I was going to run at midnight – take the energy and excitement of the new year and try to translate that into a strong start for my first Year of Months project. But the temperature here in Richmond has dropped to the mid 20°s with wind gusts in the 40 mph range. So a midnight start is definitely out, and with it my excuses for any slow start based on the lateness of my start, or the volume of food I’d earlier consumed.

So instead, I’ll either run before or after my 12-hour drive from Richmond to Orlando tomorrow. Unless I decide to just start somewhere along the way and grind out a 5k, that is.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been doing cardio workouts at the YMCA for the past few months. I haven’t run a timed mile in months, but the last time I started running I managed to get my mile from 8 minutes on first run to just below 6 minute a couple of weeks later. Granted, that just about killed me, but before I stopped running my heart rate never really exceeding 170 bpm.

The time to beat, after further investigation, may be a little slower than 18 minutes. I’m looking for Bush’s best time in print and the best I’ve seen so far is just slower than 19 minutes.

So anyone want to predict success? Right now it’s just my wife who thinks I can do it.

Sure, 3 miles in less than 20 minutes would be hard for most people to run. In fact, when I was in high school I could run 2 miles in 13 minutes, but that pretty much wiped me out. So under normal circumstances I wouldn’t consider this a realistic ambition. However two considerations lend me hope.

1. George Bush, president and former substance-abuser could achieve the feat despite the enormous stress he’s spent his life applying to his body.
2. Since I committed to try ages ago, I don’t really have a choice in whether I try or not. And if I have to try, I may as well believe there’s a chance I can pull it off.

This is actually close to the same mentality I’ve taken in the past when I tried things I’d never done before… starting a business, touring in a band, hiking through alligator ponds, international travel, marriage. In every case, despite the fact that the odds could seem stacked against me, I knew someone less qualified than me had succeeded before, and went for it with pretty good results. (Pretty good results in that I’m still alive and married.) This is probably the same thinking that will inform what other project make up this Year of Months.

So today, I got a massage and tomorrow I’ll get a haircut, so at very least I’ll be relaxed and well-groomed when I try to make this happen. And who knows, maybe I’ll even stretch a little.

1. If I have vice I want to correct, I’ll start as soon as I notice and not when I change calendars.
2. If there’s something I want to pick up, I’ll start it right away too. I’m not much for delay, generally.
3. It seems weird to make a resolution that has this annual weight when in all likelihood I’ll drop it after a few weeks. 

There’s also a fourth reason, but it’s bigger than any list.

In 2000, among the many things I read about then-president-elect George W Bush was the tidbit that he was fast. Not just fast for a president, or fast for an old guy, but three-miles-in-eighteen minutes fast. As a (former, part-time, short distance) runner, I felt obliged to recklessly proclaim a resolution to run three miles faster than Bush could before he left office.

Well, here we are, 8 years later. My progress? Well, I haven’t run three miles at one time in years, and with 30 extra pounds on my body, I can hardly imagine running any distance particularly quickly. But I made that resolution and I think it’s time to make it happen.

Bush leaves office in a matter of weeks, and with it my chance to redeem myself. So I’m going to run three miles a day, every day for the month of January and see what I can do. A smarter man would have started training in advance, but it would appear I’m not the smarter man since I haven’t run any timed mile in ages. So this month will represent not just my attempt to beat Bush’s time, but also my window of training. It may be a bad plan, but it’s the only plan I have.

(And yes, Obama takes office on the 20th, but since Bush’s legacy will linger for quite some time I feel safe giving myself the extra few days.)

Worse case, I’ll fail at something I actually tried. Best case… well, I’m not sure what “best case” would be. But there are plenty of good cases floating around and I’ll try to end up in that territory.

If you want to run with me, get some good shoes and find some good 3-mile courses. I’ll post my running plans on New Year’s Eve (tips are welcome!).