jonfirestar

Ummm well, we did this to Willy too but... https://critrole.com/ Please don't compare us to professional actors playing D&D Sure, it's possible if everyone is okay with it, no reason you couldn't sit in the video chat and hang with us but I'd really encourage you to get involved. It's silly fun. More like a drinking game with dice and miniatures than anything serious. Do you think @Mr_Willes would be so excited for anything anyone needed to take seriously!! It's a guided adventure so other than your character you don't need much. If you go with something simple then there isn't much more to remember than charge enemy and hit with sword. The fun comes from the excited interaction of the players and their characters. (Help is offered for any newbs with character creation). Curse my brain for telling me 'oh I could do that'. It does to me ^ This. I think we both are really excited by the idea of sharing this with people who haven't gotten to play before I can't remember the last time I laughed so long and so hard as we were on Sunday whilst @Charlie_Quinn killed a goblin with the most skilled use of bad language I've ever seen (yes this happened) Charlie hurt a goblin's feeling so much that he simply expired.

That is what we are here for Now I'm really getting hyped for this! Please don't worry about being a newbie. Everyone needs hand holding through their first few games (and much longer). @Mr_Willes literally had his first game ever with us just a few weeks ago (and was every bit as nervous, I hope he has no problem with me saying that). It's just a bunch of adults playing make believe together!

So after a party clear out a cave full of goblins they could abandon the rest of their quest, decide to take up lives as bandits, and pick up where the goblins left off. Raiding caravans and the local settlements and then smuggling the goods into the nearest big city... This has promise. Me as a DM, I think I'd just roll with whatever the players wanted to do. I think I can keep pace with the players. In my mind the adventure presents the setup only. You have people, places and things that you can do but the story unfolds the way the characters make it unfold. Exactly. Attacking a chieftain would essentially draw the ire of the entire settlement down upon them. So let them spend their time trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. When anyone who sees them raises the alarm and you have people actively searching for stealthing characters. Any settlement would have their champions so give them a new boss level threat to contend with. Make them strong enough that they have to think twice about continuing the fight, get them to surrender and next session can be their trial and execution and if they can't escape then it's the sad tko that the murder hobos deserve 😜 Actions have consequences and the game is at its most fun when you roll with those consequences. See, that's where our inexperience shines through. That is a good point but surely by the time you've gotten yourselves up that high you and your DM would be okay with eachothers style so it's not going to be such an issue? But yeah that's a point. LOL well that solves everything really. Player: Kills chieftain to see what happens. DM: Well that's the end of the adventure. Congratulations. No you don't level up. I see the point with the One Shots though. You can't really spend an entire hour arguing about the best way to lay an insignificant trap that's really not going to make or break anything. Again though establishing that with the players is fine. So long as everyone is on the same page I think it's fine. Although the thing is with level 1 dnd is that you are so squishy every single decision feels like your life is riding on it because you will be taken out with a single lucky hit from the lowest trash. See, Sloth gets it 😛

Well I knew half the party would care, I also knew that half of the party was hiding around the corner safely out of the way . This wasn't quite like the wolves. I knew things would go to all hell (although I couldn't have imagined just how badly) when I did that, but that's based on Jon knowing the players rather than Tilean. She felt perfectly justified in her actions and still feels that way. If anyone got eaten it was entirely their own fault lol.

