Weekly reviews

Weekly review 30/7/07

This is a quick, rough,  supplementary post that I have decided to include after each week to give you a better idea of the sort of journeys that I am taking in my own LifeGoalAction adventure.

Early last week I decided that I simply couldn’t fit in all of the writing that this new site needed without making some changes.  I decided that I could liberate another hour each week day by getting up at 5:00 instead of 6:00.  This would give me an hour of complete peace and solitude to write, before I go out running at 6:00.

This first week has been very exciting.  Monday through Friday I was up and at the computer almost like clockwork.  Some days were spot on 5:00, two days were as late as 5:15.  Nonetheless I was very excited because on all of these days I set my alarm for 6:00 as normal to go running and woke up early by willpower alone.  I think the reason that getting up early was easy was because I looked forward to sitting down, undisturbed at my desk to write.  In fact, on Monday I was heading out the bedroom door at 3:00 when my wife sleepily told me that I was a bit early and I should look at my watch.

This may seem like a minor change but it is already having a major impact on my ability to write undisturbed.  A side effect is that I have felt a little weary after lunch, particularly today, so today I started a new ritual of having a 20 minute productivity nap after lunch.  I am hoping that this will power me through to the second half of the day and into the night.  Today’s didn’t work too well because I didn’t consider the amount of noise that my daughter would be making upstairs.  Tomorrow it is on with the ear plugs and I’ll give it another shot.

Yesterday was race day again for me.  It was the Tsukuba 6 hr enduro cycling race held on the Tsukuba circuit auto race track.  The track is just over 2 kilometres measured on it’s shortest route and is windy, includes a hill, one tight hairpin and two looser bends.  Up until this race I had never been able to ride a lap under about 3 minutes and 10 seconds.  Yesterday I set my sights at 3 minutes and achieved it on the second lap of my second ride.  After that I readjusted my goal and aimed to ride at least one lap under 3 minutes.  This came in the 2nd lap of my third ride with a 3:59, and then again on the 4th lap of that same ride with a 3:56.  Unfortunately I am paying for my efforts today with a general feeling of low energy.  But I am deeply satisfied with my achievements, particularly because I was able to beat even my own high expectations.  Needless to say, I love racing bikes.  It makes me feel so alive and on edge.  When I am racing I feel like nothing but air is between me and any of my goals.  It simplifies life, tunes my focus and afterwards, I wonder if anything could hold me back from achieving whatever I aim for.  It isn’t just bike racing that excites me like this, but I’ll save that for later.

That was my week.  How was yours?