Evaluate my progress

It has been a year since I last evaluated my progress… I think it is time to do this again. (photo is from the website for the City Chase – Meyrick and I finishing a respectable 17th place)

Successes:

Last year I injured both of my knees. I thought they would recover quickly, but that simply wasn’t the case. I rested them over the winter and rehabbed them over the spring. I was fine this year to do a 10k, 2 adventure races and 2 triathlons. I was really worried about the second adventure race, because, like last year, it was in the same week as my triathlon and I was very, very worried about injuring my knees again.

In any case, I came through fine. We came in 3rd in the adventure race and again, I was up at the front of our team for most of the race. So this year, I am really hoping that my continued health will pay off with the final bit of fat on my body going away. Everyone I see still says that I have lost more weight, and I am feeling pretty fit. I have the ‘offseason’ to improve on my physique and I intend to make the most of it.

Next Steps I am joining a boxing gym, taking swim lessons, dropping a session at my gym and completing a half marathon by February.

I was so excited to do the televised urban adventure race this year, that was definitely a highlight. To my shocked amazement, I loved being on tv! Loved it!!! I can’t wait to do it again next year and hopefully win.

Next Steps I am going to put some effort into training. It will involve me getting my speed up for running 2ks at a time up dramatically, as well as better high speed route tackling.

In Progress

Although I am sucking at living my life to the fullest, I haven’t lost sight of this goal. I have been working my way out of my relationship, and although as I do this, my wife holds on tighter, this has just shown me how important it is do this. I need to get out.

Next Steps

I need to get out of the house. I have to find a house to rent.

Photography. I have the camera. I just haven’t had the energy to take photos… I don’t have any next steps here, because I need to get the one above figured out.

Failures

Everything else… Everything. I really can’t tackle the issues of happiness until I get my house in order. In the next week or so, I am going to revamp my goals list and get to work on the next year.

Next Steps

By next year I want to be taking photographs, drawing, speaking spanish and pursuing a sexier, more robust life!!

I haven’t added any new fitness goals for 2 reasons.

1. I have focused too strongly on those because they have been successful, and correspondingly I have slacked on the others. This 43 things website should be set up like a wack-a-mole game (for those that don’t know this game, I am sure you local carnival has a similar one, probably just a different name).

2. I did the adventure race the week after my triathlon. I felt some strain on my knee in the triathlon, but I still went ahead and did the adventure race the next week. It was a team event so I really had no choice but to stick it out. I did very well, I was surprised how fit I was becoming, a 3km ocean kayak, a 6km mountain bike and a 3km trail run. All nice and short, a lot of vertical but nothing too hard. I didn’t let my team down by any stretch. In any case, by the time I was heading out on the trail run I began to feel some tightness in my knees. By the time I was done, there was no denying that my right knee had been overused. According to my neighbour the doctor, it has something to do with liquifying cartilage or something. I think it is strain from riding the bike with bad form (yes, I do suck at that too). In any case, all it needs is rest. So, I will wait to start training for my 1/2 marathon until next week. I am supposed to run it in November, so I should have time if I am smart about this.

I am working on the live sexier. I think a lot of what would complete me; make me feel more genuine is in there. I just don’t have anything concrete yet. I have an idea and I will be adding it shortly though, I think.

I just wanted to put this down so I didn’t think I was slacking. I will also develop a next steps plan shortly. I think I need some direction moving into winter. That is what winter is for, hunkering down and doing things.

Successes

1. Lose Weight. I have definitely lost weight. Although my goal was really lose fat, gain muscle, I did do that too. I am very close to having no pot belly left so that is totally cool. I have been carrying around this weight for 10 years (although losing some of it over the last 5 or 6). This has been one of my priorities for years and I am getting close to full success.

2. Run a 5k, Run a 10k, Swim 750m, complete a triathlon. I have completed the 5k, the 10k and the swim 750m. I am getting close to completing the triathlon. I was so unfit on January 1st of this year, that I would have bet any amount of money that I would never have been able to run 5k. Here I have done 2 5k races and a 10k. Of all the things that I have done in the last little while, there is no doubt that achieving these goals has made me the most proud. Success here has made me a more powerful actuated human being. Not only this, but I took my kids on a 1k Canada Day run because they saw daddy running and wanted to train themselves. They got fantastic little medals and they were so proud and rightfully so.

3. Identify 100 things that make me happy. Just having this goal on my list makes me happy.

4. Not just that goal, but having my list is awesome. More importantly, just being able to sustain my activity here makes me feel impowered. This has been due in no small part to the people here. I think beyond anything, I am so happy with the people that I have met here. In many ways I feel freer to share my hopes and goals here than I would be to my friends and wife.

5. Start a cult. I have started one. Sure it is small, but it is awesome. If I wasn’t in this cult, this would be the one I would join. Still waiting for people to send in their photos of themselves in their togas.

In Progress

1. Learn Spanish. Go to Mexico again, Go to Italy again, Get more sleep, Go someplace very dark and look at the stars all night, Discover what I want to do with my life, Finish what I start, bodyboard, Draw Better, Sketch More, Learn harmonica. All these goals are coming along. Not too much progress, but no failure yet.

Not So Successful So Far

1. Become a photographer, Take 43 pictures…, Identify 100 things…, Take a good picture of myself. All of these have been stymied by the fact that I haven’t replaced my digital camera. I really, really want to get my new camera. The insurance company paid off and I have a whole whack of gift cards to the camera store. I should jump on this one soon. Maybe this weekend. I included the Identify 100 things here as well because I have only been using entries with my own photographs and my lack of photographs has slowed me down.

Failures

1. I have utterly failed at Live Sexy, Organize my Life, and Explore my Sexual Boundaries. I have not been able to make any headway in my marriage. Although things are bad right now, I am sure they will go back to their normal routine of being tolerable, distant and decidedly unsensual. I won’t be able to talk to my wife or work out any progress in our shared interests/desires to live sexy. The failure to organize my personal life is only compounded by the fact that my business life is out of control busy/crazy.

2. Change the world for the better. I was pretty close this time last year to actually organizing Landscape Architects, Architects and Engineers in British Columbia and across Canada, into a group that would work internationally to create sustainable development solutions in developing nations. By now, that is almost nothing more than a memory. I would really like to push this further, but I am so busy…

So, in a nutshell, here is my evaluation. Next step, a plan to see if I can do better and see if I need to rearrange my priorities…

Given my recent exercise skid, I am thinking that an evaluation of my progress with my 40 some odd things would be a worthwhile exercise instead. I have come aways with some items and not so much with others, so I think a mid year, say six month evaluation is in order. I don’t have any time today to jump on this task, but I did want to get it in the books so I can jump on it later… damn, that is some serious procrastinating on procrastinating there…