Grawlix

So I recently agreed to take part in a 5k run as part of a fund raiser in July/August - the final date isn't set. I'm basically a non runner but wouldn't consider myself a couch potato. I work in a kitchen 10+ hours a day and can comfortable walk in excess of 20 miles without much issue. As such I've picked up the NHS Couch to 5k App and started on week two. I've done my first two runs without too much issue. Its a challenge but I'm recovering pretty fast. Obviously I have a deadline now and I was wondering if it would be sensible to try to speed through doing a run every other day cutting it down to about 5 weeks to complete the training, plenty of time to give myself an extra day to recover here and there when I need it. Or is this just asking to risk injury? Currently I'm doing warm up walk 5 mins; 90 secs jogging, 2 mins brisk walk x5, 90 second jog and cool down walk. I'm boarding on a stitch towards the end of the last two runs but pretty much recovered after the cool down and have energy to spare then. Any advice or tips to increase efficiency would be much appreciated!

So, I gave this a try last year and rapidly dropped out. Now I'm back, renewed with a stronger sense of purpose and new found self discipline that I hope this will only nurture further. I've been jogging a little bit recently but not been having much luck so I've decided to renew efforts through body weight training. My girlfriend has also recently moved in with me; she suffers chronic pain in her legs so I've raised the idea of starting yoga together both to have someone to help me keep on track and also to help strengthen her legs so as to reduce pain. Anyway, I'll be heading over to join the current challenge a little late but I'm eager to get started!

Hey, I'm just down the road in Nottingham myself. Also happy to chat/meet. Maybe if we can find enough we could do a semi/regular meet?

That could well be it, I'll read up on it to be sure. I was able to push through for most of it but towards the end the pain was causing my legs to sieze up a bit which was enough to seriously mess up my form as well so I felt I was at risk of further injuring myself. Thanks for the advice

So it's been quite a while since I first joined the community and quickly lapsed on my goals. That said its not been far from my mind and I've recently began working out again; I do dark age reenactment and the new clubhouse has a small gym, they've also been doing some martial arts on Tuesday's with some intensive work outs worked in - though I've only made it to two or three of those. I've finally decided to return after getting the Zombies 5k training. I have never been a good runner over any distance; at school I was abysmal unable to make it one time round a football pitch when trying out for cross country. And now on day 3 I'm already suffering. Despite that it is only strengthening my resolve to get into better shape, I'm tired of the limitations of my body and long for the full range of mobility. I think I could do with support of others in my position. The guys at my gym range in levels of fitness but mostly keep to their strengths (mostly weights and general upper body workouts - coincidentally my weakest point), further my girlfriend and many other friends are dismissive of my attempts to get into shape, I'm awful at keeping my own schedule (another thing I hope this will help with is self-disciple). Rather than moan more about what an uphill struggle this seems I'm going to end it here saying I'm dedicated to making a lasting difference in myself in spite of any obstacles.

hi, I've recently/just started Zombies Run 5k training app. I started on the standard App and did the first run. While I ended up having to walk a fair chunk of it intermittently I really enjoyed it and decided to get the 5k training which I again am really enjoying it. The problem is I am now on the second session and I've had to break off before the end (10 minute free run at your pace) because my lower legs are in pain. The pain is slowly fading as I type this but I've clearly overdone it. Before today I had a slight ache in my legs but dismissed it but that's clearly why it is so bad now; how long should I wait to recover while minimising any loss of progress? It's obviously a bit disheartening to be struggling so early on and I'm growing very self conscious about my state of fitness feeling that my friends as well meaning as they are are waiting for me to fail and drop back to my couch potato habits. That said I'm dedicated to this goal so I want to keep on target as best as possible despite my set back; just not overdo it and end up worse than I started.

I have always had an irregular sleep pattern, though its getting better now my job requires me to be up at 8am each morning. But this isn't enough for me, I still often feel rushed and as I am not a fan of coffee I'm still usually groggy. The combination of my first challenge getting me outdoors much and my parents both off to celebrate the summer solstice (They observe the Pagan holidays) I have a sudden urge to observe the occasion, while I don't identify as Pagan myself I'm very respectful of the cubculture and I am drawn to their celebrations more so than the more commonly observed western holidays. But that's by the by. Many people, myself included have new years resolutions but lets face it, our calendar is pretty arbitrary compared to days such as the solstice which are quantifiable moments in the cycle of the year and it is THAT that I find powerful. And so I have decided to get an early night and wake early to watch dawn (about 4:30am). Its this saturday but I will be working, that said I should finish before the early start to have an effect on me. I liked this idea but earlier it occured that this would be the perfect way to do a reset on my sleep cycle, forcing me to move it forward and hopefully allowing me to wake early the next day (working again unfortunately - I list weekends as another lie our parents teach us along with santa and the tooth fairy) and hopefully beyond. So what do people think? It seems more proactive than a simple resolution to me but I am eager to hear the view of fellow Life hackers! Also what should I do with my morning? I was considering going and having breakfast in the park but there is also an outdoor gym near me, maybe I should do a morning work out and treat myself to a cooked breakfast in town before work?

