Goals are much easier to actually accomplish if you break it into steps. I haven’t done the Googling, but I assume tapering with the help of patches or nicotine gum is a much more successful method of smoking cessation than cold turkey. Fitness improvements are almost by definition something to work toward one step at a time — you can’t just go from the couch to running a marathon, you need to run around the block first.

This all came about from me lying in bed thinking about some things I’d like to accomplish this year and trying to come up with ways to keep track of my paths toward them. A lot of this is based on my use of the Physics Diet web site for tracking my weight. Even when I’m not succeeding, I love having the data in front of me. I can forgive myself a big red spike if I then come back with some green afterward.

I want something like that for other goals, so I started bending my brain around it a little. Physics Diet depends on daily weight and body fat measurements, and each day your “goal” (in most cases, at least) is to weigh less than you did the day before. How do you break other types of goals into similarly measurable “micro-goals”.

I think the main crux is how you formulate your goal.

Suppose I want to be able to run ten kilometers this year. The first step is to get out and run – period. That means running once in this next week is an improvement from the previous state of not running at all. Then if I get to the point where I am running consistently three days a week, I need to change my metric to something like distance covered or even time if my distance covered is the same as before. Obviously, this just got a lot more complex than a weight chart…

At least there are still obvious metrics, though – in the example above you have frequency, distance, and time. All of which you can easily measure and compare. You might even be able to make a pretty chart/graph to show progress/regression. Even without the chart I could track progress in each of the metrics and use that data to motivate myself toward my originally stated goal of running 10k within my time frame.

Here’s another one: I want to learn to play my Fluke ukulele. How the heck do I “chunkify” something like that? Well, I could rephrase the goal to something more like “I want to practice the ukulele every day.” That give me the frequency metric again. I could also perhaps measure a duration metric, too. Those will definitely be helpful to me at the start, but after a while two hours of plinking tunelessly will become a disappointment, and it’s a big jump from counting how often I practice to counting something like songs I’ve learned to play….

Perhaps this illustrates a lack of knowledge — I might not actually understand what it takes to reach my goal.

Maybe that’s OK, though. Maybe tracking data on these small metrics is just a way to get me off the ground for some goals, while with others – like running or other fitness goals – it could be a long-lasting habit.

Besides, there are other things to track. Perhaps some goals are better broken into a sequential checklist of milestones — when you can check something off, you have made progress. This sort of goal wouldn’t really have backwards progress, I suppose, aside from stalling out on time.

What do you think? Is this likely to be a useful tack for achieving goals? Am I just using the idea of tracking data as a procrastination tool? (Thanks to my experience with Physics Diet, I’m quite certain this isn’t the case. Tracking measurements takes very little effort and thinking out your goals is never a bad thing.)

Highlights:

• Had a meeting with Ma and her giant dog rescue crew and got them introduced to my boss in case we can do some pro-bono work for them. We have a meeting scheduled for this Tuesday, so we’ll see if anything comes of it.
• Took Mingus in for shoulder x-rays to see if anything joint-related was making him gimpy. Turns out the joints look pretty darned good. Hooray no surgery for the dog.
• I had a medical visit myself, but that warrants its own post… Coming soon…
• Painted the kitchen a pretty little shade of blue with the help of The Wife.
• Spent the 4th at Brozo‘s, which is fast becoming tradition. Drank some beers, threw a couple bottle rockets, managed not to start any fires. Y’know, standard stuff.
• The next day we made it out to see the Burlesque As It Was troupe put on a righteous USO-style show. That Charlie Champale is something else, I tell ya. The girls were pretty fun, too. We liked it so much, in fact, we’re going to see them again on the 26th at the Bluebird theater in Denver.
• Today’s highlight was Rafa “Gun Show” Nadal finally finishing off Roger Federer in a marathon Wimbledon final. That and being able to buy a bunch of beer on a Sunday. Nice!

Other than that, I got to watch some Red Sox baseball, but really that hardly matters to me — I don’t really pay attention until September.