Monday Another day in quarantine... ummm yah. Well a different day. I made arrangements to go into the office for the first time in weeks. I had something I needed physical access to to fix but also knew it wouldn't take very long to do. It took a while to make arrangements but I got in and got a change of scenery. It's a huge building and exactly 4 people inside including myself so I didn't need to go near anybody. I've been very impressed with how my company has managed this whole thing. I work for good people and that makes me feel good. We managed to get an entire call center of hundreds of people working from home before the lockdown even started. Yeah so that was my day.... I'm honestly feeling so good that I wish I could bottle it. I really don't know why I"m simply feeling so happy and positive right now but I aint arguing. When you see an opportunity, take it, it might not be there tomorrow. That's a quote from one of my very first gym buddies waaay back in the day. I'm feeling extremely confident right now. Abnormally confident even for me and I have a lot of belief in what I am capable of. Right now though some of the things that I've always been shy about I'm feeling really rebellious and assertive about. Workout Log Training Log Saturday 18th April 2020 Workout: Easy Run Distance: 5 miles Purpose of workout: Simply practice running and enjoy the process with a fun run (yes I find it fun thank you 😜, you know my own mother asked me why runners always look so miserable?). Did you achieve goal? Yes. Workout: Cycling (commute) Distance: 8 miles Purpose of Workout: To get to and from work Did you achieve this goal: yes 😛 So precise definitions aside I took the to journey to work really quite aggressively. My training philosophy here allows me to do this because cycling isn't nearly as stressful as running. Simply put, I can put in a lot of aerobic work with little recovery cost. Since my journey was less than 20 minutes in either direction it's not that stressful at all and easy to recover from. It wasn't a structured workout but I did manage to get the strava KOM (first place on the global leader board) for a segment I have been close for a little while but took full advanage of there being no traffic enter the segment with a signficicant amount of momentum. It's my first one, I'm proud of myself lol.

Oh Lizz you need more credit than that. You took my little intellectual presentation and turned it into something hopeful and meaningful. You are the woman who will be playing football again soon (unfortunately right now who knows when right? 😕) All you need to do is believe it. Believe in yourself and your body is yours to sculpt, and like any work of art, it is going to take time, dedication, thought, love, sweat, pain but it is yours to craft. Be the person you aspire to be and your body will follow. Focus on Lizz playing football again and be her. I know when I feel like this there really isn't anything anyone can say to bring me out of it. It is okay Lizz. Some days will be bad but you are not alone and we are here for you. You are strong and you will make it through this one too. Or I'll simply be forced to write more inspirational epithets at you. You've been warned. I hope I at least got a smile out of you. Never tell people to smile. Make them smile because it's the emotion and not the gesture that counts Take care of yourself.

TBF I wasn't really lying. There was no way that Tilean was going to drop her weapons for the life of any human. She'd already found enough money She just managed to convince them that their slave was worth their lives.

Bravo. Marvellous account!

Sooooooooo @Mr_Willes, it looks like we might have our first victim volunteer 😜 (seriously if you are interested in an internet game of dnd. If we can make it work with schedules and whatnot. Not quite as fun as being in the same room but still fun, especially in these times, then we are trying to find people to make up a game. Newbs are most certainly welcome and you sound just like the kind of player that would fit in just fine, you are our people Kestrel even if you did go blue 😜 we are all socially awkward nerds so nothing to worry about). To me the fun of dnd is that you can have these crazy plans that rely on the roll of a dice. So it can be insane - like trying to convince a dragon that we'd wandered into his castle because we'd drunk all the mead he'd given us in our previous meeting and that any missing items he might notice were purely coincidental. Totally the goblins fault, it's his own fault for trusting them. It was a wild gamble and a ridiculous story to a young and naive dragon and I rolled a 20 and forced @Jarric to create a whole new setting as we went back to try and negotiate for the dragon . I've not got nearly as much experience as Jarric but to me it sounds like maybe the DM was also inexperienced. The DM has a pre prepared 'story' with a lot of things that can happen but you are now leaving that in the hands of living breathing Nerds who might not want to do any of the things they planned on lol. I honestly cannot imagine it being played any other way but the DM may also not have had the experience to be able to react to that on the fly. It's where the unique story of the game comes from. To put this in perspective here, the module that @Jarric is running for us right now is meant for a 'noble' party. We've got a drunken goblin, an emotionless lizard man, an evil tiefling wizard a cowardly bard, and neutral paladin. Nobility isn't at the top of anyone's list. (well maybe the divine sorcerer, she's nice lol). When the goblins failed to be intimidated by us going in with their bosses head on a stick and told us to lay down our weapons the only thought I had was 'that just isn't going to happen', Tilean doesn't care at all about this guy. She has no reason to sacrifice herself for him. why? lol oh well each to their own but it probably should be discussed with the players if they expect them to do only certain things. Maigs! It is so good to see you! It is so nice to be back in good spirits!!

