Dec 21

Dec 21 DAY 9: The almost top 13 things of 2013 that happened to me or things I liked in 2013

I wanted to be sure I covered just about anything that I wanted to with the following list. Some of these are things that I am grateful for, some are things I just love, and some are just things. When I was a kid I was never a super fan of any sport. I liked watching football some as well as basketball, but I also watched a ton of tennis and spent a lot of time looking at the bottom of a pool so, I didn't really grow up with "sports heros". I do remember watching Ironman as a kid and thought I could do that some day. I don't want to shine that up as some sort of dramatic "I've had this goal since I was a kid!" type of thing, as that would not be accurate, but I do remember watching Mike Pigg crush the field on a bike.

What all this also means is that I never had a favorite number due to my favorite player wearing said #. I mean except for Ron Fellows, who was clearly of blood relation to me.

No, when I played soccer I believe my number was 17. Clearly the number of 5's of champions of some sorts of sports. As I got older and I became more willfully contrarian, I latched onto the lucky #13. Bad luck is BS. Bad luck #'s are even more ludicrous.

What the previous 230 words really prove is that I am all in for lists for the end of 2013, and that I am capable of rambling.

BEHOLD THE TOP 13 THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO ME OR SOMEWHERE IN 2013

In no particular order of importance.

1. MUSIC-These two albums have been on repeat since I heard about them. Butch Walker-Peachtree Battle EP-I've been rightfully accused of having a full on man crush on this gent. I'll take it. Jason Isbell-Southeastern-Every single song is perfect. Period.

2. NYC-I had my first trip to NYC this year. It was really just salad recon. I left Baton Rouge @ 4:00 a.m. on August 19th to head to a 6:00 a.m flight in New Orleans. Arrived in NYC and walked from the financial district to the Empire St. Building over the next 6-8 hours visiting over 20 salad and small footprint concepts. Took a bunch of pics, tried a bunch of salad, got in a cab, flew home and arrived at my house at 1:00 a.m. on August 20th. This is the kind of trip people say they will do to learn about their business. It was cool to actually do that. Here is a pic to prove it.

3. THIS CAT

I had cats growing up, but as I have aged, my interest has waned to the point of disdain. I think this cat would likely agree that cats are turrible. CLICK ME FOR MORE GRUMP

4. Rocketkidz Foundation- The little foundation I started in 2007 is now a full fledged 501c3 thanks to the hard work of Susan Hayden, Liz Harris, Paul Esch, Kristin Menson, Gloria Wall, and Tim Hutchinson. Thank you.

5. My wife finished her first marathon, at my race, and I was her coach. It was awesome and I am very proud of her. In addition, my mom, who I also coach completed Augusta 70.3 and qualified for Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Talk about stoked!! Finally, every client I had reached at least one of their goals this year. VEry proud of Kristin "Koko"Menson, Damian Burdette, Randa Patrick, Juba, Lindsey Dziuba, PatO, Matt Booth, David Branch, Doug Cain, Craig Sweeney, Mandi McCarstle, Brent Lancaster and Cade Lecompte

6.Ironman Lake Tahoe-I did a race. It was cold, it was hard. Read THIS if you want more info. Biggest takeaway was that Lake Tahoe may be the most beautiful place I've been to in my life so far.

7.The Louisiana Marathon-This is a race that I started with a high school friend 3 years ago. We had a 5 year goal of 15,000 participants. Going into this year, we are almost to the halfway point. Super proud of Craig and Danny Bourgeois for all the effort they have put into this race to get it to where it is today. JOIN US this year. You won't be disappointed.

8. FRESHJUNKIE Racing-I started coaching one client 2 years ago. Lindsey Dziuba. Now, her husband Jonathan "Juba" Dziuba and I with our other partner in crime Pat O'brien have started a racing/coaching/race directing business. We currently have around 25 clients and direct 10-12 races a year, including all of the Rocketkidz Foundation events as well as the Zombie Run, The Louisiana Marathon (course dream team) and more. Going to be a big year for this endeavor.

9. TEDxLSU/Simon Sinek-These two will be forever linked in my eyes. As I was preparing for my TEDx speech, I fell into Simon Sinek and his concept of the Golden Circle. It hit me like a brick to the face. "Start with Why" is my book of the year for sure. I have just started his new book "Leaders Eat Last". So far it does not disappoint.

10. THIS and THIS and THIS 11. NEW FRESHJUNKIE opening in early January- Glad that I finally took the step to open another store. Perhaps one of my blog posts will tell you my long restaurant story, but for now I am just fired up to spread more healthy goodness around Baton Rouge.

12. This made me laugh and cringe and then my wife told me if I did that to her, she'd divorce me… THIS ONE is flipping nuts.

13. Finally, the support of friends, co-workers, and even strangers in all the things I do. I do truly appreciate you all.

THANKS and here's to you!