Category: Podcast

INTRO

Hey everyone! This week on Runs on Espresso I am still talking about marathons. I share the two books I read to prep myself for my third attempt. 

PART 1

Summary

As I said in the intro, I read two books to get ready for this third and final marathon attempt. I figure if I don’t finish it this time I will give up and move on. A friend recommended Hansons Marathon Method and while I was on Amazon I also saw Hansons First Marathon so I grabbed that one too.

I read Hansons Marathon method first. The books are written by Luke Humphrey with Keith and Kevin Hanson. Luke was an athlete trained by the Hansons and now coaches athletes in Flagstaff. He gives his background and info in the forward, preface, and intro. 

It is broken into three parts: the approach, the program, and the strategy. Each part has several chapters. I won’t go into detail about each chapter otherwise this would be a super long podcast and I don’t want to bore you to tears. 

There is a lot of information in all three parts. The approach discusses the Hansons philosophy and the physiology of running. It’s a lot of science but Humphrey breaks it down into pretty easy-to-understand info. There are lots of graphs to break it down for you. 

The program section is just as it sounds, the training plans. Of course, there is a ton of information on how the plans work with guidelines on what paces you should hit for each type of workout. There are three plans in this book, Just Finish, Beginner, and Advanced. There is also info on modifying the plans.

Lastly, part three is the strategy. This covers goals, crosstraining, warmups/cooldowns, hydration and nutrition, recovery, gear, and race tactics. So basically all the other stuff. 

Now, First Marathon is very similar. I was able to skim a lot of this one as it was repeated from Marathon Method. It has a before you begin and a why section before it gets into the programs and strategy. These sections kind of guide you through getting started. 

The main difference in the two books is the training plans. The First Marathon starts with a couch to marathon plan. It starts with a 0-5k plan for 8 weeks then goes into the From Scratch 18 week marathon plan. You can start with either of these depending where you are in your running career. I started with the From Scratch before switching to the Just Finish plan. Then you get the Just Finish plan, an advanced first timer plan, and an express plan which is 12 weeks. 

 The next big chunk of the book is very much like Marathon Method again but then it goes into navigating the last six weeks, race day, and after the race. There’s a lot of helpful info in there about how you may feel leading up to the race. There’s a helpful checklist with gear that a first time racer may forget or not think of. 

So that is a quick breakdown of the two books. Let’s take a quick ad-break and then I will give you my thoughts on the books.

AD BREAK

PART 2

My thoughts

You don’t need both. They are very similar but the First Marathon books have some different plans. You can’t go wrong with either book. But whichever one you choose, you need to read everything. You won’t understand the program if you don’t read the approach.

I suggest heading to your local bookstore and flipping through each book. You can review the plans in each and decide which book is better for you. I looked through all the plans in both books before selecting the one I started with. I think I would have continued with it had it not been an extra hot and miserable summer in Phoenix. 

Personally, I like the plans better in the First Marathon and would use them again even though it wouldn’t be my first. Hopefully. I could see why other people may prefer Marathon Method. Personally, I liked the First Marathon better and even if it wasn’t my first I would probably use it as a resource. 

I definitely flagged a few pages in both books and referenced them at different points during my training. I guess we will see how well both books work on 10/10 haha

COFFEE CORNER

Well, for coffee corner I’ve got a few things going on. I’m on the search for a running coach. I had a call this past week and another one next week. I think I reached out to seven total and am seeing who seems like the right fit. So far, most of them seem great so I think it will be a hard decision!

I was glutened again this month. I have been glutened twice this year and before that, it’s been years. Like five years. And both places have been restaurants I’ve eaten at safely since 2015. I don’t know if it’s staff shortage and not training new people properly on cross-contamination or what. But it sucks. I never know what immune response I’ll have or how long it will last. So to say celiac disease is well controlled on a gluten-free diet is true to a point. And some of us can’t eat at home for every single meal. And to think we should have to is ridiculous. We want to have a night off from making dinner or be able to go out and do things like dinner and a baseball game or movie or travel. Eating at home just isn’t feasible for every meal.

Speaking of baseball, thank god that is finally over. The Dbacks were awful this year. And they finish just in time for use to head into a horrible hockey season from the Coyotes. We will actually be heading to the first pre-season game this week.

