I Resolve

Welcome to the year 2008! It is my humble opinion that even years are the bearers of good things, while odd years may or may not be noteworthy. For example, I was born in, graduated high school in, graduated college in, and began employment with the XOM in an even year; all good things. And with 2008 having an extra day, I do expect truly great things!

While not wanting to linger on an odd year, I must note my running at the conclusion of 2007. A couple of weekends ago I ran the eight miler with HoustonFIT and then headed home for the holidays. While in Skipperville, I ran two speed workouts; a 6 x 90 seconds x 90 seconds, and then a 5 x 120 seconds x 120 seconds. I returned to Houston in time for the 10 miler last Saturday but the cold weather scared me off. Melissa told me that I wasn't alone, as only about 5 people showed up for the run (but not to fear, Felix still held the small group in the blistering cold for a ten minute pre-run talk!). Sunday, before heading out to New Orleans for the new year, I did manage to make it to Memorial for a six mile run.

While on the topic of New Orleans, my apologies to those of you I awoke with early morning calls during the wee hours of Monday, December 31st. As my college roommate Jason put it, we partied it up on Sunday night, and as a result, acted our age on New Years eve! You know it's a good night when you have to check your cell phone to remember who you called. Perhaps even better is the conversation on Monday night in which the person tells you "We discussed all of this last night"; good times! All I'll say is if you are going to do an Absinthe shot, do it early in the night instead of as you're leaving Bourbon street.

As for New Orleans, this was my ump-teenth trip since my first time in the Big Easy way back in 1998, but my first since the 'canes of 2005. As I expected, the French Quarter seemed no worse for wear, and I was even hard pressed to notice any difference in the area as a whole. Though the city is apparently still struggling to recover, they have smartly fixed up the tourism areas, which is after all, their money maker.

I was quite intrigued by the Georgia vs. Hawaii Sugar Bowl vibe in New Orleans. The Georgia people seemed somewhat respectful of the fact that the Hawaii faithful had travelled thousands of miles of the for the game, and therefore weren't in a very confrontational mood. The Hawaii people, most of whom I'm sure had never even been to the state of Louisiana, seemed quite awe struck with the Bourbon Street experience. Oddly enough that vibe led to a fairly boring New Year's Eve, as people just wandered about, doing the occasional Hawaii chant or Georgia Bulldog bark. The night before, when things weren't quite as packed and people were in a more traditional Mardi Gras mood, turned out to be more exciting. It is worth noting that Georgia's thumping of Auburn made this my first time on Bourbon Street without my traditional bright orange Auburn hat. I did, however, lead some Hawaii people in endless taunting of the Georgia fans from the Bourbon Street balcony at the Cat's Meow! Good times; Go Warriors!!!

So for 2008, everyone wants to know, what are your resolutions. To start the new year, I don't know that I have much in mind other than standard stuff; I need to be more faithful with my trips to the gym, I need to eat better, and I need to drink less (I'm too old for all this partying, gotta pick and choose my moments). The only unique thing that I can commit to at this point is trying to get into swimming in the new year. I would like to do a Half Ironman at some point, maybe even this Fall, so I kind of need to not swim like a brick (chest high, ass low ... not very efficient). My 24 Hour Fitness has a nice pool, so my only excuse is my laziness. As I stew on this new, even numbered year, I'm sure I'll come up with some more self improvement items to focus on as time passes.

Less than two weeks to go to the Houston Marathon. I feel the need, well, for speed, so I intend to get a couple of additional speed workouts in. Other than that, all I can do is try and make sure my legs are well and my mind is ready for the last marathon of my "2007 season".

I hope this year, like all even years, brings you good health and happy times!