Before we get into talk of the future, and this brand new year, let's take a small step back in time. 2012 was awesome, exciting, and challenging. Ran a half marathon in the city I work and live, Canton, Ohio. Completed my first marathon. I even roped a couple people into this lovely sport of running. Here are some stats for your viewing pleasure:
1 trip to Chicago
3 pairs of shoes used
10 races
140 runs
632 miles
98,000 calories burned
most importantly: over $1,000 raised for Active:Water
Speaking of Active:Water. Director extraordinaire Daren Wendell will be running across the United States of America in 2015 (for more information view his blog on the list of links to the right). Pretty awesome, huh?
Another item of business I'd love to mention is that I'm recruiting a team of runners for the Akron Marathon to run for Active:Water. I would be honored to have you as a member of the team. Whether you haven't run a day in your life or just qualified for Boston there's a spot for you! You can choose any race distance you want. We'll train together (if local), fund-raise together, and become awesome friends!
I had a lot of fun in 2012. Over the past few days I've seen a lot of talk about resolutions and goals and they've inspired me to write down some things I already had planned for 2013. Sharing them with all of my loyal readers will hopefully inspire some of you to make some action items for yourself. I'm not trying to be a one upper but I don't have resolutions or goals set in place. I've got missions! "The difference between a goal and a mission is attitude". That's a quote (or as close to the quote as I can remember) from a book I recently purchased.
 | ||
| Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay books! |
So, onto the missions!
1. Put together a killer team to run for Active:Water. Last summer I applied, and was selected, to captain a team that will raise money and awareness. What is Active:Water you ask? It's a non-profit organization that provides clean water, hygiene, and the love of Christ to people who desperately need it. Here's a short video about the group:
2. Run another marathon. This mission is connected to the first. I'm not a big pace setter or watch.. watcher (?) but I would like to complete it faster than Chicago.
3. Complete a triathlon. I'll git r dun March 16th. St Pattys day and endurance racing. What can be better than that?
4. Start training for my first Ironman. I've mentioned this on past posts, but I will be doing an Ironman in 2015. Does it take two and a half years to train for one? I don't know (haven't gotten that far in the book). This isn't an idea I pulled out of the sky and I'm not just trying to raise the stakes after each longest distance I've completed. Before I ran my first 5k I've been intrigued by the Ironman and after it's completed I won't be looking ahead to any further distances. Endurance sports have been a great blessing in my life. It's a great platform to help those in need and the personal benefits can't be ignored.
Those are the running/sports themed missions. I also have personal ones that I won't dig too deep into. The Canton Costello clan is going to strengthen their relationship as a family and with the Lord. We're going to pay down debt. Work on saving for a house. Buy a second vehicle. Send a child off to preschool. MAN. I have a kid going into preschool. When the crap did that happen? Wow. This is a lot of stuff.
I'd also like to keep this blog going. While I enjoy you reading my blog I get benefits from writing. One day I can bring these entries up and show my kids. They'll more than likely be bored and I'll use it as a threat to make them do their homework. After that, when they're older, maybe they'll learn stuff about me that I will not have told them, due to old age and memory loss.
Oh I have some blog business to promote. On January 25th my blog will be featured by the great people at the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon! My page will be shared with the masses. Masses! Isn't that exciting?
So 2013? Today, it starts! How did I start it? With a run of course!
I ran the Resolution Run, benefiting the First Christian youth group's trip to Haiti. How did I do? Did I start the year off with a PR? Did the excitement of a new year and a clean slate possibly propel me into a top three finish for my age group?
In a word, no. I didn't do well at all. It was possibly the worst timed race I've ever completed. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. Ended up being through packed down snow, which is by no means an excuse. Although when I got back onto the pavement I wanted to stop mid stride and kiss the pavement, Indianapolis 500 style. Should have brought those friggin yak trax! I'm glad I was able to benefit a worthy cause. With a little more preparation on my part I may have done half decent. Well you know what they say, what does not kill us make us stronger. Starting off a year with a run like I had today means I've got nowhere to go but up. At the end of the day I gave it my all. I left it all on the court. Cheesy sports cliches aside, I will do much better next time.
Today I learned that I need to start training for the St. Pattys day sprint tri this week. This should be fun. Here goes nothin'!
Thanks for reading!
Do you have any missions for yourself this year? I'd love to hear 'em!
No comments:
Post a Comment