You say you want a resolution

Happy 2006 everyone. Usually I'm not so into the whole resolution thing. If I had one last year, I don't remember what it was. But thinking back on last January, an era otherwise known as "Dammit, Henry's Sick Again," my resolution was probably something like, "Always stay awake while operating a motor vehicle," or "Never snore during meetings," or maybe "Try to remain upright in chair while napping at desk." Oh well--at least I didn't get in an accident.

But this year is different. This year, I have a resolution. Actually, it's not a resolution so much as an idea about something I'm probably going to do. And that is (drumroll): Run the Ottawa half marathon at the end of May!

Here's my thinking: The half marathon distance (21 KM) strikes a good balance between challenging (it wouldn't take much effort or training for me to run a 10K) and realistic (I've seen marathon training firsthand, and have no desire to put myself through it). And I need something to motivate me to exercise on a regular basis. See, I really don't like exercising for its own sake. I like competition, and in the past I'd exercise in order to train for competition. But when there's no score to keep or opponent to beat, I become pretty lazy. So I'm hoping a race will bridge the gap for me.

Beyond my innate laziness, two other factors could interfere with my plan. The first is my rather intense dislike of going outside when the weather is bad. I guess that's kind of a subfactor in my general laziness. The other factor is a bit more serious: it seems that my body is falling apart. Bad ankle, bad knee, bad hip, bad back, weak torso--it's getting ugly. So even if I do find the inner motivation to do my training runs through the winter chill and spring muck, I'm honestly not sure if my body will be able to take it. But I'll give it a shot.

Now it's time to download a training schedule and start getting psyched up to actually run five days a week.