Category: goals

wooden letter tiles spelling goals on grid Sam, like Nat, is still struggling with cycling distance goals
cycling · fitness · goals · motivation

Sam, like Nat, is still struggling with cycling distance goals

Sam B4 Comments

I’ve had a blog post in my head all summer about summer cycling and distance goals. It’s called “Is 50 km my new 100 km?’

In past years when I’ve done the Tour de Guelph in June, I did the 100 km distance but this year I picked 50 km. It seemed the natural choice. Now, I said I did that because we were trying to attract first-time riders for whom 50 km would be a reasonable goal that early in the summer, but also at the end of June, the Tour de Guelph was only my second 50 km ride of the season. It felt like the right distance for me.

July was a hot mess of family tragedy and wildfire smoke.

See Sam’s summer movement plans go awry: Some problems … and Sam and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Summer.

This month I’m struggling to find the time to ride 200 km. I chose that distance for my Great Cycle Challenge, thinking it wouldn’t really be much of a struggle. I thought that even if bad things kept happening and all my plans went to hell, I’d still be able to manage 200 km in a month easily.

Not so easy, it turns out.

Want to make me feel better, donate here!

My friend, former graduate student, and twitchy spouse of Natalie, Michel rode 600 km in a weekend recently.  A weekend!  600 km!

Twelve years ago I rode 1300 km in August. I know, I know. Comparison is the thief of joy. but still.

Ten years ago I wrote, “What’s your favourite distance? I like 100 km because I can have a normal day after. Ride 100 km in the morning, done and dusted, and get on with the weekend. 160 km requires serious refueling and serious naps. Next thing I know it’s night and my Saturday is shot. How about you?” See here.

Now 100 km feels like a big challenge.

I’m not alone, I know. See Nat’s account of her recent 100 km ride.

So, I know I’m older. But I don’t think this is about age.

I know what I have to do to make long-distance riding comfortable and easy. I need to ride more.

In the years I found the bike rally’s 660 km easy, it’s because I was a) regularly bike commuting, b) doing 30-40 km training rides one or two nights a week, c) doing a long ride on Saturday, often more than 100 km, and sometimes a recovery ride on Sunday, and d) doing bike vacations where we rode bikes every day.

Now I’m just bike commuting and doing an occasional 25 km bike ride on the weekend. No wonder distance goals seem hard.

I’ve realized it’s also an issue with my word of the year, expand. Yes, I’ve been swimming and skating and all sorts of other things but the only thing that makes you a better cyclist really is time on the bike.

What’s my plan then?

Well, I’ve signed up for the half bike rally next summer to raise money for the Toronto PWA–I’m planning to ride from Kingston to Montreal. This event is important to me because the money raised goes to help people living with HIV/AIDS. People who need food, wellness care, peer support or just to be in a place that is welcoming and safe for them. You can donate here.

I’d like to do the full distance, Toronto to Montreal, in 2028.

At some point, I want to ride 200 km in a day. Maybe that’s a Fall 2028 goal when I’m on research leave.

In the meantime, I’m looking for people to ride with in Guelph.

I’m looking for destinations for winter riding that aren’t Florida or Arizona, to be clear, aren’t in the United States at all.

Here’s my past winter rides:

March 2022 Alton Illinois. See here and here and here.

January 2020 Mount Dora, Florida

January 2019 Clermont, Florida

2015 Arizona in February and South Carolina in March

February 2010 Arizona, see here.

But while Trump is in office, I’m not going to the United States. I need another plan!

My goal for 2026 is 2,500 km, and I’m at about 1,100. There are 18 weeks left in 2026. That’s 77 km a week to meet my goal. But the problem is that the mileage goal alone isn’t motivational. I like achieving the goal when I fill my life with riding.

See you out there!

A reminder for all of us who have had tough summers:

A photo of a purple flower Christine goes from back pain to back at it.
ADHD · fitness · goals · motivation · planning

Christine goes from back pain to back at it.

Christine Hennebury2 Comments

This time last week, I had to work hard to focus on the good.

At that point, I had spent three days dealing with some lower back pain that had kind of come out of nowhere.*

That was annoying, obviously, but what was really frustrating is that up to the first day of back pain, I was on a 40 day exercise streak with the Hybrid Calisthenics app.**

For the first time in ages (maybe ever?) I was finding it easy to exercise, I was generally enjoying each session, the whole thing felt very purposeful, and I was seeing and feeling some results.

