Aug 2015 Month In Review

**Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: first, it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals; second, it allows me to truly capture just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let the recapping begin!**

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August is done.

Almost, as if on cue, the weather in GA has started to chill (which I love). Call me basic but I love Autumn (yes, I love pumpkin spice flavored stuff. I also love sweaters, jackets, hoodies, and boots.) So bring on the Fall.

Before I get too carried away I should do what I came here to do: recap August.

I wrapped up my writing goals for the year which was bittersweet. I didn’t accomplish everything I set out to do – but that’s okay. Check out my final goal post here.

Writing took a brief vacation this month as I transitioned into law school. But before my writing took a break, I did have the opportunity to spend a wonderful weekend with writing friends including the awesome @CA_Corneille. Together we met friends IRL that I had previously only tweeted with (or taken writing classes with). Did I mention @CA_Corneille is also one of my amazing, wonderful, brilliant CP's? Well she is AND she provided some wonderful feedback on my project. ((hugs))

So, law school. I want to write a post summarizing my initial impressions so I won’t go into too much detail here…just know that I’m excited/nervous/thrilled/scared/overwhelmed most of the time when it comes to school. Hooray.

The hardest part about this new routine is actually making it ‘a routine.’ So far I’ve had events at school that require me to leave my Day Job early or cancel my workout. I've already experienced the terror of missed assignments (due to my error) and the mad rush to catch up. And along those lines - my plans to do a little cardio each day (hello, stress reliever) were thwarted when I failed to pack gym clothes. That's basic stuff. I’m also not able to make the personal training sessions Handsome Jack and I have three times a week so I’m losing muscle mass. Little mistakes or changes are throwing me off big time. It's unsettling but also a wee bit exciting. I’m just not comfortable with the new normal….yet.

So here are the details for Aug 2015:
1 Fabulous, amazing, wonderful writing weekend
1 5k cancelled – I over committed myself
1 visit from family including a tubing trip down the hooch.
10 gym workouts (my gym workouts are changing to mostly cardio and a few machines because I can’t make the sessions with the trainer)
0 books read for fun *0.0* (unless you count Torts and Contract Law as fun….)

And on top of all of that I still had words. Not many, but any words are worth celebrating, right? *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 5,452 words. Which isn't my lowest tracked word count so far this year *yay*. This brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 56,696! Not too shabby.

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 9.5 (wah wah) miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 200.1 miles.
#NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender

How are your writing goals coming along?

July 2015 Month In Review

**Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: first, it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals; second, it allows me to truly capture just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let the recapping begin!**

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July!! It's done! It's over. July was the last full month before I start my back to school journey. It's only days until my big 'first day,' so I'm basically a ball of nervous energy, caffeine, and bloody nail beds.

Did I mention I chew my nails when I'm nervous? Because I do. Obsessively.

Anyhoo, this post is about July and the wonderful things that happened in it. Not my raw stubby fingers.

Last month was pretty neat for a few reasons. First, there was the 4th of July and all the celebrations that go along with that.

We flew to St. Louis to visit my family and had a terrific time. When in STL we try to support the best team in baseball - the Cardinals. This time we were able to go see a game from the new Ballpark Village and it was a cool experience.

I don't think I'd do it again, tho - at least not in the mid summer heat. Sheesh it was suffocating out there.

My brother, the Chef, and his adorable Chef Girlfriend made delicious food that blew us away. Then we blew up stuff with fireworks. Cuz that's what you do.

In addition to the 4th of July excitement we went on a major vacation....to ALASKA!

Alaska has always been a bucket list item for us. We love the outdoors and natural beauty so Alaska has been and obvious vacation destination, albeit an expensive one. But this year was special. This year we had a lot to celebrate - law school, birthdays, and anniversaries. In Oct we will be married for 10 years. 10!~ But we knew we'd be unable to do much celebrating in Oct as it's in the middle of my first semester of school. So - we celebrated early with a trip to Alaska!

We booked a 7 day cruise to Alaska and invited our family. Handsome Jack's parents and my parents came along. It was fabulous.

Here are a few pics:

Spectacular, amazing, and wonderful - right? Yeah, Alaska was all those things.

There was another July event that was a way less spectacular and a lot more painful - I went on my first long ride on the back of a motorcycle. It was pure.....TORTURE!!! I like to think of it as the day my butt died.

That thing is not comfortable for long rides. And when I say long I mean LOOOONG. We were gone for 12 hours and 8 of those 12 were spent riding. We ran the gauntlet which is a loop of super curvy roads in the N. GA mountains. The curves were fun and the scenery was beautiful but by the end I was in tears. Everything hurt.

