I didn't think it had been an entire month since my last post, but I suppose time flies when you're being Fancy. This holiday season was quite possibly my favorite for Fancy Fonts thus far for many reasons. Time was one of them...I gave myself the gift of time this year by saying no to the stuff that stresses me out the most. I didn't participate in a single vendor event this year, and I can't say business has suffered for it either. I always hated busting my butt to make stuff I thought people would love, packing it up and thoughtfully putting it on display, only to pack 95% of it back up and shove it in an already cramped attic. I feel like the custom nature of my work is why people come to me, and I think I'll be sticking with that for the foreseeable future.
I also said no to things I love to give myself more time to Fancy. I took a hiatus from volunteering in the girls' classrooms for the entire month of December. I needed every bit of kid-free time to focus on my work because it is nearly impossible for me to get into the creative zone when they're home. I hate saying no when the PTA president asks me to create a banner or some sort of artwork for school events, but I simply had to this month. I declined several social events for both myself and my kids this holiday season as well...as much fun as they would have been, it simply wasn't worth the tizzy it would send me into as I tried to make up for lost Fancy time. Mr. Fancy was my knight in shining armor when it came to entertaining the kids without me through the evenings and weekends, and never once complained when he was out of clean socks and underwear because I hadn't gotten to the laundry.
Fancy Fonts has come a long way since its inception a few years ago, and it continues to be a work in progress. I still have so much to figure out on the business end of things, and every year I vow to become more organized with my bookkeeping. I have a lot of dreams floating around in my head about the direction I'd like Fancy Fonts to go, and I think 2015 will be the year I start to work on turning those dreams into goals and making a concrete plan to achieve them. Terrifying, but exciting!
So that's the business end of where we finish 2014. Now for the running side of things. When I learned about the changes to the Surf N Santa race a few months ago, I was mostly annoyed. Here's what I bitched and moaned about:
1) They changed the date from the first weekend in December to right before Christmas. Seemed like madness to me.
2) They changed the start time from 8am to 4:30pm so the boardwalk lights would be on during the race. Lovely, but having all day to think about a race before actually getting to run it seemed awful.
3) They changed the distance. For the past few years, the Surf N Santa has been a 10 miler, and this year they changed it to 5 miles. I loved the 10 miler. The distance was challenging, but not in a half marathon sort of way. I also felt the 10 mile distance kept the field very competitive. It doesn't come with the bragging rights a half marathon does, so a great many of the people running were out there to race, not parade. Basically, I thought one of my favorite races was being turned into a fun run and it bothered me.
The race has come and gone, and here are my thoughts:
1) The date change suited me perfectly. The first weekend in December is typically when I'm trying to bang out all the Fancy that needs to be shipped. Between the 10 mile race, the after party, the recovery, and making up for lost time with my kids, I pretty much lost an entire day of work. This year, I made it my goal to finish every last order by race day so I could truly enjoy myself before, during, and after without worrying about how much more I had to get done. This absolute deadline kept me on track and I worked my Fancy little fanny off to finish on time. My gift to myself.
2) The positives about the evening start time actually started the night before. In order to meet my self-imposed deadline, I had to stay up later than I normally would the night before a race. Since I had nothing to wake up early for the next day, my late bedtime was really a non-issue. I slept until 8am (!!!) and woke up feeling refreshed. I ate a really good breakfast and lunch, drank plenty of coffee, and enjoyed the morning with my girls before sending them off to Grandma's for the night. As for the boardwalk lights, I'd have to say I didn't even notice them. It wasn't completely dark by the time I got to the boardwalk, and my tunnel vision seemed to keep them out of my peripheral vision.
3) The distance. The one thing that bothered me most about the changes to this race ended up being what I was most thankful for. How ya like them apples? Due to my ultra-conservative approach to coming back from IT band issues, the first 10 mile run I attempted since the Shamrock Marathon in March was actually Wednesday of last week. It was a solid run and I felt absolutely fine the next day, but I am in no way ready to race that distance any time soon. Had the Surf N Santa been a 10 miler this year, I'm sure I would've still run it, but I know it would've been a blow to my confidence to be a great deal slower than last year.
And my theory that this race would turn into more of a fun run than a competitive race? WRONG!!! In every other race this fall, I've run mostly with packs of guys, having only one or two women to really keep my eye on and compete with. Halfway into this race, I was surrounded by a pack of five other women, which is how it remained until the last 400 meters or so. It was a battle to stick with them for the better part of the race while still conserving a little bit of umph for a kick at the end. Once we got past half the length of the convention center, I started to make my move. One by one, I started reeling them in and pushing past them until we came around to the side of the building and I found another gear. That gear does not feel good and cannot be maintained for long, so I was just trying to hang in there, hoping I had gained enough distance between myself and the other girls that they wouldn't be able to make it up with a strong kick themselves. I dug deep and focused on the finish line.
36:43
Hallelujah! And I didn't even almost puke this time. While this race wasn't technically an 8k, my time was a full minute (and 2 seconds) faster than the 8k I ran in September. Tangible evidence of improvement over the past three months and exactly what I need as I get into the meat of this half marathon training program.
A few days before the race, my friend asked me what my goal was going into it. I didn't have a time in mind and instead gave the wishy washy "I just want to have fun" response, which she wasn't buying. But the thing is, racing is what's fun about these races (duh). Pushing myself to work harder and competing with other people is exhilarating and rewarding. Finishing faster is fun. I loved this race.
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So while the first half of 2014 was less than stellar on the running front, the second half of the year more than made up for all that nonsense. I honestly believe I had the fall season I did because I removed all pressure to perform, leaving me feeling lighter and much more able to fly. I hope to continue on this trajectory as we enter 2015, and I'll have to sit down and really think about my running goals (aside from what I've already set for Shamrock). I worked hard at my goal of becoming more social with my running this past year, and now I have several more wonderful people to share my love of the sport with, which is incredibly exciting. Anyone else wanna join me?
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