Jaelinn

Status report: Sunday: Did one circuit for 7MWO, as well as 60 mins yoga, which was very nice. Monday: Did one circuit of 7MWO, went running, and did 15 mins yoga. Running this second time as a lot easier, surprisingly. I had not expected to see any progress this early. I have no idea if I will keep feeling like I’m progressing, but I hope so. On my first day, Friday, the stats were: Total distance: 3.46km Total time: 30:00 Walking distance: 1.63km Walking avg. pace: 10:26 min per km Run distance: 1.83km Run avg. pace: 07:05 min per km Yesterday, Monday, the stats were: Total distance: 3.71km Total time: 30:00 Walking distance: 2.29km Walking avg. pace: 09:33 min per km Run distance: 1.42km Run avg. pace: 05:38 min per km Most of the stats has increased, except for run distance, which I expect is because I missed one of the cues for “run”, and walked instead. For some reason I didn’t hear it, even though I heard all the others just fine. I even WALKED faster! That probably had something to do with not feeling like I my heart was giving out and I was dying after every running part. The improvement may also have something to do with the weather not being extremely hot yesterday as it was when I began on Friday. I don’t know. Today, I completed two circuits of 7MWO (yay! Back to where I left off last time!). After that I had a 5 min break, then tested my planking, which I held for 1 min 15 secs. Then a 3 min break, after which I tried push-ups again. I decided not to do the wall push-ups again, and instead move on to inclined push-ups. I could do one set of 20 (45 secs), where the last five were really, really hard. After a 2 min break, I continued and was able to do 13 more (30 secs). I did the inclined push-ups on my kitchen desk, which is 90cm high. This was really hard on my wrists, which hurt a lot after the first 20, but not as much after the next 13, for some reason. I’m a little nervous about doing it again, since I don’t want an injury, but I’ll at least do it one more time on Thursday, to see if the problem with my wrists persists. If it does, then I’ll have to see what to do then. After finishing the push-ups, I took a break which I didn’t take time on, before moving on to 30 mins of yoga, which ended my session. Boom.

I’ve started on yoga again too. This is not a very high priority for me right now, but I use it to stretch after running or doing the 7MWO. Since I tried yoga the first time, I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I use an app for it at the moment, since I’m not much for taking classes. I might start taking classes when I get a little more advanced. I’m so inflexible right now, it’s laughable. Anyway, the app is great, but it’s definitely not power yoga. Then again, I don’t need power yoga since I’m doing it for stretching. I’m not doing it for relaxation either though, which seems to be my apps strong point. I’m not sure how exactly I’m supposed to improve, though. I mean, I do the exercises, and I try my best, but I don’t really feel any improvement. Or rather, I didn’t the last time I did yoga. I’ve only done it for two days this time around so far, so that doesn’t count. Last time I did it for a couple of weeks. Guess a couple of weeks isn’t enough either. Let’s see if I can stick with it for 30 days this time around. Am I relying on 30 days goals too much? It’s always 30 days. But it’s so easily measureable, and it’s supposed to take a person 30 days to change a habit, so I really like it. If I do yoga every day for 30 days, maybe I’ll have it down as a habit so I can continue it automatically for the rest of my life. Why do yoga? Because a ninja must be flexible, of course.

I’ve finally read Steve’s ebook about the common mistakes newbies make. I fit into way too many of the types. He says start small, but the thing is I have a long summer vacation ahead of me right now, and I don’t feel like starting slow at all. I wanna start several things at once, because I have the time. It’s likely to still be difficult for me (it’s always difficult changing your habits) but I’m sure I can do it if I just keep writing things down. It’s always helped me journaling, as I notice better how time passes and what exactly I’ve been doing. Otherwise time just passes and disappears without notice. This way every day feels more precious. If I weren’t journaling, this summer would probably be over in a flash, because I’d just be reading or playing video games all the time instead of doing something useful. It IS annoying that progress happens so slowly, though. I mean, it’d be easier to stay motivated if you could see results after the first couple of days, no? But of course that’s impossible. This is why a journal like this to remind me that I AM in fact doing something is important.

