New Year’s Resolutions

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My New Year’s Resolution is to finish a marathon. This resolution has been my favorite.

Resolutions are starting to get a bad name. Many say, “you should not have to wait until January 1 to decide to lose weight, stop smoking, exercise or eat better. You should decide on  better habits year-round.”

The typical resolution lasts about one month. That is the period when most gym parking lots are full. Have you seen someone driving around a gym lot to get the closest parking spot? How about the person who drives two miles to the gym to walk a mile on a treadmill?

I’ve seen a person’s resolution not to make resolutions, and he has been able to keep that goal for 20 years.

New this year are Anti Resolutions. An example, “I will not stop smoking this year.”  I might have to break that resolution this month.

Every year, I reflect on the past and what is to come. I set goals for what I want to do. Around late December, race season is the slowest, and I am usually slacking off from training. Uncle Sam’s tax year starts on January 1, so it’s a good time for an annual budget review.

I’ve had some good resolutions in the past. One year, “I won’t call my customers morons.” When operating a race event management and timing company, I looked at the race participants as customers rather than the organization that hired us.

Over the years, I’d mutter under my breath, “fricken moron,” when a runner earned the tag. Some behavioral examples include: wearing a bib number on their back, getting lost on a straight road, showing up 10 minutes before the start, asking for an entry fee refund, and walking over the timing and race-related equipment.

In the latter example, we usually put caution tape or fence barriers around our equipment. Those did not stop people, as caution tape meant “crawl under,” and fencing meant “climb over.”

I was managing a New Year’s Day race that started at 11 am the year I started this resolution. At 10:15, I joked with my computer operator that I almost blew it. I did keep that resolution for the entire year.

In my area, a woman runner once said she was a fellow Mensan. For a while, I thought she was and just played stupid. It’s an excellent way to hide your abilities. Unfortunately for her, she was joking about Mensa.

For 2017, my resolution was no talking politics. That was a relaxing year.

My goals this year are to do at least one posting per week, no later than Monday morning, and finish a marathon or four.

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