From This Day Forward

Photo by Olya Kobruseva on Pexels.com

First and Foremost

Happy New Year everyone. It is bittersweet saying it, but I want to start off the year positively.

Though I know turning the page in the calendar isn’t the end of the pandemic and really doesn’t change anything, I think there is a little bit of optimism in the air. I feel as though we are turning a corner and I want to look ahead to my year.

Optimism

I feel as though the vacinations will make a difference and I will be able to take a trip this year. I don’t know where, but I am confident that it will happen.

Work will get back to normal and I will be teaching full classes again in person. Students will once again make it to Toronto to study English and the competitors which weren’t able to stay open will allow those that did to recover.

Challenges

There are lots of political, economic, and geographical challenges ahead. There will also be lots of fallout when we finally count the cost of the pandemic and political turmoil. Some things will have changed and others will bounce back. I can’t predict it, but we will have something to teach our children.

Resolutions

I am not afraid to make a few resolutions for the New Year. What I will do differently is check in here every quarter (or earlier) to see how I am doing. I’ve got to hold myself accountable and this is the best place to do it.

Reading

I used to read 60 or more books a year, but once I cut my commuting time from two hours to 30 seconds, I didn’t read nearly as much as I would have liked. It also didn’t help that the library was closed or even when it functioned, it really didn’t allow for browsing.

This year, I am setting a modest goal of 25 books.

Writing/Blogging

I resolve to

1. write at least six short stories and one novel this year. I have been claiming that blogging was exercise for writing fiction and this year will see me finally follow through on that. Too long have I been sitting on things that need to see the light of day.
2. blog five times a week. Specifically, that means I will blog here four times and at least once on my other blogs. I know I should sort out a schedule, but that really isn’t something I am comfortable doing.

Fitness/Cycling

This is a difficult area since I have so often failed in the past to follow up on these goals despite their importance to me. I hope by writing this that I will take a bit more accountability in this area.

I resolve to

1. Zwift at least 4 hours a week in January, 6 hours a week in February, and 7 hours a week in March and April. I didn’t wait for the New Year to start before jumping on this one.
2. get out on my bike as early as possible this year and put some road miles on my bike. This will also mean joining the club early, and using the technology in place to gather people for some casual rides before official club season.
3. stretch three times a week and follow all the stretches in my cycling stretching book. Obviously, I cannot do them all in the first week, but I hope to be doing all of them by April.
4. do body weight exercises at least twice a week.
5. drink fewer carbonated soft drinks and plan to eliminate them by summer.
6. be a serious and able B level rider within the club.
7. take part in the club time trials.
8. go on one cycling vacation this year.

All of this should result in weight loss, but in reality, diet and muscle building offer the best hope in that regard. Zwifting alone will not do it. Eating better should be a goal, but since listing a bunch of food I shouldn’t eat has never been successful, I should learn the lessons that foods can be eliminated slowly, but a better mental attitude towards eating needs to be acquired first. Actually, a better mental attitude towards everything above needs to be acquired first.

House Tasks

There are lots of things to do around the house, and I could list dozens of tasks (if not more), but I will list the ones that need dealing with right now. Many of these can be done rather quickly, but always seem to get pushed to the backburner. Hopefully by listing them, I will actually get them done.

I resolve to

1. paint the kitchen and hobby room.
2. organize the kitchen cupboards and pantry.
3. organize the laundry room and get rid of the boxes that I was “saving in case I need them.”
4. get the e-waste to the e-waste depot as soon as they open to the public
5. replace the curtains in the bedroom.
6. cut down on the stuff in the filing cabinet.
7. Make planters for the back yard.

I could name a lot of other nebulous tasks like declutter, but without a clear goal and a clear way to measure if I achieved the goal, there is no point in listing it.

Travel

I would love to make a list of goals in this area, but I will have to wait and see how this turns out. The best I can do now is save money so I will be able to pay for it.

Final Thoughts

Okay 2021. Bring it on.

Trying Out Zwift for the First Time

Today’s Perfect Moment is my first Zwift ride. For those not aware, Zwift is an online platform that allows you to simulate riding outdoors with a pretty cool interactive landscape. If you have the right equipment (and you don’t need the highest of tech) you can simulate climbs and downhills, flats and sprints all in either a world famous landscape or a totally fictitious one. It has other features like riding with friends, training programs, and other stuff that I haven’t even begun to explore yet.

Since I don’t have a fat bike and do not want to risk slipping across the snowy landscape where I live, this seems like a good option. If the gyms were open, I might have opted to do spin classes or Zwift classes, but that isn’t an option here and won’t be for a while yet–despite everyone’s optimism.

Though most of you don’t know me, I should confess that I often buy things and then don’t use them for a considerable amount of time. Sometimes they go where they are supposed to go and other times they live in my front hallway for a time. While this is sensible in the Covid era, it often makes people wonder why I bought the things at all–explaining that they were on sale just doesn’t seem to cut it.

In what might be a record for me, I got the thing set up quickly. Today, I took my first ride. I’d like to say that I was stellar right out of the gate, but that just isn’t true. I’ve put on a few pounds since it got too cold, too rainy, and dark too early to cycle outdoors. I wasn’t great, but I got the heartbeat up for a sustained period of time and I did a good job on the Sprint. Not being familiar with the set up, the course, the information flowing on the screen, I put most of this down to a tuning ride–of which there will be a few more before I feel comfortable.

That being said, it was good to be on the bike again pedaling. I and my body missed it quite a bit. I enjoyed the graphics and liked the interactive bit. I also enjoyed expending the energy and sweating terribly. Good thing I got those mats on the floor.

My setup is not perfect. I need that sweat protector for the bike (ordered) probably a fan because it is incredibly hot, and I really should make a musical playlist for my ride. Having music to shout along to would probably make the riding a bit more enjoyable. I also should eat properly and stretch before riding. It is all part of the learning curve.

Baby steps.

Baby Steps

I wish I could write that I have completely overhauled my diet. I wish I could honestly tell you that I have given up junk food, stopped snacking between meals and that my love affair with pizza (who loves me even more than I love it) was over.  Alas, I cannot.  What I can say is that I have made a concerted effort to eat better in all areas of my life.

I have written several times this early spring that I want to be better on the bike this year. To do that I am going do several things:

• stretch more consistently and improve my flexibility
• lower my weight to achieve a better power to weight ratio
• ride more often to improve my fitness
• work on my core strength
• improve my nutritional balance

These are obvious goals but the execution of them is not necessarily easy. By doing all of the things I mentioned, weight loss should be a natural consequence.  If it weren’t for a very powerful love of chocolate, beer, pizza, and samosas, that would probably be true.

I just thought I would share a picture of my lunch with you to show you that I am serious in turning over this new leaf (again).