Status report: My legs hurt as hell. Most likely because of the run yesterday, eh? I guess I’ll be sore constantly for the next couple of weeks, until my body gets used to it. I had planned to push myself in doing the 7MWO today, and take it as far as I could, but I couldn’t. Well, I guess I did take it as far as I could, since I was shaking by the time I was finished with the 1st circuit, but I think there are valid reasons. First of all, I did the 4x20 wall push-ups that I assigned myself yesterday. I was able to do it, but only just. I had breaks between the sets, but I didn’t take time, which I probably should have. I’m pretty sure it was below 2 minutes though, but I’m not sure I did it with the right form, etc. I think I will do the wall push-ups one more time on Tuesday, and see how I do with the 2 minute break between sets as Steve recommends. This time, I’ll pay more attention to form, and perhaps move my mirror so I can see if it looks right from the side. After my wall push-ups adventure, I tested myself in the plank. I was able to hold it for 65 seconds, so that’s alright for a start, I guess. I’ll try again on Tuesday to see if I can beat it. I read about planks more yesterday, and I found that some people can hold it for 45 minutes! That’s crazy. I think I will go for 5 minutes, my first milestone being 2 minutes. This guy called John (http://physicalliving.com/30-days-to-a-5-minute-plank-and-rock-hard-abs/) says that one can do different kind of exercises to improve one’s planking time. I don’t know whether I should try it or not. A normal plank is tried and true, right? I guess I’ll have to research that some more. But Steve says the most important thing is to stick to something, otherwise you can’t see how you improve. After the plank, I did the 7MWO. I wish I could have done 2 circuits, but after doing the push-ups and planks, and not having eaten anything, I simply couldn’t. I felt very weak. I think next time I should eat a little something before I start, so I don’t do it on a completely empty stomach. Daily quest: Drink 2l of water. 26/30 (Resets every morning)

Well, I want to get some basic strength. I would like to start doing parkour and free-running, so I'd like to prepare myself for that. I'm just starting out, so I'm on the beginner level and in bad shape. I did the 7MWO for a week a month back, but exams messed things up for me, and I didn't get started again until now.

Becoming a top-notch assassin of course means doing more than simply drinking water and overcoming one’s aversion to running (urgh). An assassin can climb every wall and jump any fence. An assassin is strong. I’m not very strong, but I will BECOME strong. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. So to become strong, one has to build muscle. I’m sort of scared of this, because it’s my experience that I build muscle quite easily. Why is this scary? Because I’m a effin woman, and I don’t want to become a body builder, I want to still be feminine. My body just doesn’t really agree with that. Very annoying. So how does one become strong without looking it too much, when one is genetically disposed for it? I have no idea. But first things first. Building some basic strength shouldn’t make me look TOO masculine, so that’s where I’ll start. I did the 7 minute workout for about a week, back in May. I’m honestly not too sure whether I should continue with that, or whether I should move to Steve’s Beginner Workout, but I don’t think it makes too much of a difference. In the time frame provided by the 7 minute workout, I can do about the same amount of exercises that Steve suggests (except for push-ups, which I can’t do for the life of me). Both are basic workout circuit systems. 7MWO is easy for me to follow, since I just follow directions when they come, and don’t have to count (even though I DO count sometimes). So I think I will stick with that for now, until someone convinces me to do something else. Back when I did it in May, I could almost do 2 circuits (I fail at the push-up part, and usually end up just panting and nearly dying after like 4, but I continue on after that). I want to be able to do three, same as Steve is suggesting for his Beginner Workout routine. I’m a little unsure about what to do with breaks, though. The 7MWO team is advising doing the exercises every day, but Steve is advising breaks. I think I’ll compromise, and push myself to do as many circuits as possible on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and just do a single circuit on the other days before I go running. I can see from the writing above that I have a serious problem with push-ups, which I better rectify. I’ve read Steve’s guide to push-ups, but forgot most of it again by now (since I didn’t apply it). I’ll provide a link here for myself (since I doubt anyone else is reading this anyway): https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/02/15/proper-push-up/ Fun fact: I learned about NerdFitness by Googling “How to do push ups” on Monday 20th of June, when I was supposed to be preparing for my exam. I wanted to know how so that I could do my 7MWO correctly. Now I want to know it for the same reason again. Funny, huh. So, since I can’t do a proper push-up (I thought I could, but upon re-reading the blog post, I suspect my form is terrible) I’ll start with wall push-ups. Not right now, since it 01:19 in the night as I’m writing this, and I should have already gone to bed. Instead, right now I’ll make a plan. Steve says that once you can do 4 sets of 20 repetitions, you can progress to the next stage, so I’ll set as my goal for now. Tomorrow, since it’s a Saturday, and thus not a running day, I’ll try and see how many I can do BEFORE I do my 7MWO. And since I can’t do normal push-ups during that one either, they should probably be replaced my wall push-ups as well, since otherwise I wont get anything out of it anyway. Steve also recommends doing planks to build up your core. I can do at least 30 seconds of planking, since I’ve been doing this with 7MWO, but I’ve never pushed myself on it, so I guess I’ll try that too (again, before wearing myself out doing the 7MWO). My aunt once told me that if you can plank for 4 minutes, you have a strong core. I’ve just looked it up, after writing the previous sentence, and found out that anything above 2 minutes is considered excellent. (http://physicalliving.com/how-long-should-i-hold-the-plank-exercise-for/) I’ll put 2 minutes as my goal for now. It’ll be interesting to see how long I can hold it tomorrow. I don’t think I have a very strong core, since I find it difficult to sit upright, and keep my back straight in a cross-legged position and that kind of stuff, but that might be back muscles. I’m not sure? More research will be required. In any case, Mission!Body is underway.

