Appalachian Trail Section Hike - May 2018

Planning for a section hike far in advance, you always take a chance on the weather. Because I tend to schedule patient’s in my office up to a month or more ahead of time, I can never just leave town on a whim because the weather looks good. Considering two out of the three days I was out on the trail last year were rainy with some severe thunderstorms, I kept a close eye on the weather for the two weeks prior to this Spring’s journey. Luckily, rain would not be an issue this time around, however, I was not prepared for just how warm Georgia May’s can become.

I used to be someone who was really anxious when it came to planning. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to plan things far in advance – whether it be dinner with friends, trips out of town, or concerts coming up. But I used to have to know exactly what was going to happen, and if there was any deviation from the plan I would get all worked up about it. Somewhere along the way I’ve gotten much better at this, as my second-ever Appalachian Trail section hike had a few snafus along with way that I was forced to navigate from day one.

Back at the beginning of the year when I was planning my trip (distance, days, shuttles and overnight accommodations), I spoke to a B&B owner who told me that a shuttle to Hightower would be free of charge as it was a short distance from their lodge. Not knowing the Georgia area at all, I had to trust in what I was told, and was ecstatic to hear that this would be one less expense to worry about. Imagine my surprise, then, when the morning of my hike the owner and I began talking about where I would be dropping my car versus where I would begin my hike. Apparently, there is a “Hightower,” and a “Hightower Gap.” One of these is a mere few miles (and minutes) from the B&B, while the other is a 2-hour, and $150 shuttle, away. Long-story short, I decided to be dropped off at a different location, which meant cutting my hike by 2 days and 15 miles. Come to find out, this was a blessing in disguise.

Neels Gap to Low Gap Shelter – 11.5 miles

After leaving my car at Dick’s Creep Gap and being dropped at Neels Gap to begin my hike, I was immediately met by other hikers who had been on the trail for up to 5 days, after starting at Springer Mountain to start their own journeys. One of these folks was a solo hiker who had completed a month-long hike in Utah prior to trying her hand at the AT, and who had completed a daunting 20 miles the day prior. The other was a couple; also attempting a thru hike, as well as their female companion who was hanging it up for the time being as the mental aspect of hiking numerous miles, day after day, was getting to her. I was feeling good both mentally and physically as I turned my back towards the last bit of civilization I would be seeing for quite a while and stepped off onto the trail for a long 11.5-mile journey – my longest trek to date on the AT.

I was going at a pretty good clip, and the hills didn’t feel to be too terribly steep as I made my way up and down, up and down these Georgia mountains. As long as I’m camping at night with a group of folks, I don’t mind hiking alone – which is a good thing considering I came across very few people on this first day. The great thing about the hiking community though, is that you never truly feel alone. Everyone you pass on the trail has a friendly smile and a welcoming “hello,” as you pass one another – sometimes going opposite directions, sometimes playing “leap frog,” as your paces and breaks don’t always mesh. But always with a silent connection that says, “I am your pal, and we are in this together.”

A wonderful example of this was when, half-way through the day, I decided to take a break on a large rock next to a couple of gals who were also catching their breath and giving their backs and feet a break. One gal, trail name “Brains,” didn’t stick around long and was up the next mountain like she owned it in a matter of minutes. The other, a section hiker like myself, stopped to refill her bladder from a stream nearby. Unfortunately, her filter wasn’t working properly and I was able to offer up mine for her to use. As it turns out, I was also having issues with my own filter (more on this later), but at least she was able to get a small stream coming out, which was more than what she was getting from her own.

We stuck around on that rock for 15 minutes or so, grabbing a bite to eat (a Kind bar and GORP for me), and exchanging stories about what brought us to the AT. She was a twenty-something named Alexis who was from Florida and, being an outdoorsy type, decided that she’d like to section-hike the AT. We laughed about the inevitable questions from non-hikers about whether or not we would be carrying a gun, if we felt safe hiking alone, and what kind of bear protection we carried. I can think of fewer places than the trail where you can sit and have a conversation such as this without the concern of motive or being looked at like you’re suspect – just two gals shooting the breeze, sharing gear, and having a bite to eat in the middle of nature.

My last 5.5 miles that day were a little more daunting than the first 6, as it began with a steep uphill climb. I remember very little about this second half of the day other than the countless ascents and descents as I made my way towards my final destination and sleeping quarters for the evening: Low Gap Shelter. As I walked into the area, Brains had already set up camp and was giving me the lay of the land – where the shelter was located (we had to camp a small walk away as there were a lot of hikers in the area and not enough room to accommodate us all near the shelter area), where I could find the stream, and how to get to the privy. After setting up my tent and getting prepared for an evening’s rest, I made my way to the shelter where a number of other hikers were eating, refilling their water supply, and conversing amongst themselves about their individual journeys so far. Because there were so many people there this evening, it’s hard to recall everyone that I came across. Most were thru hikers, and the majority of those were solo – I’d say 40% were female.

