Shukar

The trick is to make sure that while you're around, you're not a round. You got this buddy.

I'll be sure to pester you about eating enough at camp. Also, I hope the sleep doc has good things to say that we do not need any further sad beeps.

And I'll keep reading.

Hooray for habits!

So I've been pretty bad at updates again this challenge, gonna work on that among some other things. So my running is currently going well, finished the 10K today in good time and have the Half tomorrow so we shall see how that goes. Sleep has been going well, more on that below. Veggies have been going remarkably well. So I've got that going for me. Also, there happened to be a pretty big sale on the upgraded Fitbit I had my eye on today on Amazon so now I've got a Fitbit with heart rate tracking on its way for more data to play with! So how about that there sleep data eh? So, side pillow gave me (over 1 week): 7hours 10minutes of sleep a night, 12.86 times awake/restless per night, 6.85 minutes to fall asleep, average sleep efficiency of 97% again. Side pillow plus exposed foot: 6hours 57minutes of sleep, 15.2 awake/restless events, 6.8 minutes to fall asleep, and 96% efficiency. That data is also a week. I think I will need longer study to see if the foot exposed actually helps me in any way, but it seems the side pillow is a helpful thing. Hooray more things to test!

Mm phó.

Love those

I am so good at sleeping.

So, been a while since I posted in here. I'd like to say I've just been so busy rocking all my goals, but that's not entirely true. I've actually done decently at the veggie goal, and the sleeping goal, it's the running goal that's lacking (and my drive to workout in general). I'm going to be way underprepared for my races over Labor Day, but I'm gonna run them at a reasonable pace and I'll finish despite the poor planning. I've done this before and know it'll at least get me to the finish line, but it won't be the greatest that's for sure. Getting back to full steam is hard, but I'm slowly moving that way. In the meantime, some fun sleep data! Over a two week period I'm using as a baseline for a little experiment I'm trying to help improve my sleep quality I got: 7 hours 19.4 minutes of sleep on average, was awake/restless 13.86 times per night, took an average of 9.14 minutes to fall asleep, and had an average sleep efficiency of 97% (all data according to fitbit). During this week and next week I'll be altering my sleep pattern by using a pillow on my side to (hopefully) reduce my tendency to roll onto my side and sleep with my shoulders in a bad position which has led to some shoulder pain recently, and hopefully reduce that restless number a bit. May also look into seeing what other data I can find from what the fitbit reports that may be useful to me, I feel like ratio of time spent in bed vs time asleep may be useful information for example, or ratio of restless events to hours slept, or trying to figure out how actual bedtime translates to these numbers. I'm totally letting my inner data cruncher loose on this for a bit to see what it gets me. Also wishing I could justify upgrading to a fitbit that tracks heartrate because that just seems like it would provide interesting data I can play with. Bis Morgen!

I have blackout curtains and put electrical tape over the lights on the surge protectors in my bedroom so the place is *dark* with the lights off. So nice.

18ck, more broccoli for me. And I've been liking the Wire so far. Day, 21 I think? 28 maybe? Sunday. I disappeared there for a bit, I'm back now. No lunch today, was that kind of day. Dinner was steak, potatoes, corn, a giant plate of salad. Good meal. I think every day this week included vegetables so yay that goal. Entertainment today was some podcasts, some music, and an episode of Humans (finale was good). The lesson today was that sometimes things aren't as bad as the sales pitch, and sometimes things will come up randomly in the middle and there's nothing to do for that. Got 2 miles of walking in today, on the low end of results I've been getting recently. Got in 8h30 of sleep last night, definitely the high end for the week, though the rest have been in reasonable levels. Only got in 1 run this week, a decent set of sprints earlier in the week. So that goal fell a bit short. All told, I've had worse weeks but it's not what I'd really like to be seeing this close to a double race weekend, that's for darn sure. But, what's in the past is past and only matters if we can learn from it. So learning that I didn't run enough I shall run more. Bis Morgen!

Day 14, Sunday. Lunch was sushi. Dinner was queso fundido (which basically seems to have been cheese and chorizo), a cheese crisp, and a beef short rib burrito covered in enchilada sauce. Both meals included incidental amounts of veggies, but not a dedicated serving anywhere. Entertainment for the day included Killjoys, Defiance, Dark Matter, most of a Bond film, and some more of The Wire. The lesson of the day was that sometimes you just have to find a new way of doing the same thing. Got in 1.8 miles of walking and 8h of sleeping. All told, not a bad day. How about the week? Again got in my 1 run for the week, 2 this week will be more interesting. Again managed to keep the sleep numbers in good space. Got my veggies in, though always room for more. Day 15, Monday. Lunch was chicken, fries, and a biscuit. Dinner was leftovers from last night, plus leftover frittata from Friday. Entertainment today included some podcasts, the rest of Ubik, the start of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a couple episodes of the Wire, the rest of the Bond movie, and Humans. The Lesson of the day was that just because people should know not to mess with something, doesn't mean they do. Got 3.8 miles of walking, and 7h15 of sleep in. All told, pretty good day. Bis Morgen!