Ok, what have I been watching? I finally started season five of Bates Motel. It’s definitely taken on a twist. It’s a little… strange for lack of a better word. I don’t want to give too much away.

What have I been reading? Still working through The Artists Way. Hopefully, I can finish it by the end of this month. Either way, October is always my spooky book month! Every October I pick four ghost or other scary books I already own to read in honor of Halloween. Since I’m finishing up Bates Motel I think one of my books will be Psycho. I made a list with about 15 options. Hannibal is also high on the list.  

What are you watching, reading, doing lately?

WRAP UP

And that’s all for this week. Next month’s podcast will probably be a virtual marathon wrap-up and thoughts along with how the coaching search went.

If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to give it a follow. New episodes will air monthly on the last Monday of the month. I plan to keep this schedule for a while since I have so many other things going on. In the meantime, you can find me on Youtube, Twitter, and TikTok at runs on espresso and Instagram at runs_on_espresso.

If you like this podcast, I’d appreciate a rate and review wherever you listen. And be sure to share it with anyone you think might enjoy it. 

If you have a show idea, something you’d like to hear more about, drop me a message at anchor.fm/runsonespresso or email jenna@runsonespresso.com I look forward to hearing your ideas! 

Until next month, I hope your runs are as strong as your coffee!

Welcome back to another week of runs on espresso. I know I didn’t post last week, and I want to open with why. I have a lot of passions and things I want to do. And sometimes there isn’t enough time for everything. So, I was debating if I should even be doing a podcast. It’s a constant struggle to find time for everything I want to do and time for me to just relax. Instead of giving up on the podcast altogether, I have decided to go to an every other week schedule starting this month.

So for this week, I want to talk about weight, body fat, and body image. I feel like, as runners, these topics are often at the forefront of our minds. Maybe you started running to lose weight. Perhaps you struggle to gain muscle. If you hear the word “runner,” I’m sure you can pull up an image in your mind, and it’s probably someone tall and thin. But runners can and do come in all shapes and sizes.

And some of us struggle with body image.

Personally, I struggle. I am not happy with my current body weight and shape. I know what to do, but my execution is lacking most of the time. I know what I should eat. I know I should be moving each day. But guess what? Sometimes it’s hard. And sometimes, I give up. Mental health plays a big part for me. I can’t say it applies to everyone who struggles with body issues. Still, I’d guess a good portion of people has some depression or anxiety.

And the kicker with depression? It makes you feel more depressed when you don’t do what you should do, which keeps the cycle going, and you fall even deeper into the depression, and it’s harder to get back on track. But working out consistently and eating healthy helps my depression and keeps me out of the black hole. I know I need to stay on top of it all and not give in to it.

We must learn to love ourselves.

We can work on areas we aren’t happy with while still accepting and loving where we are now. But how do we do that? It’s hard to accept ourselves. We would never tell our BFF that they are fat or that their stomach looks big. Could you imagine? You would no longer have that BFF. Yet many of us look in the mirror after our shower and start picking ourselves apart. We put on pants and grab the muffin top in disgust.

Loving yourself is hard. It’s easy to be self-critical. It’s the path of least resistance. But this year, I encourage you to start learning to love yourself. Because you are worth it.

Somethings I’ve been working on is using a gratitude journal from Erin Condren. I am an affiliate, but this journal has been great. I’m on my second one. Each day has a prompt. Some people skip around and use the prompt that best fits that day, but I always use the one given. It forces me to really think about my day. After 30 days, there is a summary and look ahead section. Of course, there are a million different gratitude journals out there, or you could even use a regular notebook and write down what you are grateful for each day. For me, I find having a prompt works better. I’ve tried just writing, and I struggle.

If you don’t have a training journal, I would highly suggest starting one. You write down your training and what worked, what wins you had, and even your struggles. It is nice to look back and see that three weeks ago, my run felt super easy, especially when I have a terrible run. I know the bad run is the anomaly, not the good.

I’ve also found the more I move and the healthier I eat, the better I feel about myself.

I also know it’s not as easy as just saying love yourself and do these things! It takes work and time to change our mindsets. In the past year, I learned that there are different levels of what most of us call self-confidence. Each level has different reasons we struggle and various solutions. I won’t go into all the details here. If you want to learn more, go back and listen to Episode Four, The Brave Athlete. I touch on the concept there and then go read the book, The Brave Athlete. I cannot recommend this book enough.

