Resolutions

As with every new year, resolutions are made. Normally I'm not one for resolutions since I always say I'm going to loose weight. Normally that doesn't happen so I never get too excited about resolutions. The last 2 years I have made resolutions and stuck to them. In 2006 my resolution was to try new things. I did just that and then some. I ate vegetables, besides potatoes, green beans, and corn, I did not eat vegetables. I opened up my mind and put aside all my misconceptions about vegetables. I will now eat about every kind of vegetable there is. Another new thing i tried that year was beer. I was a Bud Light and Coors Light drinker. I never strayed away from those beers and in the past if I tried something other than those two I had the bitter beer face. I just didn't like the full flavored beers. That year my wife and I went to Ireland, so in keeping with my resolution I tried new beers. After all I wasn't going to be able to get BL and CL in Ireland. We went to an Irish bar and sampled Guinness, Harp, and Bass. The Guinness felt like a whole meal to me. I was really worried about going to Ireland and not liking any of the beers I had there. Turned out I liked every beer I had in Ireland. We actually made a list of all the different beers I tried. I only had two a day with dinner at the end of the day. I think the biggest turning point in my taste for beer came at the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. They had the actual roasted barley they use to brew Guinness. The roasting is what gives it the dark full flavor. You could take the barley and eat it. Tasting the origin of the beer really gave a better understanding of where beer gets it flavor and allowed me to respect those dark rich beers. So anyway 2006 was a good year for my resolutions.
I carried that momentum into 2007 with a resolution to bike in 2007. I had ridden a MTB with slicks on the local bike paths in 2006 and got the bug for cycling. I decided that in 2007 I was going to go full force into cycling. I purchased a road bike and entered several organized rides. My two biggest accomplishments were I completed my first century, rode in the 3 of the 7 days of BRAN (Bike Ride Across Nebraska). We have a very active group of friends that bike and run so keeping motivated was easy.
For 2008 my resolution is to actually loose weight. I would really like to get down to the 200-210 range. I have a big frame and a muscular base so to go below 200 would be an unreasonable goal. To help accomplish this I have set some higher goals for myself this year. I signed up for a half marathon (13 miles) and intend to do a double metric century (125 miles). I'm currently training for the half marathon and getting ready to start cycling again after a couple months hiatus. The half marathon is in Virginia Beach over St Patty's Day weekend. Our main group of friends are all going and most of them are either running the half or the full marathon. So having that support will help me to achieve my goal. There is a possibility I will run another half marathon in April, but I want to see how the VA Beach one goes first before I commit to a second one. In addition to the running I really want to become a stronger cyclist. I have no intention of ever competing, but I want to keep up with my friends who are in much better shape than I. I also want to be able take on hills better. I was not a big fan of hills last year. My weight hindered my performance on the up hill side.
Wish me luck in 2008, I have set some lofty goals for myself. I hope all your resolutions are met in 2008 as well.

The Dude