So, some people say that how you spend January 1st is an indicator for how the rest of the year will play out. Well I certainly don’t say that, but hey, for this post I’ll play along. The day isn’t exactly over yet, but I think I’ve gathered enough empirical evidence to be able to make a statement. I say, this year I will: grow stronger in faith, be more active, and be likely to make multiple racial faux-pas.

So, first thing this morning, I went in to church because today’s a day of obligation. I couldn’t go with my parents because I had other plans that I had to squeeze in before noon. I felt all right about being there so early in the morning, if only because it’s a fine way to start the year. Consider the Japanese. It’s customary on January 1st to make a trip to visit a shrine or a temple.

Anyway, after mass I rushed home, got into my running gear and drove up to Markham for this year’s (last year’s, I guess) Resolution Run. It’s a 5K round the block affair meant to symbolically mark this year as one where I’m going to commit to living a (relatively) healthy lifestyle. Yeah, plus they give a free jacket if you register which, I’ll admit, was incentive for being there. I layered up well: running tights, track pants, long sleeve shirt, t-shirt over, jacket, mesh baseball cap, and gloves. The weather reports were indicating that it was going to be cold, so I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t going to suffer from being too cold. I mean, I’ve been on too many runs where some part of me is unbearably cold making for a miserable run. The crowd was large, though smaller than last year’s run. The course was, for the most part, similar to some of my regular running routes. It involved some steep inclines–which was cool because it meant a lot of downhill breaks. Conversely it meant there were a few challenging uphill climbs.

I wasn’t intent on really doing the race really fast. With all of the ice and snow on the ground, I knew that I was going to have a hard time through some parts. That’s basically how it was. Some parts of the sidewalk weren’t clear. Running on the snow was hard on the ankles. I just kept on going. Everything was smooth going downhill. I felt like I found a rhythm, but I also felt like it was a bit more difficult than usual. As I rounded the turnaround point, I felt myself slow down. Heading back up the big hill was just brutal. My breathing was hard, and sweat was streaming down my face. I was regretting having so many layers on. Well, by the time I got to the top I was shocked at just how much difficulty I was having so I decided to pump up the effort for the last kilometre back. The result? Well, the race wasn’t chip timed, although, according to my watch, I made it back in a faster time that my PB at the Island race. Whoo! So, if the paths were clearer I can say that I might have done even better. Nice! As I was speaking with people back at the store, just about everyone was commenting about how the uphill climb really took a lot out of them. People were attributing it to partying hard the night before–so what excuse do I have? Hmm. Overall the race was really fun. It seemed like most people there knew me. I got a lot of “Happy New Year, Jason!” greetings, so much so that some random people I didn’t know started joining in to greet me. That amuses me greatly.

Anyway, so here’s where the racial faux-pas comes in. Back at the store, at the snack table I spotted this Chinese guy who had also run the race. In my mind a lot of alarms were going off. This was one of the guys I ran with during the 2007 Run for the Cure. At least, I thought it was–I wasn’t sure. It’s been a while. So, I went up to the guy, and I said, “Hey, I think I know you.” He just looked at me blankly and said told me otherwise. I smiled and with an “oh, sorry” I ducked back into store. Well, sure, cases of mistaken identity happen all the time, right? I normally wouldn’t tie this in as a racial thing. However, within the past month at work I was passing around a link to All Look Same to my colleagues to see how they’d do. I can say that I did a little bit higher than the average probably indicating that I can discern a little bit better than the average person. Hahah, then this happens. As a result, I felt kind shitty. I know I’m over-thinking this. No matter.

In any case, the year’s off to a good start. May many blessings come this way this year.