There’s something about the number 2019 that I really like. I’m not sure what it is but the coming together of the nice round 20 and the slightly naughty 19 that seems satisfying.
As far as being the age of 19 or 20; for me personally, the age of 20 was very different to the age of 19. I wouldn’t say I was grown up or mature at either age but I did transition from a scared and anxious university newbie at 19 to a slightly over confident somewhat ignorant university second year at the age of 20. I think this is where the idea of 19 being a slightly naughty number comes from, as it was the year my high school girlfriend and me split up and I was suddenly single as a university student. I thought I was a pretty cool guy at the time, to be honest I still think I’m a pretty cool guy but in a different way to back then.
In running, 19 and 20km runs are both lovely distances, again there’s something slightly cheeky about running a 19km as a long run. I used to run 12 miles (roughly 19.5kms) every Saturday when I lived in the Watford suburb of Bushy. I used to loop up to a village called Radlett and used to enjoy running this route through all different seasons. It would be incredible to see the same trees and plants transition through the autumnal colours through to the lush summer green’s, week in week out noticing the subtle differences. Running 20km is only plausible if you didn’t have time to stick out the extra 1.1km to get to the full half-marathon distance or you aren’t checking your watch to see how far you’ve been. It’s still a lovely distance though, I think a 19/20km might have to be on the table for this Sunday’s long run, especially now that I’m technically marathon training.
Even numbers always look good. Most odd numbers, for me, don’t look that good. However, certain odd numbers don’t have the same aesthetic disdain in my mind. 19 happens to be one of those particular numbers. I’m not sure why? I also like the way 19 looks written in letters: nineteen. Does anyone else ever look at numbers as an aesthetic and assess them? I’m not sure why I do it but it’s something I’ve always done. I like the odd number 3, I think maybe because I’m born on the 3rd. Perhaps I like 19 as I was born in 1991 and this is essentially and 19 followed by a backwards 19! Who knows?
The point in this post? I guess I just have a good feeling about 2019. I already know plans are in place for amazing and significant life moments. There are decisions coming my way that are very exciting. I think musically there are some exciting things that will happen but perhaps not in the way some people would expect. More on that will come evident as time goes on. Anyway, this morning I started the first Monday of the year with a 9 miler. If you’ve read any other of my posts about days of the week you’ll know that Monday is one of my preferred days of the week (I don’t use the word favourite because I don’t think there should be a favourite day of the week).
I hope y’all all have had a good Monday!
BG
benedict. 