Fuji_fox

Good luck!!! Two races in one week, omg... Totally admire your ambition (≧∇≦)b

I'm exactly like this too! I actually made a rule for myself not to sit down on the sofa for at least an hour after I get home from work, because if I do, all my energy seems to get sucked away.

You can do it! I'm the same way when friends are visiting. Good luck for the rest of the challenge!

Week 1: 1. Swimming: 2 swims, both group training sessions at the pool. Favorite coach has taken over one of the classes, so I could get some great advice this week. 2. Running: only once this week. Partially because of the heat, but mostly because I wanted to rest up before climbing up a 3,776m volcano (which turned out to be a wise decision) （；^ω^） 3. Core/Cross: Did plenty of cross training, but not so great with the core (maybe 3 days?) Oh well... *Bonus* Climbed Mt. Fuji Saturday night. It was amazing! More beautiful than I remembered. Also, way more extreme than I remembered (oxygen deprivation is no joke). Great memories, but my legs are definitely feeling it now (*_* 4. Diet: a ) No sweets before 7:00pm on weekdays: Solid A. Had one sweet drink midday, but no sweets that evening. Finally, starting to feel like my crazy sweet tooth is under control! b ) try to get in 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day: B+. c ) 2+ liters of water/day: A+. Too hot to NOT drink 2 liters of water a day. 5. Japanese: a ) Trying desperately to finish Killing Commendatore volume one so I can have volume two to read during my trip to the US. Only 50 pages to go! b ) Learned the word "登山病", i.e. altitude sickness, lol. Also have been watching the news a lot? A cop out, but still, it counts in my book ( ´∀｀)

Quite warm! The ocean around Tokyo might not be the best, but it's a comfortable swimming temperature until the end of August, when there are lots of jellyfish. My image is that lake Michigan is pretty cold even in summer. I bet it was refreshing, at least! Haha, exactly!

Love your rewards system (as usual). Good luck!

All three of those things sound crazy fun! Good luck with your goals ＼(^o^)／

The time difference is killer, right? For me, going east is alright, but traveling west is hell... Hope your body regulates itself soon. By the way, how was Japan?

Skating sounds really fun! Are there good places for roller blading around where you live? Hope you and your family start feeling better, and good luck with the renovations!

Week 0 update: 1. Swimming: Swam 3 times. Went to the beach to practice swimming in open water, and it was pretty unpleasant... there's quite a lot of plankton this year, and the water was super murky. But I did about 30 minutes practicing sighting the buoys and getting the feel for swimming with waves, and I think I'll be alright for the race (though probably not very fast). 2. Running: 2 runs. One was after the ocean swim, so I could see how it felt running right after. It wasn't too bad! 3. Core/Cross: Did 5/7 days core, and 4 days cycling to work. *Bonus* Preparing to climb Mt Fuji next week! As long as the weather is fine, we'll climb Saturday night and watch the sun rise on Sunday morning, then decend that afternoon. I know it'll be crowded at the weekend, but still looking forward to it (^^♪ 4. Diet: a ) No sweets before 7:00pm on weekdays: A+ b ) try to get in 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day: A+ c ) 2+ liters of water/day: B (didn't quite drink enough some days) 5. Japanese: a ) Read some Murakami, but a coworker lent me some volumes of JoJo's bizarre adventure, so took time to read that. Not much useful vocabulary in it, unless I want to curse at somebody... b ) Started studying vocabulary related to law, not because it interests me, but because husband is a paralegal and is daily asking me how to say certain words in English (though to be honest I don't always know the English meaning either (´-﹏-`；)) Overall, not a bad start (≧▽≦)

Spending 5 days with a friend in Seattle, then headed to the Midwest: Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa. Not looking forward to the heat! Southwest, the nearest recognisable town is probably Springfield. Staying at my dad's farm way out in the country, so (hopefully) will have lots of time to relax in nature (^^♪

