Intermission II - New Home, New Routines

[Big_Show]

Today was a good day!

 

More restrained at work today on the food front (admittedly the fact that there were no more muffins left was probably a large factor), then had the house to myself for most of the evening as the Welshman had a work thing.  So I went for a run along the waterfront (3.0M in 26:12 @ 8:30/mile av.) which went... fine, I guess?  Back into the phase of having to remind myself that I was injured for a while (again) and so I've taken quite a few backwards steps (again).

 

So after getting dinner mostly prepped and ready to just bung in the oven later on (lazy cottage pie - use an onion and a tin of baked beans instead of all the usual veg) I then did a full Water A yoga session, foam-rolled, and took care of some general adulting while I knew I could do so interrupted.  Plus our broadband finally got connected today, which made that a lot easier to do!

 

Amended my workout template on the Bdyspace app too - the end of tomorrow's workout will be 5x5 burpees + TRX inverted rows.  This circuit will continue to grow gradually until I am a badass!  Any suggestions on what the third exercise in the circuit should be when I'm ready to add another?

[Big_Show]

Yesterday went rather well. Hit the gym after work and enjoyed the trip:
- squats
- flyes
- DB press
- burpees/inverted rows
- bent-knee raises

I got home and was cooked dinner (peppers stuffed with lamb), rearranged the TVs between the living room and yhe games room (we now have Netflix back!), and had cuddles before bed.

It was a good day.

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[Big_Show]

Fun weekend!

Friday after work a nerd from CNF arrived! The three of us had dinner and (possibly slightly too many) drinks. Good times.

Saturday morning we headed over to http://www.theplaygrounduk.com/ and met up with another nerd, and spent 90mins going round the assault course.

Good fun, realised I definitely need to improve my grip strength, power to weight ratio, and ability to climb ropes...

Sunday I went to the gym and realised that my body was still a bit too battered from Saturday! Cut the session short and will make up for it on Tuesday.

Had lunch with parents then spent the rest of the day adulting - REALLY need to finish unpacking the house this week!

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[darkfoxx]

Yay, Nerds! That course looks awesome


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[Big_Show]

Monday was a good start to the week!

 

I finally admitted how bad I was being and started a proper food diary again. Quite a cool one, actually [emoji16]

 

 

After work I went for a run. Everything was still a bit sore from the weekend but it was nice and cold, and once I got moving I enjoyed it. Only 3.3M in 28:33 @ 8:31/mile av. - turns out I still think distances in my home town are further than they are. And that hills are bigger than they are. Almost like I was smaller when I was growing up...

 

After that we attacked the spare room and unpacked/packed in order to make it habitable for an actual visiting human!

 

Then made Big-O's Bacon Burgers with Sweet Potato Hash and a fried egg for good measure:

 

 

Followed by a Yoga mini-session, cuddles, and bed.

 

A good day.

 

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[Tanktimus the Encourager]

13 hours ago, Big_Show said:

Then made Big-O's Bacon Burgers with Sweet Potato Hash and a fried egg for good measure:

All I could think of:

[Big_Show]

All I could think of:

I bet Michelle's kids would love it if he was a part of Nom Nom Paleo! [emoji38]

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[Big_Show]

Hungrier day yesterday this tends to happen after a running day, almost irrespective of the actual distance I ran. Plus Monday was quite a low-calorie day after all.

Gym after work:
- bench press
- superset pull-ups/dips
- flyes
- superset burpees/inverted rows
- bent leg raises

Then we built the other bed, I miscellaneously adulted, cooked a quick dinner, yoga-ed, foam-rolled, and slept. It was a good day.

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[Big_Show]

Wednesday was run day! My everything is still quite tight (yoga continues) sonai did stop to stretch my legs out a bit halfway round.

Turned out to be a pleasant enough amble round town - 4.0M in 35:27 @ 8:48/mile av. Hopefully it'll start getting a bit easier again soon, my recovery runs used to be faster than that! [emoji23]

After that was an impromptu date night - we had received a Pizza Express gift card and so went out for food instead of cooking for once. Had a reqlly nice evening, and the food was surprisingly good!



Did forget to do my foam-rolling & yoga when I got back though. Extra on Thursday to make up for it!

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[Tanktimus the Encourager]

And now we have seen the Welshman! The pizza looks great.

[Big_Show]

Thursday was good - hit the gym after work for:
- squats
- flyes
- DB press
- superset burpees/inverted rows
- straight leg raises

Then I got cooked for! The Welshman's mum was staying over (she works nearby and lives about 30mins away) so he had another go at cooking - lamb shanks with sweet potato mash & mange tout. Not half bad for someone who has still cooked fewer times this year than I did last week alone...



We then stayed up chatting & drinking wine for a bit too long considering it was a school night, hence feeling quite tired today... [emoji28]

Today is a rest day! Off to meet my parents for a curry, then going home to sleep LOADS. Like, ALL the sleep. There will be none left for anyone else tonight. Sorry/not sorry.

Nice chilled weekend ahead too - deadlifts, running, and the big fireworks display in town for Bonfire Night. Should be fun!

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[Big_Show]

It was a good weekend.

Friday we met my parents for curry night.

