18ck's Rattlin' Log

[18ck]

Hello, I'm 18ck and I think it's about time I set out some medium/long term goals to shape my activities for the next few challenges. They are these:

• Run further and faster than ever before. Currently, I'm looking at a half marathon race in Berkshire in February. I question whether I want to go much further than that but... well, once you've done a couple of half marathons a full one sort of seems like the next step, so I'll probably sign up for one of those next. To do this I will need to run a lot (obvs) but also cross-train to get a strong core.
• Compete in a single sculling race in 2013, possibly late summer (since I am, it must be admitted, a pretty hippopotamesque sculler now. To do this, I need to pass my Thames steercert practical, lengthen my hamstring a bit (needed to extend the reach at the front of the stroke), work on explosive power in my legs, core strength (again), technique, balance and of course shoulders and biceps to pull through the last part of the stroke. There was a time when I thought the hard pulling was what it was all about. Haha - I know a bit better now!
• Stay bendy. A doctor recently muttered something to me about a possible genetic situation which might mean I have problems with my back getting stiff later in life. tbh, I find this unlikely, but why take the chance? So I need to work on flexibility
• Get my weight back down to 11 and a half stone. I don't do faddy diets. I was a vegetarian for about 20 years, and that's just about used up my lifetime's quota of being a fussy bugger. My lard-loss technique will therefore consist of my patented SBSAGFPDâ„¢ (Stop Being Such A Greedy Fat Pig Dietâ„¢), paired with a lot of exercise. Or, as MJ Hibbett & The Validators would put it, "Do More, Eat Less"
• Get really, really good at Portuguese. [whiny voice] It's hard though![/whiny voice]

[18ck]

I have been reading up on sculling exercise techniques, which actually shed a lot of light on what I've been doing wrong in my 6-week challenge. The writer reckons you lose a lot of your ability to build muscle if you are also trying to do a lot of aerobic exercise and not eating much. Well, that's obviously why I'm still struggling to do pushups despite all those reps then!

Anyway, I don't really want to talk about the rest of today. There is nothing good to report apart from maybe the portuguese study session on the train in the morning which was quite productive.

[18ck]

Beavering away at the last few days of my challenge: quite a lot of running, walking and cycling yesterday, plus a.one hour Portuguese lesson. Today, 130 pushups, a but of running and walking and an epic gym workout (come on, hamster, run in that wheel!) at the hotel gym kept the blood pumping.

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[18ck]

Spent most of the day on trains through the futuristic dreamscape of Stratford to the weird salt marshes of Kent to meet my new employers who all seemed very nice. Why do I keep getting jobs that are more than two hours away from my house??? Anyway, I was only there for an hour, so even with the train journey, I still had time for a decent runaround at the end of the day, in the dark, in the park (Theodor Seuss Geisel is gues-editing this blog entry). I knocked off 6km doing fast interals and stopped to do some pull-ups (o-o-oh so close!) and b/w rows. Then back home for 150 agonising pushups. Last couple of days of the challenge and Christmas is coming up - got to keep it together!

[shortstuff]

Enjoying have a log? How is it working out for you?

[18ck]

Enjoying have a log? How is it working out for you?

I think what it's useful for is for storing those other things I want to do but I'm not focusing on. Like there are a few unfinished goals from previous challenges and I don't want to lose sight of them but it would be silly to have them carry over as goals for the next challenge (that was the problem with goal #3 in the last challenge: It basically boiled down to "DO ALL THE THINGS!!!!")

It's also nice to have a place to stick the long-term, big-picture stuff so I know where I'm trying to get to. So... yeah!

[18ck]

OK, so as you'll know if you saw my challenge post, it didn't work out too well. I'll have to think about this a bit: I want to go quite quickly but I need to make some realistic goals not just try and do everything at once.

[18ck]

I was also vaguely toying with the idea of defecting to the adventurers since the things I want to do here seem to be getting more eclectic but I think ultimately my things are sculling and running - both of which are about covering distance - so I think I'll stay where I am. I have grown accustomed to the scouts and their ways, anyhoo, and I like spending time around the campfire with them.

Dib dib dib.

[shortstuff]

Nice to see that it's all working out for you.

Just because you don't have a scout goal at the moment doesn't mean your not a scout, your just a scout working on other areas for the time being.

[18ck]

Hello. I don't recognise you without the pikachu (is that what it's called???)

 

Yeah. I am champing at the bit now to start on challenge #3

[18ck]

...in fact, it's already underway.

 

I've written it all up waiting for the forum to appear and made myself a little spreadsheet thingy. I've been out this morning running, stretching and stopping occasionally to do BW exercises. I was noticably slower than before but it felt good to be pushing myself and refraining from absorbing sloe gin, peanuts and pannetone.

 

My starting stats are:

Weight 12 st 8 (which is what? 176 lb or 80kg, right?) - down about 18lb since starting my first challenge

Distance - 12km or so, but I managed 15 the other day -

Pullups - zero

Pushups - about 40 without excessive pain but more if testing myself to destruction - up from about 10-15 7 weeks ago

Swearing - approx 60Hz

Bendability - dry twig.

Invertedness/resemblance to corvid birds - nil

Claws - basically, fingernails

[18ck]

*drums fingers impatiently*

[18ck]

 

Pull-up Tree... You magnificent bastard, I grabbed your branch!

