Big Bear Lake-Weekend of the Kodiak 100 
yes I make a “to do list” on vacation
What a crazy busy week and fun packed weekend! And how did I get it all in? My answer is.. By Planning and Making the Time. I had decided this year that I wanted to actually see some of these Ultra Races I have been a fan of in person. I had participated in the Antelope Canyon Half Marathon this spring and got up super early before my race to cheer the 100 mile race participants at their start. My other excuse was to get the lay of the land for next year’s 50K I hope to do (I have signed up). I had also heard about the AC100 (Angeles National Forest) and the Kodiak 100 (Big Bear) which are literally in my backyard and I have no excuse not to make time for, so when I was looking at this summer I knew I had to block off time for these events. The AC 100 I ended up volunteering at and the Kodiak 100 I was able to watch this weekend in person up at Big Bear Lake.
Perfect segue into … Time Blocking. Have you heard of it?
Time Blocking is a methodology which can help you become Ultra Productive ( wink wink 🙂
Time Blocking is a type of scheduling that can help you manage your time better. Instead of working with the clock, you can focus on finishing tasks one at a time. This will help you limit distractions, and not put such an emphasis on when you will do something but that you will complete within a time frame such as a day or week. It never fails that when I try to stick to a hourly schedule I get interrupted and end up having to push back tasks anyways. This type of plan to me is more realistic and less self sabotaging.
Now all the reading I have done on this subject has mainly been about Time Blocking for Work/Personal, but it got me thinking. What if it was just for our Healthy Habits? I remember the blackberry and the leather covered organizer I use to carry with me everywhere and I do miss it. I think we have to gotten away from this style of organization over the last ten, fifteen years or so and it sounds like “Time Blocking” is a cry from those of us that crave order and need help to keep focused, to bring back something more updated.
So to get started, in your calendar simply block off a specific or generous amount of time to preform your healthy habit ( running, meditation, biking, massage, swimming…), a healthy “To Do List”. By scheduling a block you are prioritizing the healthy habit, giving it as much weight as a project at work or an appointment with the dentist (boy I am just cracking myself up over here). Here are some tips:
- Get tools- There are a ton of Apps that you can use – such as TimeCamp, ToDoist, and Wunderlist…
- Prioritize- For the day or week, list in order of importance and block the time of day when you know you are the most productive.
- Be able to adjust. We cannot predict our day so we need to be able to be flexible and know that as long as we get the task done that day or week that is good.
Now back to my beautiful weekend. What a race! I was lucky enough to see the some of the elite finishers for the Kodiak 100 and was humbled and definitely geeked out a little. There is a new course record for the 100 mile set by Rod Farvard in 19:31 and it was his first attempt at this distance. For the 50 mile race the first female finisher, Katie Asmuth just happened to be the 2nd place finisher for the 50 mile race overall… that was Crazy Good!!
His pacer was so proud he lifted him up! 
Katie Asmuth ..you are amazing!
Needless to say I am so happy I made time for this getaway weekend. I plan on planning more of these…lol! okay enough already!
Exercise- I had a minor shoulder twinge in the start of the week that left me waiting until the weekend to do any major exercising. I was able to get in 16 altitude miles- 8 trail miles with elevation and 8 road miles. & 1 day of weights.
Meal Prep – Grilled Turkey Burgers w/ rice, Shrimp, and roasted broccoli. At my time share where I stayed there was a nice big grill so I brought some items to meal prep for the week.
Have a Happy and Healthy Week!!
Making The Effort... 