Happy New Year’s Day!

No time to waste: it is time to start making good on your New Year’s Resolution. Was it to exercise more? Spend more time with family? Get outside more? Spend less on coffee? Finally start that home improvement or crafting project? Eat healthier? Floss? No matter what you selected, I hope it has an element of fun and the pursuit is rewarding.

I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on two past resolutions of my own: flossing and running 2000 miles in a year. Flossing first.

I came home from my first semester of college and was shocked to learn that I had eight cavities! Not just shocked, but viscerally upset: I cried (a little) in the car. I brush my teeth twice daily and eat a mostly balanced diet. I did not understand how this happened. No individual culprit was identified, but suspects included gum, gatorade, and diet changes. After a long procedure, I was deemed cavity cured and was encouraged to moderate and alter consumption patterns. I also took this as a personal wake-up to start flossing. Thus, my 2009 resolution was to floss daily, and I estimate I achieved a 90% success rate. I maintain this rate presently and am proud to be a regular flosser.

Riding on the success of my 2009 resolution, I committed to a 2010 goal of running 2000 miles in the calendar year. The idea for this goal came in my senior year of high school when I was only 50 miles shy of the 2000 mark. Forty miles per week over fifty weeks? Roughly seven miles per day six days a week? Reasonable enough for a long time runner, or so I thought January 1.

My plan did not play out quite so simply. I was sidelined by injuries and other commitments, and by August, I was only halfway to my goal. Thankfully, a mentor encouraged me to continue my pursuit as I was questioning my resolve. Through the fall, I ran 50-70 miles per week to stay on pace. I completed another running goal en route: 100 miles in a single week. I loved it, but it also limited me. I forwent socializing to log miles. My friends and family did not seem to quite understand why 2000 was so important, which made it harder to celebrate my progress and the sacrifice it demanded. I reached my goal on December 25 following a five mile run, my Christmas present to myself. In total, I ran 2011 miles – one for every year and one for good luck. In reflection, I am glad I did it, but if I never do it again, that will be okay too.

What about this year? I don’t have a resolution, not yet anyway. There are some things I plan to experimentally change, for instance adding more dancing to my social calendar. This is the first full year I will not be formally enrolled in school, and I am in pursuit of a new job in a new city. These facts are guaranteed to shake things up, so I am hesitant to plan too much. I would like to resolve to keep blogging, and I think that meets my suggested criteria of fun and rewarding.

Here’s to 2013!