The Alexander City Outlook

As my last column indicated, I didn’t want to make a New Year’s resolution, per se, for 2013.

Being a meticulous – sometimes obsessive – planner, I decided to try to cultivate a better reaction to all the times when things don’t happen exactly as I planned them.

Fail to plan, plan to fail – I am, however, in need of a little moderation when it comes to trying to plot my upcoming moves. I tend to see the future as an infinite series of paths – and I try to figure out the hypothetical details of each one of those potential futures before I set a foot on any path.

It is micromanagement at its finest (or worse, depending on the situation).

In an attempt to quit drowning in the present, I am transitioning away from being so focused on the future.

That does not mean I am not without goals for 2013, however.

Short term goal – enter and complete the Russell Forest Run. The 10K is a lofty goal for someone who is 3 years into an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, so I believe I will go for the 5K.

Despite my best intentions, however, this short-term goal turned into a series of  what-ifs in a matter of an afternoon.

How am I going to train for this? When do I have to register? What does it cost?

Great questions.

What am I going to wear for what will probably be a blustery February day?

Wait, what?

What race time do I want to finish with? Do I need to get an armband for my iPod or will I run in silence? 

As I talked this out, my coworker derailed this train before it ventured any further into ridiculous land.

The fact of the matter is the race is in less than two months. I bought a pair of shiny new running shoes – and they are just as shiny as the day I bought them.

But I haven’t put in a single day of physical preparation.

Like my resolution to go with the flow, my plans for this run were just a string of good ideas and products of mental effort.

So though it sort of makes my eye twitch, I’m not going to try and plan an extensive training schedule. I don’t know if I will be ready, and I am tired of analyzing whether I will be or not.

Tonight, however, I am going for a run.

As for the next day, que sera, sera. 

Nelson is news editor for The Outlook.