Check This!

"Hi, my name is TriBoomer and I’m a checklist maker-aholic."

All in unison, “Hi, TriBoomer.”

That’s my confession.

I make checklists all of the time; and for everything. I make checklists for the store, checklists for work, checklists for the kids, checklists for weekend projects, checklists for workouts, checklists on how to clean the house; I even make checklists of checklists I need to make. Want to talk to me on the phone? Wait until I get my list of things to cover. Want to go to the movies? Wait until I get my list of places to go after the show. Want to go for a swim? Wait until I get my list of equipment to take with us. Plus, I save them like a parent does a child's school art. Some of them are permanently displayed on the refigerator with my kids' artwork. I have a file drawer full of them covering just about any subject you can think of. There's even a few I've had laminated. You get the picture. I am a checklist monger. Call it an eccentricity but that’s the way I deal with the world. One advantage of making my little checklist friends is that I don’t forget stuff, or I don’t forget as much stuff I would without them, or so I hope.

But, anyway… sometimes my habit becomes a matter of frustration for those around me. Last week my office staff organized an intervention. I promised to make a change but only after putting it on my to-do list.

And that brings me to today. My workout schedule called for a thirty-eight mile bike followed by a six and a half mile run. So, last night I put my bike on the car, packed a duffle bag with gear, and filled a cooler with food and drink. All of this without a checklist.

When morning came I left for the park where I’d start to bike sure I had everything I needed. Once there, I took the bike off of the car, put on my cycling shoes, and reached into the duffle bag for my helmet and… what’s that??? No helmet!

NO HELMET! Argghhh!

No freakin’ way!!

For a moment I thought about riding without a helmet, alright, I thought about it for a lot longer than a moment. But, because the bike course covers a few streets shared by cars I decided to ditch the ride. With how my luck was going, first no checklist and what’s next, ride headfirst into a tree trying to avoid a squirrel? And how about the crash the Kahuna had at Temecula?! There's no doubt a helmet saved his life.

“Nah, better not chance it.” Grabbing a pen I made a note, “Make a list of the reasons why interventions don't work.”

I didn’t travel this far not to train and I decided to double my planned run effort. Two loops of the route equals a little more than thirteen miles. A half-marathon had a good ring to it. So, off I went.

It took me 1:52 to complete and it felt good.

When I finished I started my list for the next bike training. Guess what’s the first thing to get packed?

Stay tuned…