But then I had to break my streak to care for my back.

Part of my brain immediately went into story mode (a professional hazard for storyteller/writer types) and told me that a) I would have a hard time picking up where I left off and I might have to start again b) that I was probably going to put my routine aside and not remember it for ages c) if I did start again, I would have lost my momentum and it would take a lot of effort to convince myself to exercise.

Now, I’m not saying these are sensible thoughts but I have to admit that none of those scenarios are out of the question.

In fact, each of those scenarios is a very familiar groove and there was a definite risk of me and my ADHD brain slipping right into one of them.

This time, though, I was very determined not to let either of those stories come true.

Even though my back pain continued (with slowly diminishing intensity) right through this past week, I kept checking in with myself about when I’d be able to get back to my routine.

On Friday, I could feel clear improvement and Saturday was better again and Sunday was practically normal.

And on Monday morning, I asked myself the question I was asking daily before my back pain started:

“Am I exercising this morning or this evening?”

(A strong contrast with the question I would have asked myself during previous programs: “Am I exercising today?)

And, here’s the real victory as far as I am concerned:

It was EASY to get started.

I didn’t hesitate or try to negotiate with myself.

I didn’t have face any resistance at all – I just decided on morning and got started.

I felt a little rusty and my first set of each exercise was kind of slow.

But I did it. Carefully. Intentionally. With good form and while paying close attention to my back.

And I feel good. – physically and mentally – about getting back at it.

Now my worry is metaphorical – I don’t want to risk breaking my arm patting myself on the back.

😉

This photo is largely unrelated to the text except that I also had to take a break from walking Khalee for most of last week. My back was so uncooperative!

A dog looking at grass with a series of large mushrooms on it.
A photo of Khalee looking at some surprisingly abundant mushrooms on a a green space near our house. Don’t worry, I didn’t let her step into the faery ring. Image description: Khalee, my light haired medium sized dog is looking down at a series of large mushrooms amongst the green grass. She is wearing a blue kerchief and looks quite jaunty.

*My lower back is unhappy from time to time but it is usually short-lived and not quite this intense.

**To be clear, my program is two exercises a day for three days, repeat, active rest. I did not do 40 days of intense exercise in a row – it was gradual and had rest days built in.

Nat’s reasons for riding
cycling · goals · Sat with Nat

Nat’s reasons for riding

natalieh (she/her)3 Comments

My post last week about how my 100 km ride did not go as planned generated a lot of discussion across my social media platforms. The conversation is ongoing!

I have marvelous friends who are supportive, encouraging and unapologetic when calling me out on being mean to myself. I’m very lucky.

There were several gems I have mined from those discussions. Today I am looking at a question my gym buddy Rob asked me.

Why did I want to ride 100 km?

The first answer that came to mind was that I wanted to test if I was ready to ride longer than 100 km.

I’m very comfortable completing the MS Bike Tour. The two days of 80 km supported every 20 km felt great. It’s a different challenge to ride continuously in 50 km blocks. I underestimated that gap and was disappointed.

The myth of linear progress

I wanted to complete a 100 km ride as part of a story of physical fitness that showed progress.

When my results were similar to the ones I had 12 years ago it felt like a set-back.

In chatting with my friends in Randonneurs Ontario they shared stories of struggling to have consistent times on a given distance.

We spoke about routes, conditions, health, training, age and injuries.

There are a lot of variables that affect how long it takes to complete a route. Only some of those are under my direct control.

Is that the real reason?

Rob invited me to push against the first answers to validate if that is really why I wanted to ride 100 km.

Hope

What I wanted out of the ride was some evidence that my longest distances are ahead of me.

Ten years ago I completed the People with AIDS Bike Tour from Toronto to Montreal. It was 600 km over 6 days. The longest distance on a given day was around 135 km.

2016 Me, in Montréal, embracing a volunteer at the finish line.

Between then and now I quit cycling in 2020 (during the pandemic) then re-started in 2023.

I’ve been inconsistent. Without a capstone event after the MS Bike Tour my distance peters off each year. I have not used the indoor trainer in the winter.

New goals

What I really want out of cycling is more adventures with Michel. We are getting ready to try some rail trails this fall. I got a trailer to bring our dog Lucy along.

Active living

My big picture goal is an active life that supports my physical and mental wellbeing. I really enjoy shorter jaunts and I want to extend that to longer rides.

