Magoo222

First parkrun completed! New 5k PB, 27:42, smashing my previous best of 35:00 (which was admittedly a bit off, I'd run ~6k in that time since, but because it's not 5k it apparently doesn't count according to Garmin?) 318th overall, 247th male. Good fun, I'll definitely be going back there whenever I can from now on!

Wow, can't believe it's been a week since I last posted! And because of that, it probably won't surprise anyone to learn it's not been a good week...! I don't think I've logged into MFP once since I lost my streak (strange how something so simple can knock you off?) I went for a run last Saturday, complete with stretching, but have been so busy at work that I've not run since. I'm planning to do my first ParkRun tomorrow morning, this is the first time I've been at home at a weekend and not drinking on a Friday night in months, so I may as well make the most of it! On the subject of stretching, I've just signed up for the NF Yoga Classes - Not sure if anyone else in here has, I'll have a read of all the posts I've missed shortly! Just logged into my fitbit dashboard to see how the sleep has been going: Sun - 23:46 Mon - 01:00 Tues - 00:54 Weds - 00:37 Thurs - 01:28 I'm not sure if that's caused by stress, excess coffee, being out of sync (so sleeping later, then not being tired) or a combo of them all, but I need to break it really. Summary time: Stretches: 1/1 (9/9 total) Bedtimes: 0/7 (6/21 total) MFP: 0/7 (13/21 total)

Today was a sad day... I lost my streak on MFP. Just logged in now to update my food for the day, and realised I'm 10 minutes too late. I also missed my first stretch session this week. I went for a run before work on Tuesday morning, but it was only a short 30 minute one. I wasn't really feeling it all the way around, I've gotten very bored of the local park, it used to take me 30 mins to run a lap whereas now I can do about 1.25 laps - Yay, until it comes to walking home afterwards and I have to walk further. So I did the run, got in, made coffee and breakfast. showered etc. and was on my way to work before I realised I'd not done any stretching. Sleep - Well that's been laughable. Work has been busy again, so I'm not getting home until 7 at the earliest. By the time I've run and eaten my wind down alarm is going off within the hour, so I'm just ignoring it. I've decided that this weekend will be the last weekend I drink before doing my HM, which is in about 8 weeks time. Partly to lose a bit more weight, and to save some money! I've got tickets for the cricket and rugby world cup so I'm allowing myself some leeway there, but no more drinking at home or going to the pub mid-week certainly. I'm also cutting back on the coffee again, after my last challenge I went back on it hard, for the last 3 weeks I've had a large Americano from Starbucks every weekday (it's subsidised at work, but it all mounts up) In better news, I started guitar lessons properly this week, and I've been thrown in the deep end with learning the intro to Johnny B Goode! My fingers are a bit sore as I'm typing this, but I'm loving it!

