starbon

i'm with you on the not caught up with hitchhiker series. oopsie good luck with the new challenge. I like your meditation goal and I'm tots borrowing your idea of converting the last challenge thread into a battle log. some posting is better than no posting as I've found out lately

mighty challenge you got there Sicil, but I have confidence you will wrap it up with a little bit of sweat and tears (hopefully no blood shall be spilled ! ) like your goal on the absolutely no eating out part. I need to jump on that wagon. Just curious - does the 52 week no repeat meal plan favor the type of foods us rebels tend to lean towards (ie like veggies and meat only) ? I just skimmed through the page so forgive me if i missed something that was obvious. Personally , I;d love it if someone told me what to do. It's the freedom of choice that kills me in the end.

you're right , the second worst case scenario is not that bad of a scenario at all. Heck i'd be proud i even managed to run 20 miles without dying on 3 weeks of prep. He must have some serious amounts of stamina.. looking forward to your plan, and happy holidays to you too !

my personal $0.02 is to make up your own training plan and stick to it. You're experienced with running, and know the limitations of your own body and how slowly / rapidly you should be pushing them, so just pull a plan out of thin air, go over it once to make sure you're actually pushing yourself and not just slacking (ahem ahem..like me) and then stick to that. Most book plans are just that, they don;t really have any data / thorough research (with triplicates and error bars) to back them up - instead they're just an amalgamation of the author's experiences + those of people he trusts and common sense. That being said, I will admit I have never read any of the books you're following so my assumption about the lack of data and thoroughness might be totally off base in your scenario.

you're absolutely right...I AM BIG enough to admit it..LITERALLY BIIIIG. I feel bloated and not at all lithe like i used to when I was regular with the workouts. It's like I sit down and instead of springing up I have to think and gather up the strength for a microsecond before heaving myself up. Not to mention I'm packing on a few inches at the midsection. blehhh. And to add to the stress boss suddenly decided on friday afternoon that I should be presenting my work from the last 3 months this monday. talk about healthy eating and making it to a workout immediately taking a backseat - its all hands on deck to make a powerpoint that doesn't suck Right now I've moved to this one horse hick town about an hour (ie 75 miles in case any of you were wondering an hour's drive ain't much) outside of austin. and not to mention the institute is a 4 acre campus in the middle of 700 acres of state park. so if nothin, i will take up trail running. adapt and survive eh ? I'm really looking forward to end of day this monday, i'll be rid of my presentaion and can go back to focusiing on getting into healthy habits again

welp..long time since I last posted on the frorums here. I can blame a lot of it on the current fracas and upheavals going on in the professional ( and as a result personal front), but in the end, I am the one making the decisions to go or not go, and so it still is my fault. I kindof came onto this challenge knowing that the latter half of the 6 weeks is going to be hard to maintain, but frankly I have been overwhelmed by the amount that needed to be done and how much energy it took to do all of that. So without further self flagellation, here's the logbook - workout - last solid workout was on wednesday the 4rth of december, which was the last thai boxing class. After that it was just packing packing and more packing, both at home and in the lab. I could count all of the heavy lifting as workouts, but I think that would be cheating. Honestly, I haven't even bothered going to the weight scale to check if the lack of excercise has affected me. I certainly do feel heavier, and a major potion of that is from all of the heavy ( and unhealthy) eating that accompanies such times, both from the lack of time in preparing normal meals and all of the farewell invitations. The gym at the new place is certainly NOT well equipped - no barbel racks or barbels - just a couple of dumbbels and ellipticals squeezed into a tiny garage. Still they do offer yoga & P90x classes twice a week, so I'm thinking of starting with either of that. Something is better than nothing. If things really do not work out time wise (as I'm thinking the yoga classes won't), I will eventually have to gravitate towards a bodyweight workout. guitar - same as workout, although I have been sneaking in some practice here and there to keep the tunes in my head, but no consistent practise schedule. Right now my room is a mess and it is hard to even move about, not to mention sleeping, eating and working are all done on the floor. I'm hoping cleaning up the state of the room is going to help a lot in improving my mood and energy levels and hence help with the practise. Until then, I will have to contend with 5 minutes here and 10 mins there. Sorry for the long winded post, I had a lot on my mind and it certainly feels good to let it all out. I plan on being a bit more regular in the firums here, but in case I don't, Happy Holidays y'all !

long time no post.. whassup ?

hiya ! its really heartening to see you making consistent progress and not getting sidetracked inspite of the hurdles on the career front..something that I personally should take a lesson from :/ I think letting your toe rest is a great idea, especially with the constant pounding it, and your feet as a whole take with those marathons. Kepp up the awesome work ! its always good to see your progress