Because of my earlier discovery regarding my failed water filter, I was able to enlist some help to backwash my filter (didn’t work) and then ultimately borrow one to refill my water supply for the night and the following day. This was made available by a hiker named Vortex, who had hiked the entire PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) the year before. The PCT is approximately 500 more miles than the AT, so the chances that she would complete her goal was more than possible. Later, it was found out that she got the name Vortex from hiking 50+ consecutive days on the PCT without taking a “zero,” day. This is unheard of for most thru hikers.

Wrapping up my day after a dinner of instant mashed potatoes and tuna, followed by a few miniature Snickers bars, I made my way back to the tent to do some relaxation and reading before I was both A) tired enough to doze off and B) it was dark enough for me to do so without feeling like I was wasting the evening. This is one of the few, if only, internal conflicts I’ve found when on the trail; even though the day’s mileage could end up in the double-digits, I would be done with that mileage early enough that, technically, I could hike on, but physically too exhausted to do so. When setting up camp between 2:00 – 5:00p, it’s not always easy to keep yourself occupied during that time before you feel ready to go to sleep for the evening. There’s a reason they call 8:00p “hikers midnight.”

After a fairly uneventful night of sleep, I got out of the tent the next morning to see that most of my fellow compadres had already packed up and began their respective long days. I made my way back to the shelter for a bite of oatmeal and some teeth-brushing, followed by an a.m. trip to the privy before breaking down my gear and setting off for my second day on the trail. I bid farewell to a few of the straggler (one of which being Survivor, who kept me awake half the night with snoring and moaning), wishing them well and looking forward to seeing a few at the next shelter.

Low Gap Shelter to Blue Mountain Shelter – 7.3 miles

Although this day would see the least mileage, it was definitely the hardest of my 4-day adventure. As I set out from Low Gap, the first 3 miles or so was fairly flat with very little hills to climb. What’s interesting about this statement, as I would find out by my 4th day, is that it’s not so much the climbing of the hills that got to me, but the descents of those hills. Imagine – day after day, mile after mile with an extra 30 pounds on your back and your feet continuously pounding the earth on a decline. There are very few people I see out on the trail without trekking poles, but for those that don’t take advantage of them, I honestly don’t know how they do it. Trekking poles turned out to be the least of my worries, however, when I came upon the last two miles of this day’s trip

Already tired at 5ish miles in, the day was shaping up to be hotter than the one before as I found myself navigating some fairly treacherous rocks as I neared the end of my jaunt. Hiking on even ground is one thing; I can even manage having to finagle my way around some roots and gravel for most of the day, but these rocks provided a whole new level of complication that I was not prepared for. I was already moving at a slow 2mph clip – knowing that I had just a few miles left to go and being forced to slow down even more was a hit to the ol’ mentality. By this point I just wanted to be done. Luckily, I spotted the last watering hole up ahead which was just a few hundred yards from my stop for the day, Blue Mountain Shelter. I meandered around for a few minutes talking with some other hikers about the difficulty of those last few miles, then headed up the last hill of the day to welcome my reprieve.

Jan (aka Slow and Steady) was the shelters only resident when I arrived and, man, was she was a humbling sight. 70-something years old, she was sporting a shirt that read “When people ask me about my retirement plan, I tell them…… I’m hiking it!” She was a spunky broad who shared with me her history of hiking with her sisters and other family members several times a year for a number of decades until the others’ lost interest. She states she is now one of the only people in her family that continues to hike. When asked if she was a section or thru hiker, Slow and Steady explained that she was out on the AT “trying to get as far as I can until I can’t go anymore.” She admitted to being slow, hence her trail name, stating she hikes no more than 5-8 miles per day, trying to go from shelter to shelter. Once again, I had to ask for assistance with refilling my water supply, and she was all too happy to oblige while handing me her filter.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, we had a number of other hikers set up camp. “Cables” was a 44-year-old solo thru hiker who shared with me, nonchalantly as we ate dinner, that he “technically still has cancer.” He explained that he was diagnosed recently and was going to try some homeopathic remedies for his ailment before succumbing to radiation or chemotherapy. He said his plan was to thru hike in order to “figure some stuff out,” in his life while his wife and two children stayed back at home in Asheville, NC. He told me that he supported himself as a cook, and that he learned this trade over time as he was homeless for two years and had to do something in order to survive.

I spent most of the afternoon reading in my tent and taking a small nap. Since I had had a rough day of it I wasn’t up for much socializing, even though a small group had gathered around a fire, while another bunch hung out in and around the shelter. That’s another great thing about these hikes – you can spend a little bit of time getting to know the others, then retreat to your own space for a while without anyone judging you or labeling you as “anti-social.” “Hike your own hike,” is a common phrase in the community, meaning you do things your way and I’ll do things mine. This pertains to anything from distance and speed on the actual trail, to how you choose to set up your camp at the end of the day. Wanna take a “zero day?” You do you, Boo. Wanna carry a gallon jug of water in your hand (true story) rather than invest in a bladder for your pack? Go for it. There is no other place I can think of that is so accepting of everyone doing their own thing their own way than on the trail.

