9 am. Feeling really sluggish, in spite of good night's sleep. Pushed myself through the first round of my core exercises, but it didn't get me energized, so I'm skipping the next two rounds. I think I'd better take it easy, today, checking my vitality from time to time, and if I don't revive by tonight, consider putting Friday's ride off until Saturday.

For the past couple of decades, I've found that fatigue often doesn't kick in until the second day. I have to remind myself of that, and try to respect it.

And to remind myself that this whole project was not for the sake of showing off or meeting an artificial and arbitrary goal, but for trying to break out of the stereotypical mind-set that could condemn me to fragility, decrepitude and inactivity simply because I was turning 80. It's not about meeting a goal. It's about the collateral benefits.

Such as getting up from a low couch or chair. Getting in or out of a car. Going up and down stairs -- especially down! Getting my wallet out of my hip pocket while pulled up to a drive-in window. Stepping off a curb. Stepping down the two steps into my garage while holding something in both hands. Getting up at the end of a movie and walking out without having to stretch my legs and steady myself while people are waiting to get past me. That's just a partial list of the payoff, so far. All in just a few months. And I'm not even 80, yet.

Measured against all that, the goal of 80-80-8 seems insignificant, irrelevant, almost childish. Still, it sounds a lot better than 80-80-9 or, heaven forbid, 80-80-10.