More of a Sprinter, Really

3 days
33 hours of poker
15,999 hands
25,466.84 VPP
$???? Won/Lost

I have rarely been able to sustain a hard working pace. Throughout my life I have started and stopped many things. Music; Taekwon-Do; Poker: These are all activities that I pursued with zealous passion over short spans of time. Better to burn out than to fade away would be the mantra. Like The Phoenix I have resumed these pursuits years later with similar intensity, only to burn through it once more.

So how does a fellow make the most of being wired this way? If slow and steady are not in his vocabulary, then what words should describe his optimal mode of function? Manic? Obsessive? Consuming? I’ll start with those. I plan to break out in a dead run until I fall down. Most would say that this plan lacks wisdom. But I know myself, and I believe this will work for me. (read: don’t try this at home).

After three days of putting my mouse to the grindstone, I feel like I’ve earned my day off. It’s hard to relax when a day off consists of Taekwon-Do class, music practice, and catching up on correspondence. I did manage to watch a movie in the afternoon, but I’ve felt tired all day. Is it strange that I had abundantly more energy over the weekend while I was at the tables all day? Probably not, since I had the adrenaline of starting something new and ambitious.

I never thought too much about the phrase “Learn to relax,” but it’s something I need to do. Can I apply the same learning process I’ve applied to poker, martial arts, and music? I’ll try to wrap my brain around that one and get back to you on it. But tomorrow it’s back to the grind with a couple half days before really stepping it up on Thursday for a four day weekend. My daily schedule looks something like this:

11:00 AM: Wake up, do morning stuff & yoga, eat fauxgurt w/fruit & granola
11:30 AM: Warm up, 3 hour poker session, write in journal
2:30 PM: Run stairs up to 45th floor, eat black bean & avocado burrito, relax
3:30 PM: Warm up, 3 hour poker session, write in journal
6:30 PM: Stretch, drink smoothie, relax
7:00 PM: Warm up, 3 hour poker session, write in journal
10:00 PM: Go for a walk, take a shower, eat a giant salad
11:00 PM: Warm up, 3 hour poker session, write in journal
2:00 AM: Review marked hands & take notes
3:00 AM: Relax, get ready for bed