Talvi

Oh man, I have heard of the Castle before!! I had been thinking of visiting it before/after the comic con last year but it was a bit far out of the way. Was it worth a visit? How much of it is boulder vs roped? I've heard that roped climbing requires greater endurance than bouldering - do you think you'll need to focus on endurance before Italy? Good work on eating better - have you just been making better decisions or have you put systems into place?

Well done on being so determined to carry through on the goals! Did you get all those runs in those last three days? Also that is a really good idea on how to give your characters distinguishing personalities - I really like that idea and I'm going to keep it in mind if I ever come up with a good story

For a moment, I thought I had written your message. I was a bit confused because it seems like someone I would write. In any case, I'm also a dabbler and I also want to become handy with R. It is cool that you've been able to apply your programming skills to some real data - that's I'm after that. Never tried making an app, although that is a nice idea - was that in python too? Or game-specific language? Friday and Saturday on Week TWO Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]: I've been reading some eragon and looking up words in the dictionary as need be - it is much slower to read but I'm learning more and it isn't annoying me yet. I also finished another deathnote manga. I spent more than 30 minutes jotting down story ideas [rule VI]. I had the TV on on Friday afternoon. Superhero mini-challenge : Did a few sets of squats on Saturday to try and catch up to a few people in the rankings. Rollerblading : I had my lesson on Saturday! The instructors were lovely and very supportive. The students were all adults - no tweens skating in circles around me. And I feel like I was in the right ability group. We got given explications, did some exercises and played some games - it was great because I already feel a bit more confident and my skating goals don't seem so impossible anymore. Only tried to break my coccyx twice but caught myself in my hands. Really happy with the session and I'm definitely going to try and get into next week's session. Summary of Week TWO FRENCHING: I've been making good choices and doing particularly well at increasing my grammar study time and my overall exposure to French. I have spoke quite a lot of French this week, but I didn't spend anytime making a conscious effort to speak properly, which was the intended goal of my fifth French rule (Buy a coffee for someone) - so I'm taking 50 centimes off my reward. ROLLING: Bladed twice in the last week, including one formal lesson. The lesson was exactly what I needed to defeat the nagging frustration I had about my lack braking skills. Now I just need to practice and I think I'll get it.

Do you know/use any programming languages? I started learning Python with a friend a year or two ago by working through some Edx courses. I'd really like to use my mad skillz in my PhD suject - maybe modelling or data analysis. But alas, my mad skillz are not so crazy, plus I have no serious way to try and integrate them yet. I've done a lot of lesson-based learning, so now I want to practice more on projects. I'm mostly just reminding myself of syntax right now so I'm reading through old scripts and doing the elementary (baby) challenges on checkio.org. Then I want to try and program a simple card game I have and maybe try one of the beginner Kaggle projects (the titanic one). Then I'll need a new project lol! I'm checking NF pretty regularly thanks to the assassin's mini-challenge, so it keeps my challenge on the brain. Plus I don't want to miss out on any challenge points in the final tally because I forgot to write it down and I feel encouraged to reply and update when you lovely people comment Thursday on Week TWO Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]: Not much active work today. I came home extra early today and I remembered to put the TV on [rule 1]. I also visited the library today and got the next two deathnote mangas and the novel 'Eragon' [rule 2]. The last book I took out was a Terry Pratchett - I could understand it but it required a lot of effort to read. I'll hopefully come back to it after a few more books. Superhero mini-challenge : Accumulated another 4 minutes Invincibility with squats (23,24,24).

Thanks Alexandrite! How quickly could you stop by spinning? Did you have to slow down to a reasonable speed first? Not that I'll be going fast for a while. And thanks about the mini - I'm just going to try to do a bit better than last week but there is still time for everyone to overtake me. You are doing truly awesome though - I hope your back doesn't bother you for long. Wednesday on Week TWO Rollerblading : I am booked onto the lesson, but I need to ring them back again because my name confused them Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]: Studied French for 20 minutes - I've done about 80 minutes of grammar study this week which more than qualifies to complete rule IV. I got home early today too, so I watched some TV [rule I]. It isn't French, but today reading some of my previous python scripts and trying out a simple coding challenge - hopefully going to start coding again. Superhero mini-challenge : I'm accumulating another 3 minutes Invincibility for push-ups (4, 4, 3 x standard push ups and 6, 6, 7 knee push-ups).

