2013-52 Week 5

I had something else I was going to talk about, I know I did. Hopefully I’ll think of it before the end of the post. Until then, however, since we wrapped the month of January already, I suppose it is time to go review some resolutions. If you didn’t read the Finale of my 2012-366 blog, below are my five New Year’s resolutions for 2013, along with a brief update on how I’m doing with them.

1) One blog post (longer) every week this year – I’m doing well enough getting these guys up, but I will admit that I’m basically just blogging once a week now rather than contributing things over the course of the week and editing them together. There’s still time to evolve the format, but that’s just the way it is for now. – On Track.

2) Lose at least 20 pounds – This is the resolution that took the biggest hit due to me being sick a couple times in January, but it has started trending the right way in the last week with a big uptick in mileage preparing for the LA Marathon and eating a little better (excluding the Super Bowl party yesterday). With a lot of running anticipated in February, I look to be ahead on this one by the next time I check in. – Behind.
Current Loss: 1 lb – On pace loss: 1.6 lbs

3) Run 400 miles. – Despite missing a week due to being ill, consistently running the other days has put me in a good position so far this year. The advantage of having an early race to prepare for (LA in March) has put me in a good position to reach my goal. The numbers at the end of this paragraph are only for January, but add in the fact that I put in a ten mile run on Saturday and things are looking good. What isn’t looking good is how badly I deluded myself last year when I had only completed a little over ten miles in January and thought I had a shot at 600 miles for the year. Ouch. – Ahead.
Current Mileage (January): 42.2 – On pace mileage: 33.33

4) Write an average of 500 words a day – As I mentioned in the blogging resolution, I’ve been kind of slacking on the writing aspect. It has probably gotten past the point where I can claim a hangover from last year’s blog-a-day, so I suppose I should get my butt in gear. As I’ve mentioned in past posts, the class I’m taking this semester should help, but I also really want to start on my personal projects. Seems like as good a time as any to buckle down and get started. Totals at the end of the paragraph are for January, just like the running paragraph. – Behind.
Current Word Count (January): 7283 – On pace word count: 15500

5) Read a book a month – Despite the fact that I’m currently reading a very good book (“The Signal and the Noise” by Nate Silver) and am very excited to start my next one (“The Fifth Assassin” by Brad Meltzer), I haven’t prioritized this one like I should. At least it is still early and I can change that. – Behind.

Let’s see, what else is there? Ah, I think I do have some quick hits:

– In the first two weeks of my writing class, the only assignment was the aforementioned (last week) bio and interests. Just got the assignment for week 3, and it is participating in the class forum on Moodle. I see we are not yet to the point of Rocket Surgery.

– My second class teaching, however, could not have gone much better, at least on my end. Aside from feeling one hundred percent better, there was good interaction, my demonstrations landed well, and everyone seemed to get it. Now to only keep it up for thirteen more weeks.

– Spring is on the way (I actually didn’t check on the groundhog this year, I’m going to assume it’s coming anyway), and with it, my favorite annual running event. That’s right, Ragnar So Cal! I checked the early maps and the route goes by Hodad’s again! And there are (so far) no eleven plus mile runs, the longest so far is a 9.4! Maybe I should stop using so many exclamation points?! Ooh, interrobang! Sorry, sorry, I’m done. Seriously, this will be my fourth year participating, and I love it every time out.

– Speaking of running, I’m (belatedly) ramping up my distance so I feel somewhat comfortable at the LA Marathon. I’m also getting back into karate after being out sick, and those two events converged into quite a day on Saturday, with two hours of karate class in the morning and two hours of running in the early afternoon. I intentionally gave myself a mental challenge on the run, with ten laps of Chatsworth High School (interestingly enough almost exactly a mile around the perimeter, although off by just enough – between .95 and .97 miles to be exact – to shift the mile marker by about a hundred feet every lap. It forced me to add a bit of a tail onto the end to get to ten miles . . . well, you can see for yourself.

I say it was a mental challenge and I nearly failed it several times, particularly in miles four through eight. Thankfully I implemented the run/walk program I plan to use in the marathon, and it served me well to get me some breaks when I needed them.

– How about that Super Bow . . . er, Big Game, huh? Without a significant investment in either team and a slight preference for the 49ers, that was a heck of a game to watch and at least the attempted comeback made things interesting. One thing I noticed during the halftime show (what? I was at a party where the women slightly outnumbered the guys) was the definite women power theme (there were no men on the stage at all, not singing, dancing, or banding, I mean, playing instruments) which I thought contrasted weirdly with the opposing scantly clad theme. Some of the commercials were kind of funny too, although they were largely forgettable. I will say the gravitas of the “farmers” commercial made us all stop and pay attention while it was on, and the Clydesdale commercial made several people misty.

All right, I think I’m done for now. Have a great week!

Weight: 229 Loss: 1 lbs – Running Yearly Mileage: 55.2 miles (+19 miles) Last year-to-date: 13.5 miles – Words-to-date: 8333 (+1050)