Update

Memory fans,

For those who read this regularly I apologise for not posting for a while. I've been going through a break up and various other issues that has meant I've not done any training for a while and am very demotivated at the moment. I can't focus on my brain right now, however, I will be getting back in to mind sports some time in 2008 I hope.

Stupid brain

For those that know me and read this blog regularly (if there is anyone!) I am feeling pretty crap again. I have lost motivation and can't seem to get my brain quiet enough to do anything, let alone memory training.

I go through these bouts of depression with no rhyme or reason to them. Hopefully it will only last a little while like normal.

It's a bit silly because I have nothing to be down about! My brain is in better form than ever with personal bests becoming a regular thing when I do train, my home life is good and my work is fine. Perhaps there is something missing in my life I'm not consciously aware of...........hmmmmmm

And after only 1 day............

Wow, the exercise I was talking about yesterday is amazing. It has helped me to refine my images so much it's unreal! I have been performing more consistently and I'm really happy. I've picked up on certain errors that I make with certain combinations and working out ways to correct that so the images are more memorable.

I did 2 packs of cards today. The first one was recalled from my mind and memorised in 3min 12sec. I made 3 mistakes on the recall which is pretty good considering I had no cards to refer to. The second deck was in 3min 1sec and I reordered a deck of cards in 2min 49sec. It was amazing. The images were so clear and I just picked the cards up one after the other with no gaps at all. Normally I have loads of gaps that I have to rebuild and that's what takes me over my 5 min time limit.

Very pleased with that and I'm going to keep working hard refining the images, then it's down to some hardcore speed training to perfect it all :)

The quest for perfection

Whist ironing tonight I had an idea that I've started to play with tonight. I was thinking over the couple of decks of cards I was memorising earlier and examining the mistakes I was making. I decided to have a go at another few cards and make a note of certain characteristics on an excel spreadsheet as I recalled to see what aspects of the imagery my brain likes to remember.

It is very interesting and very important I feel for my development. I've always tried to make the best images but never really looked in this much detail at WHY I could remember some things so clearly, and get blanks on others.

I want to put several hundred pieces of data in there to make it a worth while exercise which will take a few days but it will be really interesting to see the results. I have called this my MESS theory. As long as I make a MESS of my images (Movement, Exaggeration, Size and Strangeness) they seem to work well. A higher quality of MESS means I get better images.

I have always believed that there is a perfect system for making images and I think this will go a long way to achieving it.

Not very well :(

I've been ill for the last 2 weeks now. Bad stomach and generally feeling rough so I've got the next 2 days off work and going to see the Dr on Thursday to get myself sorted.

I did some card practice today. It was really good! I managed to do a 2min 37second full deck without error. This was with reordering another deck in under 5 mins according to competition rules. It's the first time I've gone under 3 mins and reordered the deck properly in the 5 min deadline so I'm really pleased with that. It took me 7 attempts with 3 that were only a couple of cards away but I made it! I've just got to get used to going for 5 mins recall and not the 10 I foolishly was working to before.

Even though I'm not going to be in Germany this weekend I'm very excited that it is all happening and can't wait to see the results. Ben must still be on a huge high after his excellent performance at the UK championships so he's my favourite for the day.

Headache + cards = failure

I thought to myself "James, you're not feeling very well, don't expect a world record or anything silly." I wanted to just get through the cards with no errors, which I did no problem is a relaxing 4 minutes. The problem was the recall which again took over the 5 minute limit. That's the bit I need to practice most, not the memorising!

Been feeling rough for a week now, not good for memorising :(

5 Min Numbers

I managed to get some valuable time with Dominic O'brien on Saturday. He suggested that I attempt my 5 minute number attempts on a single sighting. This would give me more time to form good quality images instead of forming a not so good one and having to review it. His 300+ attempt was done this way so he tells me, just one single sighting.

I did a quick practice tonight and managed to do 40 digits with no errors in 60 seconds (nothing amazing). This would mean I could end up with a theoretical 200 digit score at the end if that pace was kept up.

The images were quite easy to form at that speed and the recall on 40 digits was very easy, no blanks, no forced recall. So, I intend to practice this way and see how well I get on over 120 digits. I think it's just about confidence at that amount. It feels fairly easy, but we'll have to wait and see.