How oh how is it the end of November? And how oh how have I failed to write a blog post this year other than updating with the books that I have been reading?? Yikes, I didn’t even keep up with that completely. Well, no time like the present. No need to wait until 2024 to get back on the writing horse.

Life looked incredibly different when I started this blog in January of 2020. Stop and pause for a moment. The world was a completely different place in January of 2020. It was in a time before COVID. It was a time before going back to work full time. It was a time when I was just thinking about running a marathon. It was a time before my dad died. So much has happened in the last four years. But that’s not the purpose of this post. In the coming weeks when I figure out what I’m going to use this platform for going forward I’m sure there will be a fully reflective piece. Maybe more about travel and some of our favorite places, definitely more about books and author events. Maybe some reflection/opinion pieces…apparently I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things. To be determined!

In the meantime, today my Peloton bike and I celebrated our one year anniversary. One year ago I was in a personal fitness slump. Running felt like work. I was neglecting my strength training and I was eager to give something else a try. An avid user of the Peloton App for runs and strength, I had thought about getting the bike for well over a year and it was finally time. To say there’s been no looking back is an understatement. Two hundred and fifty-two rides later I would say I’m committed to cycling! Spoiler alert- I don’t like to ride a bike outside. We will occasionally rent bikes on vacation and generally I don’t enjoy it, but give me a stationary bike and apparently I can ride for HOURS! So what did the last year look like? It looked like balance. Balance between cycling, strength training, walking and running. Yes, there was even a little bit of running this year. While I thought I thrived with a training regime for races, after three marathons in three years that started to feel like pressure rather than guidance. I love that I can decide in the morning what I want to do in the amount of time that I have for that given day. And a shocking revelation, especially over the last several months is that I’m gravitating towards strength training over cardio. This is a major deviation from my cardio focused self and I think will be the focus of 2024. Stronger is better! Let’s get strong together! The swivel screen on the bike makes do strength classes that much easier. With options from 5 minutes to an hour there are so many different options. If a half hour or 45 minutes feels too overwhelming the fact that I can do a quick fifteen or twenty minutes is so helpful. So what will the future bring? I still have no races on the horizon. I had serious FOMO on NYC Marathon day, but a few weeks removed and I’m not feeling that burning desire to run another marathon. Figuring out balance is one of life’s great mysteries. Maybe, just maybe it seems I’ve figured out my fitness balance that makes me happy and keeps me moving.