And none of this works without being consistent. Personally, I think being consistent is hard, but once you get in the groove, it becomes second nature. I’m still trying to get consistent with journaling. I sometimes will write two or three days at a time because I forgot. I’m back on the wagon for logging food, and it really helps center me. I take a minute or two before I eat my meal to log it. And I log everything, even if I go over my goal.

I’ve also been running consistently for a while. I will say even this past summer, I was more consistent and on track. And I’m trying to get the consistency back in strength training. Even if I don’t lose weight, I can see changes when I look in the mirror. It helps to be consistent when you can see, or even feel, the difference. Sometimes I just feel healthier and happier, and it helps.

Let’s take a quick sponsor break.

Welcome back!

My word for 2021 is consistency. I know what to do, but I don’t always follow through with those things.

I have a love/hate relationship with my body. I do love how strong it is. I can do a lot of physical activity. I run and lift weights. But I also don’t like how much body fat I have. I hate putting on pants and having a muffin top. I hate how tight some of my shirts are. I hate how my thighs rub together, so I have to wear long shorts when I run.

I may not be able to change all those physical attributes, but I can work on them and my attitude towards them. As I said before, I know logging my food helps. Not only does it make me accountable, but it also helps me make healthier choices. When I’m logging, I definitely think more about the foods I’m putting into my body.

I also know strength training will help with the muffin top.

I run for my mental health, not just for exercise, and having a better state of mind helps my attitude towards myself. I find I’m much happier when I run most days of the week. In general, my thoughts tend to be more positive, which helps my happiness, anxiety, and depression.

I still want to lose weight.

I know many people think we shouldn’t make everything about weight loss, and I get it. But for me, it’s a goal I want to reach, but I don’t get obsessive with it. I was at my happy place about six or so years ago. I worked hard to get there. I was running and doing strength work plus logging my food consistently. I know I can do it again. I just need to focus, center myself, and BE CONSISTENT.

Consistency. Are you getting that theme yet?

So how did I get here? How did I gain all that weight back and struggle to take it off for six-plus years?

I got diagnosed with celiac disease and gave up gluten. It isn’t uncommon for people with celiac disease to gain weight when they go off gluten. The body starts to heal and absorbs nutrients again. I gained about 30 pounds in two months. There was also depression. It’s weird; gluten can cause depression when you are eating it, but then that goes away, but then you get depressed because you can’t eat gluten. Everything in life seems to revolve around food, mostly filled with gluten.

So I gained weight. Fast. And fell into a depression. I stopped working out. It’s been a trip since then. After a while, I was tired of being overweight and depressed, so I started running again. But then I got these weird vertigo symptoms while running, so I stopped. Then I got tired, again, of not running, figured out the issue, fixed it, and started again. I didn’t really focus on weight loss at first but just getting back to running. When I finally get back to everything and wanting to make a change, more shit. My dog died along the way, then my dad and my uncle in the span of about five months. I regained what I had finally started to lose again.

That was a little over two years ago. I’ve gone up and down since, but I finally feel ready to get my shit together and lose some weight. Even if I don’t lose much, I want to put the effort in to be healthier. I want to keep the anxiety at bay. I find being consistent in the good times helps to be more consistent in the bad. It’s definitely hard when shit comes up, and the depression takes over. If we can make all the good things habit, it’s easier to keep doing them when depression starts up.

I know the kicker with depression is it makes you feel more depressed when you don’t do what you should do, which keeps the cycle going. You fall even deeper into the depression, and it’s harder to get back on track. It’s hard to stay on track and give yourself grace. It’s a struggle. I also know that not everyone’s depression is the same, so working out and being consistent won’t help everyone. You know yourself best; please take care of yourself with the best treatment for you.

I’m sure we all have similar stories. I think we can all relate to the struggles to lose weight, workout as we should, and learn to love ourselves. We all have ups and downs when it comes to self-confidence or self-esteem, or loving our bodies.

We all deserve to love ourselves. Even if you still have those last ten pounds to lose, you are worthy.