Quite a busy week this week, so haven't been able to post as often as I'd have liked, but I've been checking in on others' progress still!! So, quick update: Monday I had a guitar lesson, and no running scheduled, so that was a pretty chilled out evening. Tuesday and Thursday I played squash (stretched before and after - and went to the pub after one game...!) Tues and Thurs were meant to be 30 mins easy runs, so I didn't feel too bad about skipping them. Wednesday I played 9 holes of golf, which combined with the two squash games left me with a rather sore elbow. Weds was meant to be interval training, which I missed. Again. I've missed quite a few interval sessions now, and whilst I'm not really struggling with the distances involved in my training I'm still finding I'm a bit slow, so I need to make sure I'm incorporating them more. Friday was another day off, I was stuck in work until 8 so just got home and crashed on the sofa. Saturday was meant to be hill running, I was off out in the afternoon so it was going to be a squeeze anyway, and then I found my watch was flat! So another missed workout, followed by lots of alcohol and pub food. Today I managed to fit in a ~8.9 mile run, and I'm feeling fine afterwards. I've got the foam roller out as we speak, and loosing off what I can whilst I type. I think I made it to bed once on time last week, and that was after playing golf when I got home with a terrible headache and couldn't face staying up. Some late squash games and just general faffing around meant that I failed here. I've set an alarm on my phone for 22:30, the idea being at that time I start getting ready and I'm tucked up by 23:00, but it comes around too early. Even now it's only an hour away, I've not eaten yet, nor made anything for lunch tomorrow. Not really sure how to get around this one, other than try harder! I've logged something into MFP every day, I know there are a few bits that are slipping through the cracks, but my diet this week has been terrible (although I still hit my macros somehow!!) I was talking to a friend about weighted training, as in putting a backpack with weights on when you go running, and she said she'd struggled adding 2.5kg. I then realised I was essentially already doing that, but with about 6.4kg of belly fat!?! I've also been out and treated myself today and joined the fitbit revolution! I'm interested in seeing what my sleep patterns are like more than anything. It's an expensive way of finding out, but I love gadgets...! Summary: Stretches: 3/3 (inc. 2 squash games) (8/8 total) Bedtimes: 1/7 (6/14 total) MFP: 7/7 (13/14 total)

A quick recap of week one: Nights in bed early - 5/7 Stretches/Runs - 5/5 (Including squash) Days Tracked - 6/7 Not a bad start, but room for improvement. Forced myself to bed early the last few nights, but I've ended up lying there wide awake and then not able to get up in a morning. I managed to get up and get moving at 6.30 today (compared to 9.15 yesterday!), but required quite a lot of coffee to do so, so we'll see how that affects me later. Just been onto MFP and added in all the food I could remember having. I know I've missed some bits out, but I'm getting better at remember that I need to do it (as in, I remember an hour afterwards, rather than a day later...!) Got another squash game later, so skipping my easy run again. Will make sure I stretch to keep up my results! They've released the route for the Birmingham Half Marathon this week too, between miles 11 and 12 is a f'*off hill. Thanks organisers.

I've done similar before when going to the supermarket, so that I remember what to buy! The problem I've got at the moment is, if I'm making something like spag bol, it'll be 500g of mince, 150g of onion, 200g of pepper etc. and then divided by 6 portions. So trying to do that on the app whilst cooking is a pain, it'd be cold or burnt by the time I'm done!! Managed to get back into MFP, I'm cheating a bit and block adding the food I remember eating over the last 3 days, but as I was mentally tracking it in that time (including the kebab at 2am!) I'll allow that. Did an 8 mile run today, so lots of stretching before and after. I think I'll get the roller out later when I'm sitting in front of the TV and really try and loosen everything up. Ideally will be in bed on time tonight, I'm pretty shattered after this weekend so seems like a perfect day to start improving that side of things!?!

Since you added me I've not been able to login, on my phone or on the PC!! What have you done!?! Friday was my rest day from running, so no need to stretch there, had a few too many beers though so I really couldn't face interval training and swapped in a nice slow 5k this morning! Stretched before and after, with a healthy breakfast... that I can't add for some reason. I'll have to try and work out what the problem is soon, I've got a bit of a record of my main meals, but it's all the in between snacks that I tend to forget. My sleep went well during the week, but last night I was up until 2am, and I'm off out again tonight, so I know those days will slip. Will have to try and properly get into a routine all next week.

I've recently been running with a friend a couple of times. He's far fitter than me, which is good as it pushes me, but I do find myself regretting inviting him at times! He's happy to run at my pace as he quite likes having someone to run with, but my running has become my "me" time (which considering I live alone it a bit strange, it's not like I'm running away from anyone), and he likes to chat to me whilst we're going. Mostly I just want to listen to music!?!

Have you come across JustinGuitar? He's got some great videos on there for free. I've bought a few of his song books too, he strips down songs into pretty straightforward chords. He does a beginner course on there, I'd really recommend it if you're looking to improve.

