January 1st, 2011
It’s that time of year again. As I’ve done for previous years (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), here are my personal goals for this year:
- Graduate from ETH (finish my masters in computer science)
- Visit 1 new country
- Develop and launch an Android app
- Develop and launch at least one new website
- Maintain and improve minimotivation.com
- Maintain and improve DevCheatSheet.com
- Weigh 210 lbs
- Workout regularly all year-long (at least 2-3 times per week)
July 4th, 2010
It’s hard to believe that we are already over halfway through 2010. The good news is that means that I am now past the halfway point for my Project 365! 184 days down, 181 days to go.
If anyone is interested in following along, here is the link to my Project 365 photoblog – http://timchurch-project365.tumblr.com/
Some recent photos:
January 26th, 2010
As one of my goals for the year, I have decided to attempt the massive undertaking that is known as “Project 365″. If you are not familiar with this concept, Project 365 is a photography project where you take one photo everyday for one year. The idea is to get lots and lots of practice which will hopefully improve my photography skills. I also hope to learn some new techniques and figure out how to use the manual settings on my camera.
This is something that I have talked about doing since around 2007. After finally buying a DSLR camera and following my friend Eric Wilfong’s Project 365 last year, I am finally ready to give it a shot myself.
I have created a new photoblog specifically for this project – http://timchurch-project365.tumblr.com. The photos will also be posted to a set on Flickr.
January 14th, 2010
Update: Follow-up on 2010 goals
Sticking with my annual tradition, here are my goals for the year:
- Get married!
- Project 365 – 1 photo everyday for a year [photography]
- Visit 1 new country [travel]
- Read 36 books [reading]
- Graduate from CLSC [reading]
- Read 3 programming books [career]
- Build and launch 1 new website [career]
- Finish lifestream and webtemplategenerator.com (carried over from last year) [career]
- Increase traffic on devcheatsheet.com 10x to 1k uniques/day [career]
- Max ROTH IRA contribution [finance]
- Save $10k toward retirement [finance]
- Improve eating habits – smaller portions, more fruits and veggies, daily vitamin, less fried foods, less pop [health]
- Weigh 215 lbs or less [health]
- Improve flexibility [health]
January 7th, 2010
Final Count: 7.5/15
2009 was a crazy year for me with an international move, tons of travel (15 countries), unemployment, and an engagement. But even with all of that going on, I was able to accomplish alot. Here is the summary:
- Weigh 205 lbs – Nope.
- Finish 1 major race (marathon, 1/2 ironman, or century bike) – Half credit. I trained for five months for the Amsterdam marathon but was unable to run the race due to an injury.
Move abroad – Emily and I moved to Zürich, Switzerland in February (although I am still working on a visa so I can stay full time). Visit 3 new countries – Visited 9 new countries: Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Czech Republic, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark, Qatar, LaosLearn a new programming language – Learned Python (and Django) to create devcheatsheet.comBuild and launch at least 1 website – Done - devcheatsheet.com - Finish lifestream and webtemplategenerator.com – Didn’t get around to finishing these; focused instead on launching DevCheatSheet.com
- Read 4+ programming books – Only read 1 programming book: The Definitive Guide to Django
- $100/month passive income – Not yet…just starting to get some traffic so hopefully I will be able to start making a little bit of passive income in 2010
Max ROTH-IRA contribution – Done.- Save $25k – I was on track for this goal until the startup ran out of funding and I was out of a job. Since then my bank accounts have been going down instead of up.
Learn a foreign language – I’m going to give myself credit for this one after finishing a 3 month intensive A1 German course (although I am still a beginner). Read 30 books – Read 37 books – full list on LibraryThing.com- Write first draft of movie screenplay – Never started.
- Photography class – No class, but I finally bought a DSLR and have taken a lot of photographs this year.
October 30th, 2009
Marathon Training & Injury
One of my goals for the year was to finish a big race like a marathon or half Ironman triathlon. I figured that running would be easiest with all of my traveling this year, so I decided to train for a marathon. After running for a couple months to get a decent base, my sister-in-law Nina, who is a running coach, made a great training plan for me. Then I fully committed and registered for the Amsterdam Marathon in October (which was about 6 months away).
My training went well for the first 5 months, and I made a lot of progress. I was to the point where an hour long run felt like an easy day. Before this, the longest I had ever run was 13.1 miles in the San Francisco half marathon in 2007. But I got to the point in my training where I was basically running a half marathon or more every week! For me that was quite an accomplishment unto itself.
Unfortunately, though, this story doesn’t have a happy ending. In the middle of September, about one month before the race, I went out for a long run in Zürich. It was to be my longest run yet at 3 hours (about 3/4 of a marathon). The run started out fine but just as I got to the farthest point away from home (it was an out-and-back run), the arch of my right foot started hurting. I could tell that something was wrong, but I had no way to get back home other than to run/walk it. So I hobbled along all the way back, most likely exacerbating the injury along the way, until I got to an area I knew and could get on the bus home. And that was the end my running career, for now anyways.
