Yoga Pants Life

I’m not even sure what to make of October. I feel like I blinked and it was over. I had a lot of awesome moments in October, from completing the Chicago Marathon on what felt like the hottest day ever (yes, I know, it wasn’t record breaking or anything, but 80 degrees after running 26.2? Hot. AF.) Despite a slower finish time than I would have liked, I shaved over 20 minutes off my time last year, 4 minutes off my PR and I finished well within the cutoff. Given the circumstances of the day and my overall training (or lack thereof at the end,) that’s pretty damn amazing. It was a pretty awesome moment for me and while I kept very quiet about it on social media, it was really life-changing for me. I plan on doing a full write-up of the race eventually, but for now I’ll say that I’m really proud of my attitude during the race and how optimistic I was at mile 16, despite circumstances. I never once got down on myself and that’s a huge win.

I also really enjoyed watching the Dodgers make it all the way to game 7 of the World Series. They lost to the Astros about an hour ago and while I’m really, really sad (like, shedding a few tears sad) I know there will be other years and I have no doubt that they will reclaim their title sooner than later. They’ve improved so much over the past 10 years and they have become a force to be reckoned with. I really don’t give a flying eff about sports other than the Olympic games and baseball, so I’m bummed that I don’t have anything to focus on for a while.

Perhaps the best thing to come out of October was the fact that I started working from home half-time. I was on vacation the first week and was at a conference last week, so I’ve only experienced 2 weeks of my new schedule, but so far it’s been wonderful. I literally could not ask for anything more (well, maybe a bit more pay.) Working at home with my cats whilst in yoga pants in a hoodie is a dream come true. I miss a few coworkers and I’m adjusting to a new workout routine, but it’s an amazing opportunity that I’m so thankful I can take advantage of. I plan on posting more about the financial and personal implications of my new schedule once I get a feel for it, but for now I’m really happy and extremely grateful.

The only thing that was not so great about October is the status of my savings account. Yes, it’s still there, but I’m down to a number I’m not so comfortable with and I feel like I really missed the mark on that goal this year. 2017 was my year of ‘shut up and get it done’ and while that has really been achieved in a lot of ways, there are some holes I need to patch up, especially in the financial department. I really need to step up my game if I want to achieve financial independence and have the option to retire early or drop to part-time in the next 10-12 years. Working from home will definitely help in the money saving department, but if I’m being honest with y’all, my emergency savings really hasn’t grown much from this time last year and it’s bugging the hell out of me.

I’m not sure what’s next for me. I’m having a really hard time resisting entering the lottery for my third Chicago Marathon. It’s mostly because of finances and while I certainly can ‘afford’ it, it’s expensive and I already have a bachelorette party in Chicago this summer and I really want to visit my sister in Virginia this year. I know the reasonable thing to do would be to sit out for a year or two and stay local and really work on improving my times (I’m signed up for the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon in June.) I also have so many races on my bucket list (my 2nd NYC Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, Flying Pig Marathon and the ultimate hometown Marathon – the Los Angeles Marathon) but Chicago is positively magical and has quickly become one of my favorite places. I’m not sure what to do at this point.

I have a few months before I need to start training for San Diego, but I know I can’t sit around and lose all my fitness. Nor can I afford to let my emergency fund dwindle. I really need to hit the 6 month mark by the end of 2018 (note: this is not the same as retirement – I’ve been putting away over 10% of my gross income monthly for many, many years now. While not enough to retire early, I feel like I’m in much better shape than most people I know.) I’m not one for monthly goals, but I’m just going to lay this out for November:

• Run 3 times per week (at least) with at least one weekly speed session
• Swim 2 times per week
• Cross fit at home 2 times per week
• Get 10,000 steps on days when I don’t do an official workout
• Try not to go ham on all the lovely pumpkin-flavored things
• Increase my emergency fund by $400
• blog once a week (I know – try not to die of shock.) I know my blog is silly and pointless and I don’t aspire to have a ton of readers or anything, but I would really like to improve upon what is here.

That’s all for now. I know my posts are dumb and boring (thank God only 3 people actually read this thing) but I really needed to write for a few minutes and this is what came out. G’night, y’all.