My big goal this year is to Tri for 2018 miles!  I’ll be swimming, biking, running, walking and hiking these miles.  Right now, I’m feeling great, so I’m also aiming for PRs in my all my distances.

For years, I’ve done Coach Jenny’s Holiday Challenge.  This year, I’m also participating in Coach Jenny’s 2018 Challenge.  The main reason I joined the challenge is the National Parks Challenge!  You know that I’m a big fan of the NPS, so moving my way across 30 parks this year is the perfect motivator.  Each day that I move purposefully for 30 min or more is a point towards a park.  Once I hit the point total for that particular park, I’ll earn that park’s badge.  Right now, I’ve decided that I’m going to earn the parks that we’ve visited in person starting with the larger point total parks and then moving on to the parks on my wishlist!  I’m aiming for the Grand Canyon as my first badge!

Big accomplishments for this first week:

Meeting for a run and find out we're doing 9:45ish repeats? I was too sleepy to know otherwise. We can do this, and we are getting stronger. We're so fast you can't even see us! Great job ladies!! Go us!! #noxgearnation #mrtt #resultsstarthere #JOrunsPHXMesa2018 #balancingmommy #skirtsportambassador #REALwomenmove #lottabreezecapri #womenfortri #wearestrong #pratimamademedoit

A post shared by Olivia S (@balancingmommy) on Jan 4, 2018 at 7:45am PST

• I’m training for the Mesa-Phoenix Half Marathon in Feb, and I excited to say that I’m hitting paces that I haven’t seen in a long while!  This year, I’m trying to push myself but also be mindful of my body to prevent injuries.  This means more at home PT work and drills!
• I finished my first trail race!  I had a blast at Aravaipa Running’s San Tan Scramble.
• Oh, and I guess I never officially announced it here, but I’m a 2018 Pro Compression Ambassador!

I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be part of the 2018 @procompression ambassador team! I'll be keeping it real and keeping it tight. Look Ma! I'm a #sponsored athlete. I guess I'll be upping my #runmatchy™ game this year! #balancingmommy #runhundredambassadors #procompressionambassador

A post shared by Olivia S (@balancingmommy) on Dec 19, 2017 at 2:28pm PST

Since 2018 started on a Monday, I’m pleased to report that my training/mental calendars line up with the actual calendar this year!  This will help with my weekly check in towards 2018!

I love that 2018 started on a Monday. It works prefectly into my mental weekly configurations and calculations. This year, I joined @coachjenny and the #Challenge2018. We're aiming for consistency in workouts and "visiting" National Parks in the process. You know how I love the @nationalparkservice so I had to join this challenge!! In the process, I'm also tri-ing for 2018 miles in 2018. I'm counting my swim, bike, run/walk/hike miles to reach my goal. Week one is done. #resultsstarthere #REALwomenmove #nationalparkschallenge

A post shared by Olivia S (@balancingmommy) on Jan 8, 2018 at 1:15pm PST

• Weekly total:  38.7 miles
  • Run:  17.4 miles
  • Bike: 21.3 miles
• National Parks Challenge:  6 points