Day 11, Thursday. Lunch was a burger and fries, dinner was shakshuka (eggs, peppers, tomatoes, and some chorizo) plus roasted brussels. Listening was podcasts and audiobooks (tried Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and didn't care for it, so switched to Ubik which I liked better). The lesson of the day was that tracing cables is fun, I guess. Got in 3.7 miles of walking, a 2.2 mile run, and 7h15 of sleep. Watched Evil Dead 2. Day 12, Friday. Lunch was chicken, fries, and a hot dog. Dinner was a frittata with sausage (italian and andouille), peppers, mushrooms, and kale. Listening was more podcasts and audiobooks. The lesson of the day was that some people just can't be told anything. Got in 6.1 miles of walking, and 7h15 of sleep. Watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks and some Parks and Rec. Day 13, Saturday. Lunch was chicken, cheese curds, and a burger. Dinner was a steak, some mashed potatoes, some broccoli, and some shrimp. Todays lesson was that while you can put off things, eventually someone complains enough you deal with them. Got 3.4 miles of walking, and 8h15 of sleeping done. So good. Watched a couple episodes of Defiance and a couple of Parks and Rec. Bis Morgen!

Fearless, hi there! Day 10, Wednesday. Lunch was crab and avocado over rice, a couple egg rolls, and a tempura shrimp roll. Dinner was chicken, fries, and fried mushrooms. Entertainment was some reading on my WoD list, some podcasts, some music, and the new Mission Impossible. Todays lesson was that sometimes things are just smooth sailing. Got in 5.1 miles of walking today and a little test of some yoga inspired by the blog, also got 7h of sleep. Bis Morgen!

Chammy, I'm not sure what you're asking? The veggies on the pizza were mushrooms, peppers, olives, and brussel sprouts. Generally speaking my veggie consumption includes a large amount of brussels, asparagus, and brocolli, plus leafy greens of various types. You know, the kind that taste better when cooked with tasty fats. Day 9, Tuesday. Lunch was a burger and fries from In n Out, delicious. Dinner was wonton soup and a thai noodle dish I don't recall the name of, but it included steamed veggies with the noddles, beef, and eggs. Todays entertainment was some podcasts, the rest of In the Name of the King, an episode each of Macguyver and The Wire, and a couple of Parks and Rec episodes. The lesson today was that just because you've told someone something doesn't mean they actually internalized the lesson. Got in 3.6 miles of walking today, and 6h30 of sleep last night (that's a low number and I'm not thrilled with it). Bis Morgen!

Day 8, Monday. Lunch was a selection of meats and fried things, mostly devoid of nutritional value. Dinner was leftover pizza that included a variety of veggies which was very tasty. Entertainment was some podcasts for the usual schedule, John Wick, an episode of the Wire, half of In The Name of the King, and Mission Impossible 4. Did 2.3 miles of walking today, and got 7h15 of sleep. Spent the evening playing in my new World of Darkness game. Good times. Bis Morgen!

Turned out well, some veggies, lots of friends, productive time spent getting my living space presentable. Day 7, Sunday. Lunch was leftover pizza from a birthday party Saturday, it had veggies on it. Dinner was garlic bread, pizza with meats and veggies, and a chocolate chip cookie and ice cream. Veggies were had, even had Brussels on the pizza which was delicious. Todays lesson was that friendship truly is magic. Activity today was a measly couple miles of walking. Got 7h30 of sleep last night. Watched a couple episodes of Humans today (good show, got caught up this weekend). In addition to the cleaning spent some time getting stuff situated for upcoming trips and working on organizing my PDF collection to be actually useable. Good times. So how was the week? I ate veggies most (if not all) days, but that can always go better, that's the trouble with that goal. I got in my 1 run this week, time to do at least that again next week. Kept up good sleep numbers this week, just have to keep making sure I put up good numbers. Bis nexte Woche!

So delicious! Day 4, Thursday. Lunch was bbq, and fried vegetables. Dinner was a sandwich with it's own veggies (not fried). Points for veggies. Listening today was some more podcasts, Tim Ferris and Barbell Shrugged among them. Todays lesson was that the specs don't tell the whole story, but then neither do the techs. Did get out for a run today so that's week 1's running goal completed, 1.3 miles of sprints. Also 3.4 miles of walking. Got 7h15 of sleep last night. Finished Being Human, watched the first episode of The Wire, and Mission Impossible 3. Bis Morgen!

