Fine Fit Day Year in Review 2014

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m so excited for 2015! It’s not too often you get to welcome a new family member into your life and Spring 2015 is going to bring this new little human into our lives. Can’t wait to meet my new baby!

Last year I wrapped up 2013 with a year in review post and I had so much fun compiling it, I figured I’d make it an ongoing tradition and take a look back at 2014 on Fine Fit Day. (You can also check out my 2014 Year of Running!)

January

In January, I decided that my big running goal for the year would be to smash my half marathon PR. I started 2014 with a 1:53 PR in the distance, but I was committed to training my butt off to try to achieve a 1:45.

We had my brother and his family, as well as some old high school friends of mine, all in NYC visiting during January, so we had lots of fun with our Aussie invasion. It was sad to say goodbye to so many visitors at the end of the month!

Roman also turned two this month and I have to say, “terrible twos” is such a myth. Now that he’s on the cusp of three, though…I’m beginning to wonder where my sweet baby boy has gone! 😉

Also in January, I was seeing so much of the common New Year’s Resolution to “Choose Joy”, that it started me thinking about whether that was possible: On Optimism and Joy

February

I had a great time picking up some cooking tips at the blogger night at Cook&Go in NYC!

Our brutal, brutal winter forced me into a relationship with the treadmill…and I ended up surprising myself. On Confidence

After a fun Twitter chat on ways to make you next trip a healthy adventure, I compiled all the best tips in this post: Healthy Travel Tips

February is also my birthday month. It’s a little odd to grow up with a summer birthday, only to have it change to a winter birthday when you move to another hemisphere. It was a low-key celebration, with cake, champagne, watching the NY Rangers, then out for drinks on the weekend with friends.

March

I started officially training for my half marathon PR quest this month. I’d been building up a solid base and getting used to incorporating speed workouts into my training, but I started to kick it into high gear this month.

I got all nerdy and went over all the statistics for my Fit Mama Friday series to date, in March. Even I was surprised by some of the results – I was sure I was biased and had featured way more #motherrunners! Fit Mama Friday by the Numbers.

One of the most popular of my Running Tips series for the whole year was this installment, published in March: Running Tips – Strength Training to be a Better Runner.

April

I loved putting together this list of 50 Easy Healthy Habits You Can Start Now. I started writing it because every time I’ve worked with a client who has gone on to make huge changes in his or her lifestyle and health, it has always begun with just changing a couple of small habits.

We had a lovely trip to Philadelphia to visit friends for a weekend. There was wine, cheese, coffee, running – doesn’t get much better than that!

I put my back out – by sneezing – this month. It was not fun, but I forced myself to keep moving, running, stretching, knowing that the worst thing you can do for a back injury is to stop moving. I put together this workout of The Best Exercises to Relieve Back Pain, which definitely worked for me.

April also brought Roman’s first-ever race, a tiny 2 year old dash in Central Park, held by NYRR. I also raced that day, in the Run for the Parks 4 mile, for which I ran a PR and was thrilled!

I also addressed the Fine Line Between Aspiration and Comparison when it comes to motherhood, for Kelly’s blog New Leaf Wellness.

May

Mother’s Day definitely challenges my birthday as one of my favorite days of the year now I’m a mama! On Mother’s Day weekend I also attended the A Healthy U Conference, which was an awesome event organized by three NYC blogger friends.

A Healthy U inspired me to write a post in May, about how we need to Get Rid of SHOULD from our healthy lifestyle vocabularies. So many people at the conference made comments like, “I know I should be doing x, y or z to be healthy,” and seemed to feel like healthy habits were a burden, or a major responsibility they were ignoring.

If you haven’t checked out Kim’s blog, Day With KT, you are missing out. She is an inspiring woman and she made her second attempt at an ultra this month. After she ended up making it a marathon, I felt like she could do with some love and words of inspiration from all her fans, so I reached out to a bunch of her regular readers to compile this post: Some Words of Inspiration #kimrocks

My half marathon PR quest culminated in what was one of the best races of my life. I really gave it everything in the Brooklyn Half Marathon.

Nicole at Work in Sweats Mama had me write a guest post on what it’s like to raise a city kid – when I wasn’t one myself.