Sunday, Well I cannot sleep, so that’s a thing. Anyway the tactic is to do something else until I get tired again. I find it works better than fighting it. My thoughts are going a hundred miles an hour but they aren’t bad thoughts. I’m just excited, motivated and hyped up. The lockdown helps with this. I can sleep in and roll out of bed to work while it’s only a few feet away. Today was a great day. It was mainly spent playing D&D with, @Jarric, @DarK_RaideR, @Rhovaniel, @Charlie_Quinn, @Mr_Willes and Jarric’s WW (who is wonderful, so it’s confirmed ). It was such a fun session. My character (totally not evil...😇 ) managed to intimidate a bunch of goblins (with the help of DR who had their bosses head on a javelin) to leave all their valuables (mainly their hostage) and leave. Then watched as one of them tried to climb down the escape route that we’d trapped earlier. So our lizard folk ranger got goblin sheesh kebab. This is a really interesting and fun party. With a whole bunch of off the wall characters.

Thank you so much Lizz. That is such a nice compliment! If I focus on a goal I tend to achieve it but I have problems with maintaining that focus. That is what this place has helped me with so much. I’m feeling really great. Despite the insomnia that I am seeing right now lol. Hype is right because for the first time in so so long I am feeling excited and hyped up.

😍I'm so happy to be back! I love that. My style of writing was always to create the characters and then let them live out their experience during the situation I put them in. They were telling the story, not me. I could live those lives as I created them and it was always intoxicating. Not a great one for rigid structure of any kind lol (chaotic good ) so I just let the thing shape itself. I had some minor internet success way way back in the early days of the web (I guess you can say a story I wrote went viral, but this was before the term was used and before social media, and ended up with hundreds of thousands of downloads). Probably the most special thing that ever happened to me as a writer though was when I was in high school. It was just a story for Religious Education class, everyone had to write one, retelling a bible story and I'd chosen The Good Samaritan. I was the very last one to read because I wasn't one to volunteer myself to go up front but I read my story. I'm shy and don't like being the centre of attention much. I remember being very very inwards focused when I was reading. Not paying attention to the silence in the room at all. Because the room was completely silent (I did NOT go to a good school, that was rare). When I finished I looked up to find the entire room sitting in (dare I say) stunned silence and staring at me. And then they erupted in applause. It was kind of special. My teacher actually asked if I'd written it myself lol. To top it off the nerds of the class gave me their own seperate round of applause when we came back from lunch. A happy memory made sad by the years that immediately followed You'll be surprised but hell training is not wrong. I will say this though it really does depend on a run. I've got some amazing photos of a 5 hour run in the mountains that I took almost exactly a year ago. That run was gruelling (22 miles and 5 peaks) but it was so rewarding and awe inspiring. That said there is a term in running known as 'hell week' which is where you peak your training and push yourself past your limits (because you are immediately about to rest, so it's one last really hard push before a big race). When you do that, it's exhausting, painful and really not fun (although peaking in itself is pretty satisfying). I'm trying to find a much more sustainable long term approach to training. I'm not about to win any races so I really don't need to be destroying my body to push those last extra 0.x% out of myself.