It's my challenge and I'll make it as demanding as I like!! Day 3/4 I tried posting this yesterday, but my iPad kept crashing when I tried logging in. Stayed up until about 11.45 messing trying to fix it, but I was in bed whilst doing it (with f.lux installed, don't worry!!) so I'm counting it as an in bed on time day. Tonight won't be as good as I only had dinner half an hour ago, and I've got some washing in, but hopefully midnight at the latest. Food wise, I've tracked everything yesterday in MFP, and today I've got a record that I've still got to update. I've been taking notes on my phone when weighing stuff and then adding it on my PC later. The app is useful, but it's far too slow and cumbersome to do full recipes on. Ironically, it's easier to track using the app if I eat junk food as it all has a barcode... I went for my run yesterday, stretched beforehand, and then got out the foam roller and really went for it on my calves whilst watching the cricket highlights. Woke up this morning feeling amazing, I should definitely do it more often. Had some squash coaching this evening, so skipped my run (it was a 30 min light run, so I've probably done more than intended anyway). Didn't do a lot of stretching afterwards, I just jumped in the shower then drove home. It was only a bit later when I was making dinner that I realised I hadn't done anything. So I'm counting that as 3 from 3 yesterday, and 2 from 3 today (unless I really rush around doing everything I need in the next 45 minutes!) Pretty decent start!

What guitars have you got? I've just signed up for some guitar lessons, I'm currently at the point where I own more guitars than I know chords (and I know a few chords... damn you eBay!) I find it's such a good hobby when I'm in the mood for it.

A bit late to the party, but well done on your Thunder Run! One thing I've learnt since I started running is the sheer variety of events on offer. Before I started I'd always just assumed it was 5k/10k/Half/Marathon, with the odd fancy dress fun run thrown in the mix. I'm definitely going to have to find a more "obscure" race in the next 6 months or so!

Depends on your RPG history to be honest, I'm always a fan of Discworld/old school Nintendo RPGs where everything is a loose play on words. The Broken Drum - It Can't be Beat!

I'm really not a fan of running in the heat, I remember last summer when we had the "heat wave" in the UK (which actually was quite warm to be fair) I'd start a run at 10pm and still be drenched in sweat, so great effort for doing it whilst you've been away! I always think that if you try and be *too* good on a holiday then it'll backfire longer term. I'm not saying you should splurge and binge, but it's meant to be a break from the norm to let you recover, both mentally and physically. Just think, if you keep this up (which you will!!!) when you go on holiday this time next year you won't have to worry about a bad week or two!

Day 2 - The fact I'm posting this at 11.30 should give you some idea of how well my plan to go to bed before 11 has gone. But I'm wide awake and know full well I'll just lie there, so my aim is to get up tomorrow morning as early as is sensible, and then force myself to stay awake, in theory making me tired tomorrow night and I'll then be in a good routine. It's practically fool proof, right? I did a little bit of stretching before and after my run today, it was only a light run so just did some calf stretches (my worst muscle for cramping up). Tomorrow I've got a squash game followed by interval training, so I'll really need to get myself warmed up for that.

Become the illegitimate love child of Mr. Fantastic and Stretch Armstrong I'm now running 4-5 times a week to prepare for the upcoming half marathon. Because this is much more than I've done in the past, I really need to get into the habit of stretching more, and using my foam roller when I'm finished. By my count I've got 33 runs during this challenge, A - Over 30 runs B - Over 25 runs C - Over 20 runs D - Over 15 runs E - Over 10 runs F - Over 5 runs (Surely I can't do worse than this??) (As an aside, as we're all runner types in here, does anyone use Strava or similar? Is there a NF Scout support group?) Embrace the darkness Last time around I quit coffee to try and improve my sleep. It helped, in that I was getting 8 hours of sleep, but they fell between 1am and 9am, which wasn't particularly convenient. So this time I'm going to try and force myself to go to bed earlier each night (11pm), and get up earlier (7am). I suspect this one will take quite a lot of effort, especially if I keep going without coffee. A - More than 35 nights (i.e. 6 weeks) B - 28 - 34 nights C - 21 - 27 nights D - 14 - 20 nights E - 7 - 13 nights F - 7 nights or less It's dangerous out there, better eat this. I've added my MFP account to my signature if anyone else uses it, feel free to check out what junk I eat or add me as a friend to spur me along. My aim here is to get into the habit of tracking everything, including all the chocolate, crisps and beers. Small steps and that... A - More than 35 days (i.e. 6 weeks) B - 28 - 34 days C - 21 - 27 days D - 14 - 20 days E - 7 - 13 days F - 7 days or less

