Blogging is sometime an interesting challenge. There are times I feel obligated to produce “something”. Considering that it is December 31, 2017 I felt like I should assemble the mandatory “year in review” type of post. Heck, I even had it mostly written. Oh my goodness was that ever a snoozer.
Before we go any farther let me ask a fundamental question. How the hell did it get to be December 31st so fast!? Didn’t the Mummers just strut down Broad Street last week?
Did they even have time to disassemble the floats from last year’s Rose Parade? Has everyone finished all the pork and sauerkraut already? (That last one is a Pennsylvania thing. I don’t get it.) As a child I remember my parents always saying how fast time goes by. I thought they were full of it. The school day seemed to tick by by the fortnight and Christmas took forever to arrive. Now I blink my eyes and I’m another year older and grayer.
But back to recapping 2017. No. That’s still pretty boring. If you follow my blog, you’ve read it all. Phunt, Boston, pain, moose hunting, surgery, recovery . . . blah blah blah. Holy cow can I ever drone on. Happily there were no foot or toe pictures this year. I’m told I don’t have pretty feet especially post-race.
As a triathlete, runner, and cyclist, I watch sports that most other Americans don’t. Let’s face it. If the sport doesn’t start with “foot” and end with “ball” nobody in the US is interested.
But there are other sports out there that the rest of the world sees as real sport and I play along. When watching a cyclist on a breakaway or a runner trying to hold off the chasers, I cringe when I see them looking back over their shoulder. I even yell at the TV! “The finish line isn’t back that way. Look ahead!” or “You can’t do anything about what’s behind you!”
When I think about recapping 2017 or wondering what I may have done differently, it really doesn’t matter. I can’t do anything about it. My time machine is on the fritz. I can look forward to 2018 and beyond. I’m not a big resolution person. I think, for the most part, resolutions are unrealistic empty promises everyone makes and they are forgotten by February. Don’t believe me? Watch the gym the next 3 weeks. Everyone will charge in there next week to get in shape and then give up after two weeks of “nothing happening”. It took 40 years to build that flabby body but it should be gone after two weeks of pushing the pedals on the elliptical machine. “The gym didn’t help me”. I can hear it now. By February, we’ll be back to the normal crowd with only a couple additions.
No resolutions here. Instead I plan to leverage life’s lessons going forward. And not just for 2018. As we know, that will go by faster than a Mamil grabbing a post workout “recovery shake”.
There are random events in life that often make us realize how quickly life passes. Maybe it’s a memory from high school or college that seems like it just happened. Or a familiar smell that snaps us momentarily back to childhood. The important part is the realization that 50 years on this blue orb goes by really, really fast. Suddenly, all the things that you’ll do “someday” slip by. It’s easy to fall into a pattern of saying things like “Next year, we’ll do more fishing”. Or travel, or hang gliding, or rock climbing or whatever your thing is. Our lives have supposedly gotten so busy we postpone the things that make us happy. 
Looking forward, I plan to make the time to do the things I enjoy and go do them. No stupid excuses for putting things off. If it’s a little bit of extra money, well then so be it. If the grass doesn’t get mowed or leaves lay on the ground un-raked that’s fine too. Additionally, I want to be a healthier me. I certainly have been able to achieve a great level of fitness to run, bike, and swim the last few years, but realize I need to be healthier overall. As I return from injury I plan to mix in much more of a variety of strength and flexibility exercise. If that means less running, riding, and swimming that’s okay. I want to be healthy for years to come. I have a lot left to do before I’m 90. And at the rate we are going that is only a month or two from now.
Bring it On 
For 2018, I resolve to continue reading your blog!
Cheers!
Happy New Year Dave! I hope things in Puerto Rico get back to some degree of normalcy.
I hear rumor that the last 30 years is MUCH faster than the previous 50 (numbers could be a little off based on your numberings above). It is important to realize that one is x.x/xxths dead (as in 5.5/8ths dead in my case) so that you can go do the things you want to do before it is “too late”!! I’m not running marathons or triathlons, or climbing rocks with you (though I will continue to cheer you on), but I am up for whatever other adventures come along!! Looking forward to you being back t0 100% before I draw that PA Bull Tag! Happy New Year!