And remember, we all slip up. We all have a bad day and do whatever bad habit we are trying to break. For me, that means eating far too much food. I don’t even punish myself for this anymore. I used to mentally degrade myself. Tell myself how bad that was, which often lead to me to eating more. It was a destructive cycle to get stuck in. Instead, now I acknowledge I ate a lot and move on. Sometimes I even log my binges. Realizing it takes its power away. At least for me.

So just remind yourself, we all have setbacks. We fall down. But what matters is what we do in response. We get back up, we dust ourselves off, and we keep moving forward. We got this.

What is your story? How have you learned to love yourself? What do you do every day that makes you feel happier? Please let me know; we can always learn from each other! You can leave a message at anchor.fm/runsonespresso, email me at jenna@runsonespresso.com or find me on social media. Instagram is runs_on_espresso, and Twitter is runsonespresso. I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time, may your runs be as strong as your coffee.

So we’ve talked about SMART goals in episode 3, and we reset our goals in episode 17. But are you really challenging yourself with your goals? Do all goals need to be challenging?

If you google challenging, the dictionary will tell you that it is testing one’s ability. But how do you know if you are actually testing your ability or just skating along? For example, every year, I set a goal to read 52 books a year. Most years, I read somewhere between 50 and 60. Is it challenging me? Some years yes. 2020 I started off flying through books until mid-March. Then it was pandemic, and my schedule changed, AND I started It. I felt like I wasn’t going to make it, but I worked to catch up when I reviewed my goals and ended at 59.

But this isn’t a podcast about books and reading. This is a running podcast, damnit! Hold on; I’m getting there.

My point is, are you challenging yourself with your running?

For me, I haven’t always challenged myself. I don’t always push myself. I tend to fall into a routine and do way too easy of easy runs. My long runs are slow. I’ve also skipped a lot of speed work in my life. I like speed work, but I don’t do it enough.

My running progression has gone something like this:
2004ish run off and on for years. No plan, no races. It’s just a thing I do when I want to work out.
2012 I decided to get serious and did my first 5k! I picked out a plan and followed it pretty closely.
This started my love of racing. I signed up for a lot of races and finally decided to tackle a half marathon. Again, I picked a beginner plan and followed it as closely as I could. I did this for a few years and would choose more advanced programs, but I often struggle with consistency.

For a little bit, I had a coach, and she helped me get more consistent. I found it easy to follow her plans and discuss with her when I needed to make adjustments. Then it was 2020. And I had all these ideas in my head. Well, we know those all went out of the window.

But it also got me thinking and re-evaluating my running.

We’ll get into that after an ad break because I do have a point.

And I’m back!

So what have I been rambling on about challenges and my running history?

2020 has taught me that as fun as racing is, sometimes you need to do something different. Sometimes racing and following a basic plan isn’t fulfilling. Sometimes you need to shake it up.

I started a few years ago by doing a trail race. I realized how much I love trails and being out in the wilderness. It’s also much harder than road running and challenges your body differently. I highly recommend trying trail running if you are looking to up your running game.

Then I did Every Damn Trail, and that was a mental and physical challenge. I had to plan my routes and then actually run (or hike) them. It was fun and made me think. I also challenged myself to finish as soon as possible, so I forced myself to drive out to trails on days where I’d rather stay home.

A few other ideas are run as many miles as you can in X days. Or run 100 miles in a month. There is almost no end to how you can challenge yourself.

Or if you want to kill yourself, do a vert challenge and see how high you can climb in 25 days. I did 8800 feet. I missed my goal, but it was a great experiment, and I learned a lot.

And since it looks like 2021 will be similar to 2020 and limited in-person races, why not challenge yourself to do something different?

This year I am virtually running across Mexico with a running friend. Team tacos and trails need to run approximately 78 miles a month to make it by December 31st.

I’m also going to attempt the Yeti 24 hour challenge. 5 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours. I’m still working out how to train for this. Lots of back to back runs, I suppose. See? More mental challenges, along with the physical! I am becoming a well-rounded person.

I’ve also been working on continuing the every damn trail idea with a couple of other parks. I’m not doing it as fast as I can this time, but I hope to finish two different parks in 2021. Or at least one and a half parks. I really like trying to complete all the trails at various parks. Eventually, I will have done every trail in the Phoenix area!

