Weekly Goals: Nov. 7-13

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I'm a ship without a rudder if I don't have a goal or event to work towards. I tend to float aimlessly, skipping workouts, finding excuses, generally undoing all the hard work I've put in the months prior. And with the winter race doldrums nearly upon us, there are fewer and fewer events to set my sights on. I do have several big events in the early spring, but they're still too far out to keep my focus intense. Add in some holiday time-off and all that general wackiness looming ever closer, and I'm setting myself up for a couple of tough months if I don't stay busy.

Therefore, I've opted to focus on the short-term and set my sights on some smaller, weekly goals. I hope that having fewer items to accomplish in a shorter time-frame will keep me focused and entertained in the short-term, and that will make the transition to the BIG goals a bit easier, when the time comes.

And with that, my goals for this week are:

1. Run 10 miles total
2. Read three chapters of Jillian Michaels' "Unlimited"
3. Plan Thanksgiving menu

If you're interested in the "Why" behind the "What," keep reading. If not, well then, stop here and have a great day! ;)

1. Why 10 miles? At the beginning of the year, I committed myself to a "500 miles in 2011" challenge. As of this week, I'm sitting on 433 miles, which means I need to get around 67 more before the end of the year in order to complete the challenge. At one point in the year, I'd have thought I'd be done with the mileage well before now, but since I've finished training for the half-marathon, my running miles have dropped off to where I'm averaging about 3-5 a week. Yikes. Time to kick it in gear before I run out of year! (Ha! I rhyme!)

2. I'm a JM fan (or at least a fan of her workout DVDs), but I'm not a big fan of self-help books. Okay, okay, I've never read any self-help books because I always think of them as mostly cheesy and filled with Stuart Smalley-esque platitudes about how, gosh darnit, you should just like yourself! But I do know I could use a little help breaking out of my rut in areas of my life beyond fitness/health, so I thought what the heck. My hope is that JM is a little less "woo woo" cheeseball and more practical information We'll see if it's worth the time.

3. For the first time in at least 10 years, we don't have to travel for Thanksgiving! Hip, hip, hooray!! However, staying home means I'm now I'm responsible for cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the hubster and the kiddo, my parents and possibly the in-laws. It won't be a large gathering, but it'll still require all the traditional fixins, which in turn require a fair amount of planning. And because we're staying put this year, I'm finally able to do something I've wanted to do for a couple of years now: run a Thanksgiving Day 5k! I'm excited, but that does mean a bit more strategy on my part so that dinner is ready at a reasonable hour later that day. It'll all work out, but I'd rather plan now so I can play later.

So that's what's on tap for this week. Wish me luck!