I would say spending more time with job applications than for grad school sounds about right....I mean you're packaging and selling yourself to leverage the best possible salary / responsibility for your skill set.. That being said, the whole process of job searching does suck big time, but no way around it. Might sound redundant, but have you tried networking through LinkedIn and all that ? I was at a job hunt seminar at the Uni and they were putting major focus on it. SInce you already have working experience , your professional contacts might be able to pitch in and recommend the powers that be to cast a favorable glance at your resume. Just a thought... In other news, I'm prolly saying something that might be pretty obvious to you lady folks, but for running in cold weather multiple layers of tight clothing instead of the usual baggy stuff that us guys wear plus some sort of mouth protector that also covers but stays out of contact of the nose and mouth seemed to help me when I used to run. Kept the air going in slightly warmer and prevent that whole I'm inhaling icy knives feeling ..

logbook for wednesday - workout - last thai boxing class. instead of normal floor workouts we were paied with our sprring partners and tried to burn each other out within the designated 3 minute time period before recuperating for 30 seconds and then alternating with the other person for the next 3 minutes. It was quite fun, if not mighty exhausting. I'll be sorry to not be able to continue with the class more guitar - practised some more. nothing new to say though pretty much goofed off for thusday and friday with all the winterness wreaking havoc around the region. Although I would say trudging 2 miles in a foot of snow among raging winds to transfer a tabletop centrifuge qualifies as a cardio workout anyday in my book. I don;t know how much I'll be able to keep up with my workouts with the prospect of moving to texas from here in the next week, not to mention all the feasts that i'll be partaking in with all he farewell parties being thrown in the department. I might transition to a bodyweight workout routine as soon as the dust settles before I can locate a proper gym around the new digs..

Yeay for tomb raider ! is it the new one ? i saw the gameplay footage, the graphics look pretty amazing ! think of it this way - you just burned a couple of hundred calories with all the brainwork - i read somewhere that the amount of calories burned playing a game of chess is the same as playing an hour of tennis !

logbook for the end of turkey week - sadly, the whole of thursday was spent working and finishing up experiments in the lab and then the next 3 days I promptly just sat in front of the computer and stewed / vegetated / marinated. Not even guitar practise. Oh well, atleast it was rest day for the muscles ( and boy did they take the chance to seize up and get tight in the meantime...) logbook for monday - workout - had thai boxing. the instructor made us do all sorts of bunny hops and side hops and 15 million different types of hops, skip and jumps across the room, end result being my legs are shot and my lungs have the feeling of alternately being cut by piano wire and then burnt to a crisp. Still, no progress unless you're pushing yourself and all that right ? so in a pseudo sadist kind of way, I think I enjoyed it guitar - still practising those 6 odd chords. Chord changes are getting slightly easier, and the calluses on the fingertips are finally forming. Woohoooo ! logbook for tuesday - workout - did benchpress 10 reps to a max of bar + 60 lb, glute ham raise (which is when I really felt how tight my hammies and calves had become) and lat pulldowns (7 reps at 130 lb). followed by walk (12 mins) & run (13 mins). all in all, pretty good guitar - practised the usuall chord changes, with some amoutn of single string yabba doodle thrown in.

Thanksies ! it's good seeing all the crosses on the calendar ! Hahah I did Sicil ! although your's is not a half bad idea !

you can do it Prime !

Fun times in Mexico eh ? Glad to see that your enjoyed yourself and also kept up with your goals. I think you're doing an amazing job in reprioritising how much of volunteer wor you want to do and setting boundaries. Seems like you've got the primary goal of your 6 week challenge covered pretty good !

logbook for wednesday - workout - nothing done. just sat around and got bored. they gym closing early and remaining closed on thursday didn;t help either guitar practise - got 20 mins of solid practise in ! woohoooooo ... ahem. sorry rub-a-dub-dub I'm gunna go get me some grub

Very true ! and I will ! Can;t wait to see you back pushing those weights like it's nobody's business Aw thanks Primeval..but my progress pales to your momentum ! you keep rocking ! and maybe I'll try serenading the turkey. hopefully it doesn;t burst into flames

logbook for tuesday - workout - did bench presses ( sets of 10 reps starting from bar only to bar + 60 lb), goblet squats with 35 lb and assisted pullups (3 sets of 7). then brisk walk @ 4mph for 13 mins and then run at 6 mph for 12 mins and then really run at 9 mph for 1 min. followed by sauna guitar - totally missed out on this. by the time I can home and was done with cooking it was 11 and I had to get up early today. Not that 10 mins of practise would have killed me, but hindsight is always perfect. Have to get to this today .. Happy Turkey day y'all !

