2013: Might as Well End it Here

It's the halfway mark of December, but it might as well be the end of the month and thus the end of the year, because that's how it feels. I'm done with 2013. Here is my take on the obligatory "year in review" post that everyone is doing now.

Don't get me wrong. This has been a momentous year, all except for when it comes to my running. While being fit and healthy is important to me, it just wasn't a top priority this past 12 months. And that's OK. There's always next year. But first, let's take a look back.

We have to start with my goals for 2013, which I didn't bother to announce until Oct. 11, exactly a month after my son was born. My goals were meager, but still mostly unattainable. They were:

• Break 1,000 miles 400 miles 200 miles.
• Weigh 170 pounds 175 pounds 180 pounds
• Return to the Akron Marathon and run two trail races Run a 5K this winter
• Run barefoot 10 percent of this year's total mileage

Let's see how I fared!

You Take the Good
At 13, my barefoot mileage is actually more than 10 percent of this year's 129 miles. I should probably keep my not-running streak going to make sure I maintain this singular running achievement.

However, if you want the real good stuff, you have to look beyond the miles I ran in 2013, because babies be life changing. I ran three times after Baby Viper was born, and that was all in October. Instead, I've been focusing on being a dad, which is way cooler than slogging out a few miles a day.

Baby Viper has put on nearly 10 pounds since he came into the world a month early. He's smiling up a storm, and that wipes away any disappointment I may have in regard to other aspects of my life.

Mrs. Viper and I are adjusting well to life as a couple married with children. We're tired and sometimes cranky with each other, but I sense we're growing stronger and learning to better communicate our needs.

Although I haven't played as much music as I had hoped to this year, I've made great progress in learning to play the fiddle. Once I found I could play in the mornings and not wake up Mrs. Viper and not make my son cry in holy terror, I started to get into a good practice routine. There's still a long way to go, as old-time banjo and fiddle guru Dwight Diller says, "It takes 10 years just to start learning to play the fiddle."

Our holiday gift beer should be ready to taste on Tuesday, though I'll probably let it condition a little longer before testing to make sure recipients won't gag on their homemade Christmas gift.

Which brings me to our debt situation. We've paid off one credit card and 25 percent of another, taking us to more than 8 percent of our total since signing up at ReadyForZero. That's good progress in two months.

You Take the Bad
Unfortunately, the rest of my running and health related goals were a bust. I'm sitting at 129 miles for the year, well shy of my revised goal of 200. My weight continues to hover around 190 pounds, but this past month it's consistently been below that undesirable mark by two or three pounds, so hooray for movement toward that 180-pound goal line. As you are all well aware, I didn't run a single race this year, and it doesn't look like Mrs. Viper and I will get ourselves to a 5K this winter. Maybe the spring?

And There You Have the Facts of Life
OK, so I purposefully kept the bad parts of this review contained in one paragraph while lauding my non-running triumphs, but as Johnny Mercer says, you have to accentuate the positive. I know I'll get back to running eventually. I know things won't always be this hectic. Time won't always feel so crunched. Everything ebbs and flows.