Tuesday on Week TWO Rollerblading : Rang up to try and book a lesson this weekend - no reply yet. Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]: Finished the 5th Deathnote manga [rule III] - I'm not near my library until Friday but I can't wait to get the next deathnote. Got home early, so I put the TV as per rule I. Did 30 minutes of work on French Grammar - feeling productive! Superhero mini-challenge : I felt like doing some stretches today, so I had a mini yoga session. It doesn't quite fit into my superhero mini-challenge categories so I did a few extra push-ups (4, 4, 3 x standard push ups and 6, 6, 7 knee push-ups) and I'm adding 3 extra minutes to Invincibility. Who knows, maybe I'll do some more push-ups this week and it'll add up.

You've done a really good week and I'm very jealous if you did end up running Ballyhoo again. Plus the amount of uphill resistance in that climb should be taken into account when it contributes to your challenge goal... maybe 1.5x the uphill distance? Another idea to help towards reworking your distance goal - does your ship treadmill accommodate sprints or intervals for shorter (to stave off the long distance boredom) but intense cardio? Also have you decided to leave at the same time as the other techie? Does your team know that you want a change?

I am very excited, but I had an epiphany yesterday and realized that roller blading really scares me. I'm quite scared of doing anything outside of my skating comfort zone, yet I have a strong desire to learn how to be better at it so I can do the more impressive (yet scarier) stuff. It is a bit weird. Never had a hobby like this before I'm not going to lie - those two methods of braking sound impossible to me! I've seen the skate dragging one done before though. I'll let you know what the instructor says, but for now I'll browse the youtube tutorials! Monday on Week TWO Superhero mini-challenge : Really didn't fancy the BBWW this morning and almost didn't do it - it wasn't that bad when I started though. In fact, it was a lot easier than I had expected. Perhaps I need to mix it up a bit. It took 25 minutes and I did three rounds of: 21 body weight squats 3 standard push ups and 8 knee push-ups 21 walking lunges 11 dumbbell rows (using the bar plus 2.5kg) 15 second plank (Counted 15 exhales) 30 Jumping Jacks Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]: Read a third of the 5th Deathnote manga [rule III]. Jotted down some story ideas for 13 minutes [rule VI]. Worked on French grammar for 35 minutes [rule IV].

Great work on accomplishing one of your goals at the end of the first week! And have fun on the Reverse Palace next week! Are you paying for all the functions on Strava or does it do all that for free? I'm always a Runkeeper out of habit

Been there! I was so bad with eating cereal for random meals that I had to stop buying it (or eventually only buy boring unappetizing yet functional breakfast - blurgh). I love shiny cool new things, do tell!!! Are you going to get a bit of Italian down before the holiday?

Well done on the challenge and Super-mini so far! The scout in me is curious where you are up to in the C25K. The scout has also only just discovered the Rebel Run and this scout is very impressed - it takes a lot of energy to get such a thing up and running so good job! Argh! Between you and Alexandrite, I have serious garden envy now

Of course there are lessons! Hopefully good lessons even! You remember the big group skating 'balades' that I want to join? They are organised by a skate shop and a skating association - who have also combined their powers to teach skating lessons of varying levels. Ha! I'm imagine that squatting blading looks amazing, but what I meant was that I was getting more confident skating and standing and all round wearing the skates. There are places like that next to the Seine and I'll definitely try them out when I get a little better That is a good point - I'll add points for skating if I start going faster Summary of Week ONE That went well. I put on my roller blades twice and I've begun to practice. I'm still rather scared of any difficulties/obstacles in my way, but it is good motivation to research further on how to brake and to book a lesson for next week. I managed to keep up with all my French rules, but particularly I'm happy that even a little time of active study rattles around my brain for the following 3 days and I felt I was making a conscious effort to speak better. Lastly, thanks to the assassin's mini-challenge, I both ran and did a BBWW this week - things that I was unlikely to do otherwise so I'm very happy with this week. Sunday on Week TWO Rollerblading : Practiced again on the kid's track for about 30 minutes. I tried out skating on a different terrain, falling over in a controlled way, controlling my direction, slowing down and braking. I'm really awful at breaking, so I've looked into it and I'm going to put my name down for a lesson next Saturday/Sunday. Superhero mini-challenge : Ran intervals over 6.88km over 40:22 minutes - the racetrack was closed so I just ran up and down the boulevard.

