Year-42 Project, Day 90

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27 Oct 20110 comments

This is an update to my 1-year long Year-42 Project, a set of long-term challenges culminating on my 42nd birthday (July 28, 2012).

So far, the project is going very well. It's been a lot to take on. I've made it a point to only pursue 1-2 challenges at a time and not fall into the cycle of big plans that crash-and-burn. I felt ready for this, though, and I'm seeing results faster than expected.

Here's a recap of the first 3 months. Items with * have either been added or were accidentally omitted in the original post. Progress for unfinished items is shown in parentheses.

Part 1 - Fitness goals

I'm making great strides here, and I feel good. My first 5K race in 2 years was a bit of a disaster, but my day-to-day running is going well. I added the sit-ups goal (50 in 2:00) and finally completely the 100 push-up challenge. I added an additional 5K goal - I usually run/walk it, and even though my times are improving, I'd like to finally run the full distance.

  • Push-ups - Do 200 in 6:00
  • Push-ups - Do 100 in 2:00 (1 set)
  • 5K - Beat 2007 race PR (27:47)
  • 5K - Beat 2006 treadmill PR (26:55)
  • 5K - Run the full distance
  • Sit-ups - Do 50 in 2:00*

Part 2 - Diet goals

Two of these are in-progress, but coming along well, and one is nearly done. For some reason, the soda thing is rough, even though I don't drink that much soda. I'm consistently at 2/week, though. I'll do a separate write-up of my 30 days without dairy:
  • Give up soda completely (2/week)
  • Go 30 days without dairy (day 27)
  • Eat 5+ veggies/fruits per day (4/day)

Part 3 - Learn Chinese

This is a slow-and-steady sort of project. I've been putting in 30 minutes/day consistently on weekdays, and I'm starting to see results:
  • 100 ChinesePod Newbie lessons
  • Finish Pimsleur CDs (2/16)
  • 100 Elementary lessons (22/100)
  • 100 Intermediate lessons
  • 50 Upper intermediate lessons

Part 4 - All the rest

I left the flossing out of the original list, but I'll talk about that in another post. The day after I first juggled 50 bags in a row, I did 135, so I guess that's coming along:

That's all for now.

I don't want to dive deep into a post that's all about me, but I committed to doing quarterly updates just to keep myself honest. Expect another one at the end of January.