Training!

So, as I mentioned in my post about setting goals for the new year, two of my biggest goals for the year are to 1) read the entire Bible in 90 days and 2) train for a 10k and a triathlon.  These are pretty big goals for me, especially considering that I have 3 little ones 4 and under running around the house!  So, I wanted to share how I plan to accomplish these two goals.

First, for the Bible in 90 days, I have a plan.  This is not the first time I have done this, either.   I completed it in July-September 2010 through the momstoolbox.com website.  I was at the point in my life where I needed to have a challenge and do something I had never done before.  I had tried to read the Bible in a year before, but I always lost steam and stopped before I actually completed the goal (or usually before I hit the half-way mark).  For me, a year is just too long.  The 90 days is challenging, but I feel like you really get to retain the information and see the "entire picture" by reading it in a shorter time-frame.

So, what's the key to actually completing this goal?  For each person, it's different, but for me there are a couple key elements.  First is the reading plan.  It's important to have a plan on how you are going to accomplish something, and the biggest thing for me is having something where I can see if I am on track, if I am behind, and how much I've accomplished!  It's gratifying to see all of the check marks build up and to see your book mark move through the Bible!

This time around, I am using the YouVersion.com Bible app for my iPod touch.  It actually has the B90 reading plan in it already and as you read through, it checks off each chapter for you.  But the last time I read, I just used a small Bible that I had kept on my desk when I worked.  It's just a small, pocket-sized Bible and I didn't use it anymore, so I went ahead and marked up the days in it so I knew when to stop each day.  I think it was really helpful for me to mark it up because then I didn't spend the time reading and looking for the end of the reading for the day.  Does that make sense?  I felt like I could focus more on the words rather than on making sure I read just what we were supposed to for the day.

The second part of reading is to have time set aside to do it.  With having kids, I have to be somewhat flexible, but my main reading time is at night after the kids are in bed.  I would love to be able to read with them in the room so they could see me reading it or I could even read it to them, but at this age there's no way I could focus.  I have read while feeding Molly or while the kids are watching a video, but my normal time is before I go to bed in the evening.  It takes me right about an hour to do each day's reading, so I can kind of budget my time accordingly.  Another thing that I plan on while doing the B90 plan, is to not watch any tv.  I'm not huge on any tv series or anything anyway, but I love to watch the DIY network and HGTV and all of the cupcake/cake shows on TV.  But while I'm doing this program, I don't usually get to watch anything.  My time is valuable, and when I have more important things to do, it really seems more like a wast of time anyway.  Who really cares who survives the island, who the Bachelor chooses, or what the Office or Glee has on anyway?   Can you tell which shows are NOT my favorite! :)

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Anyway, as of right now, I am one day behind in my reading.  I was planning on doing it last night, but Molly decided she was going to cry and needed to be held until like 1am.  Every time I kept trying to put her down, she just started crying again.  So by that point, I knew I wouldn't remember what I read anyway, so I will spend the next couple days catching up again so I can finish on time (March 31 for me!).

More to come on training for the 10k and triathlon...