry consultant in September.  I came across it from Facebook while looking for nail wraps for a race and decided that this would be something that I would be interested in doing because all of the parties can be hosted via Facebook and it is a product that I am very interested in.  I am still selling the Jamberry wraps and have used it in many ways as fundraisers for a student in my son’s class who has cancer and also for Give Kids The World.  I love that something I enjoy can be used in a way that can also benefit others!  It is a great company to work for and the amount of time you put into it determines how successful you can be.  They have great training tools and their products practically sell themselves!

September came around and I waited for news if I was getting the new job.  The kids started their new year in school.  Adrienne was a kindergartner now and Kevin was in second grade.  I can’t believe it.  They are both in school five days a week and it’s great because I am able to work outside the house five days a week.   I finally got offered the job I wanted on September 8th and gave my notice on September 9th because my boss was not at work on September 8th.  My last day of work was going to be September 19th.  I was ready to move on.  I planned on finishing work and then starting my new job on October 1.  During my time off from work I had to find a new car and then my husband ended up having knee surgery for a torn meniscus.  So I didn’t really take much time off for myself to “hang around”.  But it was still good to have the break between jobs.

October 1 I started my new job and loved it from the start.  I worked 2 days and then had to get on a plane on October 3 to head to Florida for the Tower of Terror 10 miler.  On the way to the race I sat with a very nice couple on the plane and noticed that the man there had on the runDisney Mickey sneakers.  So we got talking and they were also going to Florida for the race.  They told me they owned a store in Middlefield and we kept in touch and I saw them the night of the 10 milers.  When I returned home I went to their store several times for ice cream with the kids and to go Christmas shopping for my family.  Isn’t it awesome how races can bring many different people together?!   I also had a stomach-upsetting headache when I landed so I knew I had to get this problem resolved.  I joined the girls as their escort for the 5K because I wasn’t running that race and took pictures and watched all of the runners while I was there.  That night I ran the 10 miler with Kim, Gail and Becca and had a great time again with all of the picture stops.  After the race we went to the after party and then went back to the house where I showered and turned around and drove to the airport (without sleep) to head home for a party back home. My daughter turned 6 in October and I can’t believe how much she is changing!  She is so confident now and is doing very well in school.  We had a party for her and at the karate studio with her classmates and it was a big success!  For my training I was increasing my mileage but was also working my new job and the days were getting shorter so I was starting to feel the challenge of needing to get my runs in but I knew I may have to start using the treadmill.  I dreaded it, but came to terms with it and had some successes.  I did my long runs on the weekends again like in the summer and it all worked out nicely.

November came around quickly and I had the Wine and Dine race in Disney World.  I knew Bob and Mary were also going to the Wine and Dine race but I didn’t run into them there.  I didn’t get to hook up with Kim Gail and Becca either, but I did see Joe Pardo and his wife Melissa and my friends Mandy and Kenn Remo at Epcot that night!  I was on Joe’s podcast in the summer for one of his episodes.  He is so awesome.  Very friendly and welcoming and his wife is so supportive of his podcast and all the people he meets!  I ran the Wine and Dine half marathon with Mandy and Diana and it was horrible pouring rain for most of the race.  This was my first Wine and Dine half marathon and I was disappointed that I didn’t get to experience all of the picture stops and the after party.  I planned on staying for the after party, but the weather was so terrible and cold, that I didn’t want to stand in line for the food and drinks in the cold rain.  I went back to my room, slept for 3 hours and headed to the airport to get back home to my family for another party! My job was picking up during the months of November and December and I am really enjoying it.  I learn something new every day and I think I am becoming a great help to my co-worker. I keep thinking about my one word resolution for 2014 which was “Grow” and feel that it is so appropriate for the year and everything that I have been going through.

On a Saturday in November my parents and I took the kids to NYC on the train to see the city.  They loved it.  We went to the Central Park Zoo, ate at a burger bar in Rockefeller Center, saw the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry and rode the subway.  They were such excellent travelers and never complained about all the walking.  I knew that we had to return before year end to show them the Christmas lights in the city.

The weekend before Thanksgiving I took a train to Philadelphia to run the Philadelphia Marathon.  I met Jennifer Tara there and we roomed together.  She was going to run the half marathon.  We met Joe Pardo and his wife for dinner and had a great time in the city.  Again, I can’t say how much I love making new friends through running and being able to hook up with someone and making a new friend at each race.  I had planned to run the full with Danielle DeCarolis.  She is a fellow Mickey Miler so we met up the morning of the race in the corrals. You can read my race recap for the full event’s details.  I am looking forward to seeing Joe and Jen and Danielle at marathon weekend.  For Thanksgiving I didn’t do a turkey trot this year.  I did my own Turkey Trot at home in my neighborhood and then we went to my nephew’s house for dinner.  It was a quiet but relaxing Thanksgiving.

December came along and I wanted my kids to have an Epic Christmas so we made sure to make plans to do fun holiday things.  We went to Gillette Castle to see the lights, we saw lights around town, had breakfast with Santa, my son sang in concerts with his chorus, we put up our tree Thanksgiving weekend and we took them out of school one day to go to NYC.  This time my husband was able to join us.  It was so much fun to see the city lit up for the holiday.  We also watched some of the older Christmas movies like the National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation and they absolutely loved it.  They are at a great age to do things that we had done when we were their ages.

2014 was a good year.  The kids and I tried new things like Rock Climbing, bike riding at the beach, they went on trips to cities they haven’t been to before, and Adrienne broke her foot.  I ran many races in many places and I got outside of my comfort zone and I feel so happy.  I am looking forward to another good year in 2015.  I believe it is what you make of it.  I know that this year I want to focus on achieving the goals that I set and to learn more.  What are your goals?