Blue Mountain to Tray Mountain Shelter – 8.1 miles

After getting a much better nights sleep, I got started 30 minutes earlier to try to beat some of the heat. It was going to get into the 80’s that day, and I was already beginning to feel the effects of a sunburn I developed over the past few days. I headed out on my trek and began playing leap frog with a couple of young guys I recognized from the camp the night before. I didn’t see many people on the trail this day and was hoping for a faster hike now that those rocks were behind me.

During my day-hiking trip to the area in October, I did a small section from Unicoi Gap to Indian Grave Gap, which is a steep, 2.5--mile section of the trail. This same section was upon me now and I wasn’t looking forward to a repeat performance. If I knew that it wouldn’t cost much money and I was able to get a ride from one side of that mountain to the other, I would’ve bypassed it this time around. This is where my frugality and impatience come in handy, as I wasn’t willing to both shell out money and wait for a shuttle, so I continued on this path as my heart raced continuously for a good hour straight as I trudged up one side and down the other.

When I got to the bottom I met up with the two guys from earlier who were taking a break before ascending Tray Mountain. Both were named Matt and were from the Atlanta area. They were roommates and spoke of keeping busy with a lot of outdoor activities such as biking, hiking, rock climbing and the such. They asked about my trail name, and I explained that I was given one last year (Mom), but that I didn’t like it much so was waiting on a new one. When I asked the same of them, Matt #1 said that his initials were M.D. and so he had named himself “Doc.” On the drive to the trail they had passed a road called Rancho, and so Matt #2 had decided this would be his trail name; no significance, he said, just that it sounded like a good name. We talked a bit longer, hitting on the fact that Tray Mountain was going to be another good climb, however, not as steep as the section we just completed – although a bit longer at 3 miles. They took off ahead of me and I wasn’t far behind as I finished up another Kind bar, chugged some water, and set out to finish up this day’s adventure.

The remainder of my day-3 hike was fairly unremarkable, other than a few good views. There was definitely some climbing, but the lack of steepness of this mountain helped keep me moving at a pretty good clip. I was still getting beat on by the sun, and with my arms positioned at a constant 90-degree angle due to holding my trekking poles, the tops of my forearms were getting the brunt of it. As I made my way into camp I saw Doc and Rancho relaxing in the shelter. There was a couple with them who had just stopped for a quick break and water refill, who were soon on their way. The answer I most often hear when I ask if someone is a thru hiker is, “that’s the plan.” Maybe it’s some sort of jinx to say “Yes,” when there’s so much distance to cover. When you think about it, it’s a very appropriate answer given anything can happen over a 6-month period, especially this early in the game. This couple was planning on completing their own thru hike, so it didn’t surprise me to hear this same response from them.

As the three of us now relaxed in the shelter, we were met by Bear Bag. He was a talkative fella who brought along a beer (surely hot by now) to enjoy after his days journey – a bit shorter than ours as he started at Unicoi Gap rather than Blue Mountain Shelter. After borrowing Rancho’s water filter to refill my bags, I sat down to another dinner of instant mashed potatoes and tuna – my third serving of this by now, and of which I was getting a bit tired of consuming. Vortex soon showed up with her boyfriend Nick (no trail name), who were now catching up after taking off into town the day before. Bear Bag took the liberty of sticking his foot in his mouth by asking if they were on a “Father/son or guys trip,” to which Vortex announced that they had never heard that one before. Vortex laughed it off as she explained that she often gets mistaken for a 15-year-old boy, but clarified that she is, in fact, a female. This was a mistake that Bear Bag would continue to bring up as we hiked off the trail the following day.

Since I still had a lot of time to kill before bed, I laid out my mylar blanket and was reading a David Sedaris book in the sun –which at this point felt good since a breeze had now moved in and I had changed into my long-sleeved sleepwear. Bear Bag had set up his hammock a few yards from me, and as he made his way back and forth between his home away from home and the shelter he says, “I think I have a trail name for you, but I don’t know if you’ll like it.” Intrigued, “what’s that,” I asked? “Senior Discount,” was his reply, “Because you eat dinner at 4 o’clock.” At this explanation I had to chuckle. He wasn’t wrong, and it was much more suitable to me than “Mom,” so I decided to keep it.

Tray Mountain to Dicks Creek Gap – 11 miles

My original plan for this hike was to spend a fourth night after 7.5 miles, and then hike out the next morning. However, after three nights of sleeping in a tent, it was difficult to convince myself to stay the extra night, especially knowing I could hike out on this day and be done. By this point I was sore, smelly, sunburned and ready to eat anything other than products that included the words Idaho or Starkist on the label. Additionally, one of my tent poles had broken the day before, and although this didn’t necessarily hamper my ability to sleep in the tent, my already-claustrophobic quarters were made even more so with the depleted head room. I knew that 11 miles may be tough, but I was hoping that the excitement of my completed journey, coupled with thoughts of a shower and a soft bed would keep my motivation going.

By now, my fourth day on the trail, my feet had formed quite a few blisters and kept coming back no matter how many times they got popped. I had brought along some Trail Toes to apply the morning before my hikes, but I had somehow missed packing it back up after my second night and so it became a sacrifice to the Blue Mountain Shelter. Either that or another, needier hiker would stumble upon it and consider it just the kind of trail magic she needed. My arms and shoulders were getting more burned by the day, and my feet were feeling the extra weight with each and every step – especially on the downhills. As I approached the half-way mark I came upon Bear Bag who was taking a breather before making his way up the steepest and longest climb of the day. At 5.3 miles in I also took advantage of a break and munched on some GORP and downed some lukewarm water – another backpacking staple that I was looking forward to not consuming again for a long time.

