Looking Forward, Looking Back

Happy New Year. Hard to believe 2009 is here. (Anybody remember preparing for Y2K? That was 10 years ago. Where does the time go?)

I looked back at my 2008 goals this morning and it sure looks on paper like a crappy year. The big three goals were to run and bike 1000 miles each and finally hit my weight goal of 199. Zero for three, I'm afraid.

On the running side, I was right on track through early June, but the injury really killed this one. No miles at all in July or August. Had I been able to run and get the Marine Corps Marathon in, that would be a piece of cake.

Biking was much closer at 957 miles. Cold weather this week killed any chance of getting those last few miles in. On the other hand, I don't count indoor spinning miles. First of all, the spin bikes don't have an odometer, but even if they did, I don't think I'd count them. Just not the same.

On the scale, December was a disappointment after a great start. The month wound up about even. Total loss of 19 pounds for the year ending at 222.2, still 23 pounds to goal. The last few weeks have been the best and worst -- kicking ass in workouts but eating it all back by the end of the month.

Looking at the positives, I've added quite a bit of variety to the day to day routine. Lot's of Body Pumping and Boot Camping. Much more toning going on. Even on the running and biking, I've doubled my running miles total from 06/07 and tripled 07's biking miles. Weight wise, a loss is a loss. Slow and steady.

Oh, yeah, there was that marathon thing. And that century bike ride. Not a bad year at all.

This morning, I woke up with a bad headache. Maybe it was from the lack of alcohol. Given the chill in the air with wind chills in the low teens, the last thing I felt like doing was running 5 miles. I was also reeling from pretty much non-stop eating yesterday. By 9 am, my plan for the day was to sit around and do absolutely nothing.

Shortly after that, we were flipping channels and picked up an episode of All Star Workouts on Fit TV. My 8 year old, Matty, started doing the boot camp exercises. Well, I couldn't let him go it alone, so I joined him for the last 40 minutes. That felt good. From there, I headed down to our lonely treadmill for 5 quick miles. Done. Back on track and feeling fine. That was about as quick an up and down and up as I've ever been through. Sometimes the motivation comes from the most unlikely places.

As for 2009, the race schedule is posted and if my feet and legs are healthy, I should be able to record lots of miles. Given that the tough part of the year will be preparing for both the Marine Corps Marathon and Seagull Century in October, I'm keeping the mileage goals the same as last year since I missed them both in '08. As for weight loss, well, that same 199 is still sitting out there. I'm going to take care of that early in the year (I swear!).

There you have it. Thanks for all of your support!

L'Chaim!