I'm actually surrounded by an endless supply of good concrete, yet I'm still not sure where to practice... My problems are three (in order of reasonableness): 1) Most of the concrete is broken up by frequent roads and I can't stop quick enough yet to be road safe 2) From my marathon training, I can confirm that I live on one of the only two hills in within a 10km and I'm not ready for blade downhill without brakes 3) Lack of surface level car parks 4) All the best open places have so too many people in them and I don't want to fall in front of them. I think I'll book a roller blading lesson for next week and when I'm there I can ask where everyone usually goes, then I'll stop whinging Saturday on Week ONE Rollerblading : Went to the park and practiced on the kid's track again today for 30-60 minutes. I was mostly getting used to moving and getting some confidence standing up. I concentrated on balance, turning, slowing down and attempting to use my heel brake. I'm somewhat surprised that I haven't fallen over yet, and mentally I don't want it to become a big deal so I'm going to go to the park again (tomorrow morning when no one is there) and fall over safely on purpose. I really want some instruction on how to improve, so I'm going to try and book a lesson for next week. Frenching : I did sit down today and brainstorm story plots (in French) for 50 minutes. It was definitely an engaging method of using the language - since I had to concentrate much more on vocabulary and sentence structure. Superhero mini-challenge : The team has been doing really well! Unfortunately I'm lagging behind my team mates. I think I can provide some consistent points over the next three weeks by running and bodyweighting once each a week, but I have more chance of earning points by going full throttle with my 'SuperIntelligence'/French training - so I'll attempt to up my training there next week.

Well done for everything - you are juggling a lot there! It sounds like you are being really conscientious about everything you do though, so I'm sure you'll have a good challenge Also I'm supposing Freibird is a codename - I'm curious why you chose it since it is pretty distinctive.

NF race, you say? I'm going to have to start digging through the forum to find that Good luck with your novel! It is something that a lot of people want to do, but I rarely hear them getting their act together so well done When are you planning on working on your book (a regular time each day/week or just whenever you can)? What kind of book will it be? Fiction, fantasy, hobbit adventures?

Ah, my bad! It is tough to keep up with all your street badass skater lingo I hadn't realised thought about the feet crossing over during turns, but as you said it I could imagine it. I'm going to watch a few youtube videos for inspiration and hopefully I notice useful stuff. And yes, Balance is going to be the biggy this challenge! Did you just practice on roads? I've not done any roller skating or ice skating in the past, but I'm hoping for transferable skillz. I've read the 'bend your knees' advice before - and it seems legit - but I haven't every noticed anyone doing the same, but then I suppose they can already skate....mmmmm... That is a good shout. I've only been out once and I didn't fall over. I think I might need to fall over a little bit to start being less scared, as you say. In any case, I've got elbow, head, knee and wrist protections, so I've only got to worry about my bum. Thursday on Week ONE Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]: Did 34 minutes of study on when to use the definite article [rule IV]. Friday on Week ONE Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]:

Thanks! It was very nice to do so little for a while. It helped to get my energy back, so I feel more motivated now. If you have any tips/advice - no matter how small or even idiotic, I would love to hear it! I'm starting from scratch, so I'm going to try and attend a couple of lessons, but I'm also looking for little exercises I can try when I'm out and about by myself. I only started using rewards last challenge - where my reward depended on the amount of points earned per goal. It worked particularly well - so I've brought it back again to trick myself into doing stuff The trick is finding something to use as a reward that I won't just buy myself anyway. Justic League GO! Thanks! Like I said to SaltyDragon - if you have any advice or exercise suggestions or things to learn like pull-turns (which I'll look into) - please let me know! I'm a complete beginner and I'm planning on getting better with only a couple of lessons and a lot of skating time Years ago, I used to go to our local gym every sunday for a roller disco - it was awesome! I'll have to do some research to see if there is any still around.... Wednesday on Week ONE Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]: Did 65 minutes of study where I just studied the first chapter of my grammar and how to judge whether a table, chemical or apple is male or female [rule IV]. Basic stuff but I haven't properly thought about it in a while - plus I'm often corrected on gender. Also I didn't precisely have a coffee break with someone, but I did make an effort to speak a lot at lunch, which was my goal anyway [rule V]. The first time this week that I've got home before my boyfriend, so I fixed the TV and watched a bit of the Cannes Opening Ceremony [rule I].

