End of Year Wrap-Up

Wow, has it really been four months since I last wrote? Well, I'm posting now so that I don't end 2008 -- a watershed year indeed for many of us -- without at least one final post for the year.

I've actually been running, believe it or not. I had every intention of running during my working holiday in Singapore back in September, and had even brought my shoes, socks, and at least two sets of clothing -- one to wear, one to wash -- so that I wouldn't have any excuse. I had the motivation, the will and the training behind me.

What I didn't have, however, was the realization of what 95% humidity and such close proximity to the equator would do to even the most devoted runner's good intentions.

Ohhhhh....daaaaaaaaaaaamn. Singapore was more than hot. It was more than sweltering. I'm sure the Chinese and Malays possess a word that adequately describes the Lion City's climate, but it doesn't exist in English. In any case, I did no running at all those three weeks, although I did plenty of walking. I think we walked at least a half-dozen miles each day. The heat was so oppressive that we actually ate less than we normally do, mostly because we were overheating too much to really do much more than sigh heavily and wipe the sweat of our brow. Elegant, huh?

Anyway, I went back to running within two weeks after we returned and remained strong and consistent until about mid-December, when my ulcerative colitis got the best of me and I had to move my running indoors. I've been on the treadmill at the gym ever since, and while it's not always easy to run 45, 50 minutes on a treadmill facing an office park and small, forlorn children's playground, the Sansa mp3 player I got as an early Xmas present to myself helps tremendously.

So here you go. I've done pretty well in my running this year, better than I have the past three or four, and am proud of myself for sticking through weather (except in Singapore), travel and illness. I wish I'd been able to run a half-marathon as I had planned, but I'm looking towards 2009 now. I've some plans for the new year that might involve at least one half and a couple of 10k's, but I'm waiting until late February to finalize them. (I was too late to sign up for the Canyonlands Half in Moab in March, a real bummer as my editor and his wife are running it and it would've been nice to join them.)

In the meantime, the only resolutions I really have for the new year are to do less and finish my novel. By "do less," I mean that I want to suppress the tendency that I have to overschedule myself with projects that ultimately have very little personal meaning for me. I want to finally finish this book and get it out of my plate, out into the world where it will hopefully find a publishing home. And of course, I want to continue my running progress and perhaps run a half-marathon by the end of the year. Small goals, to be sure, but doable, I hope.