I struggled to walk for the next TWO DAYS! It was intense.

Poor Handsome Jack was so upset by my painful experience that he's already making modifications to the back seat and foot pegs so I can be more comfortable in the future. He's a keeper :)

And the week after that torturous ride we ran a 5k. Woot woot. Nothing like piling pain on top of pain :)

Last, but certainly not least, my lil bro, the Chef, and his adorable Chef Girlfriend swung by for a visit. Adventures ensued. Including shooting the hooch. Which doesn't mean shooting something with a gun or downing a ton of alcohol. Rather, we rode down a section of the Chattahoochee on inflatable intertubes. It's a GA staple. Had to be done. And we had a blast.

July saw a boatload (*see what I did there) of activity in July and I'll admit the activity made it difficult to get writing done. I've been working on my outline for the next project and it's coming together nicely. I believe I'll be able to start the actual writing fairly soon. *jumps up and down* It's been a while since I had a story to work on so I'm very excited.

So here are the details for June 2015:

1 Fabulous trip to STL including family, fun, delicious food, and baseball
1 Amazing, breathtaking, family cruise to ALASKA (with an awesome 8.5 glacier hike on ICE!)
1 extra long, torturous ride on the back of a bike
1 5k
1 visit from family including a tubing trip down the hooch.
10 gym workouts (including personal training, StairMaster - my new fave, as well as 2 yoga classes, and 1 spin class on the boat!)
10 books read for fun *0.0* (My highest number of books read in one month since I began tracking)

And on top of all of that I still had words. Not many, but any words are worth celebrating, right? *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 7620 words. Which isn't my lowest tracked word count so far this year *yay*. This brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 51,244! Not too shabby.

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 6.6 miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 190.9 miles. I'm signed up for one more 5k before school starts. It'll be interesting to see how my fitness schedule changes when I'm back in school. *bites nails some more* But that's for another day.

All in all, July was what I wanted it to be - a big happy celebration with friends and family. July was the end of one 'normal' and it's important to celebrate endings. Now, I'm heading into August excited to see what the new 'normal' brings. #NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender


How are your writing goals coming along?

Three years a-bloggin' *fire the cupcake cannons*

It's time to celebrate three fantastic years on this blog! I can't believe it's been that long.

So, like last year (and the year before that), I’m going to celebrate with a little blog stats (in case you couldn’t tell, I love stats). So here we go:

Number of blog posts this year: 71 (that's 24 fewer posts than last year but that's okay. I'm going for quality not quantity)
Top five most popular posts this year (in order):

*note - there is a fitness theme in this year's most popular posts. After all, this was the year I ran Dopey and who does't love #runDisney?

1. DIY Rapunzel Running Costume #runDisney - 490 hits

2. My Kevin (from Up) Running Costume #runDisney – 277 hits

3. My Thoughts on Nice-guy (and girl) Sexism – 103 hits

4. #runDisney costume ideas for the men in your races – 100 hits

5. 2015 Walt Disney World Marathon Recap – 97 hits

Seeing all these race posts makes me hungry for another run.*opens calendar* *starts planning*

All in all, I’ve really enjoyed this past year on the blog. I think blogging has made me accountable and more committed to my goals. I am confident all of the work and discipline over the last year has made me a better writer.

So happy blogaversary everyone who's enjoyed this blog over the last three years. To celebrate I’ve collected hot boy gifs for your enjoyment.

Olicity, because Olicity:

Thor, because dat wink tho:

Loki, because who doesn't like a badboy:

The cast of Magic Mike XXL, because who doesn’t love a guy who can move:

June 2015 Month In Review

**Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: first, it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals; second, it allows me to truly capture just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let the recapping begin!**

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I don't know what to think about June other than it was a mixed bag of horrible and happy.

First, Handsome Jack and I went on our first ever cruise. It was a family vacation with his parents, his sister and her husband, and, of course, the two of us. It was a lot of fun spending all that time with them.

It was a seven day Caribbean cruise on Carnival. We hit the Nassau, Bahamas; St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk, TCI. Here are some pics:

You may think being crammed on a boat for seven days with your family would be...overwhelming. I didn't find it to be overwhelming at all. In fact, Handsome Jack and I were able to spend time alone in addition to spending quality time with the fam.

On the fitness side of things, we worked out on the boat nearly every day (sometimes twice a day). On a cruise you cannot escape the food. So Handsome Jack and I made the decision to work out when we could. On our first day we went down to the gym and signed up for some yoga and spin classes. We also made sure we spent at least thirty mins each day on the elliptical.