Had a great rest week; going to concerts, sleeping in, hanging out with friends, but it's time to get back to business as usual, so I'm starting the challenge a week early. This time around will be a bit different, because I'll be traveling to the US from week 3 and won't be able to keep my usual routine. I'd like to stay on track as much as possible, though! Also time to start training for the aquathlon in 2 months, meaning I need to start a real running program. 1. Swimming: Week 0-3 -- Swim 2x a week, or more. Would also really like to hit the beach and practice open water swimming a few times too. Week 3-4 will be spent in the States (mostly in middle of nowhere, Missouri) where access to any kind of swimming area (pool or even lake) means an hour drive in any direction. So we'll see what happens. 2. Running: Planning 3 runs a week: one long (easy), one speedwork-focused, and one tempo (preferably run after swimming). Recently I've really enjoyed getting back into running, but I need to be careful not to push myself too hard. 3. Core/Cross: Do some kind of core exercises every day. Do at least one cross-training exercise a week (cycling, hiking, etc.) *Bonus*: Planning to climb Mt. Fuji this month!!! I've climbed it before, years ago, but my husband never has and wants to try. My biggest memory is how cold it was at the summit, so going to prepare like an adult this time and not just wing it in a hoodie and shorts like before XD 4. Diet: a ) No sweets before 7:00pm on weekdays b ) try to get in 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day c ) 2+ liters of water/day 5. Japanese: a ) keep reading Murakami's 1000 page epic b ) study new vocab, focused on topics that interest me. Since most of my day is spent talking to 12-15 year olds, I'm really good at talking about certain subjects (music, anime, sports, etc) but sometimes when I get a chance to talk to actual grown ups about grown up topics like politics or current events, my vocabulary fails me. Need to spend some extra time in summer break learning more advanced phrases. Another long list of goals this time, but I'm excited to see if I can do it ^^

Week 4: Did pretty well! REALLY didn't feel into exercising mid-week, but forced myself and am glad I did. 1. Swimming: 14/14 days! 2. Core: 27/28. Honestly I can't even believe I only skipped one day, lol. Looks like something I can make a habit of, but I want to change some of the moves for future challenges. Cross: Cycling to work 5 days 2 runs. Tried intervals at the track near my house and it was actually really fun. Also did my first 1000 meter swim followed by a 5k run, and it wasn't too bad! 3. Diet: not too bad at all. I've been really successful at replacing afternoon sweets with fruit or something nutritionally balanced, and it hasn't ruined my life 4. Life: a.) Read all 28 days (^o^)／ Definitely going to finish volume one by the end of July, yay! b.) Went pretty well. Not gonna lie, counting down every day until summer break, but I think the worst is over. Really proud of how far I've come! A few months ago, I never would have tried so hard (*^^)v

I'm positive you're going to love Japan!!! Luckily too the rainy season hasn't been that rainy this year, and the weather's pretty nice at the moment! If you have any questions about anything (especially if you happen to visit Tokyo) I'd be happy to help : ) Oh, and the money plate is totally a thing, but it's more to make it easier to count out your change when paying. You can still hand money directly to the clerk, no worries ^^

Week 3: Bit of an off week, I think my body was tired so I didn't push myself very hard. 1. Swimming: 10/14 days completed. Had 3 great swims this week, and I really think my form is improving. Even got a compliment from the Master's coach (a very rare occurrence) so I'm pretty happy with my progress. 2. Core: 21/28. 6 days at home, one at the gym. Cross: Cycling to work 5 days Body Combat No running I need to figure out where how to rearrange my schedule to fit a few runs in for week four. 3. Diet: Not bad. Ate a bit too much on the weekend, but during the week was rather under my daily allowance, so I think it balanced out. Still doing well in limiting mid-afternoon treats and making better choices when I eat out. 4. Life: a.) Still reading, albeit very slowly. b.) No major problems since last week. Definitely feel like I've overcome a major hurdle. Just have to keep the same energy the next few weeks. Ready to go into the final stretch of week 4!

