The last day of 2010...

Friday, December 31, 2010

So this is it…the last day of the year. I suppose…in hard reflection…it was a good year for me. Though I lost my brother and Holly’s mom had a bad fall, some very positive things happened.

First and foremost…I began writing this blog with the intention of getting myself back in shape and, more importantly, back in the frame of mind that I am and will always be…dedicated to health and fitness. I had slipped away from that commitment over a number of years and I needed something to lock me in. Writing this blog has done that for me. I’ve worked out for most of my adult life…sometimes even harder than I have this past year…but never with the commitment level I currently have when I wasn’t training for a specific event. I don’t really know how many people read this or for those that do, if it helps them with their own fitness commitments…but it sure helps me and I’m never going to stop.

I suppose the other reason I believe it was a good year is that, relatively speaking, I’m quite healthy and am still surrounded by a pretty incredible wife and family. Losing Jim and Bob reaffirmed what I already knew…relationships matter so much more than stuff…and I’ve got some really wonderful relationships in my life. I also remind myself constantly that no matter what is happening to me…plenty of people are suffering more and that when I work to help those people, my problems melt away.

I had a tired ride on the bike. I suppose I was still feeling yesterday’s effort…but it was extremely tough and I was regularly looking at the stop watch…trying to hurry the time, which, of course only makes it longer. A former student stopped over and we made pinole before heading with Dakota to the park for a hike. He loves the woods and so I took him off-trail and down through the marsh. The going was sloppy and added to the workout, which made me feel good about the last day of the year…doing another double.

I worked many years in the hospitality business and spent numerous New Years working a party while Holly sat at home. I hated it then and when I no longer had to spend the evening that way, determined that I’d just stay home and not worry about the amateurs on the road…so that’s what we did. After a dinner of Anne Ann’s dough wrapped around hot dogs and chased with chocolate milkshakes, we watched ‘Michael’ until midnight, switching to Dick Clark for the final countdown.

Attitude shapes experience for the coming year and I believe mine is good. Let’s see what I can do about 2011.

Bike duration: 60 minutes. Hike duration: 65 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 130 biking. 70 hiking.
Calories burned during workout: 900 biking. 350 hiking.