Day 3, Wednesday. Lunch today was some shrimp tacos and fish burrito, so yummy. Dinner was mexican beef nachos and a pile of roast broccoli (om nom broccoli). Much more successful than the previous day. Not much reading today, but listened to a few hours of podcasts. The Lesson of the day, is that timing is important, and sometimes you have to teach technology to lie. Not up early today, didn't run, going running tomorrow, good to have a plan. Only 4.1 miles of walking today. Got something like 7h of sleep last night, Fitbit isn't cooperating right now on that front. Watched Evil Dead and some Big Bang Theory with Mrs. Shu, and an episode of Being Human (soon to be finishing that and switching over to The Wire). Bis Morgen!

I've had my first pair for about 6 years now and they are starting to develop holes. My running pair is more than two years old at this point I think.

Challenge post now with more awesome pics and video shenanigans. Enjoy.

Man, I'm coming out of the gate pretty bad on this one aren't I? Let's see if I can't get back to regular updates at least. fearless: highfive! Pineapple, I tend to come up with stupidly good ideas on occasion. bgv, I like to think so, the trick is all in the execution. Teri, Allonsy! 18ck, Goats is the term that Kelly Starrett of MobilityWOD uses to refer to those nagging issues you have that you are working on, not sure why he calls them that but it's at least humorous and that's something. In and Out if things go to plan, or at least back in shortly after this challenge ends (Labor Day race weekend right there at the end). Day 2, Tuesday. Alright so, let's see here. Lunch was protein, fried. Dinner was different protein, also fried, some fries, and some fried vegetables. Both meals included seafood, which is good, but as can be seen far too much time soaking in oil and breading. But I got some vegetables which makes this a technical success I suppose. Spent today doing some reading for my new World of Darkness game and listening to my regularly scheduled podcasts and some music once those finished up. The Lesson of the day, was that people find new and creative ways to break anything if you give them time. Up early today so didn't get in a run, gonna end up with a couple later in the week based on the current plans; did get in 5.3 miles of walking today though which is something. Got 7h sleep today, despite the early call time. Spent the evening out for dinner and a movie with Mrs.. Shu, saw Pixels which while not a good movie by any stretch wasn't as bad as I went in expecting, and was at least enjoyable enough I didn't regret my time. So that's my day. Bis Morgen!

Hey gurl. You got this.

So my ego's been writing checks my body can't cash of late and my performance has been suffering for it. It's time I get back in formation and solve some problems. So, who am I? Well, I'm Shukar. I'm a nerd, I run, I game, I lift, I eat, I mobilize, I go to Disneyland. Or at least that's what is supposed to happen. Recently there hasn't been a lot of running or lifting and only a bare minimum of mobilizing. This challenge is about fixing that. Getting my butt out the door and doing the work. I've got races on my calendar I need to train for, I've got life I need to be fit for, I've got food that I should eat that won't fit if I don't workout first (I think that's how that works right?). So, what's the plan? Goals of course. I Feel the Need, the Need for Speed So goal number 1 is run. Sure, I'd really like to do some lifting and fix my "goats" with some mobility work, but the thing I need to do is Run. I will go running once each of the first two weeks of the challenge, and twice the last 4 weeks of the challenge. Take Me to Bed or Lose Me Forever I need to make sure I'm sleeping enough. I've been staying up too late and still trying to get up early to workout and that's a recipe for crashing and burning if ever there was one. I will set an alarm 30 minutes before I should go to bed, and I will set an alarm to wake up in time to go workout. If the system works I should get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night. I'll Have What He's Having, Hemlock is it? No! It's vegetables. I eat many things, probably too many, but the one thing I don't eat enough of for sure is vegetables. So I'll be eating at least 1 serving of vegetables a day during the challenge. It's just that simple. That's it, 3 goals, 6 weeks, 1 challenge. Let's do this thing. PS. I'll edit in some photos and a kickass musical number when I get a chance.

Well, I kind of disappeared for a week there. I did make an effort to eat more vegetables, though I didn't get in enough for what I'd like. With the weird schedule at work and other general lethargy didn't get any major exercise in during that time either. Got decent numbers on sleep at least, but that's only good for so much. Overall the challenge was pretty much a bust on goal completion, but as always, I learned something and that counts for something. I'll be back with a new challenge thread today or tomorrow once I figure out some goals to go with it and then it's just time to do better than the day before. Bis Morgen!