Hulk Mash

Via an Instant Pot and three chicken quarters, I made my own chicken broth for the first time. While I never wound up replacing coffee with broth, I still drink at least 4 cups per day of that soothing, salty elixir. The chicken meat is more of a byproduct of the process to be tossed to the kids. As everything falls apart and separates from its once $.36/lb frozen mass, I use the released skin to turn into crisps via my Instant Pot Vortex 6-Quart air fryer. And the bones? I handed off a couple to the kiddos and at the rest of them myself. There was something about it that felt...right. I didn't throw anything away.

Hulk Smash

Yesterday was a big day: you'll recall on December 24th, I bested May's highest step count of the year. Well, now in 2024, I want to take everything from 2023, so I beat that new score.

The other day, I beat the final record from May '23: longest goal streak (10 days). As of today, that 10,944 daily target streak is at 13 days, Dec 23, 2023 - Jan 4, 2024.

Hulk Dash

I've given a second thought about holding off my 5K races. As my New Year's Resolutions state, I gotta hit <179 lbs for I can cross that threshold. Well, geez, that's gonna take a good long while; I don't want to double/triple up the back end like 2021. Need significance.

I won't change the wording, but I just won't let myself physically run before 179. It's just more impactful if it's held toward the end of each month. I mean, I don't mind holding off to September of whatever, but there's value in daily training toward an objective in the near term.

PLUS—and this is a big one—the monthly winner of the 5K events will receive an appropriately themed BELT BUCKLE! The overall grand champion for the The 2024 WOLVERINE Cup Series will not only receive a Wolverine-themed buckle, but a set of windproof running pants and winter running jacket for 2025 (contingent on the sponsor forking over the cash)!

While I may do away with the twelve buckle limit, I have chosen belt buckle #12 for 2024. It was more than I typically spend. It's twenty years old, appropriate for 2024:

The 2004 Arizona State Fair Showmanship for goats.

...it's from Arizona...

...back in 2004...

...has a goat on it...

...and for showmanshp, something for "about how hard a person has worked, prepared and presents their animal to the judge."

2004 was a big year for me:

• Mourned the passing of my Dad;
• Quit my career job in hardware support;
• Backpacked in Europe for the very first time and journeyed from the Highlands of Scotland to the cobblestones of Rome;
• Camped at the Cornerstone Music Fesitval in Illinois;
• Departed my childhood hometown and moved to Flagstaff, Arizona;
• Became vegan and lost 50 lbs;
• Stayed at a KOA in Savannah, Georgia and swam in the ocean for the first time;
• Moved back to Memphis and slept for ~3 months in the cold on a concrete floor until Christmas;
• Gave away my Chevy Silverado and purchased a $400 GT hybrid bicycle for commuting to my new job as a technical writer (I started that job today, 19 years ago: 1/3/05).

SEE? Thus far, 2004 is the Greatest of All Time year. Ah, now that Arizona goat buckle is clicking!

@Nightcall: the thermometer hit 27℉ and I hit the streets. I wore my Xero Prio 9's from 2023. I had concerns going into the walk, as in flayed flesh the chafing fruit of yesterday's record. Nevertheless, I strode ahead, modifying my gait a bit. Well, just after my 10-minute mark, my left knee's warning light popped on. Dang it. The chafing and the knee—I can still make it! But should I?

OF COURSE, right? So I turned into the Oak Forest neighborhood and..U-turned. I want this year to be different. It's not about my gallant, all-or-nothing efforts. Those things wind up disabling me for a quarter of the year. I do want cardio every day.

And thus, I looped back. In a sense, it was a shame because my first mile pace was nearly a minute less than yesterday's first mile. But, it's like my throwing back 20 grams of protein worth of cold ground beef this morning after my chest day session: nothing is flippant.

Earlier, I had a plan to buy 12 belt buckles for 2024 (and only 12). I'm nearly at my limit!

1. Zombie Outbreak Response Team
2. Wolf head
3. Taekwondo
4. Alaska
5. Alaska
6. Alaska
7. Alaska
8. World of Warcraft Horde
9. Battlestar Galactica
10. Transformers
11. Thundercats
12. ...

I dunno if I'm gonna keep it to 12! There is No Arizona! Give me Memphis, Tennessee!