Although he took off ahead of me, I soon caught up and it was he and I playing leap frog this time around. I tended to be faster on the up-hills, while he was well versed in the descents. I planned to take a bit of a break at the next shelter, which would have been my original stopping point, but after going 100 feet down a blue-blazed hill and not seeing a structure anywhere in sight, I made my way back to the AT and took another break upon a log. This was just 2 miles or so past my last stopping point, but my body was feeling the effects of so many consecutive days of hiking and I needed the rest.

Taking off again there was just one more hill to go up, followed by an even longer walk down the other side. This is where I slowed way down due to the pounding on my soles as well as my knees. I was trying to put as much weight on my hiking poles as I could with every small step forward, but this strategy was doing very little to ease the aching as my dogs continued to bark. Once again, I was passed by Bear Bag who decided to cut his hike short and was looking to get a ride back to his car some miles away. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to oblige him as I was staying in town that evening before driving half-way home the next morning. Besides, I was about to take my third and final break before finishing up my trip and he would’ve been well past me by the time I got out of the forest and back into civilization.

Coming upon Dicks Creek Gap I began to hear vehicles in the distance and knew I was getting close to my car. It’s fairly common to have your car parked in or near the lot where you plan to end your hike, get shuttled to your starting point and then walk back to your transportation. If anything, it’s more motivation to keep on the trail, as some gaps don’t cross busy roads, aren’t accessible to cars or don’t have good phone service, so there’s little to no chance of hitching a ride or calling a shuttle – you really don’t have a choice but to keep trudging along. Given all of the beautiful nature I had seen, as well as the disconnect from the outside world I have to admit: there was no sweeter sight that day than when I finally stepped onto the pavement and saw my Corolla - beckoning me to come sit on its soft leather seats.

Days on the trail: 4
Miles completed: 38
Blisters: 6
Overall experience: Immeasurable

Aftermath – A cousin of mine also wants to section hike the AT, and we had a plan to go out on her first venture in August. After struggling with the May heat, however, we both agreed that we would move our vacation back to mid-September to keep from making our journey any harder than it has to be. I also discovered that 3 nights on the trail, and 4 days of hiking is just about my limit, so we’ll be cutting our over-zealous plan back by a few days and completing a shorter trip just like this one. I will need to invest in a different filter as mine is still not working despite getting it home and back-flushing it numerous time. I will also be looking into a new pole for my tent – either that or dealing with the extra 3 pounds of my two-person accommodations.

Luckily, I didn’t see any ticks on my person either during or after this trip. There were also no bear or snake siting’s either, which is a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. This was a much different experience than my initial voyage in April 2017 – not only because of the two additional days, but also because of the weather; the lack of rain made for some pretty good covered distances, which is exactly what I was hoping for. As usual, I cannot mention how great of an experience it is to hike the AT without focusing some of my attention on my fellow hikers. I’ve always said that hikers are some of the kindest people you will ever meet, and this opinion still holds true. Everyone was so willing to lend me a hand when my filter went on the fritz and were great company to keep at the end of a long, hot day. We were all in this together. Some of us were out there for only a short while, as others were making their way to Maine. Regardless, I am truly blessed to get to experience this adventure with a group of like-minded people who are out there hiking their own hike. Good luck to the AT class of 2018!

Training/Race Reports for April and May

Obviously, I have had a horrible time keeping up with this blog for the past month-and-a-half. April was a bad month as far as weather is concerned. During the Papa John’s 10-miler it was 30 degrees and snowing the whole race. Despite the cold weather, I had a great time and my mentor, Jeff, kept me company and finishing strong with 4:1 intervals the whole way.

The KDF mini (my 35th half-marathon) came next just three weeks later, and we saw some beautiful temps in the mid-sixties throughout the day. I felt like I had put in some good training runs leading up to the race, and gave a solid performance, coming in at around 2:26. I know this time is considered slow for a lot of folks, but with my PR days long behind me, I’m happy to get ‘er done in under 2:30 for a race of this distance.

Ironman 70.3 training officially started last week, and I’m off to a stellar start so far. My first swim consisted of 1500 meters at a 3:00/1000m pace. VERY SLLLOWWW – but…. at least I know that I can get in a distance such as this on my first time out all season. Now I just have to keep it going for the next 2.5 months in order to finish Ohio within the cut-off time. My last 70.3 (and 70.3 attempt before a DNF on the bike) resulted in about a 55-minute 1.2 miler, so if I can pull that off this year then I’ll be okay with that time. What’s the saying? Nobody wins a race with the swim?? Not that I’m winning any races regardless, but… you get the point.