Running 5k is not my only goal, of course. I have many. One of the others is drinking more water. This quest I’ve been working on for almost two months now, from way before I even knew about NerdFitness. I’ve always disliked drinking water, I didn’t like the taste (it’s not tasteless!), the feeling of drinking it or pretty much anything about it, which is why I drank a lot more tea, soda and juice. But, I found out how important water is for both weight loss and health, so I figured I’d had to learn to like it. Of course I knew that water was healthy and necessary before (my mom was always going on about that), but I never really took it seriously. I mean, I had lived just fine until then without drinking a lot of water, right? How weird is it not to like water, anyway? I don’t know anyone else who doesn’t like water. Moving on. Anyway, I made the goal on May 10th. My plan was to drink 1l of water for 7 days, then 2l of water for 14 days, and then 2l of water for 30 days. If I failed a day, I had to start over from whatever part I failed in. The first week, I drank 2l most days, but failed to drink 2l on days where I went drinking, or on days when it was cold (the weather is crazy here, and the temperature variations in spring is brutal). It served as a nice test run, and I was able to drink at least 1l every day as my goal said I should. Then the 2l in 14 days goal started. I didn’t fail to drink 2l in any one day, even though sometimes I had to chug down one bottle before I went to sleep to make it. I hated that very much, but at least it provided the incentive to spread it out more. For the last 30 days of 2l water, I’m now on day 25, so I’m almost done! You’re supposed to be able to make a habit out of something if you do it for 30 days, so I guess drinking water is soon to be a habit for me. I’m not quite there yet. I still have to remember to drink water, and don’t do it automatically. I do think, though, that I’ve developed a more accurate sense of thirst. That sounds really strange, but before I never used to feel thirsty, even though I barely drank anything. Now I do feel thirsty more often, so I guess my body is getting used to water. I’ll do a full status report when I reach day 30, since I don’t want to run ahead of myself. Mission!Water is well underway. Master quest: Drink 2l water every day for 30 days straight. (25 exp) Daily quest: Drink 2l of water. 25/30 (Resets every morning)

