I Hereby Do Resolve To...

Cup of COFFEE

I Hereby Do Resolve To…

By Sean Clancy

Sean Clancy

How are your resolutions?

Thirty-six days into 2021 and mine run the gamut (and no, dear editor, making deadline was not on the list).

I actually wrote mine down this year. Big ones. Little ones. Audacious ones. Ridiculous ones. Completely-out-of-ourcontrol ones.

By the numbers, they go like this:

1,000. Miles. That’s the goal for 2021. Run 1,000 miles. It began with my colleague and friend Tom Law’s humble brag of completing 1,000 miles in 2020. Let’s just say I did not match him in 2020. I needed a goal; now I’ve got it.

I purchased a Garmin watch, ordered new shoes, signed up for Strava and even enticed a few friends to join in the fun(?) in 2021. I banged out a quick 50, reached 71, then sputtered. A bum ankle from an old fall flared up. I’m now hoping it’s flared down and I’ll soon be back on the road. And, yes, there’s plenty of room in the pool. Emily, Will, Christian, Peter…let’s go running, one of the few acceptable activities in this social-distancing, maskwearing pandemic era.

52. Books. That’s the goal for 2021. Read 52 books. One a week. Sadly, that would be about 40 more than last year. Looking around my desk, my closet, my car, our shelves, I have definitely bought more books than I’ve read and started way more than I finished. This year, that changes. My son Miles, 12, has stacked up a pile for me and asks about my progress daily. I’ve definitely sparked his interest with this one, way more, than the 1,000- mile resolution. He handed me Harry Potter, the Sorcerer’s Stone for my first assignment. A Prayer for Owen Meany came next, then I slipped in a book on Tom Seaver (Miles and Annie don’t think sports books should count) and then The Hobbit. I’m halfway through Oliver Twist, Dickens, and The Boys in the Bunkhouse by Dan Barry. Different books for different moods. As for 52, I’m on target.

150s. Pounds. Like most resolution lists, losing weight is a given, just keep it on the list each year. I weighed 165 Jan. 1. As Annie says, “Don’t forget, I fell in love with you when you were 138 with your tack.” I’ll try to get to 158 with my laptop. Let’s just say, I’m not there yet. Running helps with this one and reading hurts. Funny how that works.

0. Alcoholic drinks in January. An annual tradition started about five years ago, inspired by a conversation with our friend John Coles. January is a good time to recalibrate. This was accomplished easily this year. Without dinner parties, hell, without weekends, abstention came naturally. At least, we’ve got one resolution in the books.

40. Watch 40 days of racing—live—at Saratoga. May the world recalibrate and allow this to happen. Again, out of our control, let’s just hope life gets back to normal (or better) by summer.

365. Days of writing. Just write something every day. Anything. About running, reading, not drinking, watching races at Saratoga…anything. I’ve accomplished this so far—8,027 words, some even published. And, no, I didn’t say 8,027 good words.

Those are a few of the 2021 resolutions for 2021. When it’s all said and done, it has nothing to do with anything else specific to the resolutions. It’s simply to share something, to engage with friends, to start a dialogue, to inspire, to motivate.

Now, about this ankle.