Saturday Well the strike of feels aside when I talked about writing it was a good day. I will say this about my writing That last story I ever wrote, some 250k words or something along those lines represents to me a failed attempt to get something back. What I thought I was creating wasn't what I created (I was in a bad place) but it was also something I tried to do far, far too early. It happened at a really bad time and I wasn't ready to process it then. So I really think that I do owe it to myself to give it another shot. Just for the joy of creating worlds and living exotic lives through my characters. Probably not going to attempt to write another novel right off the bat. I'm closer to 40 than I was to 25 when I last really tried. I really love the idea of doing a really long narrative plot like @SkyGirl. I did those kind of things a lot when I was young so I might give that another crack next challenge. With an eye for a continuous narrative. While I embark on this brand new stage of my fitness journey. So have I mentioned that I had an epiphany surrounding training? I'm simplifying my training structure and removing the 'crash' element from my programming along with subsequent deloads. My previous programming featured this kind of training heavily. I'd have really hard weeks followed by aggressive deloads to allow for supercompensation. I was successful (I have evidence lol). But it's a hard, exhausting and draining way to train and I really think that there is merit in the idea of long term consistent effort vs short term crashes has merit and I'm applying it to myself. My stand is simple. Workouts should be hard, they shouldn't destroy you. Your load should be managed that you are able to maintain consistency (no deloads) You aren't training to get better at suffering, you are training to get faster with the same overall effort. The basis of the argument is that the gains you get from doing a workout harder than required to promote the adaptation (you put more in, you get more out but it's never linier and there is a point of diminishing returns) isn't balanced out by the cost in recovery. Requiring you to periodically pull back to recover (deload). And it's more efficient and effective overall to not have those big workouts and instead have another full smaller workout (where you'd otherwise be deloading) where you are taking more efficient advantage of the training effect. If, like me, you were deloading every four weeks that's 12 weeks of training a year (an entire training cycle!) that you are missing out on. So we'll see. This is my very own N=1 experiment and I guess we'll see if I can emulate or beat the results of the past (I'm really not done with getting faster lol). Training Log Saturday 18th April 2020 Workout: Long Run Distance: 10 miles Purpose of workout: Improve running endurance with a sustained easy pace long run. Did you achieve goal? Yes. Another really good run although I sweated a ton! I'm keeping these pretty short atm because I don't necessarily think I've got a huge amount to gain by pushing this quickly. I'm intending on adding a couple more miles over the next few weeks but will stop at 13 (or before if I hit my limit prior to that). I'm more focused on the quality of this run and I'm trying to keep an overall consistent effort because I'm not trying to conserve energy for a 4 hour run! My goal is not to ever let this run take that kind of time again. It will be what I can manage at an easy pace for 2.5-3 hours however many miles that happens to be at the very most. One of the things I am pretty sure on is that the biggest mistake in my programming I made is to make these long runs too long. I'm not fast enough and I'm too heavy to be dong multiple 4-5 hour runs. The cost in recovery was too high. Anyway I actually do believe that this will be surprisingly effective (I didn't pull it from a vacuum and it's quite a prevalent idea in modern sports science) but I guess the proof is in the testing. If nothing else it's actually a really fun way to train because the goal is to not kill yourself you always end the workouts feeling good rather than exhausted lol. It just makes this game feel good. It doesn't need to hurt. I used to only really feel fresh for a single week out of four but right now I'm just feeling stronger and stronger. I overstepped a couple of weeks ago and went too far because I wasn't paying enough attention to what I was doing. I really felt it and had to take a rest week. That in of itself made me realise I needed to formalise this and impose rules on myself. I'm very chaotic by nature and order needs to be imposed on me lol. My nerd brain is just happens to be really happy to play along.

