Reflections and Resolutions

As we cash in on what little we have left of this year, I couldn't help but click back to previous blog entries and reflect on some of the things I posted during 2009:

• When the year started, I was in pursuit of a new 10K PR. I got it with a 55:38 chip time at the Bayou City Classic. Now that seems like an eternity ago and I wonder if I'll ever run like that again.
• It was both a year of remarkable drought (Houston's historically rainiest month of June was totally dry) and remarkable flooding.
  
• I took home finisher medals from my seventh and eighth half marathons. But I was the most excited to be there as I saw my sister collect her first.
• Internet delivery of movies and television shows became something that happens at my couch, not the computer chair.
• As I got settled into my new apartment, I met some unexpected neighbors.
• While out on a run, I watched a man die.
• While tummy troubles gave me grief in the latter half of the year, achilles concerns weighed down my running in the first half.
• As I suspected, a relay event can be really fun.
• And I still can't beat Gary Kubiak.

Having been a kid intrigued long ago by the movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact, having this next calendar year actually arrive is rather cool. Over Christmas, a very special holiday elf gifted me with a runner-centric calendar by Marty Jerome. I'm not familiar with his writings now, but I'm guessing that I will be by the end of the twelve months. I hope it will help me with my perpetual resolution to become more organized. I'm okay with not being a fast runner, or a runner logging monstrous mileage. But I'd like to be consistent. So I'm modestly resolve to log at least 730 miles in that book, or an average of two miles a day. It's intentionally modest because I'd also like to leave myself more open for cross-training opportunities.

Second, I resolve to be a better spender of money. Being fiscally prudent recently through the economic downturn has paid off, and I'm fortunate to be employed and comfortable with my level of savings. So I hereby give myself permission to spend more -- not in a frivolous sense, but in ways that I feel will enrich my life.

I hope to improve my life in other ways, of course, but those are the two resolutions I'll declare on this blog post. May 2010 be blessed and prosperous for my readers, and may it provide reason to celebrate once again one year from today.