Consistent Riding

There is no secret to going longer, faster and happier on a bike. It’s time in the saddle on a consistent basis.

Training for the PWA ride had specific milestones to meet in order to be allowed to ride. There were distances to hit, an average speed above 20 km/hr and a deadline for back to back 100 km days.

Unstructured fun

In the shoulder season my focus will be fucking around and finding out. I will try some wider tires and some rail trails. I will get on my bike 2-3 times a week in addition to my utility cycling.

Folks jumping with joy by the waterside.

Thank you

I wanted to wrap this up with a giant thank you to my friends and family. I never imagined my writing about being disappointed with my 100 km would illicit a tsunami of responses. Texts from Nova Scotia and British Columbia and every province in between!

Messages from folks showing they had read every word and could relate. Thank you for reading my posts and connecting over our shared experiences of try to keep these bodies doing all the things.

A coffee with ‘thank you’ dusted on the creamy froth in cinnamon.

The Future

I’m still thinking about my mid and long term cycling goals. I’ll be sure to let you know once I settle on them.

Whatever the future holds, I suspect it will include my dog!
a photo of a dog standing in some greenery Christine inches slowly towards her 2026 movement goal.
ADHD · challenge · fitness · goals · walking

Christine inches slowly towards her 2026 movement goal.

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

When I started The Conqueror 2026 challenge in January, I set myself a goal of 730 kms of deliberate exercise* for the year.

For those of you playing along at home, that would be the equivalent of 2 km per day, every day.

Why ‘the equivalent’?

Because I don’t actually care all that much about walking that specific distance.

What I care about is increasing my daily exercise/activity levels and the Conqueror challenge lets me measure everything in terms of distance so all of my fitness activities are adding up to the same thing. *

If that sentence made you say, “Wait, what?”, please allow me to clarify.

  1. The distance was pretty arbitrary in the first place – I picked it to represent the approximate amount of activity I figured I could do most days.
  2. I don’t care specifically about walking that distance, I care about doing that much activity.
  3. The app lets me input other activities – like calisthenics, yard work, or dancing – into the tracker and tells me the walking distance that is equivalent to that activity.
  4. Since my ADHD self tends to struggle with tracking/measuring progress, especially if that tracking is overly detailed or fine-grained, having everything translated to distance is really helpful. AND having everything rolled into one metric reminds me that all of the different types of exercise I do are all part of the same goal – feeling better and moving more easily.

But even though the tracker is useful and has helped me to be way more consistent than I would otherwise be, I am currently behind on my challenge.

a screencap of a walking challenge tracker
a screen cap of my challenge homepage that shows two gray rectangles in the centre the top rectangle says ‘goal distance 730.0 km’ and the bottom rectangle says ‘Reason – to challenge myself to move a lot each day.’ behind the rectangles are two images that will be on the eventual medal I will receive. In the upper right corner is the long neck of a dragon outlines of clouds behind it. The dragon is gold and the cloud outlines summer gold, and some are bronze. In the bottom left corner is a grey silhouette of a howling wolf sitting on an outline of a rock and there are outlined clouds behind it. At the bottom of the image is a circular logo that says ‘Conquer 2026’. And shows two trackers. The top one in gray and black indicates that I have travelled 42% of the distance. I need to travel this year. The bottom one indicates that 57% of the year has passed. Underneath both of those is a sentence that reads 103.7 km behind your planned pace.

Luckily, I’m not fazed by this in the least.

There were definitely times in the past when I would have ditched the challenge by this point because of the focused effort it will take to close the gap between my current position and the ideal position for this point in the year.

But this current version of myself is looking at that gap and thinking. “I can totally close that!”

And guess what?

I’m right!

It may take me until the end of September but I am 100% confident that I will catch up, keep going, and earn a 2026 Conqueror challenge medal.

I’ll let you know how things are going at the end of August.

*And ‘deliberate exercise’ means additional movement that I have chosen to do – i.e. I am not measuring steps that are part of my daily activities.

**Besides fitness, of course, but the idea of being ‘fitter’ or having a good ‘fitness level’ is not even remotely tangible.

A painting of a gold star on black paper with encouraging text on one side. Go Team 2026: Keep Showing Up
fitness · fun · Go Team · goals · habits · health · motivation · self care

Go Team 2026: Keep Showing Up

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

Hey Team,

When was the last time you celebrated showing up?

If it has been a while, then please take this post as a sign to pat yourself on the back, congratulate yourself, and claim your gold star.