You could say that this is the hypothesis that I intend to prove (or disprove) with my n=1 experiment. Crash training obviously works. I'm certainly not trying to say otherwise and it certainly can be used responsibly (albeit maybe not by me when I'm applying it to myself). It's used in countless programs across the world and I've applied it to own training for the last three years and only saw a problem early last year. Peaking is also really satisfying when you manage to hit it just right. I'm asking, can you see similar or even better results if you simplify the system? I'm a systems guy. Systems Architect by trade and my Jon's rule of design number 1 is 'don't build more complexity into a system than necessary'. (really don't get me started on this thing) and I'm a fan of simple but scalable systems. The problem with crash training is that it only scales so far and nobody really tells you what the right place to stop scaling is. build->build->crash->recover->increase then repeat->peak->taper->race->recover becomes build->taper->race->recover->build I'm just really excited by this concept and want to share. I trust my own instincts and I think that this is something that has promise and I have seen it crop up a few times with sports scientists and coaches. So the question is this "does removing crash training and rest weeks from training in favour of a sustainable consistent training program result in as good as or better results than crash training over the long term ?" I think crash training and peaking is almost certainly better short term. Scalability over the long term vs quick exhausting spikes. I favour it because when I look at the system that is the one I'd design over the other one so I'm throwing my lot in with it this year (since it doesn't look like I'm going to get to race any time soon, what's to lose? 95% of the battle is just running). If nothing else, I'm finding this an extremely fun and satisfying way to train. I finish every workout feeling strong and I'm hitting everything bang on the money. It feels great, after only ever really feeling fresh 1 out of every 4 weeks. More a question of overall load rather than intensity. Max effort work and threshold work are important (if you want to run faster you need to run faster). You keep the intensity of the workouts high but keep the volume low enough so that it doesn't exhaust you. If running an hour at threshold pace exhausts you (as it should!) maybe it's better to have done 45 minutes and not gotten so tired. Ideally you are looking for your maximum recoverable volume. The idea is to break down only as much as you can recover from dunno it makes sense to me when I stretch the timeline out in my head. Supercompensation works but there is always more than one way to manipulate a system The only persons training I actually can control is my own and that's the one I actually care about as a result I guard my own training jealousy and don't expect anything any different from anyone else. It's more important that you run than how you structure it. But thank you so much for indulging me @Xena. I've been wanting to talk about this for weeks that I've been driving everyone crazy with it lol. Doing this has helped me understand my own argument so much better lol I know I can be very wordy but it's me attempting vainly to be precise lol.

I’m glad to see you! I’ve not had time to catch up with many people yet.

Thanks for your insight Tank but no. I'm very aware of why I find it difficult to write but it's one of those things that I really cannot talk about. It would never be appropriate in this setting. How I lost that innate drive to write that had me pounding out stories from before I could read properly is part of my story that almost nobody knows. Anyway this is kinda really painful so I'm stopping here Not your fault. I brought it up because I really miss it. Thanks Lizz I've really been feeling better and better every week .

Well, it also applies to lifting too, albeit with differences in the details. 🐼

Friday It's another day in quarantine but I'm feeling really good. I'm feeling better and better. So I'm going to say it. This very forum is what's been missing for me these last couple of weeks. I've been frustrated as all hell and it turned out that the answer was right under my nose all along. My nerdy little fitness hideaway is just an amazing place. So now I've gotten everything all out (by taking over the scouts guild hall with an essay on running lol) I'm feeling better. I have been feeling a little frustrated with feeling that I just cannot express myself but I'm feeling rebellious about that lol. Training Log Friday 18th April Workout: Easy run. Distance: 4 miles. Purpose of workout: Improve my running economy by adding running volume. Did you achieve goal? Yes. Just an easy run. The essential purpose of easy runs is to just practice running. Build up miles, improve economy and endurance. They should be slow and easy and it was

HI LORIE!!!!!! NOW THE HYPE PARTY CAN REALLY BEGIN!! Not gonna lie I missed you!!

