2007: The "Year of Marc"
Originally written on Sunday, December 30, 2007 at 12:58am
The end of 2006 saw my entire life change in a matter of a few months. Shortly before the new year I promised myself that the year of 2007 would redefine me as an individual. I would create a new identity for myself. One I could use to move forward with my life. One overarching principle: Be happy. Three fundamental rules: No shame. No fear. No regret. A deep rooted conviction in pushing myself to new limits and a pledge to live as spontaneously as possible.
"It was the year of fire. It was the year of destruction. The year we took back what was ours. It was the year of rebirth. The year of great sadness. The year of pain. And the year of joy. It was a new age. It was the end of history. It was the year, everything changed." - J. Michael Straczynski
Now I look back and reflect on the "Year of Marc" (borrowed from the "Summer of George" on Seinfeld). Prior to 2007 I had never run a race longer than a 5k, and that was in my senior year of high school. Throughout the course of the year, I ran my first marathon...and became hypothermic at mile 22. I ran my second marathon two weeks later in Sarasota...and finished. I raced in my first triathlon the very next week on my old mountain bike in Clermont. Two months later I finished a half IronMan in Orlando, and after five months of training and fourteen hours of swimming, biking, and running with mono I crossed the finish line for the IronMan in Clermont...the city where it first started.
I've done a number of completely random and spontaneous things...some which I will cherish for the rest of my life.
In one year I feel I have done so much with my life...and I now know that I have barely begun to scratch the surface. 2007 was about rediscovering who I used to be growing up, and who I wanted to become as an adult. I have successfully walked that path, and I am a stronger man today than I have ever been in my life. Strip away all of the accomplishments, the countless hours of training, the cherished memories, and I go back to that one single principle that is the core of my life: Be happy. That foundation for my life is protected by those three simple rules: No shame, no fear, no regret.
Twilight approaches as the end of the year draws near. 2007 gives way to the dawning of a new age. A new era that will present as many opportunities and memories as I am willing to make. 2008: a year of hopes and dreams, a chapter unwritten in history, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...to achieve the impossible.
The end of 2006 saw my entire life change in a matter of a few months. Shortly before the new year I promised myself that the year of 2007 would redefine me as an individual. I would create a new identity for myself. One I could use to move forward with my life. One overarching principle: Be happy. Three fundamental rules: No shame. No fear. No regret. A deep rooted conviction in pushing myself to new limits and a pledge to live as spontaneously as possible.
"It was the year of fire. It was the year of destruction. The year we took back what was ours. It was the year of rebirth. The year of great sadness. The year of pain. And the year of joy. It was a new age. It was the end of history. It was the year, everything changed." - J. Michael Straczynski
Now I look back and reflect on the "Year of Marc" (borrowed from the "Summer of George" on Seinfeld). Prior to 2007 I had never run a race longer than a 5k, and that was in my senior year of high school. Throughout the course of the year, I ran my first marathon...and became hypothermic at mile 22. I ran my second marathon two weeks later in Sarasota...and finished. I raced in my first triathlon the very next week on my old mountain bike in Clermont. Two months later I finished a half IronMan in Orlando, and after five months of training and fourteen hours of swimming, biking, and running with mono I crossed the finish line for the IronMan in Clermont...the city where it first started.
I've done a number of completely random and spontaneous things...some which I will cherish for the rest of my life.
In one year I feel I have done so much with my life...and I now know that I have barely begun to scratch the surface. 2007 was about rediscovering who I used to be growing up, and who I wanted to become as an adult. I have successfully walked that path, and I am a stronger man today than I have ever been in my life. Strip away all of the accomplishments, the countless hours of training, the cherished memories, and I go back to that one single principle that is the core of my life: Be happy. That foundation for my life is protected by those three simple rules: No shame, no fear, no regret.
Twilight approaches as the end of the year draws near. 2007 gives way to the dawning of a new age. A new era that will present as many opportunities and memories as I am willing to make. 2008: a year of hopes and dreams, a chapter unwritten in history, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...to achieve the impossible.
posted by Marcos Redondo - Running For Hope at
8:14 PM
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