New Year But Not A New Beginning

I think it's a common thing to use special occasions as 'starting points'. New Year's Day is a perfect example. It's a day known for resolutions intended to help us become better people. We do the same thing on birthdays, holidays, the beginning and ending of seasons, etc. Over and over, we say things like, "I'm going to start working out more in the new year." "My diet begins right after Christmas." "I'm 30 now... time to start making healthier choices."

I'm a big fan of goal-setting, challenging yourself, and general self-improvement. But I feel like our habit of using 'special' dates as starting blocks can actually work against us instead of for us. I'm certainly guilty of delaying an intended goal just so I have a more important starting date to mark the beginning of my next adventure.

Take this blog for instance... There's a definite correlation between my production on this blog and my workouts. I'm not sure about the cause-and-effect, chicken-or-the-egg of it, but the more I write in this blog, the more consistent I am about working out. (Or the more consistently I work out, the more I write in this blog.) So for months, I've been planning to get back into updating my blog. I've even had several false starts along the way. (I have a half-dozen unpublished drafts just sitting there.) One of the reasons I didn't just get back into it is because I wanted something worth writing about to happen. I was waiting for a good starting point. Then... several perfectly good starting points came and went without me taking action. So I would wait for the next opportune moment to come along and eventually, the clock struck midnight, we turned the page on the calendar, and strolled into 2013. A new year and a new beginning!

But I want to break my cycle of delayed starts. So I'm changing my mindset. I refuse to think of this as a new beginning. Instead, it's just me resuming something that never really stopped. I'm picking up where I left off. The story went on even while it wasn't being written and now I'm just rejoining our broadcast already in progress. This way, if I ever stray again, maybe I won't feel the urge to wait so long to get going again. Maybe I'll just pick up where I left off the very same day that I feel the urge to write (or run, or swim, or bike, or whatever) again.

It's like any other challenging thing in life... there will always be reasons why today isn't the best time to take on that challenge. Eventually, you just have to forge ahead regardless of the obstacles.

So while today is New Year's Day 2013... as far as this blog is concerned, it's just another day. And any day is a good day for a run!

(Not a bad sight for starting a run.)

Tuesday
Goal For The Day: Easy Run.
Distance: 3.89 Miles.
Time: 31:08. 8:01 Avg. (7:49, 7:47, 8:10, 7:21*).
Route: Old Town Eureka Loop w/ Cul-de-Sac Ext.
Conditions: 26 degrees. 4:43PM.
Run Details On Garmin
Run Details On Nike+

Notes: This was my first run since November 22, 2012. Yikes! I don't know that I've gone that long without running in about 10 years. It was a cold one but I was surprisingly comfortable. Took it easy and had to slow down for ice on the Hwy 44 overpass. It feels good to get back out there. Now I just have to make time to keep going out. Nike+ tidbit: 4.86M less and 0:18/M slower than the average of my last 7 runs.

Daily Miles: 3.89 Miles.
2013 Totals:
  Run - 3.89 Miles.
  Bike - 0.00 Miles.
  Swim - 0.00 meters.