It’s the start of a new year, and you can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been, so here's a brief recap of 2014, an overall good year for me. I finally quit the gig at the pizza place, got a promotion at my current job, replaced the motor in my truck, took some trips, including a couple overnight bike tours and a backpacking trip, rafted a lot and put in some decent mileage cycling and running, including a couple half marathons. How many miles?  543.8 miles running, which is 24.7 mile less than 2013, but my monthly average was 45.3 miles, only a drop of 2.1 miles a month from 2013. Cycling I totaled 6,276.5 miles. That’s 651.7 miles more than last year. It averages out to 523 miles a month, an increase of 54.3 miles more each month over 2013. I’m pretty happy with that. I'm looking forward to 2015, eagerly confident that it will be even better than 2014. I don't have any resolutions, but I do have a few goals, including moving sometime in April, fixing the power door locks in my truck, and becoming a level 7 Ranger in my quest to slay the villainous Debt Overlord.

     I am recovering from some sort of weird throat injury. One day the inside of my throat just started feeling sore. Not the usual soreness one would associate with a cold though. This felt like someone had punched my throat from  the inside and bruised it. It’s the worst throat pain I have ever felt. At one point, while I was eating, it felt like something snapped and broke. I got so paranoid I actually researched if a vocal cord was capable of breaking. The really strange thing though was that, while my throat felt terrible, my voice was fine. Then my throat started feeling better and my voice got worse. I'm almost back to 100% now and still not entirely sure what caused this calamity, but I have a strong feeling what it may have been.

     In my continued efforts to improve myself through honing my culinary skills I have begun to make a pretty decent omelet. I've been using three eggs, mixing in Swiss cheese, ham, and a bit of onion. And what breakfast would be complete without toast? Sourdough with creamy peanut butter. Oh, yes, that's how I do!

But when I do...IT"S DELICIOUS!

     I went for a trail run near dusk the other day. I did what I usually do, put on my GPS watch to track my distance, stretched briefly, then pressed the start button to begin tracking. Except the watch turned itself off instead of keeping track of my stats. Apparently I didn’t have enough juice left in the battery. I thought, screw it, took the watch off and did something I haven’t done in a long time. I went for a run without any gizmos. No ipod, no GPS, just me and the trail. I knew the distance anyway since I had done this route so many times before. It was a bit liberating, with one less distraction. I think my time was actually better than usual, but I had no way to tell for sure. And I’m okay with that. It’s not about the numbers anyway, at least for me. It’s about seeing and experiencing what’s around me, like the trees that have fallen across the trail from recent storms, the feel of the soft dirt and mud under my shoes, and the sights and sounds of the woodland creatures living their lives.

     I’ve started a new photo project. A selfie a week! Yes, I know selfies are usually pretty lame (I'm sure I'll take at least a few) and over rated but I think this is going to be a fun and inspiring project. This week’s selfie was taken during a short break on a bike ride along the scenic back roads in my area.

Selfie #1

So, my resolute readers, to start this year right, here's the recipe for success in 2015