It's that time of year again! Time to set goals that I probably will forget about and time to try and achieve the "New Year, New Me" mentality that everyone seems to focus on for the first few days. I've separated these into a four different posts, each post focusing on a different aspect of this blog. The first post is my running goals for 2019!

1) Actually maintain a consistent running schedule, ideally 2 times a week.
Every year I try to focus on adding more mileage, bu this year I've decided I need to step back and focus on maintaining the consistency and quality of my running. In a perfect world I would manage 3-4 running sessions a week, but in my world I've decided to focus on twice a week with one run on the weekend.

2) Incorporate more hill work.
I hate hill work. I hate walking hills, I hate running hills, I just hate hills. So for 2019 I've decided to try and master the hill work which will hopefully help me achieve a better pace during races.

3) Take advantage of the dog stroller.
Yes, I am one of those people. My dogs have a stroller and with 70 lbs of dog in that stroller it is extremely difficult to push. The stroller is designed to be run with so I really should take advantage of that and run with the dogs. Hopefully their extra weight will work to improve my pace and muscle growth to make pushing myself during races easier.

What are your running goals for 2019?

On Sunday, I had the honor of running both the Celebration Half Marathon and my fastest half marathon since I moved to Florida!

I woke up at the lovely hour of 5:00am and arrived at Celebration around 5:45. Thankfully, I was able to find parking and relax (more like nap) for a bit before heading over to the starting line.

The start was clearly marked with the various pace groups and I decided to line up between the 2:30 and 2:45 group. My goal for this race was to run consistently between an 11:00-minute and 12: 00-minute mile. I really wanted to try for a sub 2:30 but because I had been sick the entire week leading up to the race, I figured I would be better off trying to stay with a consistent pace.

The race started and I settled into my pace. I went a bit fast at the start to find a nice spot in the pack but settled into my run/walk intervals after about 5 minutes. The first mile was completed at an easy 11:51, the slow speed felt wrong but I knew that I was making the right choice to hold myself back. Mile 2 took 11:17, and as I neared the end of it I realized that I really had to use the restroom. Thankfully I knew that there would be one around the 2.5-mile mark so I hustled through that half mile in 6:40 to get there with time to waste. Unfortunately while pausing my Garmin I bumped it and ended the activity, so my data for this race is separated into two different Garmin entries. I swear, I'll eventually learn how to use this watch!

From mile 2.5 to approximately 6.5 I was able to maintain a consistent pace between 10:57 and 11:45. It was at that 6.5-mile mark that they were handing out gels, so I took my time walking to finish it. I accidentally grabbed the Double Expresso gel and was surprised to find that it worked extremely well for me! The taste wasn't bad and my stomach really seemed to agree with it!

From there my pace ranged from 11:00 to 13:17. The 13:17 occurred on a huge stretch of the boardwalk where I got boxed in behind some other runners. Normally, this would have upset me but the scenery was so pretty that I decided to focus on enjoying the race. Once the boardwalk ended I was able to pass the other runners and settle back into a steady 11:45 pace. This section went through the neighborhood and then back onto the boardwalks.

My least favorite part of this race was honestly the last boardwalk section. I knew that the finish line was coming up quickly and was actually disappointed by this. I crossed the finish in 2:40:48, which should be disappointing because I have run faster half marathons, but this was the fasted half I have completed since moving to Florida!

This race helped prove to me that I can race properly and I do have the ability to successfully run a half marathon. My pace was the most consistent it has ever been, and I felt great after the race. Usually, I am exhausted and feel as if my legs are going to give out but this race left me feeling fine! I want to be a sub 2-hour half marathoner, but this race proved to me that I need to focus more on maintaining a consistent pace as opposed to racing against the clock.

After seeing that I can complete a half, in Florida, in 2:40 I have decided to set my goal for Princess at 2:35. That's enough time to shave off and feel successful, but not too much that I'll have to really push myself.

The awesome blanket that was part of the swag for this race!

Overall, I would fully recommend the Celebration Half Marathon to anyone looking for a nice small race in the Central Florida area! I have already decided that I'll be signing up for the 2019 race as soon as it opens!

It's hard to believe that we're at the end of the year already. It seems like just yesterday I was at Manager's New Year's Eve party wondering who would attend with me after Vegas moved. This past year has been full of so many changes, yet so many other things have stayed the same. In staying with the general theme (give me credit, I like to believe that this site has a direction. lol) here are the major items that happened to me in my running, riding, reading, and repeating!

