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For all practical purposes 2017 is gone and with it all my hopes and dreams of running the world. Drat! Not much I can do now but settle for having run a few States, since there’s always next year, which is only weeks away now anyhow. And so we’re left with Christmas looming, and me running to, and, oddly enough, from it.
To be clear, I adore Christmas. My only enduring complaint over the years has been the cold that it ushers in. As with all things though, I’m learning to deal and who knows, maybe this year I’ll even break new ground and like it. Plans are in motion for a snow run as I attempt to embrace this new, bold, count-your-blessings me. So here we are – December – and while it’s pretty late in the game, it wouldn’t be me if I weren’t trying to scrape a goal or two out of the few days left. In all likelihood, I’ll probably be left hanging with a few things that I wasn’t able to accomplish but no matter because I’m alive, healthy, and ready to grab 2018 by its proverbial horns – and mind you, that wasn’t even a goal. I’m slowly coming to that place where sometimes you just have to be thankful and accepting of what you can do.
Meanwhile, just for this month, in true dash-to-the-finish style, I’ve committed myself to a 5/6-day gym week and 4/5 days of various training runs for the next two weeks, though I can’t promise that even half of them will be done outside. It’s just too dark, and oftentimes too chilly, by the time I’m laced up and ready to go. With all of that going on, I still have a race or two left, depending on how I do this weekend, before wrapping up a year of running.
You can see why I remain torn in wanting to welcome those jingle bells but feeling a tad anxious about the expected surge of cold weather and the running that must accompany it. There’s also the impending, but standing year-end, 2017 goal tally that follows Christmas as the frost follows Winter. Gotta say I’m not lining up and ready to go on any of those right now. In all honesty, I’d have prefer to have spent a little more time in October, but again, in keeping with the new me, I’ll focus on the blessing of having made it to this point in what has been a tumultuous year all around. My reasonable response then is to embrace all that I have and do and run with it. And, cold or not, I intend to do just that. Bring it December!
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