I know this was short, but I really want you to think about your goals and how you can challenge yourself this year. So take some time to figure out how you will become a better runner. And by better, I don’t necessarily mean faster. If you are strictly a road runner, try hitting the trails. If you really want to get faster, add in speed work. And actually do it. If you want to get more miles, challenge yourself to do 75 miles a month, then 100, then 120, and so on.

Tell me, how will you challenge yourself this year? You can message me on Instagram at runs_on_espresso, leave a comment on the show notes at runsonespresso.com, or a voice message at anchor.fm/runsonespresso. I look forward to hearing how everyone is going to shake it up and become better this year!

Now, coffee corner.

Until next week, may your runs be as strong as your coffee.

Hey! How’s it going? 2021 has been quite the year already! I feel like it’s only about two weeks in, and I’ve accomplished quite a bit! I wish I had gotten more done, but time and energy will always be in limited supply.

Since I’ll have a blog post up tomorrow covering my goals for 2021, I’ll do a quick rundown here before I get into how my training has gone. For 2021, I’m doing a virtual team run across Mexico, so we each need to run a little over 900 miles. I set my goal for 1,000. I’m determined to hit 1,000 finally.

Consistency is my word of the year because to hit 1,000; I need to be consistent. I also want to do strength training and yoga more consistently. Not a few months, and then skip it for a few weeks and then try again.

Now, my A goal is to complete the Yeti Challenge in March. Yup, 5 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours. I’ve started researching and planning already. I’m not 100% sure how I’m going to train for this yet. I’m thinking of building long runs up, and lots of back to back type runs. Like Friday after work, Saturday morning long run, and Sunday morning run. If you have any tips or ways to train, please let me know! Leave me a voice message on anchor.fm/runsonespresso or send an email to jenna@runsonespresso. I would greatly appreciate it!

Now you know what I’m training for, we can talk about how the past few weeks have gone.

I was attempting to get 10,000 feet of vert from December 1st to 25th. I ended at about 8800. It was a struggle. I learned I’m not a massive fan of vert just for vert.

I finished the Festivus 100 miles on 12/27 and then immediately went into Across the Globe. I set a goal of 50 miles in the ten days, and I ended at 39.07 miles in nine runs and seven days. I tried, but siht happens. Would I have loved to hit those 50 miles (or even just 40)? Yup, of course. But I’m not beating myself up for not reaching the goal. I tried. I put in the effort, but it just wasn’t in the cards for that time.

Let’s take a quick sponsor break.

Welcome back!

So we are, at the time of this recording, nine days into January. I’ve run 45 miles and lifted weights three times. I haven’t done yoga, BUT I have been stretching daily, which is kind of similar. I know yoga gives me more than just stretching, but I haven’t been feeling setting up a video and getting into it.

I’ve been doing Bodyweight Beast from Jessie’s Fitness. You look at the day’s workout and think, oh, this won’t be bad. It’s bad. Trust me. It’s freaking HARD. It definitely pushes me. I wanted a change from the previous program I was doing. I did it like three times in a row and wanted to switch it up. Not having to drag out weights, bench, and bands is nice.

I’m doing strength work on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. It works well with my schedule and running.

So funny story… last week, before I restarted strength training, I decided to try and bust out a few assisted pull-ups after my run. To test how much strength I lost in the past month or so, I hadn’t done much. I get out the pull-up bar and put it in the door frame.

I set up my wooden plyo box so I can step up and reach the bar. I get set up and start doing pull-ups. I look to my left and see the pull-up bar is beginning to come away from the door frame.

BOOM.

I fell flat on my ass. It was more of a shock, and I do an inventory to check myself. Ass is a little sore on the right side, as is the right wrist since I caught myself with it. I get up and look at the pull-up bar and realize the little metal clip that held it to the door frame had straightened entirely out. I guess after a few years, it was tired of supporting my weight.

I pull out the metal clip and take my band off of the pull-up bar so I can put them in the garbage. I grab the wooden plyo box and put it away. Then I start to realize it feels like my left ankle is wet. I look down and…

I’m bleeding.

Apparently, my left shin/ankle area was taken out by the wooden plyo box when I came down. I cleaned it up and was able to stop the bleeding and put Neosporin on it. I still have quite the bruise there! The scab is healing because it’s been so itchy the last few days.

When it happened, I had a moment of shock, but later that day, I realized how funny it was. If I had been recording, it probably would make one of those bad gym mistakes video compilations.