Oh believe me I've glazed over the eyes of many Rangers but if I'm honest I've been feeling very sensitive recently about how people perceive me when I do that. Since if you ask me how much I know on any subject I'll tell you I know nothing (and I'm actually considered an expert on some subjects) because the more you learn the more you realise that you can only ever grasp a fraction of what is going on and the best we can do is try and figure out what is the best thing we can do with what we know at the time. Understand my n=1 experiment is only in its first 6 weeks and I don't expect meaningful results until next year but right now I'm of the opinion is that it's better never to get close to the edge because you don't necessarily gain more from a workout the harder you work. You reach a point where you start to get diminishing returns. So the thinking is that it's more efficient overall if you instead stop when the gainz line starts to flatten off on any given workout (which is a lot sooner than exhaustion) and maintain consistent workout schedule and effectively add another (well 12 in my case) several weeks of effective training where you'd otherwise be resting because you've gone too hard and at the same time it's far safer and you don't feel sore and exhausted because the whole idea is that you should be feeling strong the whole time. Save the big efforts for when you really want to use it. TBH on the face of it my running plan today looks very similar to my running plan this time last year and it's only the edges I've changed. I got one or two important details wrong. I've imposed limits and my progression is stepped rather than linear. I want to be sure that I can and should do more before I add more Anyway I really should drop this link here since these aren't my own ideas (albeit they are my interpretation) this is my favourite running podcast: https://www.scienceofultra.com/podcasts It can be a little information dense in places but he does a far better job of explaining these concepts than I do. I just really like the idea that I don't need to kill myself in order to reach my potential and I can just run in a way where it's just fun and it might actually be better to do it that way.

I think the problem is me... lol. Seriously, I think I'm just having a really hard time explaining what I'm going on about. But precisely why I'm doing what I'm doing with my own training is because I want to train safer than I have been. I know I'm reckless, that isn't a secret, I will take chances if I think the reward outweighs the risk so my advocacy is entirely about drilling it into myself to train smarter and not harder . So I'm advocating: only run as much volume as you can sustain. don't do any workouts so hard that they affect subsequent workouts (Workouts should be hard, they shouldn't destroy you). If you are doing so much that you are unable to maintain consistency over time (not one bad workout but a trend). You just can't hit paces you know you should be hitting for example then you are probably doing too much somewhere and should reassess. And if you take the long term view into account it's probably more useful to structure training so that you don't need to take large chunks of rest (deload or cutback weeks etc). I don't really see what the problem is but people don't seem to like to talk about 'when should I pull back, when should I stop and when should I hold back?' but we are all aware that when it becomes too much it becomes destructive rather than constructive and I'm trying to prevent myself from doing that anymore. I'm finding the lack of races weirdly motivating right now because I don't have to worry about how to slot them into my training. I'm simply allowed to focus on this one thing. Safely is the point. Most of us could improve if we added more volume but it should always be balanced with the amount of volume that you can actively sustain. Another thing that many elites have that most of us don't is a lot of rest. Most of their job is recovering from workouts. I also think it's probably more useful to think of it in terms of 'total time spent running' rather than 'total miles'. Someone who has an easy pace of a 10 min/mi is going to have a very different 20 mile run to someone who can hold 7 minute miles for the same effort. It has taken me a long time to actually come round to that way of thinking despite it being in the very first book on running I read. Staying opened minded and willing to change is always good. Debate is good if done respectfully. Opinions don't often get changed but being forced to defend your opinion with constructive arguments helps everyone learn, especially yourself. In this game there isn't really a wrong approach (so long as it's safe and sensible) since 90% of the work is simply running and basically everything works. I really just have a lot of fun discussing these ideas. I'm actually saying that I think I was wrong in my approach. I was focused too much on the small picture (how hard can I make this workout?) and too little on the big picture (consistent training load over time). I had good results but it was immediately followed by injury and major burn out. I will admit that I was looking to see just how far I could push before I broke but I didn't realise that I wouldn't see it coming But when person after person would ask me to help with their running programs I realised that there isn't any way I'd ever suggest to ANYONE that they should train like I was. I want to be a responsible coach to myself yeah. It's possible to have a debate on something without resorting to that. Part of the problem, imo, is that too much in the fitness industry is based on beliefs rather than provable facts and people get mired down into the idea that their way is the only right way. There is no right or wrong (ugh again if it's safe and sensible, I really feel like I need this disclaimer every time I say that) only what's right for you, your body and your lifestyle. The answers are individual for everyone. I experimented with low carb and just felt awful for the entire 2 month period I could keep it up but I don't disbelieve people who tell me that it makes them feel amazing. It's good to be back on these boards and feeling excited by this stuff again Hands up if your eyes glazed over? I mean it's okay, I'm me, I'm like this ALL THE TIME with everything I'm interested in. I find it really useful to me to try and explain to people what's in my head. It helps me get a better grasp of it.