The past couple of weeks I've been adding jogging intervals to my morning walk to work and I'm very pleased with my progress - still a long way to go but I'm really enjoying it and wanting to put more time into it, at about 2.5k it'd be good to be jogging it. I'm currently finding success in my regular day to day shoes - some cheap £5 ones from Primark, Certainly not designed for running but when I got them I had no expendable income and as they lack support they are allowing me to run in a more barefoot style which I am actually finding easier (considering I'm starting from the couch I figure I might as well start with good habits rather than have to transition later and unlearn bad ones). But as I say, they are certainly not designed for running and they are starting to show wear, I would love to invest in some vibrams but cash is very tight at the moment and I would have to cross half the country to try some on unless I have missed something - they seem pretty rare over here in England. But as part of my Epic Quest I am looking to be more practical and I have seen a few sites recommending homemade sandles and the like as an alternative to vibrams - at least initially (I really DO want some but I may have to wait to treat myself for my birthday). I've seen a lot of options on instructables and the like; tire sandals, sock tabi and insole-less aquasocks. but I'm also aware there are patterns online for historic footware that might be suitable too. I will likely do some experimenting in the coming weeks but I was wondering if anyone had any experience in this area or perhaps just more knowledge of barefoot running with advise of what I should be looking for/avoiding. Thanks in advance!

If people are still interested I am in Nottingham myself.

Okay, so nearing the end of my first week and its been mixed success so far. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to Fight Night but walking is going well; in fact I've ended up jogging a couple of sections of my walk to work most days and I'm seeing an improvement there. So as far as meeting targets its been a bit of a wash, but the fact that I am already noticing improvements in what I am doing is very heartening. Also thank you for the invitation Hazard, after doing a bit more research I am wondering if the Assassins may be a better fit for me!

Actually they are all real metal- albeit blunt - weapons. Protective gloves are mandatory and a lot of people wear chainmail and strikes are trained to hit safer areas. Control is emphasised and helmets are recommended but fights can be pretty brutal even if you're not putting a lot of power behind your strikes. If you don't come away with a few bumps and scrapes you're not doing it right. Anything more seriously though isn't all that common.

Thanks guys. In answer to your question Robpocalypse as far as my local group (I believe there is a lot of variation on the specifics from group to group) training is treated like a contact sport an most sessions move towards elemination battles towards the end. Usually small teams fighting against each other. Combat revolves around trying to hit your opponent twice. First time they drop their arms and cannot decend until they count to 10 and second the are eliminated (kill shots are encouraged to be fancy in 1 on 1 as practice for shows). In team games this helps encourage teamwork as the team can push an enemy away from a struck team mate giving them time to re-enter the fray. Eliminated participants then go to a designate waiting area until enough people are there to form a team and respawn. As for show days where we are demonstrating for the public I'm not actually sure to be honest. I haven't really thought that far as I'm currently enjoying training primarily for the challenge.

I geocache though recently haven't gotten out much. It's incredibly addictive though. I'm currently planning a few walks along heavily cached trails do my days off and I want to find a difficulty five - technically I have done but me and my fellow cachers didn't fancy attempting to climb 20-30ft up a very difficult tree to retrieve it! And I'm a decent tree climber! I've also seen ones hidden on lakes or in caves and of course just in the middle of nowhere. Some of the Puzzles are excellent too!