So, the iPhone 3G comes out this Friday, eh? Hmmmmm…

The Wife and I went to an actual running store and bought actual running shoes yesterday, so that we might continue our attempts at jogging with perhaps a bit less agony. Given that I haven’t called myself a “runner” since high school, and The Wife never has, we popped into our local Road Runner store to take full advantage of their know-how on the subject.

I had gone in with a strong recommendation from my mother, whose duck feet I was dubiously fortunate enough to inherit, so I told our friendly shoe salesman that I needed to try on a pair of Brooks Beasts and that my dear spouse might need a bit more help in finding the right gear since she’s a former ballerina and nobody really understands what’s going on with her feet.

So, he took her over to stand on a pressure pad and found out she’s much more “normal” than any of us expected. She tried on three different pairs and settled on a pair of Nike Zoom Structures that felt “like little hugs for my feet!”

Meanwhile, I wasn’t so sure about the Beasts. This is typical of me. I can never tell if a shoe feels right. Mostly they just never feel all that great to me, but in particular, I have had so many shoes seem fine in the store only to be totally wrong when I get them home. Luckily Road Runner offers a guarantee for just such issues.

Anyway, I was hemming and hawing a bit. I thought maybe I should stand on the pad or whatever, too, in case anything mysterious would be revealed. Once I stood up in my socks and showed our guy how my feet roll inward, though, he said there was no mystery about that at all. And so I tried on a couple other pairs from Asics and Saucony. I ended up on the treadmill which showed my left ankle trying its level best to buckle in a direction that just isn’t normal (“We generally want to try to get that a bit straighter, but I think that’s as good as you get…” said my new friend with a baffled shrug.), but also revealed that I straighten my stride out fairly well by the time I push off. Good for me. In fact, we were both happy that nobody looked at us and screamed “What in the world are you doing trying to run?!”

Long story longer: The Beast felt the best of the shoes I tried on, and with some adjustments of the lacing pattern I was mostly able to get it to feel alright in the areas that were questionable.

Now it’s just a matter of getting out there more than once or twice a week… (At least the days are starting to get longer.)

Going for my walk/run today in 15 degree (F) temps wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. Until my calf started cramping. That had nothing to do with the cold, though. It was ready to go from the activity earlier in the weekend.

Junk I’ve run across:

• Parkour and free running are – without a doubt – the best thing to happen to action movies since martial arts. This article focuses on one of the American early adopters.
• Last Friday there was news of a car found in bits (along with the three people who were in it) in nearby Louisville. Turns out the car was doing over 100 miles per hour. It also turns out the folks taking the ride were drinking. At least they were “doing what they loved.”
• Leonard Cohen is going on tour after fifteen years off the road. I’m sure he’s past his prime, but I might actually go see him. This live disc is absolutely essential, I don’t care who you are.
• What does it say about me that I think this thing looks like a lot of fun?
• Brozo‘s pal and mine, John Croghan, is playing some shows in the near future. I told him he should play “More Than Words” by perennial Boston favorite, Extreme. He said he’d do it if I actually came to the show. I’m gonna do my best, even though it’s way past my bed time.
• Another buddy, Wil Herren, has taken off to Dubai, where the rate of construction is only outstripped by the importing of sex workers (or so I hear). Wil’s off to a great start on his travel blog, even if he might be misusing the “pages” paradigm. The captions on the pics are gold.
• Brozo has the run down of our send-off for Wil, if you’re interested in a bunch of past-their-prime white boys rolling between dive bars in a limo.
• Oh, yeah… Go Pats!
• So, Clinton won Nevada, but Obama got more delegates? WTF? No wonder people don’t bother…
• I’m reading The Golden Compass right now. It’s actually good fun, IMHO. Not sure if I’m all that interested in the movie, though.
• I grabbed Superbad onto my TiVo via Amazon Unbox, though. That’s bound to be just about perfect for one of these nights when the television dial is utterly devoid of worthwhile entertainment.
• Speaking of, anyone have the early word on Breaking Bad? I’ve got it recorded, but haven’t watched it yet.

