Goodbye 2016

Say goodbye to year 2016.

The year I turned 60 is over and done and 61 takes over from here as of this very day. I can't predict what the future will hold. I can only make some choices along the way and see how they play out over the course of the coming year. I somehow managed a few things this past year I might not have accomplished if I hadn't made the choices I did during 2016.

I whined for years to myself and others how I would like to run another half marathon. I got down to business this year and ran it October 22, 2016. I almost let the year get away from me but when I knew the date of this race I figured out a training plan with the weeks left before that date to get ready. It was a tough race with many hills. I did it. That was what I wanted to do. In the past I would have whined about how I didn't have enough time or placed some other obstacles to make it impossible for myself to do it the way I had before but I figured there was nothing to lose except my whining. It worked. I got it done.

I also started the year off with a mileage goal. I calculated the average number of miles I have run the past six years and it is about 560. I thought I would go for 800 miles this year. It was aggressive for me but I figured what could it hurt. My last run for the year was this morning and it gave me a total of 770 miles for 2016. I was short of my goal of 800 but how can I not be more than satisfied that I was able to improve by so many more miles even when I am so much older than I was six years ago?

I'm not sure what made any difference this time around but somehow putting some plans into action did the job. I figured if it didn't work I couldn't be any worse off than my average. No one would be the wiser if I didn't run another half marathon or if I ran my 560 mile average. It wouldn't be any big loss except there were no loss this year. There were only big gains.

It's time to say goodbye to a good year - 2016. It's almost over with only a few hours to spare. Sixty years and I might have learned a thing or two. Now to use that momentum into my new improved age of sixty-one.

Hello there, 2017. What do you have planned?
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