And if you congratulated yourself earlier today?

Well, pat yourself on the back, congratulate yourself again, and claim your gold star.

If you’re like me, there will be times when you are really challenging yourself and times when you are just kind of treading water.

Both are good.

In fact, the whole range of ways to show up are all good.

And I’d like you to celebrate every one of them.

I am proud of you for showing up when it’s fun and I’m proud of you for showing up when it’s annoying to be there.

And I hope that, overall, you get more fun than annoyance but here’s your gold star for your efforts either way.

Go Team Us!

A painting of a gold star on black paper with encouraging text on one side.
I’ve been trying out gold star cards with encouraging text and I like how this one turned out. Image description: a black card with a small painting of a gold star on the left side. On the right side is a piece of white card with rounded corners that says, in black text, “ this gold star celebrates your hard work, the effort you put into showing up every time. Congratulations! I’m so proud of you.” The white card is framed in black with a gold frame outside of the black one. There is a thick gold line a little ways under the star that also extends downward underneath the white card.

A drawing of a shiny gold star against a green background that is decorated with black spirals Go Team 2026: Be kind to yourself about frustration, please.
ADHD · advice · Go Team · goals · habits · motivation · self care

Go Team 2026: Be kind to yourself about frustration, please.

Christine Hennebury1 Comment

Hey Team,

I am solidly in the messy, frustrating middle of so many projects right now – fitness and otherwise.

And it is taking a lot of effort to keep working away at stuff instead of ditching everything and starting over.

The middle of any project is rarely fun but it can be especially dreadful for those of us with ADHD. The novelty has worn off, there’s a lot of trial and error, and everything seems very, very dull.

My brain really wants me to

  • start some new stories instead of working on ones that need revising.
  • try some new exercises instead of sticking with my walking/yoga/mobility routine.
  • buy new containers to store stuff instead of decluttering (decluttering = so many choices to make -ugh!)
  • try some new drawing techniques instead of improving my current skills.
  • invent different workshops and projects instead of finishing and promoting the ones I am already working on. 
  •  (don’t even get me started on my volunteer projects!)

But despite the noise my brain is making about this, I know that starting something new – in any category- will only be temporarily fun.

Pretty soon that new, fun thing will be at the messy middle stage and I’ll be annoyed all over again.

And, even though my brain has doubts, I know that I will REALLY enjoy when I finally finish something, when I can feel a difference in my body or my mind, and when I can see some of the progress I have made.

The only way to get to that real enjoyment is to keep inching everything forward, to add fun and novelty where I can, and to keep reminding myself that it is extra fun to actually finish something – even if that time feels very far away at the moment.

So, Team, even allowing for ADHD-related intensity, I’m pretty sure that ‘Why is the middle so annoying?’ is a pretty common feeling.

In fact, being annoyed with any part of any process seems pretty common.

You might be annoyed with the details required to get started or the details required to finish up.

You might find the middle incredibly tedious.

The unknowns at the beginning might get on your nerves.

Figuring out the last few steps might be frustrating.

All of it makes sense and it is all perfectly ok.

Sure, your frustration might lead you to use a slightly different approach or it could mean you need a little break or need a little more support.

But none of those feelings of frustration automatically suggest that this project isn’t for you.*

And when they arise, you can remind yourself that they are part of your process and then find a way to forge ahead – perhaps slowly, perhaps after a break, perhaps with a little more fun added to the mix.

I’m not saying that it is easy to do that, just that it is possible. 

And your effort will be worth it. 

In fact, speaking of effort, here’s our gold star for our efforts today – no matter which part of the process we are in right now. 

Go Team Us!

PS – Be kind to yourself out there, pretty please.  

*Meanwhile, if every part of the project is frustrating every single time, then it may be time to consider whether the project is a good fit overall.

dogs · fitness · goals · walking · WOTY

Expanding to Elora and beyond

Sam B1 Comment

Earlier this year when I was playing with my word of the year, Expand, I pledged to get to know the Guelph area better. See Expanding my horizons and my #26for2026 list before the year even really begins

More specifically, I said I would, “Here are some of the specific things I’d like to add to my 26 in 2026 list: Purchase a conservation area pass and visit all 11 local conservation areas plus the Luther Marsh, one per month, and a provincial park pass with the goal of visiting 6 new ones this year.”

