Who needs to start the last day of the year making resolutions for the year to come when you can wake up from a weird dream? I dreamt I was in college and that Brittany Spears was my room mate. We lived in the dorm together. She was really flighty and was completely disconnected from her kids. I asked her if she ever visited with them and she said, “Oh no – I can’t handle them” but then we looked out the window and across the way, sitting on a patio, was K Fed with a curly headed little somebody (a boy, I think). I got a little confused and said, “How many kids do you have?” and she said she had 2 but the baby was somewhere else. The really odd part about the dream is that I felt sort of protective of her and wanted to help her be a better person. But really – Brittany Spears? Weird.

I woke up and started thinking about what day it is and that lead to the inevitable thoughts of New Years Resolutions. I’m not a fan of these things as it seems ridiculous to me. Don’t we all need to start the year eating better and getting in a few more training hours after the oinkalicious and lazy Holidaze? But New Years Resolutions are as American as Apple Pie so there isn’t much ignoring them.

I’m happy to announce that I have but one resolution for the year. I don’t need to resolve to step up my training because with 1 Olympic distance triathlon registered for and at least one other planned and an unspecified number of sprints and a 1.5 mile swim in the murky, frightening and cold waters of the SF Bay and a 1/2 marathon (Nike) to run I will either step up the training or fall on my face gasping for air. What I am resolving to do is to stop trashing my own efforts and my abilities. I have a very strong tendency to focus on what I can’t do (run an 8 minute mile, swim 100m in under 2 minutes, ride my bike at an average 20 mph) rather than what I can do and have done (cross the line on a marathon, ride a metric century, etc.). Those are good things at any speed and I deserve to pat my self on the head for even making an effort just the way other people do and to respect other people’s head pats instead of deflecting them with a “but I’m really slow and have no athletic talent” which is my standard response.

This is my year to step up my ego an admit that I am an athlete and resolve to give myself some credit for the effort and for whatever successes I may achieve. According to Brad Kerns, a former pro-triathlete and current author, having the right attitude could dramatically improve my performance. I saw him speak and he said that once he let go of the idea that he would always come out of the water last and started really trying NOT to come out of the water last and believing that he was capable of not being the last out his swim times improved quite a bit.

If nothing else my one and only resolution will keep my spirits up and make me happier about all those training hours I’m about to put in. So in a way my dream must have been about helping someone with bad behavior problems learn how to be a better, stronger person. Now if I could just get my dance moves worked out.

Best Wishes for a Happy and Positive New Year for all!