When it's not technical documentation and reports for work? Mainly I just ramble my thoughts down onto paper these days. When I was young I'd write stories all the time. Just constantly throwing them down. I finished my first novel length story when I was in highschool . I don't still have it unfortunately so I cannot tell you how terrible it is you'll just have to accept it was as awesome as 15 year old me remembers it when he was writing. I ended up finishing several. I do have one still, which was essentially the last story I ever finished, sadly; but it was written at a really bad time in my life and it's really dark! I keep thinking about writing stories again. There is a big psychological block with it

IKR. Fun fact about me is that I actually managed to write several novels when I was young; although I never attempted to get anything published lol. That is the response I was looking for! It's great to see you too Kestrel It's been an incredible amount of time since I've felt enthusiastic about anything so I'm riding my high right now lol. Use motivation when it's there because it won't stick around forever. I'm gonna use it to build momentum to take me to new dazzling places! I'd encourage you to do that. It's a nice little thing to help keep everything in perspective. I'm using it to help keep me focused on the important things.

Thursday I've done a lot of writing today but I've said very little I mean I deleted almost everything I wrote in the end. I've very little to show for the number of words I spat out. It was a good day! I feel great. I'm excited about this new phase in my training. I am going to do great things. FYI that's my 'why' when it comes down to it. I've dreamed of adventure all my life and all I want is a body that can give me the adventures that I want. I want to be the badass I aspire to be. I had a win at work when I told someone that because their issue was an annoyance rather than a break, they'd have to wait a few days. On the back of it, I've decided to wrap my role in tighter to the development team. I have the power to do that albeit not officially. I've got a lot of influence in a lot of high places and the structure of the company is a little informal anyway. I know if I ask the right person it'll happen because they stand to benefit the most , it makes a lot of sense (because I'm already using that workflow for my work with the development team), I get control of one of the biggest problems in my job (everyone thinks their problem is the most important one) and put a rather a lot of official weight behind my timeline. I like my plan and I'm going to talk to said person about it on Monday. Training Log Thursday 16th April, 2020 Workout: Threshold workout. 5x1km repeats at 8 min/mi (5 min/km). Distance: 5 miles. Purpose of workout: Improve Stamina by accumulating time near your lactate threshold. Did you achieve goal? Yes. It was another really good run. 8 minute miles was my estimation of my current threshold pace. It felt about right and that is all I'm going for. The run was solid and I finished still feeling strong. I like this format for doing hard but not all out runs because tempo runs just suck. For threshold workouts it doesn't matter that much how you do them. The goal is simple. Accumulate time near your lactate threshold. Whether that's done as a single bout or as intervals isn't important.

Yeah for me the routine is essential for dealing with these circumstances. I just had a little more trouble adjusting than I expected. I'm feeling much better mentally now than when the lockdown first went into effect (and I self isolated a few days before that because I was coughing). Once I did I adapted pretty quickly. It certainly helps that I still have a day job to 'turn up' to even if all I'm doing is logging on from home. lol. I billegerantly take my breaks at work, I've done so for years. Staying inside is something I've actively avoided for well over a decade so that's been hard to get used to. I'd happily go out and walk 3 or 4 times a day but alas, the socially responsible thing to do right now is to stay inside as much as possible.