Throo The Zoo 5k was just this past Saturday, with an additional 5 miles tacked on afterwards on what had to have been one of the hottest runs I’ve ever completed. Despite starting at 8 a.m., the race was warm from the start and only got hotter for the additional hour after the finish. Given the heat and mild humidity, I was able to pull out a 12 min/mile pace – something that I’m almost embarrassed to admit but, considering I had just ran a 5k race and had a 35-mile bike the next day, I was accepting of since I wasn’t planning to push myself too hard. During the first week of official training my goal was to simply get in the time/miles – and that I did.

What really solidified some confidence for me this first week of training was my bike the following day. I had only done two days of biking leading up to it (15 and 25 miles, respectively), and planned on a 35-miler with my training partner, Ericka. Cycling from my condo, I put in about 4.5 miles before reaching the Big 4 Bridge where we met up for an additional 12.5 out-and-back on a long, straight path with very few obstacles such as turns or stop-signs to slow us down. It wasn’t until the last 3 miles or so that we saw some minor hills.

I am historically horrible at keeping my nutrition up on the bike – I cannot seem to force myself to eat, and have a hard time remembering to drink if I’m not feeling the heat, so I can bonk pretty quickly and out of nowhere if I’m not careful. Because I know this about myself I made an effort during this ride to be more aware of my intake. I had a banana prior to the ride, and then sipped on 24 ounces of Infinit throughout the journey. I did have an additional water bottle that I also took in, but that bottle was still mostly full when I arrived back home. At the turn-around point I took in a GU just for good measure. I was so in awe with how good I felt as we headed back home, however, I also know that feeling good at the half-way point doesn’t always mean I’ll be feeling as great near the end, so I didn’t want to take it for granted. Luckily, I did feel about as good as I could have hoped to feel on a 35-mile route, and even managed to keep an even pace up the last hill about a mile or so from the condo.

I had mentioned to a few people this year that I may be retiring from triathlon after Ohio in July. With my new goal starting last year of hiking the Appalachian Trail, as well as wanting to focus on strength training and continued long runs, I wasn’t (am not) sure I want to take away from those things to put towards the time and effort that triathlons require. I may feel differently after my Olympic race in June, followed by my “A” race in Ohio, but right now I’m feeling so good during my training that I don’t know if it’s something I’ll ever truly give up. Spoken like a newbie during just the first week though, right? Ask me again in 3 weeks and I might be ready to throw in the towel. Regardless of what I end up doing overall, I’m enjoying it for what it is right now, and am committed to putting in a real effort to finish my second 70.3.

Now that we have the race/training report out of the way, I will need to spend some time gathering data for my Give it Up challenge for the month of April. I wasn’t nearly as diligent in that area this past month as I should have been, but I’ve had a lot going on. No excuses, though. I also need to write about my second section hike of the Appalachian Trail, from which I just returned less than 2 weeks ago. Even with all of the difficulty of that goal, I still plan to finish the entire duration one slow, small section at a time. Details of that trip are to follow soon.

Month 2

March proved to be a little more difficult than February when it came to achieving my financial goals. I am finding it difficult to stay within my $80 limit per week when debits that aren’t weekly or monthly expenses come up, such as toiletries, prescriptions, dog groomer fees, etc – which is exactly what happened this month.

While I was able to stay below my grocery budget by $29.36, I was way over budget with the add-on of these additional items by $265.96.
To break it down, here is a view of my spending for the month of March:

Groceries: $220.64
Eating Out: $186.03
Toiletries/Self Care: $184.23
Dog/Cat supplies: $181.56
Office supplies: $45.80
Investments: $35.64
Miscellaneous: Hiking Buff ($7.95), Parking ($1.75), Throo the Zoo 5k ($13.00), Notary ($20.00)

In addition, here are the results of my measurable goals for the month:

OTF (6/8)
Yoga (2/4)
Massage (1/1)
Float (1/1)
Social (9/2)
Outdoor activities (3/8)
Meditation (19/12)
Strength Training (4/4)
Heine Bros/Starbucks (3/2)
Eating out (13/5)

As you can see, there is a strong correlation between the number of times I was social this month and the amount of money that was spent on lunches and dinners out. As I was explaining to a friend of mine, although I’ve limited myself to 5 meals out per month, it is extremely difficult to turn down going out to eat with a friend, or group of friends, when there is also a goal of getting out more socially. Although there should be (and is) more to do with friends than eat out, it seems to be the simplest way to spend time with people when a) you’re going to have to eat anyway, b) the weather has been sub-par and there’s not much to do outdoors, and c) we all seem to be limited on time to do much of anything else. In the end, I decided that spending social time with others was worth blowing my goal of eating out five times per month. Admittedly, however, 4 of these out-of-home feasts were times I went out alone – something that I could look at reeling back in if I am choosing to go out more with friends.

In comparison with February, I was overall less successful in meeting my goals. OTF, Yoga, and Outdoor Activities all came in at a lower number than what I had planned. In contrast, I achieved the goals of Massage, Float and Strength Training, while blowing the Meditation goal way out of the water by more than 50% - I’ve done this by simply making meditation a part of my night-time routine.