Running
This year started slowly in terms of running. I did the bare minimum in mileage and ran races that I was a bit underprepared for. But I quickly turned it around and joined the Disney Springs Fit2Run Galloway Training Group which helped me jump start my running program into something more productive than it had been. While I'm only a casual member the group at the moment, because of the early darkness, I am looking forward to continuing my running journey with them. I was able to PR my 10k and place in my age group for a 5k because of them.

On the topic of my 10k PR at the Celebration Pancake Run 10k, it was a bit disappointing but it is a huge milestone for me. If you check out my races tab you'll see that my PRs haven't really changed in a few years. This is entirely my fault because I am the least consistent runner I know. I had hoped to PR in the 5k at the Jingle Jolly Jog, but my mental game wasn't there. I am so proud of my first age group award. I have lusted after them for, what feels like, ages so it is extremely exciting to finally have one on my wall! Ok, it's actually in a shoebox under my guest bed because I have yet to find a medal holder that I love, but that isn't the point!

Riding
Easily, the biggest thing that happened to my riding career, this year, was purchasing Cupid. I spent weeks last year debating about purchasing her, and I officially made the plunge on January 11th. I never imagined that my horse would be a little Welsh pony cross, who was green broke with a major attitude. But here I am, with my little Welshie who still has a major attitude, and is slightly better than green broke. Honestly, I wouldn't trade in our partnership for anything. Owning a green pony has taught me so much about riding, patience, and myself. For every step forward there are two steps back, but once we make a leap forward the landing is extremely rewarding.

In addition to purchasing Cue, I also uprooted her and moved to a new barn. Shortly after purchasing Cupid I realized that our current situation was not working out. The care wasn't what I wanted for my horse, I felt cheated out of my lesson package, and I was extremely nervous having my partner in a barn with minimal supervision. It took me until May to find a stable that met my standards. The major sign that this was the place for us was when we ran into our new trainer at a show before I had even told our old trainer we were leaving. The new trainer made several observations about Cupid and I, then commented that she would love to take us back to the basics because "she's a baby and there's no need to rush her". Hearing this proved to me that she would have Cupid's best interests at heart which is all I wanted in a boarding situation.

Moving Cupid was the best choice I could make for her. She's happy at our current barn, has put on much-needed weight, and is slowly becoming a solid partner for me. We still have a long way to go, and I miss jumping, but watching her move properly and understand what I'm asking has been worth everything we have been through.

Reading
According to GoodReads, I've read 112 books this year. My goal for the year was 100 so I am officially putting this in the win category for the year! A few of those books were the Saddle Club series because I started walking down memory lane and couldn't put the books down. What was really nice was that I'm able to get them from the Orange County Library Media Mall which means no awkwardly walking into the children section of the library or putting them on hold.

Two other series that I have really gotten into this year are the Finishing School series by Gail Carriger and the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the Finishing School series this weekend, so expect that review to come up in the near future!

Repeat
If you've been around for awhile you'll notice that I fashioned this blog after my running, riding, and reading life. So you might be questioning what this whole "repeat" business is. I decided the other day that I needed a header for my twitter account and my facebook page. The plan was to do a running, riding, and reading silhouette on a glitter background. While putting this together it dawned on me to do a repeat sign so the entire blog title was represented. I looked up repeat signs to get an idea and had an "I'm an idiot" moment. In music, there is a sign that informs the musician to repeat a section, this is called a repeat. Because music is such a big part of my life and I've openly discussed it on here it only made sense to take the Repeat part of my title and have it represent the music portion of my life.

I now present to you the newest "official" section of the blog. My Repeat section, or music discussion.

With that little intro out of the way, it's time to discuss my year in music!
In January I located a local orchestra that seemed like it would be at my skill level and was actively recruiting members, the Central Florida Community Orchestra. I signed up and attended my first rehearsal. It was terrifying and I almost walked away before entering the building, but I participated in that first rehearsal and loved it! The CFCArts #FluteNation welcomed me and has pushed me to want to become a better musician.

This year I participated in four different concerts with CFCArts; Jazz, Joel and John in March, American Roadtrip in June, Fiesta in November, and Once Upon a December in December. Once Upon a December was the first time, since college, where I've accompanied a choir. This pushed me to not only be aware of the rest of the orchestra but to also work on matching the choir without becoming the main focus.

Without the Orchestra, I don't think I would have found a group that feels like home or had the drive to pick up the saxophone again!

Overall, this is a quick review of my 2017. It was fun, it was great, but I can't wait to see what 2018 has in store for me!