Who says you can't stay fit while on vacation?

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Colleen, this all sounds like fabulous fun #FTW. Why did you say June was a mixed bag?"

Well, here it goes.

While we were at sea our dog, Lilly, died. She was a lovely Chihuahua we rescued 11 years ago at the age of five. Recently, she had developed some health issues but we were treating them with medicine and everything appeared to be well controlled. When we left for our cruise we boarded Lilly with her vet. They absolutely loved her there and I knew she was in good hands. Sometimes there is nothing you can do. It was her time.

Her passing has ripped a massive hole in our lives. Everyday we do another task that reminds us she is no longer here, like opening the back door to take out the trash and pausing for Lilly to come running (she loved the back yard).

She was a good dog and we were honored to have shared our lives with her these past 11 years. Perhaps one day there will be another puppy in our house and hearts, but for now we grieve.

So here are the details for May 2015:

1 Amazing, fun, family cruise
1 tragic,no-good, very bad loss of the cutest puppy ever (RIP Lilly Pill)
1 Day Job trip to Connecticut
13 gym workouts (mostly cardio including a 6.2 mile run, 2 yoga classes, and 1 spin class on the boat!)
2 books read for fun

And on top of all of that I still had words. Not many, but any words are worth celebrating, right? *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 2,919 words. My lowest tracked word count so far this year. This brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 43,624! Not too shabby.

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 31 miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 184.3 miles. I've signed up for two 5k's and I have my eye on a few more.

All in all, June happened. And now it’s over. My memories will sustain me and tomorrow is a new day. #NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender


How are your writing goals coming along?

May 2015 Month In Reiew

**Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: first, it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals; second, it allows me to truly capture just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let the recapping begin!**

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May is done!! Thank goodness!! I don’t want to say May was terrible but May was terrible.

Don’t get me wrong. Good things happened in May but I was blah for most of the month.

First of all, I slammed face-first into burnout. Reading burnout and writing burnout. No book felt right.

I’d start reading something and put it down while still in the first chapter. I’d start writing an outline for my future WIP and stop.

I didn’t send out queries as I had planned and I didn’t enter the contests I had scouted. I just didn’t do writing related stuff for most of May. And I felt pretty terrible about it. I’m still exploring this feeling but when I figure it out you better believe there will be a post dedicated to it.

In addition to the crushing burnout suffered in May I also caught and suffered with the dreaded spring cold. I hate hate hate being sick when it is warm and pretty outside. Getting sick in the spring/summer seems unnaturally cruel. But alas, it happened. I was laid out for a full week. I was supposed to travel to St. Louis to visit family over the Memorial day weekend but I had to cancel. Traveling while sick is no fun.

On the fitness side of things, our trainer left us and moved to Houston. This was particularly difficult because we have worked out with him three times a week for three years. We see him more than family and friends. He was a great coach and we learned a lot from him. I’m happy for him and his new gig but sad to see him go.

Here are the details for May 2015:

1 terrible, no-good, very bad cold
13 gym workouts (mostly weight training although I did discover the stair stepper and I think I’m in love!)
1 book read for fun (review coming soon)

And on top of all of that I still had words. Not many, but any words are worth celebrating, right? *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 4,468 words. This brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 40,705! Not too shabby.

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 17.6 miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 153.3 miles. I still haven’t found a 5k or 10k to run. Most of these are scheduled for closer to the fall (which doesn’t work for me as that’s when I start school…bummer). Also, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the stair stepper lately (which I love) but I’m not sure how to translate that into ‘miles’ so I haven’t been counting those workouts.

All in all, May was……a month. It’s over and tomorrow is a new day. #NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender


How are your writing goals coming along?

April 2015 Month In Reiew

**Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: first, it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals; second, it allows me to truly capture just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let the recapping begin!**

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Ah April, what can I say about it? A lot as it turns out – this is going to be a wee bit longer than most of my monthly updates. Consider yourself warned.

First, I had out of town travel for work. Normally I’d use that time to get a boatload of writing done because I never sleep well in hotels. But this trip was a quick out-and-back (just one night) and I was reading a book I couldn’t put down. So, not a lot of writing got done.

But April was fabulous because my mom came for a weekend visit. Always love spending time with family. We went to one of those painting classes where you pain and drink wine (brilliant idea!). It was a ton of fun. Here’s a pic of our painting.

And I also was lucky enough to attend a fabulous book release party for Delilah S. Dawson's most recent YA, HIT (about a badass teen assassin in bank owned America). Check out my review if HIT here.