Oops, thought I had another week before we kicked off! Right, I'll flesh out my levels soon, but aims are: Stretch more before and after running Improve sleep (go to bed earlier) Something diet based - last time I tried to prepare all my lunches in advance, which I found really difficult. I've signed up for some squash training and guitar lessons so my evenings will be even more reduced. I might try and track all my food, even if I don't improve things just yet.

Those steps look incredible, I'd love to have something like that near me! I have to get my stair action by running up and down at work! Good luck!

Does something like a productivity app exist for your phone, so you can limit sites to XX hours a day? I think Steve mentions something similar in one of his articles, certainly for the PC/Mac anyway: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/08/13/productivity/- About 2/3rds of the way down. I had problems with this a few months ago, but it was more that I kept going on eBay and buying junk, so I logged into my router and blocked it! You'd be amazed how quickly you stop missing them! Maybe you could turn your phone off when you're eating dinner etc. (a time when you know you definitely don't want to be checking it) so that you can't just quickly jump on?

T minus about 2 weeks or so... Hello fellow Scouts and... well, Scouts I guess. I've just about stumbled over the line of my first 6 week challenge in recruits, and now I'm stepping up my game in here. I'll flesh out my challenge as we get a bit nearer the time, but my main life quest at the moment is to complete a marathon. I've got my name in the ballot for London, and an agreement with friends that if we don't get that we'll travel to Lodz in Poland and do their marathon instead. I've signed up for a half marathon in Birmingham in October to give me something to train towards, I'm in week 4 of a 16 week training plan, and barring one set of shin splints it's been going well!

Hey guys, I'm a new Scout recruit for the next challenge (I'm in the middle of drafting my challenge post, but it's quicker to do this one first...!) I'm running the Birmingham (UK) Half Marathon on October 18th. My name's in the ballot for London Marathon next April, but if I don't get that I'll be signing up for the Lodz marathon in Poland around the same time. I'll wait until I know which before adding them to the calendar though!

I guess as it's now over I should post a summary here... I think in a word, my 6 weeks was disappointing. As always it started out so well, a couple of bumps and slips along the way, but nothing I couldn't recover from. Then as it reached the 3-4 week stage when I needed to push through, life began getting busier, work took over, and this challenge fell far from mind. Strange how often that sort of thing happens isn't it? Challenge 1 - Replace Coffee with Water I actually did quite well with this one, barring the terrible weekend of driving I had, I don't remember having a coffee throughout the 6 weeks (I had a huge cup today and it was amazing - so much for breaking habits) Rating - B Challenge 2 - Prepare Lunches Everyday including Weekends This was my worst challenge. Even when I was flying at the start I felt like I only ever had a tentative grip on this one. I don't think I made a single weekend lunch from scratch after week 2, and there have been quite a few Subway and supermarket trips whilst at work. Rating - F Challenge 3 - Complete Richard Hittleman's 28 Day Yoga Course I was doing really well with this one, until they threw in a review day, which was basically "Go repeat everything you've done until now a few times". It fell on a weekend that I was away, and I just never got back into it. In fact I'm not even sure where I've put the book. Rating - F Main Challenge - Run a Marathon I've signed up for a half marathon, and I'm currently 3 weeks into a 16 week training plan. This one is actually still on track, so I'll give myself a good mark here! Rating - A Mini-Challenges Week 1 - SMART completed +1 WIS Week 2 - Become one with the forum +1 CHA Week 4 - Done, but late Weeks 3, 5, 6 - Incomplete (If there were any for 5 and 6?) So let's add up the scores. As I didn't do it at the time, my ratings for fully completing a challenge were as follows: Coffee+2 STA+1 WIS Lunch+2 CHA+1 STA+1 CON Yoga+2 DEX Running+2 STR+2 DEX+2 STA Giving me: STR - 2 DEX - 2 STA - 3 CON - 0 WIS - 1.5 CHA - 1 So there we have it, room for improvement, but time to improve too. I think I'll be jumping in with the scouts next time around, to keep me on track with my running training. Cheers for the support along the way so far, to anyone joining me in the scouts come say hi again, to anyone else, good luck on your paths, and we'll meet again soon!