Tuesday on Week ONE Superhero mini-challenge : This morning, I did the NF beginner body weight workout for invincibility points. It took 23 minutes and I did three rounds of: 20 body weight squats 3 standard push ups and 7 knee push-ups 20 walking lunges 10 dumbbell rows (using the bar plus 2.5kg) 15 second plank (Counted to 15 on each breath) 30 Jumping Jacks Frenching [Rules I, II, III, IV, V, VI]: Finished the 4th Deathnote manga [rule III]. Didn't share a coffee break with anyone today, but it was maniac so I'll try again tomorrow [rule V].

Monday on Week ONE Superhero mini-challenge : In my excitement for the mini-challenge, I've ran 5.03km in 35:07 this morning before work, including 4 x 100m sprints (19.70, 19.36, 18.70, 20.18) and 5 x 400m track laps (2:12, 2:08, 1:52, 2:15, 2:12). Feeling the sprints in my hamstrings. Frenching : Went to the library today [rule II] and got out the next two deathnote books and a cooking book. Read a third of one of the mangas already - my turnover is really pretty high at the moment.

Hi Sterre, how is Scotland treating you? Thanks - I do hope it gets less scary! I'm hoping to desensitize myself through exposure during this challenge Thanks! It is nice not to have such a big and scary deadline now - I get to decide my pace once more! Oh and I'm sure it is only a question of time before my coccyx becomes skeptical too... It feels a bit like I'm only just beginning on the bucket list now. I haven't yet made a concerted effort towards anything except the marathon, but I have made a lot of headway recently in planning out when and how to to do many other things on the list. I'm going to work on the roller blading and French in the next challenge, I'm planning all my travels for the year currently, I'm consciously trying to get in touch with my sisters more, I registered to vote (for brexit) and I'm reading articles for both sides and I'm looking for coding/data science projects. I'm back on track for 2016 now and I'm feeling good about it Sunday on Week ONE It seems the challenges start on Sundays now! Rollerblading : So firstly, I now have bought all the gear I needed. This morning, me and my boyfriend went out to a small park 2 minutes away from my apartment to sunbathe, play pingpong and practice skating! We've been there three times now and we're going to try and make it a habit every weekend. There is a little tarmac track so that kids can practice/learn to cycle/skate/scooter - and which now graces my presence Today I got geared up for the first time and just did 30 minutes of practice by doing laps of the track. I'm very shaky, but at least I didn't fall over! Oh and also I discovered that the park isn't very busy and that I'm not embarrassed by skating on a kids track (like I thought I'd be) - so I'm off to a good start. Frenching : It haven't done anything today - but I've finished two Deathnote comics this past weekend and I'm a few chapters into "Nation" by Terry Pratchett. I'm continue on with those books for the next couple of weeks. Superhero mini-challenge : I've joined up to the assassin's mini-challenge and I've been sorted into the Justice League team. I'm aiming to actively participate and be motivated to do bodyweight exercises and sprinting, so that I can maintain/retain some physical strength and fitness

That is a serious well-thought challenge there! I'm very impressed by the scale of it - and the huge amount of resistance training! What would the century 100km route look like? Is it a known pre-decided route? Or will you plan it over the next few months? Good luck!

Hey Salty, good luck with this challenge! Sorry that you won't be able to get out much for runs this time, although I do hope you find some time in harbour to take more photos like this beauty! Did you run a race last challenge? What kind of things are you planning to read?

Can assassin wannabes from other guilds sign up too?

