Friday, January 1, 2010

2009: Hellos and Goodbyes

As I thankfully put the Christmas decorations away that I don't want to see for another year, and ignore another New Year's Eve by being alone, 2009 draws to a close and I say hellos and goodbyes to the things that have happened in the past year.

Goodbye to legally being married as of June 6th after 32+ years of marriage. Maybe this year I will actually adjust to being single again.

Goodbye to divorce legal proceedings. It was an enormous waste of time and money and I am glad I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Goodbye to my cat. After 19 years he had too many painful ailments and I had to put him to sleep. He was cranky as hell and made both of us miserable.

Goodbye to some of the things I have been accumulating for the last 32 years. It's time to start fresh. I have trashed wedding stuff, gotten rid of my ex's stuff and general garbage that I should have thrown out years ago that didn't seem to have any actual purpose for existing, but isn't thrown out because it might be "useful".

Goodbye to hypothermia. Getting medically treated for hypothermia twice this year due to swimming in cold water is twice too much. This year I am not swimming in any water with a temperature below 65 degrees.

Hello to being an ironman. Acheiving a goal I had been chasing for two years was worth all the emotional and physical pain and was enormously satisfying and empowering.

Hello to Facebook and the friends I made including ones from my high school class of 1972. Who would have thought I would connect with these people after all of this time. Sometimes it's the only social contact I have in a day.

Hello to blogging. I am hoping someone actually reads this stuff and I connect with them at some point.

Hello to painting. It was surprisingly therapeutic when I am emotionally down. I hope to do some more. Immersing myself in the complexity of painting makes the depression and anxiety go away.

Hello to a 5k and 10k personal record. Who would have thought that in my fifties I would be the fastest runner I have ever been. Of course I was never fast, but the fact that I can still improve is age defying. I can still go beyond my physical limits even if I am older. I don't have to be feeble yet.

Hello to competing in a World Championship. I qualified due to luck and not great racing. I felt like a poser racing in the World Championships, but it was a good experience and it made me feel like "hot stuff" to say that I had raced at that level. I may take the stroke of luck even further and race in the Nationals because racing in the World Championship has automatically qualified me for the Nationals even though my race time sucked.

Hello to 2010.

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2009 Years Totals: Swimming, Biking, Running

182 hours swimming, 311,950 yards or 177 miles

267 hours biking, 3783 miles

160 hours running.

Total 608 hours

3 comments:

  1. Great for you! There seems to have been a good mix of bad/good this year. I hope that next year the good far outweighs the bad. Keep blogging, as I find it interesting to know what you are doing, and Facebook doesn't go into the details.
    Your loyal reader,
    Cousin Janice

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  2. Things will look up in 2010. If I look upward..things usually follow. And good grief, hypothermia -- stay out of cold water. Can't stand the cold myself, haven't been able to make it out the door today. Remember to keep looking up. (Well, best not all the time if you are running.)

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  3. Another reader here from the WL class of '72. Go Rats!

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