This weekend, most other family members are off outdoor adventuring. Mallory and Gwen are backcountry canoe camping in Algonquin, Sarah is off with family in Prince Edward County, Jeff and Susan are both in Nova Scotia, and Miles, mum, and I are home sick. Blerg.

But even when you’re sick, the dogs still need walking, so we ventured out in the car to check out a new-to-us conservation area, Elora Gorge. (That’s different from the Elora Quarry where Catherine and I went swimming a couple of years ago.)

We had so much fun that on Sunday we did it again. This time we went further afield to Shade’s Mills Conservation area in nearby Cambridge. It’s more of a lakefront beach for families, less hiking. Cheddar went in the water for a bit to beat the heat, It got up to 30 degrees and we got heat alerts on our phones. That felt extra strange after the midweek frost alert.

Both days we logged more than 10k steps and enjoyed our days, talking, and hanging with the dogs.

Goal: 11 conservation areas + Luther Marsh

So far we’ve visited Rockwood, Shade’s Mills, and the Elora Gorge, and I feel like I’m getting to know the area better.

  1. Elora Gorge Walk with Cheddar, Chase, and Miles
A wooded area featuring tall trees and rocky cliffs, with a chain-link fence along a path.
A smiling woman with curly gray hair wearing large black glasses and a dark zip-up hoodie, standing outdoors among trees with a river in the background.
A man wearing a colorful hoodie stands next to a golden retriever and a smaller dog, beside a fence with a 'Gorge Warning' sign in a forested area.
A view through tree branches to a flowing river and rocky cliff, surrounded by lush green foliage.
A person in a colorful hoodie is walking two dogs in a wooded area with tall trees and fallen leaves on the ground.

2. Shades’s Mills Conservation Area with Cheddar,  Chase and Miles

A person walking a dog on a dirt trail surrounded by tall trees in a forest.
Sometimes A Vague Goal Is Pretty Useful
ADHD · goals

Sometimes A Vague Goal Is Pretty Useful

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

Do I owe you a thinky post about World Creativity Day? Yes, yes, I do. Alas, last week was made of chaos, headaches, and migraines and it did not get done. I have safely emerged from that maelstrom but I am writing this on Monday and my solo storytelling show is tonight and my focus keeps wandering from my thinky post. Since I would prefer that my brain stay in one piece, I am writing about something else today and I will get back to the creativity one soon.

On Sunday evening, I made a list of things I wanted to have done by the end of this week. There were a few work tasks, a couple of household things, and, oddly enough, one rather vague item – become stronger. 

I don’t even really know where that last one came from but I found myself intrigued.

I mean, becoming stronger is an ongoing goal for me so this isn’t completely new but something felt different about having it on my list in that format.

Become stronger.

Become stronger. 

When I phrase it like that it’s not a list of exercises or a bunch of tasks or a potential goal, it’s an open loop. 

And my brain, the same one that fights with me about exercising or completing tasks*, is ALWAYS intrigued by an open loop and it starts in with the questions…

What does ‘become stronger’ mean?

How can I become stronger in a week?

What would that involve?

How will I know if I become stronger?

Why do I even want to become stronger?

Who do I want to consult on this?**

When can I get started?

See how quickly my brain dug in on this? It is totally invested in solving the mystery of how to become stronger this week. 

And I’m going to let it figure it out as we go. 

After all, I know that I can’t get a lot stronger in one week but that’s where the vagueness of ‘become stronger’ works out well. I don’t have to get a lot stronger, I just have to move the needle. 

And, in fact, when I got up Monday morning my brain was already reminding me that we had to work towards getting stronger today. 

So things are off to an interesting start!

A photo of a horse in the distance with a lot of field all around it.
This is what I got when I searched for ‘vague’ in the image library. I guess it’s accurate? The connection is value at least. Image description: a black and white photo of a dark-coloured horse (I think) on light-coloured ground that could be a field or snow or a beach. The horse is in the distance in the centre so it is very small relative to the size of the image overall. It is maybe 1/8 of the height of the image and 1/12 or the width.

PS – Today’s ‘become stronger’ activity turned out to be this 10 Minute Morning Workout to Boost Energy from MonikaFit.

Well, I won’t be able to get a lot stronger in one week but I will be able to

*Yes, I do often refer to my brain as separate from me, apparently it’s an ADHD thing.

