And the bloggie goes to ...

Award winning accomplishments for the past year go to Max for his double iron man and Ted for his WTF marathon in the Hamptons followed by his "real" NYC marathon a few short weeks later.

Running Resolutions for 2012

1) cross train more and better.

2) do more speed work.

3) break 1000 miles for the year.

4) break 2 hours again for half marathon.

5) find cool December or January marathon to run (never done one that time of year).

6) Try tri?

A Jewish Christmas in Istambul

We spent the last eight days in Turkey most of which with the family of a guy I have known since pre-school. That is now 50 years ago and this was a terrific reunion. To visit the mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent with your oldest friend is pretty special. So was Christmas Eve which we spent at the home of a Jewish family my friends had met on a previous trip. I knew it was going to be special when they sent their drivers to pick us up at the hotel. It was dinner party for 20 counting the seven of us with their neighbors and oldest childhood friends. All were sophisticated, educated, highly westernized, worldly successful business people who had grown up in Turkey although one of the neighbors now was an art dealer in Europe. The home was gorgeous in the hills overlooking the Bosphorus. Dinner was prepared by the chef of the probably the most celebrated restaurant in Istambul. Unbelievable dishes like a Michelin 3 star in Paris. Learned a lot about the current divides and politics of Turkey. Never really had a night like this before. 4 hours sailed by and taxis brought us back to the hotel well after 1 AM.

Had a nice 10K the next morning to begin working off the 3000 magnificent calories I consumed. Nice thing about vacationing in a Moslem country, everything is open on Christmas! But miss the movie and Chinese food that is the hall mark of a Jewish Christmas in the United States.

Happy New Year everyone.

The Year's Top 10

I surfed our little blog this morning. Here's my pick for the top 10 posts of the year. The order of listing is the order in which I located them.

1. Spencer's top-10 reasons series. Forced to pick one, I go with number 8.
2. "FALL." It was a great run.
3. Spencer on the Pilgrim's 5K. An age group podium and the post isn't even about that.
4. Paul on getting back to running. Despite "peeps."
5. Our series on fall marathons. Berlin, Hamptons, Chicago, Marine Corps, and New York. Gotta pick one, so I go with Spencer on his, and Ted's, September marathon.
6. Paul on winter workouts and obsession with output reports, from January. Who among us is innocent of that?
7. "The Old Man Of Running." That was during my early season obsession with living for a means and not for an end.
8. Ted on reversing the order in triathlon training.
9. Paul on running and a life romance.
10. Our Murakami "symposium." I love that it was proof of our disorganization, which is one of our greatest charms.

Resolutions

This is a work in progress:

1. Structure my time during teaching leave to include writing every day, starting in the morning. Make the structure sustainable into the future.
2. Run the Boston marathon faster than 3 hours.
3. Submit in both cycles.
4. Read Douglass North, Oliver Williamson, and a book or two on game theory (any suggestions?).
5. Complete the Last Chance 1200K.
6. Consider seriously a change of Bankruptcy case books (any ideas?).

Riding in Texas

It has become ritual over the past few years to spend the holidays in Texas and to escape from the in-laws by renting a bike. Last year I got some good miles in the hill country around Austin. This year I'm riding the flats around Houston. If today goes well it will be a 150-mile week. Not a big week come fall-time, but pretty good for the off-season, especially for a guy who hasn't ridden since wrecking in August.

Route for today: 359 to 1463, then keep going north to the Katy-Fulshear Road. In Fulshear go back north on 359 to highway 90 and then south on 1489, hoping the chipseal is less fresh north of Simonton. Pick up 1093 in Simonton going west, and head back east on 36 when I get to Wallis. 36 takes me to Rosenburg and 90 Alt, shortly thereafter to Richmond, and Pitts Road will take me to Plantation Drive, and then back. High temperature is predicted to be 70.

Wish List

I ended up being one of very few contributors to the CPI Holiday Wish List. I like the hat they gave me.