Next, I attended my first Biker Con. Err, um, what's that? Bikers don't do 'cons' you say? Right, right. It was a bike rally.

Being a super nerd, open to a lot of fandoms, I was thrilled to go on this trip with my hubby, Handsome Jack. A post dedicated to this trip is coming soon.

April also saw my NA Rom Com return to the hands of CP's for a second round of edits. This book is officially in draft 4 already so I’m excited to get another round of feedback. Woo hoo. It's always exciting to turn a piece of writing over to CP's. The down side is that the hard work will start soon (when the feedback rolls in). *cracks knuckles* I think I’m ready for it. I love this story and the characters. I really want to do justice by them.

With my NA Rom Com finished (for now) I had to keep myself busy with other writing projects. I primarily focused on two:

Outline of new projects and revisions of an old project.

New ideas are always so much fun. It's a bit like a sugar high. When I’m plotting a new idea/world/character the ideas can buzz around in my head all day and into the night. Riding that wave is a magical. But April wasn’t all magic and sweetness.

I also worked on revisions of an older project. A verrrrrry old project. So the revisions were… challenging. I'm happy to say I still love the characters. And I’m happy to see that my writing has come a long way since I originally drafted/revised that project. All in all, working on an old project was a challenge, but a good challenge.

My running was sidelined a bit in April due to my out of town travel for work and out of town guests.

With all this going on it might be hard to imagine I was able to get any goal related work in (I’ve stated before, I don’t track words during revisions because I just lose my mind trying to keep up) – but I did. Here are the details for April 2015:


1 Out of Town trip for the Day Job
1 Weekend visit from mom
1 Book release party (with cake!)
1 Bad a$$ biker rally
15 gym workouts (mostly weight training)
4 books read for fun (reviews coming soon)


And on top of all of that I still had words. *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 11,878 words. This brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 36,237! Not too shabby. My year is still going strong.

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 23.4 miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 135.7 miles. I’m itching for some races so I hope to sign up for a 5k and 10k soon.

All in all, April was a good month with progress and that’s something to celebrate. #NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender

How are your writing goals coming along?

March 2015 Month In Reiew

**Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: first, it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals; second, it allows me to truly capture just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let the recapping begin!**

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It’s that time again. Time for a month in review. March blew past me as I kept busy.

I’m in the place in my revisions where I’m slicing, stitching, and slicing again. It’s a bit maddening, actually. As soon as I’ve fixed one scene there’s another, lurking, just behind it. But it’s good work, worth doing. Each time I stitch a scene back together I feel like the story is better and stronger because of it.

Running was sidelined in March. I developed a strange pain in my big toe (the joint where the toe meets your foot). It came on suddenly and was so bad that by the end of the day I couldn’t walk normally. After staying off my foot for the weekend, and with no improvement, I went to the doctor.

The Orthopedic doc saw nothing on the x-ray (woot woot) and decided that the pain was caused by a ganglion cyst on or near the joint. I was relieved it wasn’t a bunion or arthritis. A course of steroids helped clear it all up and I was able to get back to running.

And March saw its own law school activity. I attended an ‘accepted student’s reception’ where a bunch of potential new students get to mingle with the Deans, current students, and alums.

The event was at a firm downtown and I have the worst luck with downtown ATL driving. I got lost and was late…but it was still an enjoyable experience. I talked to a few other admitted students – most of which were planning to attend part-time, like me – and a few current students. It was a cool event.

The month wrapped with a fun trip out of town to visit the in-laws in their adorable 55+ community. We had a blast running a 5k with them and their friends. Afterward, we went to a dance at their community center which was surprisingly fun.

With all this going on it might be hard to imagine I was able to get any goal related work in – but I did. Here are the details for March 2015:

1 Out of Town visit (including a rockin' dance)
1 5k with family and friends
1 strange, sudden foot problem - later resolved (thank goodness)
9 gym workouts (including elliptical/treadmill and personal training) – (less than my usual, due to my toe)
4 books read for fun (and there are still more burning up my Kindle I’m dying to start)


And on top of all of that I still had words. *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 11,595 words. This brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 24,359! Not too shabby. I’m off to a good start. (note: I gave up on tracking every word during revisions - it is madness. Now I only track if I have net gain).

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 16.6 miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 112.3 miles. I’m just thrilled that my foot is okay.

All in all, March was a good month with progress made. I’m still feeling good about my start to 2015. #NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender

Remember, my goal year is shortened in 2015 due to school starting in August. So next month I my 'mid point' in which I will be recapping and fine-tuning my goals. Stay tuned for more goal related posts.

How are your writing goals coming along?

