nanako

That sounds amazing! Well done of you to try this out.This is one of my all-time favourite winter daydreams, commuter domino. Although in my head it's probably even funnier because everybody is wearing Berlin-style thick down jackets which pad them well yet restrict their movements. That said, a very polite London commuter domino probably has its perks: "Oh I am so sorry! Sorry! Very sorry! Oh, excuse me- sorry!" I remember the Pnin story now but of course you are right about the "Defense" I seem to remember now that while all his books have great elements, Lolita stands out in that it practically reads itself ... haven't read them all of course but heard from a few people that it can be quite hard going. As for motivation, I guess working really hard takes its toll. When working really hard, I suppose your exercise regime must be either 1) as well established as brushing your teeth or 2) a way to escape from it all, otherwise it will suffer. Same goes for food. I have yet to meet the saint that actually manages to react to stress by eating better, exercising more, meditating for longer and sleeping better. Although it would probably be the clever way to handle it.

Good job on the swimming! That coffee shop person sounds exceptionally rude. Always takes me by surprise as well and that makes it hard to react accordingly. Some people are just so full of themselves, they just expect the world to revolve around them exclusively. Shame she ruined your productive streak! I love working in coffee shops as well although I rarely do now. The coffee and nice atmosphere certainly helps but it's mainly something about the presence of others and the (imageined) surveillance that makes me really productive. Like, you wouldn't want to be the person procrastinating in public ...

Good to hear you're feeling better! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving with your family.

Hey, hope you've finished that other job of yours now. The B&B stay sounds interesting. Am imagining you are working for the MI6 doing undercover surveillance somewhere on a remote Scottish Island on the Hebrides. I am trying to pretend that I still know what "Pnin" is about. Is that the chess player one? Do report. I has been years and years since I read a few of them.

The last few days were good - there was pasta and bread on Thursday (as planned) but other than that nice work on the calories. The scale is up again but I'm confident this is water. Measurements were so good today I had to remeasure 4 times! Waist is down to 72cm, Tummy at 73.5cm! Well, I say! (That's down 2cms at the waist and 3 at the tummy since I started). Held the calories steady at about 1700 and the carbs around 90 over the last few days - that made a nice flat line on my tracker, not the usual ups and downs. Much easier this way. I wasn't even tempted to stuff my face with bread on carbs day and had only 1.5 helpings of pasta (that's one and a half, not 15). Quite chuffed so far. Will be going out tonight with my husband (yay!) so there will be more alcohol and sugary drink (the bar we are going to serves a nice Jamaican mule) but also some dancing which is known to burn lots of calories. Having coffee right now, might go out for a bit of a fast run later. I had some heel trouble after my ill-fated Monday night run and have had to do lots of golf ball massaging. Serves me right! Going out for a fast run on tarmac in minimal shoes in the evening when I'm tired. Not good. Today I'll take the kids to the Christmas Fayre on out High Street - this being a proper High street with only independent shops, no chains. Looking forward to that. Tomorrow it's the school Christmas Fayre. Also looking forward to it but I guess I will have a massive hangover to keep me company. Other than that I'll have to do some templates for traditional German Christmas decorations this weekend - my daughter's teacher has put it into her head to stage a "German Christmas Market" with the kids to raise money for their activities next year. Apparently German Christmas markets have become popular in Britain (the Guardian is foul-mouthing them already so it might be a bit passe). Anyway I will have to find something that is traditionally & typically German and easy for 5 year olds to make. Funny how everybody knows what is traditional but you actually have to know what people in your guest country don't do on Christmas to realize it is typical for your country of origin. BTW I was surprised to learn that the British hardly have any Christmas baking going on except for the odd mince pie. Biscuit baking for Christmas is HUGE in Germany and hugely competitive amongst mums. I am talking days spent in the kitchen. But I disgress. Bis morgen, as Shukar would say!

