So it's January 4th, and it's already been a fairly interesting year (by my standards). Yesterday, I ran a 50K race about an hour away from home, which is the first time I've run that distance (or intentionally run anythng longer than a marathon). It was a good bit of a struggle, with lots of walking in the last third of the race, but I finished it in 5:46:30, so respectable, but not remarkable.
It would have been better had I actually trained for it. I had run a marathon about eight weeks ago, setting a PR of 4:11:20 in the process despite being a few weeks short on my training. After that, I took a few light weeks, worked up to long runs of 15 miles, and ran 3 long runs before this race. That's less than I should have had, but doing this race was a late decision - I only decided to do this about three weeks ago, and it really wasn't until the week before that I really committed. So no 20-milers, no stretch long runs of 24, 25, 27 miles, bur just a silly, naive intention that if I could run a marathon, I could run a 50K. I was right, and I expect I'll be right again some time. They run this race each year, and I came in 21st out of 22 finishers, so I have lots of ways to improve. And hey, there's a first time for everything, which implies a second time, I hope.
After the race (a day after, technically), my kids asked what we were having for dinner, and she say we were going out to eat (a rarity) to a steakhouse (a REAL rarity!). It turns out she was taking me out to celebrate the race, which was a really nice gesture, and great to do on the day before our real 2015 push starts (on diet and exercise fronts).
Sadly, though, much of my extended family is suffering on the heath front. My father-in-law is in the hospital, my niece and grand-nephew are both sick with stomach bugs, and another family member broke his leg at work. It's not good when bad stuff happens, but it's all happening a few steps removed from me, and my immediate family is doing okay, so I'll just count my blessings.
I've now got a few focus areas for 2015: Fitness (losing a little bit of weight, maybe?), Gratitude (showing and feeling it more), Focus (on whatever I am doing - stopping the multitasking) and Family - getting in the time while I still have it with my boys. The first four days were not full of progress against my goals, but I'm okay with that. Tomorrow is Monday, the classic day for new starts, and my wife and I are looking for ways to help each other out. We'll see in a week if our passion for our goals is greater or gone. (I'm hoping the former).
Today's weight: 193.2 (but that's because I raced yesterday. I'm really about 195.5 lbs)
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