My own diagnosis is a stress fracture, but I haven’t actually gone to a doctor to confirm this. For now I have stopped running and am trying to keep off of it as much as possible so that it can heal. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but I know that it had nothing to do with the training plan. I had been adding distance very gradually and had had no problems up until that day. I suspect that it was most likely due to not replacing my running shoes quickly enough, but my orthotics and/or bad running form might also be to blame (or maybe something else completely, who knows?).
On the bright side, we already had the trip to Amsterdam booked so now I could just go and enjoy myself. Plus, Emily had signed up for the Amsterdam half marathon, so now I could be her cheerleader/photographer.
Amsterdam
Emily and I went to Amsterdam two weeks ago, from October 16th to 19th. It was my first time ever in Amsterdam or in the Netherlands; Emily had already been there once before earlier this year with our friend Ben Shapiro. The city is definitely very unique with canals literally everywhere. I was surprised by how the canals were so integrated into the city and by just how many there were. The other thing that is impossible not to notice in Amsterdam is all the bikes. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a city where biking was embraced so heavily. While there were marked bike lanes almost everywhere, I was still a bit surprised that there wasn’t a better biking infrastructure. I’m not really sure what I expected, but I just found it strange that the bike lanes were often blocked by tourists and weren’t more isolated from the cars and pedestrians.
Over the weekend, we were lucky enough to stay at a friend’s apartment rather than a hotel. We stayed with Luke Miller, who is one of Emily’s friends from work whom I had met earlier in the year in Paris, and his sister Tegan. They were very generous to let us stay with them, so thanks again Luke and Tegan! Oh, and they have the craziest shower I’ve ever seen in my life, complete with lights, radio, steam, and more.
Sunday was the day of Emily’s race. The marathon started in the morning, but the half marathon didn’t start until 2 pm. The race started and finished at the Olympic Stadium, which was walking distance from Luke’s apartment. I watched Emily start then walked around the city and got some lunch while she was running. Most of the public transport was closed down because of the marathon so it was a bit difficult to get around, and I actually didn’t get back to the stadium in time to see Emily finish. I thought I had made it in time, but she ran faster than she had expected! Her final time was an impressive 2:01:54. Way to go, Emo!
Our flight didn’t leave until late Monday evening, so Emily and I had all day to hang out and explore the city. We spent most of the afternoon at the Van Gogh Museum, which we both enjoyed a lot. Other than that we just walked around and then headed to the airport for our flight that evening.
So even though I didn’t get to run the marathon, it was still a good weekend. Emily had a great race and we had a good time. Thanks again Luke and Tegan!
More Amsterdam pictures on Flickr
May 9th, 2009
This is a very long overdue follow-up on my personal goals for last year. So how did I do? I accomplished 9.5 out of 15 goals. Not bad.
Goals for 2008
- Travel to a new country Done. Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru
- Run 1/2 Marathon Done. San Francisco Half Marathon.
- Finish Olympic Triathlon Done. Wildflower Triathlon and Sentinel Triathlon.
- Weigh 215 lbs or less and maintain that weight through the end of the year Done.
- Max out my 401k ($15,500) Done. Had to max out early before switching jobs. Unfortunately, startups don’t offer 401k’s.
- Max out my ROTH-IRA ($5,000) Done.
- Make 10k in outside income (outside of my main job) Unfortunately, this did not happen.
- Learn Spanish (conversational level) Got some practice in Argentina and Peru but still need more work.
- Post to blog regularly (1+ post per week) Half credit. I wrote 31 blog posts in 2008, which I think counts as “regular” but not up to my stated goal of 1 per week.
- Read at least 2 books per month Done. Read 31 books in 2008. Full list on Librarything.
- Take one photo everyday (project365) Never started.
- Build and launch a website Designed and launched nrgrunning.com for Nina.
- Start a company On hold since I decided to join a startup.
- Leave on an extended trip Did not happen. Although, I did move to Switzerland in early 2009…
- Learn Yoga Went to a couple yoga classes to try it out.
January 3rd, 2009
Update: Follow-up on 2009 Goals
Fitness Goals:
- Weigh 205 lbs
- Finish 1 major race
- Marathon
- 1/2 Ironman Tri
- Century Bike
Travel:
- Move abroad
- Visit 3 new countries
Programming/webdev Goals:
- Learn a new programming language
- Build and launch at least 1 website
- Finish lifestream and webtemplategenerator.com
- Read 4+ programming books
Finance Goals:
- $100/month passive income
- Max ROTH-IRA contribution
- Save $25k
- $10k for retirement (401k equivalent)
- $15k general savings
Other:
- Learn a foreign language
- Study 30+ minutes per day, 5 days per week
- Complete a course (class, online, or Rosetta Stone)
- Read 30 books
- Write first draft of movie screenplay
- Photography class
2 Comments »
, I changed my eating habits and haven’t looked back since. The main differences are smaller portions and lots more veggies.