Thanks ! the pressure of journalling regularly instead of only on days I do something noteworthy coupled with crossing off days on the calendar actually is helping me keep on track in a huge way !

logbook for saturday - workout - did pretty much the same excercise on friday except the bench press and the cable twist cus I was just a bit pooped out. guitar practise also didn;t happen for some odd reason, which I can't for the life of me remember now. O.o logbook for sunday - workout - rest day. yipppeeeee guitar - practised all 5 chords i know of and also chord switching. getting there.... logbook for monday - workout -thai boxing day. was pretty good but from my energy levels I felt that I wasn;t really pushing it. Kicking was hard - I have this tendency of kicking with the end of my foot instead of the shin bone, so at the end of class (or sometimes even after just one particularly hard kick) I'm usually painfully sore in the flat of the foot. Not to mention I have terrible hip mobility and can't for the life of me control my balance when one foot is above waist height and / or moving. oh well..live and learn. I guess I'm going to add doing splits to handstands on the list of things to do.. I guess I;m going to have ample time to do those over the weekend since the gym's going to be closed most days . guitar practise - practised chord changing. I noticed for some reason the sound is much cleaner when I'm looking at my fretting hand than when I;m trying to do it by feel or looking at the strumming hand (duh !!) have to practise more today's cardio day. I;m gunna throw in a couple of bench presses and goblet squts before running just for variety's sake. Hopefully I CAN run today and not hobble along like gollum...

why thank you ! and nothing special on the stretches..just the usual of grabbing one leg by your back and trying not to fall over..or pushing against the wall which doesn;t seem to move an inch.. actually tbh those are hammie and quad stretches. the only shin stretch i know off is just extending your foot like a ballet dancer and rotating it about the ankle, so i've done that. other than that, nothing special. I do have to get some foam rolling done, its just one of those things that i plan on doing but never end up getting done when going to the gym :/

did the energy companies call yet about tapping into your limitless energy ? seriously..outbiking buses. that's some achievement...

logbook for friday - yesterday was supposed to be a cardio day, but for some reason neither could I walk briskly at 4 mph nor could I run at 6 mph without getting the muscle that runs along the shin of both legs painfully tight. so i resigned myself to walking for the next 20 odd minutes at 3 mph and ran for 5 mins at 5 mph. Finsinhed with about 10 mins in the sauna. Hopefully this is just a temporary setback and the muscles loosen up with stretching. I was almost getting excited at my ability to comfortably run at a 10 min mile pace, it;d be disappointing to lose all of that guitar - practised all of the chords and switching. I've found that playing cold and trying to switch messes me up, instead I have to practise for a bit before I can get the switches down pat. Guess I'm not QUITE there yet pretty much all of my muscles are just a tiny winy bit sore today, so I think I'm going to refrain from pushing the limit in terms of weights for today. I think I'm just going to do all of the excercises as I did on thursday, sortof take my time and not increase the weights.

This is genuinely the first time I've heard of it, although it does sound like one of those things that seems so intuitive that you scratch your head and go ..hmm..wonder why this never occured to me.. anyways thanks for pointing this nugget of info Primeval ! and the podcast is quite illuminating as well ! thanks again !

logbook for thursday - workout - I did it ! I was feeling like crap and sleepy and lethargic, and I'm pretty sure old me would have just found an excuse to chicken out, but I DID it, and I am legit proud okay enough boasting. So yesterday I started off every routine with barbell only and then stacked on weights till I felt I couldn;t handle the next incrememnt of weights safely anymore. I'm just going to state the max here for reference . I did barbell squats (max 10 reps @ 40 lb each side), overhead press (max 7 reps 15 lb each side..for some reason I think the overhead press is the weakest for me, even when I started with this whole rigmarole of strength training I remember I had just as much difficulty pressing 70 lb as I have now. I think my shoulders are a lot more well defined now, but it remains to be seen whether that's muscle gained or just fat lost...) glute ham raise - just did bodyweights benchpress - max 10 reps of 25 lb each side cable twist - max 10 reps of 42.5 (prolly lb) goblet squats - no increase in weights done , just 3 sets of 10 with 35 lb assissted pullups - 3 sets of 6 guitar - practised a new chord (E minor) and also chord switching. Happy to say that I;m starting to develop calluses on the fingertips, so hopefully in future I can play for longer than 5 minutes at a go today's go run on a treadmill day. wheeee