Some of these goals will be tweaked, yet again, for the month of April as I would like to put more emphasis on strength training than cardio and will soon be starting my Ohio 70.3 half-Ironman training. It’s been three years since I’ve trained for such an event, and how quickly we forget how grueling and time-consuming training for such a race can be. Since that schedule doesn’t technically start until May, however, I’m going to use April to continue to build my base and work on the goals that I have set for myself – mentally, physically, spiritually and, alas, financially.

Week 8

Just finished up a yoga session, and it’s amazing how much my practice has been impacted by the mindset I’ve been in lately. When my head isn’t in the right space I find it much harder to keep balanced (both literally and figuratively), and I end up toppling over on many of the poses. Because of this, I cut my session short and decided to pick it up again next week in the hopes that I’ll have less stress going on in my life over the next seven days.

It’s been a rough week, to say the least, which includes a major snafu in my financial plan. To start, I ended up with a 3-day stomach flu resulting in loss of work on Monday and having to cancel seven patients. This majorly hampers my income for this week and I wasn’t pleased to have to call these folks to reschedule. On top of this, I found out that I owe a significant amount of money for taxes from 2017, as well as seeing an increase in my quarterly estimates and payroll taxes for 2018. This means I had to deplete my savings as well as rely on my credit card to ensure that it got paid. I could have possibly set up a payment plan, but the amount of the increase would have meant playing “catch up” for over a year and everything would have ended up being late. Although it sickened me to have to do it, knowing that the taxes will all be paid in full and on time is such a relief to my mind. With the new plan I have drawn up to get the cards paid off, it doesn’t look like the tax situation is going to set me back too far - a little extra a month on one, plus two months additional payments on another, won’t be too much of a burden overall.

March as a whole has had its ups and downs in regards to this challenge as well as daily life overall. I feel like I haven’t been in a very good headspace for some reason, and I opted out of both the Anthem 5k and Rodes City Run 10k this month – two of the three races of the Triple Crown. I’ve done these races every year for more than a decade now, so to back out of both of them in the same year is unlike me. Despite increasing my meditation and social time this month – things that typically improve my mood, I haven’t seen a change in my apathetic (and sometimes downright blue) mood. Maybe it’s the unpredictable weather? Maybe it’s not been that bad overall and the events of this past week are foreshadowing all the good? Whatever it is, I’m ready for it to be over so that I can get back to feeling content and on-track with my goals.

Next week marks the end of month 2 of the GIVE IT UP challenge, and I’ll be recapping the numbers from all of my goals. Some were met, others were not. Some I went above and beyond and blew out of the water. Which ones were they, you ask? Well – with another six days remaining in the month we’ll both just have to wait to find out.

Week 6: Social Media

One of the things that I wanted to “Give up,” when I started this project was how much time, and in what ways, I use social media. For the month of February, I was to stay off all social media altogether. However, Facebook in particular has served a purpose in that I have been able to get questions answered and get referrals from other clinicians on some of the professional groups that I am a part of, so this goal was to be a challenge so say the least. I was still taking on new clients at that time, and trying to build up to a specific number, so I didn’t want to stay off social media 100%, however, I needed to find a way to make my use of Facebook more productive and healthier for me mentally.

What I mean by this, is that I tended to spend a lot of down time looking through Facebook posts and it was seriously taking a toll on my mental health. If I was at a red light, I’d whip out the phone and open the app. If I was in a doctor’s office, same. At home alone and feeling bored – I’d pull out the phone or Ipad and spend an immeasurable amount of time looking at others’ updates and “oh so glamorous,” lives. I use that phrase not to be condescending, but to keep it real as to the way I was seeing things from my perspective.

In 2007, before I joined Facebook, I would catch up with friends a few times a month and use that time to learn all about the things that had gone on in their lives. If there was any comparing I was doing between my life and theirs, it was few and far between because I was seeing maybe one or two people, groups, or couples a month. Now, instead of hearing about what a great time the Carrico’s had on their vacation last month, I’m seeing the 50 other couples who are celebrating their date nights, anniversaries, another kiddo and any number of other milestones in their world. Logging onto Facebook forced me to see friend after friend going out on a Friday or Saturday night, living it up while I spent that time cuddled up with a few four-legged friends and some Netflix. And it wasn’t that I wasn’t (am not) happy to see my friends happy, but whether I wanted to or not I was constantly comparing my life with theirs.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a pretty spectacular life and rarely have those woe-is-me moments, but when it looks like EVERYONE is having such a great week, time and time again, it tends to do a number on my psyche. Now, with this constant access, I wasn’t seeing one or two people having a great time, I was seeing ALL THE PEOPLE having a great time. And yes, I know that Facebook and other forms of social media are the highlight reel that we tend to show the world. No one is posting the completely mundane times that they’re being total sloths, or that day or two they were super down in the dumps and didn’t shower for 48 hours - I know this on a conscious level. However, subconsciously, I couldn’t keep from comparing myself to others and allowing it to bring me down at times.

Not only was it the comparison to others causing a negative impact, but it was also the sheer time spent on this apparatus. I felt like a slave to my phone – almost as if it was a compulsion to pick up and eavesdrop on others’ lives whenever I had a spare moment. It was keeping me from being mindful of the things around me, and just taking a moment to breath. It honestly got to the point that I was being affected by the time and mental effort spent on this time-suck.

