Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ordinarily the New Year is no different than the last year, but this year is going to be different!  I have vowed to go into this year with a positive outlook on everything, accomplish more of my goals and spend more quality time with my family. 
 
So far (I realize we are only on day 6) I've held strong to these goals beginning with my running. This goal is so important to me that I started on New Year's Eve! Of course just running isn't the actual goal – the actual goal will be to complete my first full marathon (26.2 miles) by May 1^st in the OC Marathon.
 
The only problem is, even though I was running up to 16 miles in July, I stopped running regularly in August. So now the question is – will I be ready for a full marathon by May?
According to this article at Active.com I should be:
Stay injury-free while training and running your first marathon
So I'll probably be ready to run a marathon in terms of training, but there is just one other problem. The Ragnar Relay is April 15-16 this year, just two weeks before the OC Marathon. For those of you unfamiliar with this amazing race, it is a 200 mile relay race run with a team of 6 or 12 people over a 24 to 36 hour time span. Last year was my first Ragnar, and it was probably one of the most inspiring experiences of my life. I highly recommend it!
So am I putting too much into a two week period of time? Depending on which legs I choose for Ragnar, (there won't be one single leg greater than 10 miles,) but I will have three legs in all which could equal anywhere from 13 to 22 miles total for my legs. I will have two weeks to recuperate, but will it be enough? My brother-in-law/Ironman athlete thinks I'll be fine. So what the heck, right?!
 
Okay, so I've discussed my running goals for the first half of the year, now on to my next lofty goal – my novel! As you know, I was a first time participant in last year's NaNoWriMo contest and I finished strong with 51,854 words about a week before the deadline. Woohoo!!!! Now the editing must begin. So my next goal is to complete the editing of my very first novel, and (this is scary) start sending out queries?!?! 

As I have mentioned many times, I am not a writer ordinarily. With that being said, the whole idea of querying a novel that I never thought I would write both scares me and freaks me out a bit! But if I can run a marathon I can edit a novel and send out a few queries, right???? Thankfully, I have my AWESOME sister over at Simplicity in Volumes to bounce ideas off of and look to for guidance. Thank you, Patty!

Okay, so these are my big "goals" for the year and I am determined to accomplish them. As for the rest of my resolutions, well these are almost more of a challenge than my goals! It's not that it is difficult to spend time with my family, but I tend to be the type of person that can't turn a blind eye to the messes and never ending things that need to get done. So instead I end up running around like a chicken with my head cut off most of the time, ultimately forgetting to enjoy those precious moments with my kids. 

They aren't abandoned or anything, I just don't feel like I sit down and play and enjoy enough. This year I vow to force myself to just let it all go because as we all know, this time in their precious little lives goes by way too fast and I will never get it back!

Last, but certainly not least, I will have a more positive outlook. I love controversy and tend to allow myself to get sucked into the black hole of negativity at times. This year I'm going to do my best to stay positive and steer away from the negative! This is always easier to do when everything is looking up, of course. The real challenge is when you hit those little road blocks whether it's family drama, neighborhood quarrels, or simply everyday expenses and dilemmas, but I'm going to give it my best!!!
 
Okay, there you have it…my New Year resolutions in a nutshell. It's going to be a great year full of new accomplishments and positive attitudes, right?!?! J How about you? I would love to hear what resolutions everyone else has for 2011!