<p>Nicely done, Don, and congratulations. I've never, ever been one to bean count on mileage, but I certainly appreciate streaks and achievements such as this. And when folks ask you how you stay so fit and fast, you fall back on your substantial base -- like running 3000 miles in a calendar year -- as no coincidence. That's a lot of consistency, determination, and commitment.</p>
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<p>What I find remarkably cool about this time of year, especially for people like you and me who kind of go with the flow of what is fun and challenging a little more freely than those only a few years into the sport, is that we have no idea what kinds of cool events we will do over the next year, but we know from history that we'll have logged some memorable times, run some great races and courses, and commited the lifestyle even further.</p>
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<p>I think back to a year ago. A year ago today I was hoping to get a pinched nerve fixed so that I could get back into triathlon. Little did I know that the pinched nerve would come back ruling out triathlon all together. Little did I know that this would not be looked down upon but would rather open doors to so many cool things to try my hand at. Little did I know I would spend the year running trails and up and down mountains I thought were reserved only for skiing down, and doing an ultra marathon. Pretty cool. And you know next year will bring a similar feeling.</p>