Other than the all, not much going on with training. I want to run between 20 and 30 miles a week. Mondays will be my rest day. I go into the office that day, and it’s hard to fit a run in before work, and I never have the energy to go after. Tuesday and Thursday, I plan to do short, easy runs in the morning. Wednesday is speed work. I need to figure out what I’m going to do for that. I think I want to swap between intervals and tempo runs. I like both. I prefer intervals, but I know tempo is good for you.

Friday, I’d like to start doing the indoor bike again. I’ve been slacking. I can do that in the morning and then do a short, easy run after work. Saturdays are for long runs. I haven’t been going out to the trails the last few weeks. I’ve been lazy, so I’d like to get back to trails. I want to build my long runs up. On the day I’m recording (9th), I did 12. So I have a book club every other Saturday, so I’ll do 10ish miles, and then the week after, I’ll do 14, then ten, then 16, and so on. And Sunday will be like 6-8 miles, preferably on trails.

How has your training been going so far in 2021? Are you training for anything specific or only fitness? I’d love to hear about it! Find me on Instagram at runs_on_espresso or Twitter at runsonespresso, and tell me all about your plans for 2021!

And now, coffee corner. We finally started and finished season two of Mindhunter on Netflix. I. Am. Pissed. They spent the entire season teasing and building up to season three, and there is not going to be a season three. Thanks, David Fincher. Sorry, you got bored, but the rest of us were enjoying the show and want more! I really hope someone else decides season 3 needs to be done and can do it as well as it has been. I don’t want it if it is shitty.

We also watched the Aaron Hernandez documentary on Netflix. I already knew what the “big reveal” was. I still thought it was well done. I would recommend it.

Finally, we have started Glow season two. So far, I really like it. It’s fun and cheesy and just what I need sometimes. SPOILER ALERT Although one of the last episodes we watched was when Zoyas leg gets broken, and it brought back memories. It was very much what it was like to break your leg.

And soon, hockey will be back! We aren’t going in person this season. I’m not even sure how long having fans will last. We will watch from the comfort of our couch.

Until next time, may your runs be as strong as your coffee.

Well, December got away from me, and I didn’t get any podcasts recorded! I’m sure you can relate. But now it’s a new year, and season 2 of the podcast. I took some time last month to plan ahead, so hopefully, it won’t happen again! I’ve got a plan to keep on top of everything. But we all know what happens to the best-laid plans…

So, January is all about goals here at Runs on Espresso. I am a big believer in setting goals. I don’t even care if I ever actually complete the objective. The act of creating, planning, and attempting is a huge accomplishment! Trust me, I’ve set and reset goals a million times and don’t always complete them, but I still feel more accomplished than if I had done nothing. Like for Merry Vertmas, I set my goal for 10,000 feet elevation. Did I reach it? Nope. I was about 2200 feet short. But am I mad? Nope. I challenged myself and pushed my comfort zone. I discovered I don’t need to chase big elevations to be happy. Elevation isn’t my thing. Thanks, asthma.

January is a great time to reset your goals and priorities.

So, if you have your goals from 2020 written down, pull out that paper and take a look. Which goals are still relevant? Which ones have you decided aren’t the right fit anymore? Read through them or if you didn’t write them down, think about what your goals were. Ask yourself which goals can stay, which can be retooled, and which ones you can kick to the curb.

If you haven’t written down your goals, I encourage you to do so. Writing them down can help you remember them. Or you can post them somewhere to look at daily or weekly to make sure you’re on track. Or you can decide after a month you don’t like that goal and cross it off! Plus, it’s handy to be able to look back at the end of the year and see how much you really did get done or how much change truly happened.

Remember, it’s ok to let go of a goal or a dream. You may come back to it later when you have less on your plate.

Let’s take a quick break for a sponsor break.

Welcome back!

Once you’ve looked over your goals and decided which ones are keepers? Good, now decided if you need to rework those. Maybe you still want to run a marathon but haven’t worked out in weeks. That’s ok. Keep that goal but adjust your timeframe. Maybe make it a fall race instead of spring.

Still trying to lose those pounds? I know this struggle all too well. I know what to do, but at times I let those things go. I stop tracking food when I get busy. I forget to weigh myself. I’m still going to keep my lose weight goal, but I need to add smaller goals like weigh in weekly. Or log your food, dumbass.