Sorry guys, for some reason I didn't get notified that anyone had replied! In case anyone else comes across this topic, I found a useful site that gave me a bit more info on setting up my heart rate zones properly: Sauce. I used the Joe Friel values. So I've been running with the modified HR training for about 2 weeks now, and it's really made a difference. My times are slowly improving, as is the time that I can spend in each zone without having to rest. But the main benefit has been that I feel fresher the next day when I've done a run. I think in the past (without monitoring) I was pushing myself too hard and then not recovering properly. Or as Good Row G suggested, I'm just getting fitter...!

I've just started training for my first half marathon, it's in about 15 weeks in Birmingham in the UK. I'm a fairly fit 30 year old male, and I've run in the past but never beyond 10k in a race. I've got a Garmin 910XT, and I'm following their running plan, but I wondered if anyone with more experience could weigh in and let me know what they think of it? Personally after the first week, I've found I've practically been for 4 long walks (the easy/steady runs) because as soon as I started to put any effort in my heart rate shot up and I was told to slow down! For reference, my resting heart rate is around 55-60ish, but I can hit 190 on a run. It's the first time I've really trained for a run using heart rate as a measure, so I don't know if this is normal practise and in a few weeks I'll be laughing/crying, or if I should be pushing myself harder? Any other tips and tricks welcomed too!

Sorry for not replying to you all sooner, it's been a manic week, I've not even had time to login here and check what this week's mini-challenge is! My meal prep was much better this week, I did a big batch of Nom Nom Paleo sweet potato tuna cakes, and took them with me for lunch each day. Chopped up some veggies in the morning and steamed them in the microwave at work and I had a fresh healthy lunch every day! Unfortunately I did all that on Sunday, and I haven't got time to do that today as I'm off to a BBQ in about half an hour. I've got plenty of bits in the freezer so I'll see what I can manage to throw together for at least tomorrow. I finally broke on the coffee though, but with a very good reason! I drove to my parents this weekend, which is about 280 miles. Normally that'll be a 4-5 hour journey, and I left at 9 on Thursday evening. About midnight, they closed the motorway I was on for roadworks...! I finally got home at 4am, but had to stop at several services and buy coffee along the way just to get home! It threw me out of kilter all weekend, so I had a few more cups dotted in. Now that I'm back home I'm back decaffeinating, so it really was just a temporary blip. I've started training for my half-marathon this week too, (15 weeks to go), so I've been out running 4 times. It's meant that on a couple of evenings I haven't had time to do my Yoga, and I've not done any over the weekend whilst I've been away, so I've fallen well behind on that one. This week is pretty busy too, so I'll have to really push myself to get back on track with that. I'd just reached the point where it was starting to stretch me (no pun intended!), so I don't want to stop now! I'll try and visit a few more people's challenges this week, I've been a bit selfish on here of late and only really concentrated on mine. Hopefully anyone reading this is doing well with their own challenge, we're onto the home straight now guys!!