My Resolution

Dessert.

Dessert to me is like the Mona Lisa to an art historian — only I don't have the occupational connection or any remote excuse for the obsession. I love fruit desserts, chocolate desserts, simple treats and complex masterpieces. It isn't the sweetness that consumes me, but some intangible feature of dessert that just makes me happy.

And that is why I have given it up.

I haven't jumped on an extreme diet (believe me, giving up desserts would be pretty extreme), but am using sweets as bait this year. They're the proverbial "carrot on a stick": no dessert, I have vowed, until I run 30 miles this month.

I had considered running to work yesterday, running home, and then running back this morning (it's about a 10-mile trip) so I could parttake in my office's first-Wednesday-of-the-month treats. This month's spread features warm apple pie a la mode, popcorn truffles, chocolate biscotti, and cranberry biscotti. But I haven't ticked any miles off my goal. So, I had an apple and a banana, which were courtesouly provided by another conscientious trainee.

For some people 30 miles isn't much, but for me it's a lofty goal. I am starting out realistic. To keep myself on track (and honest), I have invested in a Nike-Apple iPod Sport kit, which will arrive from Amazon.com on Friday. If you're not familiar it's that all-too-well-marketed accelerometer chip you insert into your shoe to measure speed and distance of your runs. To me it's just another way to kick myself in the butt and develop a greater relationship with my iPod and my rocking running playlist. While I don't intend to buy Nike+ shoes for the new equipment, I hope to fashion an attachment for my Asics Gel-Foundation 7.

While I understand the economics behind Apple's partnership with Nike, I'm still not hip to changing my running shoe to make my iPod talk to me. Asics and New Balance should make "secret pocket' shoes that happen to have a slot in the sole of their running shoes that may be the exact size to fit the Apple-Nike chip. So, if my bright idea works, I'll share the details. If not, I'll let you know to which what kind of Nike I have surrendered.