Boy, where is Burgess Meredith when you need him?

If you can't tell by the absence of posts by now, it's been a rough couple of months. Shin splints forced me to take a bit of time off after the Swiss Days 10K at the end of last year, and then I became subject to a combination of downward pressures that I woefully succumbed to:

1) My job's heroic efforts to confine me 24 hours a day to my office chair
2) A series of events that lend themselves to overeating, namely my birthday, Thanksgiving, a few days in San Francisco on the company's dime, including a truly opulent holiday lunch, and pretty much all of December
3) Church obligations that lately have eaten into my discretionary time
4) My own constant wrestle with inconsistency

So here I am, several pounds heavier, pretty much starting all over. I don't think that I'll be able to meet my first goal, which was to run in the St George half marathon on the 22nd, but I've gone and signed myself up for several other upcoming things, which seems to be the best way to motivate me. The pressure of an upcoming race event seems to be my best tonic: "Look, buddy, if you don't get out there and bust your hide, you're going to die on this day (insert race date here)."

I suppose everyone has their own favorite motivators for things; this one is mine, I guess.

End Transmission