Hope your ankle heals quickly!

Swimming is so much fun, especially in summer! Haha, thanks! I'm working on it!

Week 2: Overall good week, I stayed pretty much on track for all goals. My head wasn't in the best place, but keeping to my schedule helped a lot. 1. Swimming: 7/14 days completed. Cut back one day at the pool to run instead. Mostly practiced swimming 1000m non-stop, keeping the pace consistent. Did one (1!) flip turn, lol. 2. Core: 14/28. 5 days at home, two at the gym. The home workouts we're pretty easy, but a good way to judge how my muscles were feeling each day. Cross: Cycling to work 5 days Body Combat 2 5km runs. Just getting the feel for running again. Went surprisingly well, swimming might have made me a better runner ^^ 3. Diet: Kept a pretty good balance this week. Afternoon sweets cravings stayed under control, and cooked almost all my meals at home. 4. Life: a.) Read every night, though just got through a few pages. Hope to set aside a few hours just for reading in week three. b.) Last Monday had some of the worst classes I've ever experienced in 9 years of teaching... so incredibly bad. I wouldn't say I let it ruin my week, but I spent a lot of time talking with other teachers and thinking about what I could do to change both the students' bad manners and my own teaching style for those problem classes, since what I was doing obviously wasn't working. So came in today ready for battle, was totally ruthless and took no sh*t from anyone... And it worked! At least I got back respect from the kids. Only three weeks to go...

So sorry about your friend. Your way of honoring his memory is really lovely. Also, happy birthday

Yeah, I'm really excited to try it! Before I got so into swimming, I ran casually a few times a week, but I've never done any races other than fun runs and my school's 4km races with the students. I did my my 5k runs last week in around 26-27 minutes with no breaks and felt pretty good. I'll check out that app, thanks! I've heard a lot of people recommend it.

That's a good idea! I'll try that on my commute, too

Yeah, I have been wondering how I could practice that transition. The pool at my gym is on the 8th floor, and I don't think the staff would appreciate me dashing from the pool dripping wet to run to the treadmill/elevator/stairs whilst still in my swimsuit, lol. From July the weather should be warm enough to hit the beach, though, so I should be able to get a few practices in then. That's ok! I'm not worrying much about speed; if I can finish with a smile on my face I'll be satisfied.

Week 1: Totally smashed my goals for week one! Don't know what got into me, but it was a really good week. 1. Swimming: 4/14 days completed. I was very good too, and spaced them out so I wasn't just swimming 4 days in a row ^^. The pools were unusually crowded this week, so I didn't get much flip turn practice in, but my regular touch turns are becoming a lot more efficient. 2. Core: 7/28 No problems here! Cross: got lots of cross training in this week, including: Cycling to school every day (10.6 km round trip) 14 km mountain hike Body Combat class at gym 6km run 3. Diet: Ate really well. Cutting out the afternoon sweets wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. It helped that there were no birthdays/events going on this week, as those are the times I really tend to make poor choices. Cooked a lot of Japanese food too, which tends to be lighter. 4. Life: a.) Read every night before bed, though I usually fell asleep 10 minutes in ^^; b.) School went much better this week. I changed the seating arrangements, and the kids for the most part were really happy with it, so maybe it gave them incentive to behave (lest I change it back...) *Extra: Signed up for my first aquathlon in September!!! 1km open water swim, followed by a 5.5 km run. I've never done a "proper" race, much less one incorporating swimming, but I'm crazy excited ＼(^o^)／ Any advice from other scouts about running a 5k would be greatly appreciated!

Yeah, it's so frustrating getting hung up on what other people think! I try to tell myself that no one really cares what I'm doing, except myself. If I think about it, I rarely pay attention to others exercising, so why would they pay attention to me?

That's a really great idea, I'll try something like that! Thanks for the tip!