I'm too late but I now know something I learned in this challenge: There is something called the 10% rule - it tells you to increase your weekly mileage by 10% only to stay injury-free and healthy. Don't know how I could have missed this for years! Here it is: http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/10-percent-rule

How are you getting on? Work any better yet?

Yeah, you've got a point there! Today was good. I am thirsty again, which means I'm pretty much 'keto' again. Scale was down by a pound this morning, 73.5kg. It's (paleo-ish) cottage pie for tea though, I hope I don't end up eating the whole tray.

Very interesting. I've also noticed fruit "ruins" everything ... especially if I'm trying to lose weight. It takes some twisting until you realize it's better to eat something fatty than some "healthy" fruit.

Can I just say how much I hate that gap between imagination and reality? I was going to up my "fast" miles (-> 3x2K per week) which sounded like a good plan yesterday night. But then - I overslept this morning. When I came home from work I had millions of excuses but went anyway. When running, I thought I was going really fast but my lungs were burning ... and then I saw my shadow under the streetlight, like a rhinocerus. After that run my watch said I'd done a mere 9.20min/mile over less than 2K. Not happy. I did everything right! I want my instant reward!

It's wrap up time again! Last week went ok. I went overboard a few times but didn't fall off the wagon completely. I averaged at 1842kcals, 89g fat, 119g carbs, and 105g prots.Still too many kcals overall, too little fat and way too many carbs. (Carbs are all veg and milk and bread though, no sweets or crisps or anything.) However I turned the corner this weekend - very low carb (except for some coconut milk on Sun). Woke up feeling thirsty and "keto" again. Could hardly finish my coffee because it tasted incredibly sweet - although that was just the milk! Try to stay on the wagon. Weight still at 74kg but I'm expecting some water loss over the next few days.

There's two threads Syren. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/40442-mini-challenge-2-going-the-distance/

Where's the thread where we said what we were going to do? I was going to do 4K "fast" but only managed 3.7K fast yesterday - at 9.02min/mile "moving pace" according to my Garmin. Thanks for that challenge, wouldn't have pushed myself without it, at least not this week! Next goal: under 8.55 over 5K - beat the 28 minutes. Will work on it over the next few weeks.

Pushed myself today on my "fast" run and did 3.7K (not quite the 4K I was aiming at, but I had to buy toilet roll so I stopped at the store). I went reasonably well and by not running up the hill I improved my average pace a lot. I did the 3.7K at 9.20 pace, which is ok - there's one hill per lap in the park so I am getting closer to where I was at (flat) park run 6 weeks ago. I didn't feel like going at first and really had to push myself on the last half K. But I find I really really like these short fast runs - everytime I come back form one I think "This is IT! I'm going to go EVERY day!" A bit overenthusiastic maybe. But hey, they do improve my time a lot. A bit disappointed with the diet bit. I haven't lost much and I've been slipping the last two days. I need to get back on track. I've stuck to my goal - the last week I averaged at 1730kcals or 1530 "net" according to my tracker. But it's not doing much - too little of a deficit probably. But I feel I am also less energetic when I eat more carbs, so I really want to get back on track.

I guess I just deserve moar! No, seriously, no idea. How much are you trying to lose per week, a pound? That would explain it. I'm just trying at a ~200kcal deficit per day and burn the rest through running.

18ck from the Scouts pointed out recently that the best way to improve one's speed was to run fast for longer. I've tried this and it works a treat for me. Hills are good, sprints are good, but what you want to do is be able to keep your goal pace for longer. So e.g. if you want to run, say, 5K in 20 minutes, start by running 2K at 6.25 min/mile pace. Then slowly increase your mileage while keeping the pace. If you do weight training, deep squats will do a load of good for your pace. Other than that, every gram you cut will improve your time. You already know that, but if you don't have a runner's physique it will typically be very difficult for you to actually win a race. Obviously, if someone with an ideal runner's body trains as much as you do, and has as much grit, it will be easier for them to succeed. Still, with a lot of focused training you can definitely get into the 60-75% age grading group with your body, placing you in the top 10, depending on the field. .

