40 Goals while 40

20 weeks!   Wow, it’s really hard to believe how fast the time is disappearing.   Good news though, this week was VERY productive on the goals front.   I got in lots of quality time with the family, the garden is producing, and other aspects are progressing well.   It’s time to take a check on the goals and see where we are.   Looking through them, 5 are complete, 11 are on pace, 23 are off-pace, but can be recovered, 4 are off-pace and unlikely, and one will be missed.   The good news is that if we can pull the pace back, we’ll be in good shape.   The bad news is that there are a LOT that are off-pace.   I guess it’s time to get them moving.   However, at this point, 39/44 are still viewed as achievable.   Looking at the “unlikely” ones, the easiest is to watch more movies with the family.   Maybe I’ll continue to push Amy to watch movies on the days I’m not trying to catch up on the other goals at night.   With that...

Well the realization that the year was over 1/3 complete really kicked some of the motivation into high gear.  Between that and some amazing late spring/early summer weather, many of the outside goals started to really gain momentum.  The boys and I went to three parks in a single morning and had a blast.  The garden is as good as it has been since moving to Raleigh. In other news, I’m late in planning my trip to Europe.  I need to get cracking on this if it is going to happen.  So many decisions and oh so many dollars.  We’ll see what we can do on the topic – the scope of the trip might need a bit of trimming. One final note on the week - the "Navy" showers really aren't that bad provided you are either sweating from energy or the room is warm.  These are adding up quickly. Anyway – on to the updates. Physical               #5 – 1,497 miles – Despite no long rides, got in alm...

It's hard to argue that you had a good week when this is what presents itself to you when you walk in the door..... With the realization that last week we were already 1/3 of the year complete, I seemed to push a little harder on the accelerator this week to try to move the needle on a few areas.  Nothing got crossed off, but some areas made a fair bit of progress. It’s rained here the last 10 straight days (or at least it sure feels that way) which means its been hard to get outside and enjoy a bicycle ride.   It’s not impossible, but it is harder to get motivated. Still – things moved forward.   The big issue this week was falling off the vegetarian wagon.   For the first week this year, I ate more than a pound of meat in a week.   But, the place I was visiting was known for their burgers and frankly it was delicious. Anyway, on to a quick update. Physical               #...

Alright – I’m putting this here for posterity – this list is exhausting.   I should not do this again in a decade (at least not without making nearly all the goals easy like eating 50 pieces of chocolate….).   I’m tired and wearing out. That said, the goals do continue to push me into places I wouldn’t get on my own which is a very good thing.   There are certainly plenty of times that I need this. I missed an update again last week.   As it turned out, I was recovering from strep throat which explains why a bicycle ride I did in the hills/mountains of Virginia on a hot day was truly excruciating.   I’m looking forward to going back when a) I’m feeling better and b) it isn’t 95 on the heat index to see where I’m at.   There are some good hills there that will help prepare me for France if I go. Other than that, the goals move forward slowly.   I’ve realized that in truth they are suffering and so have installed an app on my phone to preve...

The good news is that another goal has been crossed off, and it was a hard one!   The bad news is that I’ve fallen completely off the reservation and many of the other goals have suffered over the past month.   So – we’ll get moving on those. As for the goal that was obtained, I managed to cover over 40 km in under an hour!   When I set this goal, it felt more than a bit outlandish and I didn’t think it was realistic to try for this.   However, after getting the aerodynamic bicycle, it put it within striking distance and then with some final pushes through training, it was close.   My father had agreed to come into town for the even that was scheduled for April 26.   As I told him, the time will be somewhere between 58 and 62 minutes.   It was going to be close.   Unfortunately, as the day of the event got closer, the weather forecast got worse and it looked like rain was in the plans.   I was ready to make a go of it, whateve...

4/18 Update – Goal 4 Complete After getting very close on multiple occasions, I finally cracked through on the 4x4x4 Rubik’s Cube!   At one point, I completed it in 406 seconds.   Now that’s frustrating.   However, after a few more days of practice, it finally came together with a time of 5:09.   309 seconds – not bad.   Now to just maintain the skills.   In other news, with the spring weather finally starting to arrive, many of the goals are starting to make some progress.   There’s still a lot that need to get moving, but hopefully this will start soon. Physical             #5 – 1,075 miles – Over 1,000 miles.   This week should be pretty light since the time trial is just 8 days away!   Getting nervous!             #6 – 3,225.   I fell a bit behind again as I missed a day, but I’ll just have to catch up l...