It is time for some fun and some French - French fun!. Last month, I ran my first marathon (in 4h47 - woo!) and I had been in training for it for about 6 months. I took the last challenge off to recuperate and chill, but now I'm back and looking for something different and exciting. Enter roller blading! This is something that I have wanted to properly try since my very first visit to Paris (ten years ago) - and I'm very excited even if I fully expect this attempt to be painful and humbling. Physical: Learn to roller blade I have a friend who is just beginning to roller blade as well, and we've made a pact that when she visits me at the end of June, we'll roller blade through Paris together on the Sunday mass meet-up (https://www.flickr.com/photos/rollers-coquillages/sets/). So I've got my deadline and I've got to start moving. Weekly goal: Put on the skates twice a week. Challenge checklist: Buy all the equipment (skates, helmet, wrist/knee/elbow protection), Decide how many taught sessions and when, Read about falling safely, Identify good places/times to practice, Read about balance, Read about stopping safely and Take a lesson. Reward: You'll actually have learnt to skate, dumbass! And it'll be wonderful! Mental: Improve my French To put it simply, I'm not confident in French and it is getting in the way of making friends and truly feeling settled. My major obstacle here is that studying French has become very mundane to me and somewhat boring , so I have been choosing the path of least resistance where I coast along and avoid the more demanding situations. But doesn't that sound really stupid? Especially when it is a source of stress and it is making me unhappy. I want to tackle this problem by laying down some rules: Whenever I get home earlier than my boyfriend, turn the TV on Visit the library once a week Read a chapter of a novel each week (or an entire comic/manga) Spend 60 minutes before work on a Wednesday, studying grammar from my textbook Buy a coffee for someone every Tuesday Spend 30 minutes, jotting down plots and ideas for short stories on a Saturday morning Reward: 12 euros to put towards having a nice lunch in a restaurant or café near work. However, the catch is that I will take away 50 centimes for every rule broken per week. Hopefully, I'm going to come out of this challenge with more than a baguette!

Am I still alive? Yes Did I finish? Yes Where was the frigging wall? Between 23km and 29km Race times? 5km : 00:28:25 10km : 00:57:28 15km : 01:27:18 20km : 01:58:02 21km : 02:05:12 25km : 02:31:09 30km : 03:12:22 35km : 03:51:26 40km : 04:31:36 Finishing time: 04:47:14 Best bits about the race? Oranges. Eating sweet juicy oranges by the quarter and getting my whole face covered in them - this was heaven in the last 12km! I overtook Superman. The rock band that started playing Nirvana - Smells like teen spirit when I passed 13km. The group of gents dressed up in full fox-hunting gear and serenading us all with their bugle horn band. Finding an Irish guy, who I met during one of my training runs, by accident at the beginning and at the end of the race amongst 50,000 other people! Being surprised by my boyfriend twice on the course. Clear and sunny day. The peace I felt when I was walking during the last 5km (I started doing intervals). Finishing. Worst bits about the race? Being a woman and needing the toilet. This was actually what made up my 'wall'. The weather was a lot warmer than it has been so I was drinking more. I even found portaloos, but they were padlocked - it was the most disappointing moment. It was very difficult to enjoy the race at the time and I had no idea where the toilets were - I was looking for them for about 10km. It was the only thing occupying my mind and I was seriously considering every possibility. In the end, I dived into a café near the Eiffel tower. I probably lost 5-10 minutes there because there was a queue. Felt much better afterwards though and was even able to enjoy the end of the race. Walking? I got cocky at the beginning and decided to follow a nearby 4h pacer who should have been going 6min/km but retrospectively I can see was going about 5:30min/km for a long while. This, in combination with the gloriously sunny and warm weather, tired me out pretty quickly and I felt it. I started walking/runnning intervals during and after my 'wall', which is a bit of a shame for my race time. On the other hand though, I enjoyed the race much more because I walked some of it. It really was a beautiful day and I got to spend my time walking appreciating it with a sort of exhausted calmness and clarity. Injuries? My achilles tendon is the worst thing but at least I know how to manage it now after my 35km training session. Blisters have all been taken care of. Quite sunburnt on my back. Otherwise I just have some severe DOMS in the meaty muscles of my upper legs. Managed to make it to work yesterday, so it isn't too bad Lessons learned? Oranges are delicious and I had been eating them the wrong way until now. If I ever do another marathon, I now have a time to beat! I could beat it by working on maintaining a steady pace for long interrupted long distances (all my training involved stopping frequently for red traffic lights), so that I wouldn't have to walk so much at the end. Learn where the toilet stops are in advance. Invest in a Garmin watch so I can easily check my pace. Marathons are hard. I can run a marathon