December, as a month, is infinitely better than January. There’s just such a let down once you check off that final day of the year and whip out the new calendar.

And I’m not just saying this becuause December is home to both Christmas and New Year’s Eve, two of the best days of any given year. Rather, it’s because December is a month filled with so much promise of what the New Year will hold, and all that promise and the excitement that comes with it can never quite be matched by the beginning of the New Year itself. Just think of how excited everyone gets about joining the gym for the New Year, only to ditch that resolution yet again before the egg nog has even expired or a single hole has been put in one of those new pair of socks they bought for the gym.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t at least be able to revel in the excitement during the 12th month, right?

Well, apparently, my job disagrees whole-heartedly.

You see, as a runner, this time of year offers the chance to disregard most issues of practicality and logistics and come up with the IDEAL year of racing. Sure, race entry fees may be expensive, and travel might make a particular race an uber-wallet-gashing prospect, and any number of health issues could come up, thereby derailing all plans, but just about any race should seem like fair game at this time of year given some good planning.

In my case, however, every time I see a race that looks like it’d be fun, my excitement is soon shattered like a glass at Jewish wedding, because I take a peak at the ASC athletics calendar only to find that I have a definite conflict that weekend.

….Honestly, you’d think there’d be at least one weekend between March 1 and June 1 during which there’s a trail race between 26.2 and 50 miles in a 6-hour radius and I won’t be working a home athletic event, but I’m starting to have my doubts.