Goals for 2013 and the roller coaster I'm riding

This year, I have completed several goals:

We ran our first marathon!
New half marathon PR! (2:01:49, an improvement over 2:13:15)
New 10K PR! (52:41, an improvement from 54:00)

So, on the running end, I did great. Quilting? Not so much. I don't think I made much of a dent in my work-in-progress "collection" (it keeps growing!). I got my Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll mystery quilt top put together finally, but it will probably have to wait a long time to get quilted... as in, until I can pay to send it off, or have a larger set up to do it myself. I still haven't made us a new bedspread, nor have I finished much beyond wall-hanging sized projects. But I don't care. I quilt for my own fun (most of the time), so the only deadline is my own.

TMI warning!
This past month has been a roller coaster- the whole fall has. to be frank, I've been waiting to find out if I had cancer or not. 12 days before the Freedom half marathon, I had a 3 cm biopsy taken from a "sensitive" part. Luckily, the Dr said I could still run, even though she flat out said I was crazy. So that PR means a helluva lot more. Yesterday, I finally had the check up and was told yes, the chunk they took was cancer-in-situ (cancerous cells that haven't yet invaded), with "suspicious" areas. The good news is they don't need to to anything else for now. The frustrating part is that I go back in April for another check, and if it grows back bad again, the best option will be to yank out another body part.

All of this made me so thankful on November 11 just to be able to run, even though I was in that nebulous waiting zone. On Thanksgiving, I felt at peace, chanting my late father's mantra of If it's meant to be, it will happen, combined with my aunt's mantra of Que sera, sera (which always makes me smile, since she sometimes calls me Kasera-sera). I have to take the news as best I can, and just assume it will all be fine. And in the meantime, I will run my little heart out, grateful for every mile these legs carry me.

I've been thinking of my 2013 running goals. I want to run 13 half marathons, but for financial reasons, I'm making my own rules:

I will run 13 half marathons through a combination of halves and fulls. So, there are 2 fulls on the schedule, which will count as 4 half marathons (because it's my dang challenge and I do what I want). Assuming all goes well all year, I'll end it with (EEEK) the Huff 50K ultra, which will also count as 2 half marathons. So, I just need to run 7 other half marathons.
And I am not above running a shorter race and tacking on mileage at the end for myself. Again, this is my own personal challenge, and I do what I want. I've also learned this year that sometimes you have to wing it (like only running 25 miles TOTAL the 5 weeks before a half!).

With all of this, I hope to hit 1000 miles. Wouldn't that be bad@$$?

As far as my quilting goes, I want to finish my Christmas quilt. And make 2 baby quilts for a couple we know who are having surprise twins (oh, the quilting possibilities of making 2 similar quilts!). But more important than finishing projects, I want to ORGANIZE my craft room.

So there you have it. October/November in a nutshell, where I've been, where I'm going.

It's been rougher than usual, but hey, I'm a Tough Chik.

And it never hurts to get home and find out you won a fun giveaway from Running Diva Mom !!! Seriously, go check out her blog- she's pretty inspiring, and often has awesome giveaways. I'm thrilled to have won one!