I have been looking over my goals for 2020. I did some of them, forgot about some, and others I attempted and failed. One of them that I forgot about was starting a podcast. And I actually did it. On a whim.

If you look at your goals and realize they are kinda vague, get more specific. Go listen to episode 3, Let’s Get SMART, and figure out how to drill down your goals to be more specific and measurable. Also, make a timeline. When do you want to finish your goal, or if it’s more long term, set some dates to have smaller goals done by.

Because start a podcast is vague. What kind of podcast? When do you want to start? How many episodes will you have ready before you start? How often will you post a new one? Will you have guests? Figure out the details. Usually, you will find you need to make smaller steps to get to the big goal.

Ok, so you’ve now reviewed your goals, decided which ones you want to keep and which to chuck. You’ve written down your new goals and gotten the specifics. Now what?

Set up reminders.

Write down the dates you want to finish each step. Add them to your calendar. And be sure to set a time each quarter to review your goals and make adjustments as needed.

If you have a goal to reduce clutter, be sure to set aside 15 minutes each day to clear clutter. Trying to get your budget going? Spend 15 minutes in the evening doing the work. Want to learn something new? Make sure to schedule educational time each week. Maybe you watch a video every Saturday and practice whatever was in the video on Sunday.

So, you’ve scheduled out the steps and important dates to achieve your goal. How else can you remain accountable?

Tell someone.

Tell Facebook. Tell your BFF. Tell your dog. Ok, maybe not the dog because they may not be very good at checking in on you. Unless your goal was to walk more, in which case a dog is a good companion for that goal.

Your friends and family can help you reach your goals by checking in or gently reminding you. Or if you need it, yelling or berating you. I disagree with this, but I hear it helps some people. To each their own, right?

So let’s say we are months down the road. You’ve sat down and pulled your list out to do a mid-year check-in. You look over your list and realize you are right on track! Maybe you even finished a few goals! Woohoo! Go you! Doesn’t it feel great to cross something off the list?

How will you celebrate such an amazing accomplishment?

I say you sit and think about everything it took you to get to the finish line. All the hard work you put in. The setbacks and resets. The time spent thinking, do I really want to do this? Will I really be better off? And then pat yourself on the back for getting to the end.

If you journal, you can write about the journey there. Write what you learned. Write how amazing it feels. Hell, even if you didn’t quite make your goal, write what you learned and how it feels. You may be surprised that you don’t feel bad that you didn’t make it. Maybe you realized you can do hard things, and now it’s time to move on.

Maybe you want to post to your blog or Facebook. Go for it. Let the world know how hard you worked and what it’s done for you.

You never know who is watching and who you are inspiring. They may not tell you, but I bet someone out there has decided to stick with their goals and keep pushing because you did.

So, get out there and reset those goals. Conquer them. Kick them to the curb. Whatever you need to do and come back and tell me all about it. Leave me a message on anchor.fm/runsonespresso, email me at jenna@runsonespresso, or find me on Instagram at runs_on_espresso. I want to know what big, or little, goals you plan to smash this year!

Now for some coffee corner. This has been a weird last few weeks. It seems like a blur, and I cannot recall what all I did or watched.

I started reading Best Business Practices for Photographers. Not really an exciting read, but it’s important to me. I am going to try to actually do the PopSugar reading challenge this year. I started it last year but did not finish. And the year before that. Hah. This year, I will try to get through the challenge using physical books I own, then Kindle books I own, and lastly, library books. Basically, can I get through without spending money? I think so. A lot of the prompts are based on your to-be-read (TBR) pile. So my main focus will be my physical books. One prompt is the longest book on your TBR list. That book happens to be… Best Business Practices for Photographers at over 800 pages. (On Kindle, I have one that is longer, but my goal is to use as many physical books first. If you’re wondering, it is The Rise and Fall of Nazi Germany, and I believe it is the equivalent of 1200 plus pages).

So I started Best Business Practices for Photographers when I finished my last book because I knew it would take a while to get through, and to reach my goal of 52 books a year, I need to finish one book a week.

I also started Happy Runner for book club. I will do a podcast about it once I finish it.

Until next week, may your runs be as strong as your coffee.