I’ve just come off a 4 week break from chess as I felt that I was just going through the motions rather than learning anything, but kept some correspondence games going to keep my eye in.

Since the weather has turned a bit warmer I’ve spent the last month doing some different circles - circles of the local countryside on my bike that is! It’s nice and flat around here as I live by the Severn Estuary (the strong winds compensate for the lack of hills however) and I’ve been putting in about 3 or 4 hours on the bike each week. The gain in fitness has been a great help to my chronic fatigue (at least physically - the mental side is still lacking) and I can now cycle up hills without getting out of breath, I have strength in the legs which I’ve not had since my teens. Cycling is like an anti-depressant, just it’s a bit more effort than popping a pill in your mouth!

There are some great views around here too which helps with the motivation, low traffic means I can concentrate on having fun - here is the view of the estuary at high tide from the M48 cycle path.

Now I’m back with renewed energy, a greater motivation and a hunger to make some more progress. I’ve got one month before the new season starts and I’m looking forward to it again.

If you feel it’s becoming an effort to get the chess board out, take a break!

This entry was posted by Dave on Monday, 11th August 2008 at 10:39 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.