I am a very lucky man – I’ve got an amazing wife and am the father to three wonderful kids. Lylli was born on Halloween in 2008, Gracie was born November 2010 and although she only lived for 17 months, she will remain as much a part of this family as the rest of us, and Mickey Gray, our first son, was born in June of 2012. I’m not going to say that life has gone exactly as I would have wanted, but it is a good life and I am determined to make the best of it.



This blog is an attempt to document my quest to become a dad that my family can be proud of.






Thursday, December 15, 2011

Do 2012...

So as the year comes to an end I've been given a lot of thought to how the heck I will pull off my goals for  2012 – I feel the same about resolutions as fellow blogger and do lifer Scott Schultz – see


That said – like so many things in the past several years, I haven't held myself accountable, so just like signing up for the 2011 Twin Cities Marathon and not following through with it, it's been nothing for me to say I was going to save the world, become an underwear model, filthy rich, etc, etc – on Jan 1st – as well as take all kinds of pride in my resolution to fix everything and tell anyone who will listen about how this time I will do it.  The mind really is an amazing thing.  I sometimes wonder with all of the lies I've told to myself and others how I can continue to look people in the eyes, let alone myself in the mirror.   What did Einstein say is the definition of insanity again? – doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  Yeah, that about covers it – year after year (month after month, post after post) – I've talked a great game – essentially countless number of  "look at me, let's celebrate my victory before I've done 1 thing to earn it"  moments.  Well, there's nothing that I can do about the things I didn't follow through with in the past – the one thing that I can do is to alter my behavior.  So in the footsteps of Scotts Blog post above, someone who I hope to become friends with this year and run with a bit, I want to tell you some of the things that I hope to achieve this next year:


1.        I signed up and plan to get the year started by running the Polar Dash 5K on January 1st  – Carrie and Gracie will still be in Boston, but I will be returning home with Lylli a few days before that day.  This is my starting point for the year – I will be running it (probably running/walking at this point) with my sister-in-law.  I have not run in some time and will be basically starting over, but am using this race to set the tone for the year.  2012 is the year where I follow through with my words


2.       I signed up and plan to run the Lucky 7K mid march.  At that point, I hope to be down a few pounds from the Polar Dash and also at a point where I can enjoy the run a little more.


3.       On Sept 14th, I will be turning 40 years old – I found a marathon in Walker, MN the next day – I am going to do everything in my power to be ready for and finish this marathon.  Because I have been struggling with how I haven't followed through with things, I made a deal with myself – If I do all that needs to be done to get myself to a place where I can complete a marathon, I will have then proven to myself that I can commit to something bigger than myself and at that point will go back to school to get my masters degree.  Something I've wanted to do for awhile now but have afraid to start and not follow through like so many things in my life   


4.       A couple of other things that I'm thinking about doing is the Monster Dash, maybe Grandma's Half, the TCM full or 10 Mile – Also, the Do Life Boys have had to pull out of there 52 marathons in 52 weeks effort, but have promised to make many events around the nation in 2012 – I would really like to figure out a way to meetup at a marathon late in the year and run in their pace group.


2012 is going to be our year  – I need to make myself healthy so I can be here for a long time for my wife and three kids (yes, I said three – Carrie is due on May 30th)


As for the underwear model comment – stay tuned – a quick word of warning, I've been thinking about using public embarrassment as a motivator and in true Ben Davis fashion ( www.bendoeslife.com ), been toying with the idea of posting a "before" pic of me standing in my boxers for everyone to see – haven't quite decided if I'll have the guts to do that yet – but just thought I would warn any of you that plan on following this blog in the future – I do plan to do a better job at using this as a tool to update my progress and help hold me accountable.    


I'm done half-assing this amazing life of mine!!!!

1 comment:

  1. The Monster Dash was really fun! I think that Team Ortho has a great series!

    I have found that actually registering and PAYING for a race/event has had a LOT more motivation for me, personally. Best wishes with your training!

    Congrats on expecting!

    (I know your sister-in-law, that's how I know your blog.)

    ReplyDelete