2013

The numbers

 

Swim: an hour or so total

Bike: 240 hours ~4000 miles

Run:  1850 miles ( zero in December)

 

the first year I remember that I did not capture a Goals List

 

oh, I had goals  just the Same but without a list it's a bit harder to reflect.

 

so….

 

what went well?

 

1.  I think I was a better dad in 2013….  might be my best year yet…  not the easiest… Parenting is hard…  really hard…   and not just hard to do…  hard to know if you are even on the right track.  

 

oh I do love the parents of second graders who think they have it all figured out…. I simply smile and nod…  they will see one day

 

these days with an 18 year old…  and a 20 year old I find myself listening more, asking more questions, and giving gentle advice….  a tectonic shift from the "drill sergeant dad" i once was…

 

2.  Career is going okay too… I count myself very lucky…  I have a job that is rewarding, coworkers and a staff that I really like and enjoy interacting with, yet my job does not control my life.  win-win

 

3.  I am also oh so fortunate to be married to the sweetest woman on the planet…. peace, love, and harmony at home….  the richest blessing anyone could ask for

 

4.  RATS was once again a tremendous journey…  both the training for and the trip/race…  memories and lessons to hold dear for a lifetime…  yet after 3 trips the desire to run through the desert has left me.  I sucked at being an ultrarunner this year…  yet I finished in the top 5 overall in the only two 5ks I did…  maybe I should think about that…

 

5.  I have made some new friends… after RATS my running quite literally fell apart…  Cycling is what I wanted to concentrate on for a while and to that end Judi and I started riding with one of the cycling groups here in town…  in the past few months I have met a bunch of people and am really having a blast riding 2-3 times a week with these guys…

 

Okay…

we have started this off on a positive note…  good.

 

The one thing that will forever define 2013 is the loss of my mother…

 

I've lost aunts and uncles, grandparents, and cousins…  even a couple of friends along the way… but never anyone so close….  And really who could be closer?

 

I've seen other lose their parents and while I have felt for them…  in the back of my mind I've always thought…  "well..  it's the natural order of things…  they knew it was going to happen…  they should really just get over it"  and there you have it friends…  in the back of my mind I'm an asshole

 

Nine months on…  and I still tear up at a memory…  a "I'm going to ask my mom about" this that or the other thought that I have…

 

I would write some more and try and wrap this up on a positive note but I don't really have anything else to say about 2013…  so let's just do a picture show

 

January:

Lots o stairmilling

 

February:

Breast Cancer Marathon in memory of an old friend

 

March:

Running in the rain with Jimmy

 

April:

Mom

 

May:

Self-supported midnight Marathon

 

June:

Another great week with our RATS Family

 

July:

 

Golf

 

August:

 Key West with my youngest

 

 

September: 

Group Ride to Amelia on Labor Day

 

October:

 

Muddy Cyclocross

 

November:

Bike crash on the Guana Ride

 

December:

 

 

Late Friday afternoon solo ride