Hi, I'm Adam but I'll be going by Grawlix on here, I'm twenty six and from the UK, currently working as a prep chef and after two year unemployed I'm taking advantage of the boost in confidence and energy to get myself into fight shape. I've already jumped in on the latest challenge, so here's hoping I get a good start! As for what I'm into, I do enjoy gaming, both on PC and of the tabletop variety; I have at least one regular "analogue" gaming group that meets every week but often two (and perhaps a third on the horizon), between work and this my time on PC has been greatly limited but I'm proud to say I'm okay with that - though I do miss the fast paced play. I tend to get my fill of action through my two newest hobbies, Viking re-enactment and Airsoft, to both of which I am a total newb (I'm told I am picking it up fast). The Reenactment group I am part of is heavily focused on combat and my involvement currently consists on attending their weekly fight night; I come away tired, aching and covered in bruises but its great fun and as you would imagine, swinging a big shield and a sword or axe around for a few hours while others armed like wise try to hit you - Its a bloody good work out. Airsoft similarly has me running around in the woods all day! I come from a family of walkers, my dad in particular has quite a respectable level of fitness when it comes to hiking having managed 71/100 mile challenge before damaging his ankle when I was younger, recently though he's started walking more seriously again and I hope my work ours permit that I can join him on a few in the future. For me though its only been recently when I have learned to enjoy walking for its own sake and as part of that I took up geocaching early in the year. As I said previously in recent years I have probably spent most time in front of a computer or in my bed, and while for the longest time I was comfortable with being what I considered "average" fitness, I realised I was slowly gaining weight and when I did try to run or do anything active - like play football with my younger step brother I quickly tired. When I was in school I briefly tried joining the cross country team but failed miserably - more recently my doctor has said allergies I have may give me asthma like symptoms at times and taking that into account has been helpful and encouraging. So here I am six months into my new job with my hours finally stabilizing and by body growing accustomed to being on my feet 6-12 hours a day, better yet I have energy to spare and in the past month have taken effort to walk to and from town rather than taking the bus whenever possible (Occasionally I am running late for work but its increasingly rare), its not much I know but compared to what I was doing its been a very encouraging start and saves me over £70 a month! I've even started working a couple of short sprints into my morning commute. And that's where I am now as I sign up for this new adventure. My goals here at NF? After reading a number of articles on the site the NF philosophy feels like something I could really get along with. I am looking initially to build myself up to a healthy level of "practical fitness", as well as using fight night as a work out I'd love to improve to a point where I can compete competitively and that will require me being in much better shape, the same goes for airsoft. Parkour is something that has interested me for years ever since I learned of it but due to my poor level of fitness always remained out of reach; the flips and flashy stunts don't interest me nearly as much as the fluid ease traceurs traverse their surroundings, I want me some of that too! Also as a geek I am a huge fantasy fan, this has lead me to try geocaching and urban exploration so I'm hoping to find some great challenges there to really test me, I'd also love to build up to my own journey inspired by the Hobbit, which was one of the first books I read as a child and to this day I've wanted to go on a great journey through different landscapes like the journeys in The Hobbit and LotRs - to that end I am testing friends to see if anyone would be interested in wild camping out near Snowdon or up in Scotland and I'm looking into learning more outdoorsman skills. Finally me and my girlfriend would love a dog but I'd want to be living a lifestyle that would be healthy for a dog ie. daily walks and plenty of outdoor activities and such. I like to think of it as "earning my Animal Companion"! Wow, I really did ramble on there, for those of you who read it all thank you, heck thank you to anyone who even skimmed it! I don't know what I'm looking for in the way of feedback at the moment, I feel The Rangers might be my calling though without rambling on any more I would like to start meditating and such so maybe I might try the Druids too. I would love to hear from anyone who does competitive Viking re-enactment or perhaps even HMB (Historical Medieval Battles) and see how they view it as a form of fitness and maybe some tips?

Introduction Hi, my name is Grawlix, I always considered myself healthy if not fit until I started putting weight on a few years ago. Eventually I had put on an extra 4 stone, which beyond being immediately obvious, made it undeniable that I was really out of shape. I spent two years out of work where I struggled to find motivation but in january started a new kitchen job. The hours are long and it can be stressful but I like it and most of all I finally have the energy levels I need to really be proactive and started by walking to work whenever I have time. I discovered NerdFitness a few weeks ago and I'm now set in my path to improve myself and take control of my life once again! It all starts here Main Quest - Build base fitness ready for the quest ahead Walk to work every day - I do this most days already, its 3.2 miles on its own.Aim to walk 5 miles a day - keep track with pedometer and keep a log.Complete Beginner Body Weight Workout twice a week.Quest 2 - Basic Combat Training Attend Fight Night (Viking Reenactment) each week, track progress.Quest 3 - Tracker's Challenge As of starting this challenge you have 16 geocaching logs, catch up so you are no less than the number of weeks into the year. ie. Currently 16/22Plan and confirm your proposed camping trip.Life Quest - Sort your $%!^ out! Clean/Tidy - Make flat into a healthy, productive environment.Sort unwanted stuff to throw, sell, donate. Your material goods complicate things.Set up a proper savings account and start paying in regularly, even if its only a bit.Start sorting your debtEnjoy the summer while its still nice!Motivation F = ma : An object at rest stays at rest, an object in motion stays in motion... Do not sit and let life pass you by. (I have considered getting a tattoo of Newton's First Law on my wrist as a reminder of this for quite a long time now, I love the simplicity of it but the strong and positive connotations I have found with it. Maybe its time I finally do it.)