Sorry to disagree with everyone some, but I'm feeling like throwing in another opinion. 1. How do you know when you need new running shoes? Approx. how often do you replace? I replaced my last pair because there was a hole in the sole. If there hadn't been, I would have run in them for longer. 2. Do you have a favorite brand/style? Why? My favorite shoe is the Adidas Okapi (not the golf shoe), but they're not "real" running shoes. The sole is about 5mm, so it wears off very quickly, and sadly, they have no grip. I now have a pair of Merrel Trail Gloves that I really like. 3. Does it even matter? Yes it does. Personally, I've always had knee problems in "normal" trainers - anything other than racing flats. In theory, if you run a good forefoot style, you can run it in any pair of trainers. In reality, you do get tired, and form suffers, and that will lead to problems. I still have a pair of normal trainers and they are fine for a 10K or so, but if I run in them any longer I start losing form and my knees start hurting. If you want to transition to minimal/barefoot, take your time. This is absolutely essential. Start practising in your normal shoes, practising a forefoot strike. There's lots of good information on the internet, lots of videos and stuff. Don't run too far in minimal shoes too early, you will get injured. Sadly, most people do. Even when I switched from Adidas Okapi to Merrel Trail Gloves, it took me a few months until my ankles and heels had adjusted to the different shoe. But I after 20 years of running, on and off, always with knee trouble, I'm glad to say I haven't had a single injury since I switched to minimal about 4 years ago, even though I am now 10 Kilos heavier, much older, and should be needing padded shoes / having more joint trouble by the industry's logic. If you want to get a shoe fitted at the store, practise your forefoot strike first. The shop assistant will then tell you that you don't need stability shoes. I also recommend reading "Running with the Kenyans", not only for the shoe thing (he describes just that) but also because it's a great book.

Oh no! I really really do wish you a speedy recovery. Nothing worse than being a sick mum to a sick family.

Pigged out on bread yesterday and hit 2500 calories! A day early (usually it's Thursday). Still managing to keep the weekly average at around 1620. Good job. After playing with the body weight simulator http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/ a bit I realized I will have to up my game if I want to achieve my goal by Christmas. With this caloric intake, I need to at least run twice a week. One club run (60 min) and one Saturday run (30 min) would do the trick. Not asking too much I think. On a different not I'm quite chuffed that I've been on this 'diet' for almost 4 weeks now! I think it's the longest time I've ever persevered. Maybe there is hope after all.

That is weird. You'd have to put these in the box to avoid getting fined!?

Good thing you got an appointment so fast. Fingers crossed, I hope it turns out to be completely harmles ... !

You'll be fine!!!

BTW I was going to say I slept like a baby and woke up feeling strong, whatever that means. I think the 3K fast on Sunday was good. Try and fit in another fast run during the week.

Thanks guys! Yeah, I guess I should be happy with the slow and steady progress. (but I'm NOT!!!!) Try doing the carb thing, this is usually a sure shot and it just requires a little more effort ... Stats yesterday were 74kg / 161 lbs waistline: 73.5cm tummy: 75.5cm That's one centimeter off the tummy and half a centimeter off the waistline, and half a kilo lost. (Two kilos since the beginning of my new weight loss episoide which has now already lasted for - gasp - 3 weeks !). If I were any good at facing the facts I'd be happy, but since I'm still in denial, thinking I should/could never have weighed that much anyway, that's blighted a little. I went a little bit off the rails yesterday (one sandwich and a substantial amount of cottage pie) but still managed a tiny deficit: 1914 - 78 - 167 - 101 EDIT Weight is back up again to 75Kgs but I can feel it's water - feeling a bit puffy. I'm tracking the weight and unsurprisingly, it looks like I can model it reasonably well by a downward trend with a 4-week water cycle superimposed.

Seems like you're back with a vengeance.