• I’m really pleased with the results of my latest slate tile project. Now I’m itching to switch into woodworking mode. I’m super excited about the new episodes of the New Yankee Workshop: Norm is building kitchen cabinets. I plan to eventually build cabinets for the mudroom and perhaps the garage (as practice for the potential “big job” of the actual kitchen). I think I’ll go ahead and buy the DVDs.
• I’m gradually building up my home entertainment system to match the new TV. I’ve gotten a fancy HDMI-switching receiver and a fairly cool iPod dock thingy. Next on my list is a TiVo HD. Then some surround speakers of some sort (I’m still living in stereo, folks…). And then maybe an Xbox 360, finally. (Still holding out for GTA4 on that one.)
• On the fitness front, my weight dipped below 200 pounds for the first time in a while yesterday. It’s back above today, but we’ll assume that’s temporary. I’m going to join a climbing gym soon, I think. A great new motivator I have is the Garmin Forerunner 205 I got for Xmas. It’s not as sexy as the new 405 everyone is drooling over, but it’s pretty darned cool. Of course, now I’m obsessed with tracking the slightest walk / jog / jaunt to the mail box. When The Wife teased me about it I quipped, “Are you kidding? I’m gonna track my trips to the bathroom from now on!”
• Lots of interesting gossip about former coworkers and new coworkers. That’s about all I’ll say about that, I suppose.
• I’m still an Obama cheerleader, though I don’t generally like to air my politics on this site. I like the look of things right now.
• Trent Reznor isn’t exactly excited by the results of the Niggy Tardust experiment.
• TV sucks almighty ass right now. I know there’s a writer’s strike going, but why aren’t networks taking better advantage by replaying some of the good stuff we might have missed previously? Example: AMC’s Mad Men? (Ooh! There’s an encore starting Jan 21. Nice.) At least I always have books to read.

So yeah… What’s new with you?

You see, some stupid section of my stupid brain decided my walks weren’t good enough and that I should try to jog for as much of it as I can. At this point, I’m walking/jogging a loop that is just under 3 miles and all of my jogged chunks add up to a mile or so. I do this on the weekends only, because the days are so short now that it’s pitch dark by the time I get home, and my little loop lives in unlit open space with coyotes and junk running around in it.

You’d think a solid week would give the legs enough time to recover, eh? Not so much. The outsides of my thighs have been cumulatively seizing up, and I’ve come to the point where I feel like I’m floating a millimeter from full-bore debilitating cramping. I’m not sore, really… I just have this muscle on each leg that in near permaflex and it’s throwing me off a bit.

I’m trying to figure out what to do. Last night I dowsed myself with Tiger Balm, but that has no long term effect. I suppose I should chow on some bananas. Maybe take some magnesium & vitamin E.

It’s really no big deal, but it is keeping me from improving when I do go for my walk/jog, because my legs have next to nothing to give when I get out there.

Bleh.

Next on the docket are the mighty Rockies. Now, I’m not a baseball fan. I root for the Red Sox on principal alone. But c’mon! Who doesn’t love a “hometown underdog does good” story? Best of all, I know one Phillies fan who is an extremely sore loser. This could be fun.

In general, Autumn is upon us. The transition seasons always get me fired up in one way or another.

The Wife and I are taking a lot of long walks with Mingus to try to shed some pounds and keep the dog happy.

I’ve barely been on the Bonneville this year, but it’s OK. My favorite riding time is now, so hopefully I’ll get in the saddle at least a few times. I wish I was like these guys.

I’m itching to start a home project or a woodworking project (or both) soon. Updates when I do.

Makes me wistful.

And a bit depressed… As Ed put it to me “You should get skinny again. You were pretty.”

As of right now, the notions of getting skinny and getting back into climbing are almost a chicken and egg proposition… Nothing to it but to do it, right?

(Did I mention rock climbing is how I seduced my wife? It’s somewhat true.)

Since then, I’ve actually seen kettlebells on TV a few times. One show was totally unrelated to fitness (it was probably a home renovation show or something), but the featured “real person” was a kettlebell trainer, and they showed him doing his thing.

Now BuzzFeed says it’s the latest craze. (They do have some good, recent links, it should be noted.)

Go figure.