Well, this is awkward: one of the plagues of our world—as I’ve been pointing out—is our desire for optimization. And what does optimization require? Data, of course. And here’s where I admit that I am just as beholden to this type of thing as the next guy. I’ve got some stats for the year that I will post below. This will focus on reading and workout data. Some of this is imprecise, of course, but it should be within a reasonable margin of error.
Fitness
Running: 817 miles (68 per month; 16 per week)
Hiking/walking: 512 miles (43 per month; 9.8 per week)
Steps: 5,980,000 (16,300 per day; 114,000 per week)—Lowest Month: January (399,100); Highest Month: July (633,600)
Vertical Climb: 15,155 floors or 151,500 feet (291 “floors” per week or 42 per day)
Lifting Weights: 44 hours (very imprecise; I don’t lift at all over the summer, for example, or count things like time doing push-ups or kettlebells)
Push-ups: 25,550 (70 per day)
Reading
Books: 128 (out of 132 started)
Pages: 41,512 (with a slight margin of error)
Audiobooks: 26
Hours Listened: 310
Average year of publication: 1943 (I started tracking this a couple of years ago and find it a useful analog for reading outside of my time)
Rereads (or relistens): 68
Writing
Posts: 123 (2.4 per week)
Goals for 2024
Reading
I don’t have a lot of reading goals. It is funny how close each year is to the year before. My total this year was 154 books (including audiobooks). My average for the past five years is 155 per year (including audiobooks). I was slightly over in 2020 (more time on my hands because of a certain global disruption) and slightly under in 2019 (lots of traveling that year). But in general, I hover right around that total. So, I never really set reading goals. I just read a lot. I set a list in December of books I’d like to read in the next calendar year, but I don’t adhere to that list with military discipline. Alan Jacobs encourages people to read by the principle of Whim, letting book lead on to book. I tend to balance full-on serendipitous reading with at least some adherence to a prewritten list.
In that vein, I have two types of books I included on my list this year. The first is books about teaching and education; my reading was light on these subjects last year. The second category is books about pastoral care, by authors like Gregory the Great, George Herbert, and Richard Baxter.
Finally, I am planning to read the three ancient epics with my 12-year-old, beginning right about now. He turns 13 in the summer. He’s ready.
Fitness, etc.
So this is a big year for me in this category. In July, I turn 40. It still freaks me out to acknowledge this fact. But, it’s real. As a matter of fact, I am already married to a woman in her 40s. Thus, fitness and health goals are starting to take on a different light (i.e. more related to healthy functioning than athletic achievement). That being said, what I would really like to achieve this year are a couple of misogis. The first is cardio-related, the second strength-related. One, would be a 40+ mile day on my 40th birthday. I’ve got something in mind for this and would like a partner in crime (mostly so I don’t die). The other would be bench-pressing 250 pounds in a set of 3, a 300-pound deadlift, and a set of 15 pull-ups.
I am not happy with my running totals from 2023, which are lower than I wanted. My goal for this year is 1,200 miles of running, a cool 100 miles per month. I think this would put me in a good position for the running misogi on my birthday. Breaking 6 million steps shouldn’t be a problem. My lowest month last year was January (just under 400,000). I am also leading a backpacking trip to Spain next summer which will provide some huge days. My goal is 6.2 million and would honestly like to push 6.5. I’d like to average 50 “floors” per day of vertical gain. Obviously, in order to pull off the weightlifting goals, I will need to spend more time slinging iron. The rub for me is always the summer. I don’t live within 20 minutes of a gym and can’t afford a true set-up at my home. So, it’s body weight and kettlebells for two months. I’d like to average 100 push-ups a day but a total of 40,000 for the year has a nice look to it.
Writing
I am happy with my pace here: 2-3 posts per week is a great metric and it means I am writing a few days per week.
My most popular posts this year in terms of generating traffic were two obituaries: one for my favorite contemporary novelist, Cormac McCarthy; the other for a musician whose songs shaped my childhood, Jimmy Buffett. So, I guess I need old white guys to keep dying to boost the stats.
I would like to drive more traffic to this newsletter. If you can think of anyone who would benefit from subscribing (even if it’s only to shake their heads at the way some people think), I would appreciate you sending this along.
As always, thank you for reading. I hope all of your hopes and dreams come true in 2024 (at least the ones that will ultimately help you be successful).