[18ck]

Oh right, I see my cunning workaround for the no-images-in-sig-files has been squashed then....

 

*Goes off and edits sig for 16th time in 2 days*

[18ck]

Bwahahaha!*

 

 

(*=until tomorrow probably - and I think this might be the limit of my resourcefulness now!)

[18ck]

Do I still have a scout crest in my sig? Tapatalk doesn't show them.

Anyway, "doing alright so far", as the optimist said as he fell past the 14th floor. It's another day away from home with work and I'm staying in a lovely B&B with - I kid you not - a decanter of sherry on the sideboard. This early in a post-christmas diet routine, that would normally be fatal but I'm avoiding its glassy eye. Stretchy, balancey, low-movement exercises suitable for a creaky floor in a quiet building. I have a new found love for the crow pose but have yet to try the upside-downness.

My swearing hasn't shown any sign of abating. Now that I have changed jobs and no longer need to say "this is fucking ridiculous, why the fuck did they do it *that* way?" forty times a day, I thought it would be easier but I still have to mutter "bloody car drivers!", "bollocks!" and "why am I such an arsebiscuit?" about 23 times an hour, without thinking, when faced with the vicissississississississitudes of... Um... Where was i? So I'm still heading for an E, basically.

Is this too much information? Probably.

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[18ck]

Apparently the applications to the Woky Half Marathon closed while my cheque was in the post so I was a bit worried I had missed the deadline but I sent them an email with a picture of me on bended knee begging for admittance and they have taken pity on me. Yippee!

 

[18ck]

I chucked out the shorts I used to wear in Challenge 1. I will never, ever be fat enough to wear those shorts. Do you hear me chocolate? Do you hear me, toast? Do you hear me, O Senhor Vinho? I will never be that fat again!!!

[Nuala]

Haha, that's the spirit! Burn these shorts! Burn them!

 

And, if you ever want a guild change, the assassins would be really proud to have you. With all the BW workouts you are doing...

[18ck]

Haha, that's the spirit! Burn these shorts! Burn them!

Ha! That would have been more spectacular. Well, maybe when I shrink out of *these* shorts too...

And, if you ever want a guild change, the assassins would be really proud to have you. With all the BW workouts you are doing...

 Thanks! It's good to know I have options if the scouts ever tire of my puns and whatnot!

[18ck]

I seem to have spent most of the day on trains. Looking on the bright side of the travel, I have about an hour of walking and listening to podcasts, plus about 3-4 hours on trains studying portuguese or reading... or looking out the window. I pass a wrecked Russian submarine on my way to work. How great is that??? So what I'm saying is that although it's a faff, it does enable me to buckle down and do stuff that I might otherwise not do.

I've been very interested in the goings-on on the forums. It seems like there are more new joiners this challenge than in the last couple and I guess that has something to do with the new year's resolution factor, so I hope they will keep the momentum going and start seeing it as a change of life not just a few weeks of wavering willpower. German pointed out a great site for "healthy" (raises eyebrows slightly) treats that I can't wait to try a few of them out with m'daughter, who I know will love making them.

No portuguese lesson today and no BW rows either because of travel but if I do my pushups tonight instead I can squeeze the rows in tomorrow while I'm out running. No drama.

[18ck]

Oh and I've also been tempted back to the NF t-shirt store. I've always been put off wearing something that is so reminiscent of this logo that used to be daubed on walls by skinheads when I was growing up in the 70s but I think some of the designs are a bit calmer now and wouldn't leave me having to make awkward explanations so I might just add one to my things-to-buy-when-i-have-the-money

[18ck]

So in the last few days I have totally destroyed all my muscles with hundreds of pressups, a barrage of pullup attempts and related bodyweight stuff, a 22k run (Personal Best!) and a big sculling outing. This afternoon I have stuck to playing top trumps and helping my daughter bake these 

They're "Healthy" (*ahem*) Oreos from Chocolate Covered Katie, but with a couple of modifications, the main one being that they are star shaped because it is more awesome.

 

I've requested a Steercert test in 2 weeks' time, which I hope will mean I finally get that out of the way. My sculling technique has come on a lot and I'm looking forward to being able to go out solo in the summer, which would be lovely!

 

I've also added an extra goal to my 6 week challenge to knock out 6 very dull items from my to-do list by the end of the 6 weeks. I have a carrot (+1 WIS) and a stick (50 burpees per non-done item) so I'm looking forward to finally getting my arse into gear on those!

[18ck]

Broke my streak on Portuguese yesterday *sigh*

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[18ck]

Back in action with the Portuguese Streak: met my teacher and struggled through describing the plot of "O Caracol e a Baleia" ("The Snail and the Whale" - a really lovely children's book by Julia Donaldson). Held the crow pose for 10 seconds and did a few reps (i.e. not just a fluke!). My right arm hurts quite a lot as I come out of it each time - presumably just grumblng at all the work I've been making it do. On the plus side, my left shin/knee area has stopped hurting after that run on Sunday though.

I had a dream last night that I was at circuit training but I kept doing the wrong exercises, then when I noticed what everyone else was doing (they were hanging upside down from bars high up near the ceiling) I tried to climb up but all the equipment I was climbing up kept bending and breaking. I don't think I need Carl Jung to interpret this, do I?