I'm launching Operation Pinnacle, because I'm incapable of doing much of anything without a bit of dramatic flourish. I decided recently that I need to simplify my life and focus on two end states in order to enable the continuation of my career, and some personal goals that I've developed over the last couple of years. Those two end states are better physical fitness, and a much stronger grasp of the Arabic language. Here's the game plan.
Arabic
Of the two elements, Arabic is less defined as far as end state goals. At present, I'm focusing very hard on ArabicPod.net lessons. I took the leap a while ago and paid for a one month subscription so that I could download the transcripts to go with the podcasts. That ten bucks was well worth it, because the lessons are fantastic, and there's both good vocabulary and good grammar and syntax instruction to learn from them.
So, what I'm doing at the present, on a weekly basis, is something like this:
Monday: APOD lesson, BBC Xtra podcast, Arabic/English Quran reading
Tuesday: APOD lesson, BBC Xtra podcast, flash cards
Wednesday: APOD lesson, BBC Xtra podcast, AWS lesson
Thursday: APOD lesson, BBC Xtra podcast, flash cards
Friday: APOD lesson, BBC Xtra podcast
Saturday: translate two sentences
Sunday: translate two sentences
The problem that I've been running into is that I'm solid for the first three or four days of the week, then sort of slack off at the end of the week. For example, my Thursday lesson wasn't fantastic and I didn't do the flash cards, and I really didn't do any Arabic on Friday or Saturday, which leaves me playing catch-up today (Sunday). On the plus side, I'm pleased to have done both the Quran reading and the Ahlan wa Sahlan lesson. So, as far as I'm concerned, this week of Arabic will be solid as long as I do some translations and maybe a catch-up APOD lesson today. Eventually, I want to take all of this...
... and whatever else I can figure out, and put it in my head so that I can understand...
... that, and all the rest of it. For now, the goal is slow but steady, trying to spend between thirty and sixty minutes per day studying Arabic. I'm doing alright at the moment, hopefully I can keep it up.
Physical Training
I was also pretty solid on my fitness goals for this week. Before the day is over, I'll do one last pool workout, and one last PT workout - sit-ups, push-ups, and stretching. It may seem like I'm starting off really simple, and that's true. My goal is nine weeks of swimming (three times a week minimum, four if I can fit it in), one yomp (hike in boots and pants with a pack), and push-ups and sit-ups (three times per week). The swimming is my best way of doing cardio (I don't run, particularly in the shape I'm in), the yomping is to increase my body's ability to walk a long distance with a pack, and the push-ups and sit-ups are push-ups and sit-ups.My primary goals are to rebuild the stamina that I've lost from three years of sitting at a desk all day, and to rebuild my ability to walk long distances with a pack in order that I might someday resume backpacking in various locales, preferably Europe. I also want to lose weight so that I can start taking rock climbing classes, and eventually start jumping out of airplanes as a hobby. A lot of people tend to exercise for the sake of exercise, mainly focused on some sort of general "health" and/or appearance. For me, appearance is a great side note, but I've tried to design a specific program in order to meet specific goals. As far as motivation goes, not only do the goals I've mentioned help, but so does the fact that my ten year class reunion and my brother's wedding are both in early August, and I'd rather not show up to either of those as a fat boy - in the former case, I don't mind being heavier than I was in high school (I was 6'1" and 165 pounds when I graduated), but I'd rather drop a little bit of weight and be solid, rather than show up with a gut.
I'll be ending this week with three swim workouts, three PT/stretch workouts, one night of just stretching, and enough walking on Friday to basically count as a yomp - cheating, but that's okay. The big issue I ran into this week is that the first swim, coupled with that first set of push-ups, really did a number on my rotator cuffs in my shoulders. I had a one day break between swim workouts, and a two day break between push-ups, and even though I was sore doing the second set of push-ups, I think my arms have recovered. Hopefully that means I'll be in good shape from here on out.
The Bottom Line
I could easily fall off the wagon, on all of this, again, but I think I've got a solid framework established at this point. As far as blogging, I'll try to start doing one post per week as a sort of "week in review", as I've done here. The two major points of Operation Pinnacle are Arabic and physical training, but there are a couple of other elements that I may discuss at one point or another. Stay tuned.
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