All of this being said, I wanted to find a way to be more productive with my time on Facebook without having to give it up altogether. As I stated before, keeping up professional contacts, getting information about the AT (Appalachian Trail), putting my name out there in the hopes of a referral are all very good ways that FB can be used – I was just using it in those ways and THEN some… a little too often.

My solution to this problem was this: I ended up unfollowing (not to be confused with de-friending) all 233 of my “friends,” and deleting myself from groups that no longer served a purpose in my life. I didn’t do this to shun anyone, and it’s not that I didn’t want to see what was going on in my friends lives – but I wanted to get updates on my own terms. If I was curious as to any goings on with a particular person, I would go to their page and peruse the posts. Instead of seeing 50 people’s awesome lives, I was seeing one person’s awesome life. The perks of doing things this way was two-fold – 1: I was less apt to do that whole comparison thing I spoke about earlier, and 2: I was able to keep the “catching up,” with folks to the old fashion way of having an actual, live conversation when we got together. No longer did I want to meet up with someone for dinner once a month and them relay some great news about their lives, only to comment, “Oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook!” I mean, that’s the way it was done pre-2007. What was wrong with going back to the old primitive ways again?

Along with this change, I also began posting less, and differently, than what I had before. You know the Timehop feature that comes up on a regular basis? Or the ol’ “On this day,” option that you can click on to the left of your page? What I noticed about my own past postings is they mostly fell into three categories: mundane, negative or humble brags. Think about that. The three things I was sharing most on the platform that was to represent me and my life were either boring, pessimistic or self-serving. I don’t want to be known as that person and I’d like to think that’s not who I am. And if it is, and I want to change it, I certainly don’t want an electronic diary of the unhealthy ways in which I used to put myself out there for the world to see. So… I decided to post less, and to be more mindful about what I do post. If I had to take a guess, I would say the majority of what I have posted over the past 6 weeks has been either pictures or videos of my cat and/or dog, links to this blog for those who are following, or questions that I wanted answered. Yes, sometimes I’d have to catch myself from typing up some nasty rebuttal about a Trump comment or the fact that we’ve seen more snow in the month of March than all winter, but the fact is I DIDN’T post those things. I kept it light, and I kept it positive.

The wonderful thing about this change is that I have noticed a decrease in my woe-is-me moments and overall negativity. I haven’t been sitting at home on a Friday night feeling sorry for myself and asking the Universe when it was MY TURN to meet a romantic partner, or why I couldn’t be out whopping it up with a group of friends, because those things just weren’t popping up in my head anymore. I’ve heard people use the phrase, “Facebook is the Devil.” I would have to disagree. Facebook is not the Devil. It is the way that we utilize Facebook that determines how it impacts our lives. If you’re someone who uses the statement, “I hate drama,” on the regular, maybe don’t comment on posts that you know are going to stir the pot. If you are unhappy in your relationship and are thinking about leaving – maybe pull the trigger and leave that relationship rather than messaging ex-girlfriends and making decisions that go against your values. And if you find yourself being adversely affected mentally and emotionally by what you see and read, maybe take that variable out of the equation and log on less.

Week 5

Five down, 47 to go. I will say that March has been easier (?) now that I’ve gotten the hang of how to balance things a bit better. I’m crushing my OTF, Yoga, Meditation and Strength Training goals so far – things that I failed to achieve in February. Making time, not giving it too much thought and just doing it have helped. For instance, not that I typically have a lot of down time, but last Friday I got home from work around 5:00 p.m. and had nothing planned the rest of the day. It was a day that I was scheduled to do some Strength Training, and although I wasn’t feeling it, I had a pep talk with myself: I could either spend 30 minutes on this and feel good that I accomplished the goal, or spend 5 hours sitting on the couch reading, watching TV and perusing the internet while essentially waiting to go to bed. I went with the former and I am now 75% done with my Strength Training goals for the month – and it’s only the 10th!

I’m also on-target to reach all other goals as well, but have had to make a few adjustments to the financial goals I set for myself. I got the opportunity to go on a 10-day European trip in May 2019 for the commemoration of D-Day. What a lot of people don’t know about me is that I have a fairly substantial interest in all things WWII, and this was an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up. Considering it was so far away, the financial burden wouldn’t be too incredible as I had enough time to break up payments over a 14-month period. Now…. I know what you’re thinking – “But Connie, wasn’t the whole point of this Give It Up challenge to stop making purchases and pay off debts?” Why, yes it was/is. However…. Because another part of this challenge was also to get in the habit of being more mindful of my spending, and to allocate more money to experiences rather than things, I thought I’d give myself a mulligan on this one. Plus, I’m still on target to pay off my debts right around the time this trip happens, regardless of the extra money I’m having to spend on the trip itself. Yes, I am having to put in a few more hours at work than what I originally allotted, however, I’m lucky in that, within reason, I am able to work (and make) as much or as little as I want. To me, the extra time spent in the office was worth this trip.