February 2015 Month in Review

**Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: first, it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals; second, it allows me to truly capture just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let the recapping begin!**

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I love February. Not because of the weather (ugh, winter) and not because of Valentine’s Day (or the post Valentine’s Day chocolate sale- although, yum). I love February because it’s my birthday month!! Woot woot.

I had a birthday and celebrated with my friends and family. Here’s a pic of my so-fabulous-I-must-document-it birthday hair.

Oh, and don’t you just love my super nerdy glasses. I love having them around to help out when I’m reading. So far I use them more at the Day Job than at home. But they are helping.

And of course I celebrated Valentine’s Day with Handsome Jack. We had a nice homemade date night. Dinner in and movies from redbox. We do romance right ;)

I even spent some time crafting, thanks to Pinterest. I got a fever, and the only prescription is more mason jars. Check out this thing I made (with the help of Handsome Jack of course).

On the Manuscript side, February saw another MSWL (Manuscript Wish List). I love love love MSWL. Don’t know about it? It’s where agents and acquiring editors post about what they are looking for in subs. It is so fun to see what is piquing the interests of agents and editors – not to mention inspiring. Also, if you are preparing to query a project it is a must. You can flip through older MSWL’s on this site. Go check it out.

Perhaps the most exciting/strange/scary part of the month was when I actually went to my future law school and sat in on a class. I felt a bit like Elle Woods in Legally Blonde when all the students took out their laptops and books and I had nothing.

But sitting in on class was ah-mazing!! I was hoping to sit through two classes (Civ Pro and Contracts) but Civ Pro was cancelled. Instead, I got to hang out with a really real 1L Contracts class. I was riveted.

With all this going on it might be hard to imagine I was able to get any goal related work in – but I did. Here are the details for February 2015:

1 Awesome Amazing Birthday dinner (with Margs)
1 Adorable Valentines night in (with yummy, homemade food)
1 Law school visit complete with classroom observation
11 gym workouts (including elliptical/treadmill and personal training)
1 complete revision done on my Romance draft. Now on to structural edits. See how I tackle edits in this post.
2 novels read for fun (and there are a few more burning up my Kindle I’m dying to start)

And on top of all of that I still had words. *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 5,219 words. This brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 12,764! Not too shabby. I still feel like I’m off to a good start. (note: I gave up on tracking ever word during revisions - it as madness. Now I only track if I have net gain).

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 21.4 miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 95.7 miles. I don't have any races on the schedule for the rest of this year. Not sure where running will take me in 2015 but I'm running anyway.

All in all, February was fun and over way too soon. I’m still feeling good about my start to 2015. #NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender

How are your writing goals coming along?

January 2015 Month in Review

Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: 1. it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals, and 2. it reminds me just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let’s get down to it:

January has been a wild ride – not dissimilar from the good ol’ ride at Disney World: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (ah, I loved that one. Good thing the Winnie the Pooh ride is just as good ;)).

First and foremost, January brought vacation (woo hoo) and running (Dopey Challenge Achievement Unlocked).

We also spent time with family and friends at Disney.

January was basically kick @$$!

I loved our Disney trip and I had a blast running the races (check out my Walt Disney World 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, and Marathon recaps).

I also got to see both sets of my parents this month (my parents and my in-laws). I always feel super-charged after spending time with family.

Oh, an interesting side note, I finally went to see the eye doctor about my headaches. I had my vision surgically corrected (yay Lasik!) back in 2008 and had been vision-issue free since that time…until now. Turns out I need reading classes to keep me from over focusing. I am really excited about the idea (frames can be fun!) and hope that I can report fewer headaches as my eyes and brain adjust.

With all this going on it might be hard to believe that I got anything done this month – but I did. Here are the details for January 2015:

1 Amazing, Wonderful, Fun Walt Disney World Vacation
4 runDisney races (5k, 10k, 13.1, 26.2) completed!!
13 gym workouts (including elliptical/treadmill and personal training)
1 YA novel read “for fun”
2 law school prep books read for…eh…”fun?”

And on top of all of that I still had words. *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 7,545 words. Which brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 7,545! Not too shabby. I feel like I’m off to a good start.

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 74.3 miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 74.3 miles. I am making a bet that January’s mileage will be the highest recorded mileage this year (for me). It’s hard to top running a marathon AND a half marathon in the same month. And knowing my race schedule is going to be light this year (mostly 5k’s and 10k’s) I’m pretty confident this will be my best mileage month this year.

All in all, January was tremendous. I feel good about starting off 2015 with a bang. #NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender

How are your goals coming along?