**In this case the ‘who’ will be a combo of fitness people on YouTube and Instagram but I really wanted to get a who question in there so I phrased it as who instead of saying ‘What videos will I watch?’

a small drawing of the number 5 5 Questions for World Creativity & Innovation Day
fitness · goals · habits · self care

5 Questions for World Creativity & Innovation Day

Christine Hennebury1 Comment

Today, as you may have guessed, is World Creativity & Innovation Day and I have a kind of thinky post underway for later today but for starters, I have a few questions for you.

My answers will be in my later post along with ideas and resources about the intersection between fitness and creativity.

1) What kind of creative practices do you use in your day to day life? (Creative problem solving counts!)

2) Have you used creative scheduling approaches to make it easier to fit fitness activities, movement, or wellness activities in your life?

3) Do you stick to the same fitness routine or do you get creative with your movements, exercises, and activities?

4) Have you ever used exercise to boost your creativity?

5) Have you ever found a creative solution to a fitness-related problem? (like figuring out a way to accomplish a difficult exercise or finding a way to a piece of equipment in a useful but unexpected way)

No pressure, of course, but it would be cool if you could put your answers to at least one of these questions in the comments.

I’ll see you later with my thinky post.

PS – Did you notice that I creatively repurposed one of my December number images for today’s image? 😉



A clear plastic rectangular box with two stacks of index cards inside it Index Card Fitness Planning
ADHD · fitness · goals · planning · self care · trackers

Index Card Fitness Planning

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

I think I have found a workaround for one of my most annoying fitness challenges and, oddly enough, it involves one of my favourite offices supplies – INDEX CARDS!

If you have been reading my posts for a while then you know that I find it difficult to set big picture fitness goals because I’m not sure what I want my endpoint to be.

I mean, I want to be stronger or have more ease in my movements (especially after the challenges of the last few years) but I don’t really have a way to measure that except for ‘feeling stronger’ or ‘feeling more ease.’

Both of those things sound good in principle but I know that my ADHD brain will send me into endless loops of ‘Was that enough?’ ‘Do I feel better or worse than yesterday?’ ‘Am I putting in the right effort here?’ and I won’t find much fun or much satisfaction in that whole process.

Meanwhile, though, I also don’t have a lot invested in more measurable things like being able to reach a particular speed when walking or lift a certain weight or do a specific number of reps. Those things don’t really resonate for me and I know that I will just get kind of meh about them over time.

And even though I understand intellectually that additional consistent exercise will be helpful, some part of my brain is not really buying into the idea and keeps insisting that effort today is not really going to add up to anything and I will just be wasting time that I could spend reading or writing or doing something fun.

But, at the same time, I know that I am wrong about that and I keep trying different ways to jumpstart a fitness plan.

Last week, I did some thinking about how I could encourage myself to take on a longer term exercise project that would let me see my efforts all along without having to choose some sort of specific result to work towards.

I want the process of exercising to be so routine that any results will just be a sort of by-product of the activity rather than being the point.

Eventually, I figured out that I could choose to commit to 100 workouts.

I wouldn’t have to pick a specific type of workout or a specific length of workout and I wouldn’t have to accomplish anything specific, I would just have to pick something and do it.

And even my somewhat-belligerent-on-this-topic brain has to admit that I will definitely see and feel some differences after 100 workouts.

Once I had decided on that number, I wanted to find a way to track it and maybe make some notes about the various workouts I tried.

And that’s when I came up with the index card solution.

I love index cards for notetaking, for planning, and for art so they are a very friendly material for me – which is a good start.

One of the reasons I enjoy using index cards for those things is the fact that they are relatively small so I can’t take on too much. That seems like a good approach for these workouts too.

Friendly and will prevent me from taking on too much? So far, so good!

The other benefit of index cards in this context is that if I write one index card per workout, I will be able to see those workouts adding up over time as I move toward my 100 card target.

So, here’s the plan I started late last week:

  • Open a brand new package of index cards and put them in a container that will hold the blank cards and the completed ones side-by-side.
  • Workout 100 times in the next six months.
  • Write about each individual workout on a separate card and keep it in the same case.
  • Watch my progress and feel good about the whole thing.

And it truly has been ‘so far so good’ – I have done four workouts* and filled out four cards and it feels manageable and useful.

In fact, I feel exactly like I hoped I would – that the index cards are the point of the whole thing and any results are just a bonus – and I think that’s a good sort of feeling for me to have about this project because it keeps my brain from looping about the specifics.

Let’s see how this goes, shall we?

*Next week’s post will be about how I chose what will count as a workout. 🙂