So I figured I might as well start a battle log. I have several journals for different things I’m trying to keep at the moment, but heck, I’ll try anyway. Today I had my first run for YEARS. Hurray! I didn’t die. I’m quite surprised at that, to be honest. In fact, I thought I was going to die at several points throughout my run, and I was utterly relieved when it was over, but nonetheless, I did it! Discovery: Trying to run fast on the first day of running is inadvisable. It will make you suffer needlessly. Don’t do it. Run slowly. Veeeery slowly. Speed is not important (yet) anyway. I’m following the Couch to 5k (C25K) training program, by using an app, so that’s great. Yeah. This means that if I stick to schedule, I’ll reach the 5k goal on August 31. How perfect is that? I didn’t even realize until figuring that out right this moment. Today is a Friday (26th of July), and I’m planning to have my three weekly running days on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (August 31st is the Wednesday of the 9th week). It being Friday today, means there are two whole days until I have to run again. This is bad, because I wont be gaining much momentum, and it’s likely to be tough for me to run on Monday, but I’m sure I’ll be able to persevere. After all, I dragged my arse out the door today after not having run for several years. I’m not even sure when the last time was, I can’t remember. Wait, I did take part in the Color Run in Aarhus in May, but we barely ran (great that you can walk the entire way, eh?) so that hardly counts. Next time there is a Color Run, I swear I’ll run all the way (unless my group wont, in which case I’ll choose being social). And so Mission!Run5k begins. Master quest: Run 5k (25exp) (Reward: New running shoes) Weekly quest: Run 3 times using the C25K app (5exp) (resets Wednesday at 23:59) 1/3 - Go for a run using the C25K app

Hello I've been wondering if anyone knew how the Beginner Workout that Steve has put together compares to the 7 minute workout? In case people don't know about the 7 minute workout, it's basically a program where you do 12 different exercises, each for 30 seconds, with a 10 second break between them. You're then supposed to do 2-3 circuits, if you can. The exercises (at least the ones in the app I use) are (in this order): jumping jacks, wall sit, push-ups, abdominal crunch, chair step-ups, squats, chair triceps dips, plank, high knees running in place, lunges, push-ups with rotation and side planks (switch side at 15 seconds). I find that the exercises are sort of similar, but I don't really know how to compare them. I've been doing the 7 minute workout for a short while now, I can barely do 2 circuits, but I'm considering doing Steve's beginner workout instead. What do you guys think? Which one is better? Should I just continue with the 7 minute workout, or should I move to Steve's instead?

Can anyone give a short explanation of what it is about and why you think it's good?

There is a Danish series called The Deadland, where the first book is called Golak. I really loved those, but I think only the first book has been translated into English.

I guess I'll have to read this, when everyone is so enthusiastic about it!

Hello all! I've recently been wanting to expand on my literary experiences, so to say, so I'm looking for recommendations on books that you think everyone should read at least once. Books you consider classics, or even books that are overlooked, but very good. I'm interested in pretty much anything, new or old, as I want to broaden my horizons, and experience something I perhaps wouldn't have otherwise. So, what are books you absolutely think everyone should read at least once in their life? Bring it on!

Ahh, a Japan Based Rebels sounds so awesome! Maybe I'll join when I move to Japan. Keep it going until then, okay?

As the two above, I'd suggest to make small, simple goals. For example, I wanted to start drinking more water. I've never really drank a lot of water, I didn't like it, so it was difficult for me. I started out small, with a goal of drinking just one bottle of water every day for a week. Then I stepped it up to two bottles of water for two weeks. And then finally I stepped it up again to four bottles of water for 30 days. I'm now on day 23, and it hasn't been that difficult after the first couple of weeks. It might take a while, but small babysteps can work wonders! Don't try to change everything at once, but have small goals and successes instead, they will add up in time. Gamifying your life is also an idea! I'm playing with this as well, you can join me if you like? I've been making my city into something resembling a city from World of Warcraft (with inns and stores and tailors) my bike has become a horse named Ferreo, and I'm training to become an assassin. Suddenly bodyweight training is not just bodyweight training - it's preparation for being able to jump over fences and climb walls, Assassin's Creed style! Good luck.