Saturday involved a VERY lazy morning. Sleep was caught up on, coffee was drunk, fish finger pizzas were consumed.


Then I headed to the gym:
- deadlifts
- superset assisted pull-ups/dips
- seated cable row
- superset burpees/ inverted rows (6 each)
- straight-leg hip raises

Then stocked up on quality meat at the butchers.

Then fireworks display for Bonfire Night!


Sunday was a quiet day, but I got another 4M run in and some Yoga. Plus cooked roast pork.

On with Week 3!

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[jonfirestar]

10 hours ago, Big_Show said:

I can't stop starting at these.

[Big_Show]

I can't stop starting at these.

I may have to make them again this weekend. Bit of a treat [emoji16]

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[Wild Wolf]

On 10/30/2017 at 1:44 AM, Big_Show said:

Saturday morning we headed over to http://www.theplaygrounduk.com/ and met up with another nerd, and spent 90mins going round the assault course.

 

Lol, this is how I imagined my gym being and consequently it had the same name, too, lol. The Playground. Fun stuff, dude, looks like a blast!

 

On 11/6/2017 at 12:43 AM, Big_Show said:

Then stocked up on quality meat at the butchers.

 

Noice! Well done, brother. It's always good to stock up  

 

Wolf

[Big_Show]

Had a couple of days off from the gym; on Monday I had an appointment, and yesterday I was just too damn exhausted after work so I went home and took care of a few oddd jobs instead (incidentally, the Welshman is gonna have some rather good birthday presents as a result [emoji16]).

Also, I finally admitted that my damn achilles keeps playing up again the day after a run, so I really need to just give it a few days off from the impact. Cross-trainig at the gym will have to suffice for a few days.

This morning I weighed myself and the figure on the scales is still stubbornly the same as it was at the beginning of the challenge.

But now I have further motivation to sort things out properly:



First step of the 2018 Trifecta!

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[darkfoxx]

Oooooooooh. Trifecta. Exciiiiiiite!!


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[Big_Show]

Ok, so I lost track of updating this for a while but I have not been idle!

 

After losing my way a little bit last week I finally sat down and wrote out my goals for next year.  Refocussed my ideas of what I need to train for & why, and doubled down on my diet a bit too.  So this week I cracked on with it in earnest!

 

As leg strength, pull-ups, and fat loss are my primary gym targets right now my workouts for the forseeable future consist of this:

- squats or deadlifts

- superset assisted pull-ups/dips

- circuits

- cross-trainer

 

The current circuit is simply burpees, lunges, press-ups, and bodyweight squats.  Building up to 3x15 of each with 2mins recovery between sets then adapting another workout off the Spartan website to move on to.  Sunday's workout was deadlifts, yesterday's was squats, so tomorrow (Friday) I shall be back to the deadlifts again.  Good way to start a weekend!

 

The other aspect of my training is aiming for the half-marathon in March, so the main focus for that is to get my running volume back up again.  But I can't do that while my left ankle/calf  is being dodgy still, so I am not running until December and instead using the cross-trainer on my running days and attacking the yoga & foam-rolling with a renewed vengeance.  It's already showing its benefits - my achilles does not feel swollen any more and I think I'm getting some flexibility back into the joint.  This is the one I broke playing Aussie Rules football four years ago and it's always been a bit iffy since, so plenty of attention is needed.  Did half an hour on that thing Tuesday & tonight while listening to podcasts - will do a little longer on Saturday.  Eases out a few DOMS & other kinks as well, which is handy.

 

The last aspect is my diet - I'm coming up with some proper SMART targets for my next challenge (is zero week next week already?!?) and I shall be making sure I am held properly accountable.  I figure if I can just lose 10lbs then there will be a noticeable difference in my waistline & available clothing options, and from there it'll just snowball.  So 10lbs by New Year is the current target!

 

 

[jonfirestar]

19 hours ago, Big_Show said:

The other aspect of my training is aiming for the half-marathon in March

Ohh where is that one? 

[Big_Show]

I'm doing the Reading half on 18th March mate, not gonna get anywhere near my PB of 1:31:25 but if training goes well I'm hoping for maybe a sub-1:45?

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[jonfirestar]

1 hour ago, Big_Show said:

I'm doing the Reading half on 18th March mate, not gonna get anywhere near my PB of 1:31:25 but if training goes well I'm hoping for maybe a sub-1:45?

Another one  there are a few of us planning on running Reading next year. Though I'm just hoping for sub 2, you are significantly quicker than me. 

[Big_Show]

On 11/18/2017 at 6:14 PM, jonfirestar said:

Another one  there are a few of us planning on running Reading next year. Though I'm just hoping for sub 2, you are significantly quicker than me. 

 

Well we'll see... I've been not running for a few weeks but hopefully I'll be able to start building up my mileage again from December.  Or indeed, running at all...

 

It's been a good weekend.  Cross-trained yesterday, deadlifted today, and got my lunches prepped today.  Also made a lovely beef stew in the Instant Pot this evening.

 

I'm ready to tackle the next 4WC now.  Need to figure out the specifics of my goals, but it involves a significant fat-loss attempt and many many pull-ups!  Will post a link as soon as I finish it!