Another tweak I’ve been thinking about making to my initial plan is the leniency on what I am allowed to spend my “Spending Money.” Currently, I give myself $80 a week to spend – and that goes to any extras from a pack of gum at the store to expenses not fully covered by what’s in my savings account (i.e. $14 of a recent race fee was paid from my Spending Money allotment as I only had $25 in my Race Fee savings at the time). Because the money is an allowance, I’m not sure I want to restrain WHAT this gets spent on; as long as I don’t go over the amount given, does it really matter where it goes?

It’s amazing, however, how quickly this money gets eaten up. Although I technically have it set up to take this $80 out in cash every Friday, if there was something I had paid for with my ATM card, I deduct that amount from what I take out in cash so that I’m sure not to overspend. I also keep track of ALL spending on a spreadsheet so, at the end of the month, I know exactly where the money went. I must say – it’s a good thing I love my dog as much as I do because those treats are EXPENSIVE! Luckily, in the 5 weeks I’ve been doing this I haven’t broken the budget. Here’s hoping I don’t blow a tire or the clothes dryer goes on the fritz!

Next week I’d like to share the changes that I’ve made to the way I’ve been using social media. My goal for February was to get off all social media for the month, but that wasn’t quite the way things worked out - but for good reason.

One Down, 11 To Go

Month 1:

The following are the numbers/statistics regarding how I did during the first month of my Give It Up experiment:

% of Income spent
Credit Card repayments: 30%
Mortgage: 14%
Taxes: 12%
Insurance: (life, medical, dental,
car, homeowners) 7%
Work Expenses: 6%
Various Savings Accounts: 6%
Student Loans: 6%
Home Living Expenses (phone,
electric bill, condo maintenance
fees, internet, Netflix,) 6%
Car payment 4%
Monthly pet fees (daycare,
insurance) 2%
Retirement 2%
Medical bills/Health
Savings Acct 2%
CPA fees 2%
Self-care (Gym, Float) 1.5%
Bank Fees .25%
Investments (additional) .25%

Grocery Budget: $200/month – Spent $168.87
Spending Money Budget: $320/month – Spent $315

Other expenses:
I took money out of my “Fun/Vacation” savings to pay for Hall and Oates concert tickets as well as to renew my yoga package. Additionally, I took money from my “Race Fee” savings to pay for the majority of a new triathlon suit, with the remainder being paid from my allotted spending money. I did not include these expenses in my breakdown above, as these savings plans are specifically for such spending.

Measurable “Add On” Goals:

(Number of times I achieved vs. planned)
Orange Theory workout (OTF) 6/12
Meditation 8/12
Outdoor activity 5/8
Strength Training 1/4
Yoga 4/4
Acts of Kindness 4/4
Social Activity 2/2
Massage 1/1
Float Therapy 1/1

Measurable “Give it Up” Goals:
Take-out tea 2/2
Eating out 5/5

Additional Goals:
• I was able to stick to my goal of no spending whatsoever on clothing, home goods, electronics, itunes music, high-end skin care.
• My goal of no pastries or donuts was missed when I did succumb to a tasty cheese danish at Starbucks on morning. Other than this, I
have not gone back on this goal.
• My goal of no snacks at the movies was missed only once when I bought nachos and a coke on a cinema gift card. I’m giving myself half
a win on this – the winning half going to the fact that I didn’t spend any money on said snacks, although the calories were still
there.
• I achieved my goal of drinking only water when eating out, to save on money and calories.
• Although there’s no easy way to measure, I feel like my road rage, cursing, self-deprecating talk and unnecessary apologies have
decreased as well.

Overall, it looks like I did well during this first month. As you can see, a huge portion of my income went to credit card debt as this is one of the main goals of this whole experiment. It’s interesting that I’m spending nearly the same amount on my mortgage as I am on taxes, but maybe not when you think about how much taxes actually cost us. I don’t like that I’m only putting 2% of my income back for retirement at this point but, again, the whole goal of this is to get unnecessary expenses paid off so that I can begin padding those accounts to the max – hopefully this is what I will be able to focus on in 2019.

OTF, Meditation, Outdoor Activities and Strength Training were the only areas I lacked in achieving my measurable goals – which is interesting since these are typically some of my favorite things. I can’t think of any good excuse as to why this is other than “life got in the way.” At the very least this gives me an idea of where I need to step it up for March and beyond.

As for additional spending, I've discovered it’s a good thing I do put additional money back into specific savings accounts for things that come up. As of today, I have separate savings accounts for:

Quarterly and Annual taxes, including CPA fees
Race Fees and gear
Emergency Living Expenses (this doesn’t get touched)
Vacation/Fun Fund
Practice (work) Expenses

If it hadn’t been for these accounts I couldn’t have paid for the Hall & Oates tickets (on my approved spending list, by the way), my yoga package and my tri suit.

The only thing that I’m tweaking for March is the amount of time I’m allotting for OTF, due to tri training starting soon as well as cutting back on monthly expenses, and trading out the “No Sweets” goal for the “No Television,” goal. Unfortunately, I went a little sugar-crazy at my last grocery visit and have some Little Debbie’s and Breyers ice cream left in the condo that are sure to be consumed for the simple fact that they’re there. By April, all of the on-hand sweets will have been eaten so there will be less temptation. To say the least, that will be an interesting month.