While there was no workout today as I let the body return from a sore throat and continue its work on my ankle and knuckles, it did not mean my mind was on a beach somewhere! I even ran for 3 minutes on the treadmill to get a good idea what mile pace I can sustain—it's just not never thought in those terms before—never been a goal of mine.

But, that will change in 2021!

I've on a Google exploration to run down or at least be influenced by a training schedule for running. All I really know is that I find that the intermediate goal of a race puts some teeth on motivation! In the beginning, I'll be targeting 5Ks, but it really depends on my progression as to what year end 2021 might look like.

I'd like to hit a 5K early in the year, but it depends if I'm sub 200 lbs. Pushing the pace at 240 sucks—ESPECIALLY on a mending ankle! I have a lot of confidence in my retro diet in its capability to get me there by EOY 2020, especially as I've re-introduced sugar-free jello as a hunger stopgap in the evenings.

Entering its 5th month, my beard is feeling especially EPIC today as I reapplied Just For Men's M-40 Mustache & Beard Coloring. Adding coconut oil to it makes me think I'm a Viking whose longship got lost and wound up on some sandy beach with clear waters.

Last night, my willpower finally reached its end and my new streak restart lasted less than a day! I think the holiday's festivities zapped everything and I had a silly logic of "I ought to be rewarded for a 136-day streak."

I woke up this morning in the 3AM hour unassisted in a weird state of mind, weird in that I didn't know what to do, except I did NOT want to repeat what I did the night before.

And I suddenly just felt disconnected...sometimes the 3 AM can be like that; it can be a lonely hour.

I began going full-on carnivore, thinking my lower calorie retro approach failed me, but midway, I realized that a simple solution to my retro diet would be a well-timed sugar-free Jello.

I didn't work out despite spending a moment on the treadmill, but moved to spent time in thought and in optimizing the kitchen for greater fitness. It was likely for the best as my knuckles and ankle put it to good use.

Ultimately, all of this has nothing to do with food or workouts, but the passion of my heart—that drives behavior!

Below is my first stab at my 2021 Running Plan. I want #4 and #12, though I don't know what I want to do with the rest as of yet. I may open up with #4. Hopefully I can find something in Bartlett...

1. January
2. February
3. March
4. April - Andrew Jackson, Jackson, TN
5. May
6. June
7. July
8. August
9. September
10. October
11. November
12. December - St. Jude, Memphis, TN

After 136 days, my Diet Streak has been snapped! Now, wait a minute—I wasn't conscious of it in the moment. It makes for a great teaching moment on the use of commas. For example, someone might offer you a Sonic Sugar-Free Raspberry Slush or a Sugar-Free, Raspberry Slush.

Now, in the first example, the modifiers come off a bit clunky: is the syrup sugar-free or is the entire drink sugar-free?

Clearly, the second example indicates that the slush is—if true; it wasn't! Perhaps, the reality could have been better stated as a Sonic Slush with Sugar-Free Raspberry Syrup...however, I did not work through those terms as I kept asking myself why this "sugar-free" drink was WAY too sweet. I'm a stevia guy—I know the expectations! I didn't do my due diligence until midway through the drink.

So, the streak is snapped at 136.5 days. But, I knew I couldn't pile on. Hey, I survived the tempestuous calorie cascades of the Candy Holiday, I can push on! It's amusing that I tripped on the other side.

My will is intact, even if I'm a little frustrated. But, hey, it's great to post to the top of my HIGH SCORE list and slam another quarter into the machine with this renewed, retro diet. As it stands:

HIGH SCORE

• 136D1200
• 116D1200
• 92D0000
• 86D0000

Today's Workout

My workout was crippled because of my choice to not have contact with the bag as I let my bruised & blistered right knuckles heal up—it feels fine, but I thought it might be prudent to literally take a step back. I tried to still maintain the same routine, just with more shadowboxing, but 2/3's in my left ankle was tweaking (again!), so I closed out with the elliptical.

That said, during the fifteen 3:00/1:00 minute intervals, I both solidified an ab routine and added three minutes on my vertical climber, a Maxiclimber. Up to this point, I haven't been on the machine in 2020 as I've just been too heavy. While weighing in at 243 five days ago, confident with the potential weightloss of my retro diet, I climbed aboard my vertical climber knowing I didn't exceed its 240 lb weight limit.

Whew! While generally I feel lighter in most every other application, a vertical climber for 3 minutes provides fantastic feedback!