June

June brought another chance to reap the benefits of a hard 6 months of half marathon training, with the Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Vermont. It was a brutal race for me – with hindsight of another six months since this race, I’m proud I set a massive course PR for myself. On the day, though, it was a tough time to swallow.

Luckily, we had planned a beach vacation in Florida right after the race, so I was able to drown my sorrows in sun, sand, surf and a few well-deserved cocktails. 🙂

After our return to NYC, I ran the all-women Oakley Mini 10K race in Central Park and clocked up another PR in another distance for the year. I really can’t complain about my running this year!

July

In July I joined in on Marcia’s fun series, Runfessions.

I am a big believer in using walk breaks, especially when you’re new to running, or you tend to have an all-or-nothing approach to racing. So I wrote this post: Running Tips: Using Walk Breaks to Run Faster

We had some 4th of July fun with our cousins in the Hudson Valley. It was such a lovely weekend – lots of running, family fun, frozen drinks and pool trips. 🙂

As a personal trainer, I can tell you that there is nothing I can say, or do, to motivate a client to work out or make changes to their lifestyle. They’re either ready, or they’re not. When they are ready, though, it’s an amazing feeling to be part of that transformation. I Can’t Motivate You.

August

I’m a big fan of short workouts, rather than nothing at all, so I put together these 3 Quick Workouts as an option when you really don’t have much time on your hands.

One of my favorite runs of the year was a laid-back long run on the Summer Streets of NYC. I hadn’t told you guys I was pregnant, but I was so happy I was still able to enjoy such a great summer initiative for runners in the city!

I had the lovely Christine from Love, Life Surf write a guest post for me this month on Yoga: What You Need to Know Before You Practice.

I also wrote a guest post for Nellie at Brooklyn Active Mama, on a quote that resonates with me, about Letting Go of Worn-Out Beliefs about your own abilities.

September

September was a rough month for me…I was not feeling well from pregnancy and blogging really took a backseat, since I was still a little too early on for me to feel comfortable sharing my big news yet!

That said, I was really happy with this Full Body Cable Workout I put together – I LOVE the cables at the gym. They’re one of the most versatile pieces of equipment you can use.

I was also honored to be featured on RD Melissa Burton’s blog series, Friday’s Featured Female, in which I shared my a-ha fitness moment – when I decided to quit my job and become a personal trainer!

After my half marathon-palooza in June, then getting pregnant shortly thereafter, I was feeling a bit at a loss for running or fitness goals. Since it was also the beginning of Fall marathon season, it inspired me to write Running Tips: Post Race Blues.

October 

I ‘fessed up: I’ve Been Lying To You

I saw some of my favorite blogger friends and listened to some smart speakers at Fitness Magazine’s FitBlog NYC. So much fun!

We celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary!

I got all grumpy and annoyed about Unsolicited Parenting Advice.

Someone was an adorable fireman for Halloween. 🙂

November

I shared what I’m really thinking about while working out – during yoga, strength training and running.

Spectating the NYC marathon was so much fun! I loved how excited Roman got about cheering on the runners, as well.

With Thanksgiving approaching, I joined a link-up to share Tips for Planning a Healthy Holiday Menu.

This pregnancy is flying by – in November I hit the halfway mark! Fine Fit Pregnancy – Halfway There!

December 

I loved doing the Elf for Health challenge last year, so I rejoined this year and wrote this post to motivate my fellow elves to feel good bare-faced on the no makeup challenge day: How to Rock NO Makeup.

It had been a while since I ran an organized race – it was fun doing a pregnant 4 mile Jingle Bell Jog in my backyard of Prospect Park!

Who doesn’t love a good Full Body Circuit Workout? Such a great way to get the most bang for your buck in the gym.

Master Reiki instructor Kristin Deiss shared her wisdom with us, on How we Can Find Happiness in the Holidays. (Hint: it’s not champagne).

Christine at Love, Life, Surf had me write a guest post/workout for her, on Upper Body Exercises for Runners.

Christmas was a big hit in our house. Helps when you have a (nearly) three year old. 😉

So that’s the year on Fine Fit Day, wrapped up in a neat package. It’s been so much fun blogging and getting to know my readers and other bloggers better during this year. I’m looking forward to a fabulous 2015 and I hope it’s a wonderful year for all of us!