18ck and Flyer19 - The Spirited Away Challenge

[18ck]

On this challenge, I'm teaming up with my little assassin friend to escape from Yubaba and get home. We will teach each other skills to defeat evil. (Mrs 18ck has her own challenge but is not in Nf so this write-up is only about two of us)

Goals:

"Don't get too fat otherwise they'll eat you"

18ck will go on whole42 for the six weeks

"Get off the Bridge"

Flyer19 challenges 18ck to do a proper bridge with straight arms, assassin style (level 1) and an elbow bridge (level 2)

"Run for your Life"

18ck challenges Flyer19 to run a mile Scout style (level 1) then two (level 2) without any stops for walking

"Where did you learn how to spin, No-Face?"

Flyer19 challenges 18ck to do a pirouette on relevé

"Once, when I was little, I fell into a river."

We haven't been working on dives for a while. 18ck challenges Flyer19 to dive into the pool

"Ah! Ah!"

Mrs 18ck challenges both of us to a day of Portuguese-only communication. We both aim to only speak Portuguese and to try and make some good sentences with connectives

18ck will be running and portuguesing a lot and Flyer will be doing gymnastics and dance and NaNoWrimoing (but not a novel - a lifestyle guide) but those aren't part of the points bit of the challenge - well just do them because we like doing them

[18ck]

Day 0 report

We mostly had an easy day. I bunked off rowing and stayed in bed. I had a little run (just 10 min but absolutely hurtling along as fast as my little legs would carry me) and sorted out a few things that needed sorting. Mostly we ate properly but as it's the last day before another whole x push we had a very indulgent afternoon tea...

Flyer watched the Gabby Douglas Story on Netflix for inspiration and we had a wall-squat-off which was painful to say the least.

[bgvanbur]

Love how you challenge each other, very cute!  Make sure to set a good example

[18ck]

Love how you challenge each other, very cute! Make sure to set a good example

Let's hope so.

[18ck]

Day 1

18ck stayed up all Sunday night working (terrible move!) but managed to get back on track with the paleo food despite the disruption.

Flyer 19 made a healthy green smoothie and ran/walked with mummy for a half hour or so with a pause for pull ups and bar practice.

18ck was coached through a dance warm up and made a creditable stab at a straight arm bridge.

Everyone went to bed early.

That smoothie (coconut water, banana, lettuce)

[18ck]

Day 2:

@flyer19 had a rest day apart from some spontaneous dancing, I think.

18ck ate properly, pulled off a pretty fair bridge, then went out in the evening, ran around for a while, finishing up at the rowing club for some pull-ups, OHP, curls and squats.

[18ck]

Oh and Portuguese audio.

[18ck]

Day 3:

Flyer19 danced her legs off for an hour and a half

18ck cycled for three hours and made a feeble attempt at a bridge but had no life left in his arms. Also, a couple of pages of Portuguese reading about nutrition and... Well, also put that into practice busy cooking dinner - a couple of recipes from nom nom paleo with some stir-fried greens (and purples) on the side.

[18ck]

Hm, I need to work on the lighting if I want to be a big star on pinterest, eh?

[Inspired Fool]

What's in the eggplant dish? Looks yummy.

[18ck]

What's in the eggplant dish? Looks yummy.

Um... It's a slice of grilled aubergine* at the top and bottom with a slice of uncooked tomato in between. Ideally the aubergine and tomato should have a similar circumference if you can pull it off! Then in between the slices there's a dollop of paleo ricotta, which you make by grinding up a load of macadamia nuts and adding some salt, water, and lemon juice to make a nice smooth paste. It's supposed to have a dressing made by adding crushed shallots to some reducing balsamic vinegar and simmering it to reduce it to a syrupy texture but I stupidly left that in the kitchen will we had nearly finished it all. It looks fancy but it's actually not that hard.

*=Eggplant? How big and purple are the eggs in your country? [emoji14]

[18ck]

This is what it looks like if you take a bit more time and make it carefully...

I know, I know, putting it next to mine, it looks like one of those pinterest "Nailed it!" memes you see in Twitter, but it tasted nice, so no worries!

[Princess Pineapple]

I hate aubergine, but that actually looks ok!

Nice to see a couple working together.

[18ck]

I hate aubergine.

Pineapples, aubergines, you shouldn't be hating each other - you've got to get together and fight the real enemy - runner beans.

[18ck]

Day um... What is it? Four? 18ck ran a bit, did some pull ups and diamond Push-ups, did a 45 minute circuit session at the rowing club, somehow endured "I Like to Move It" again (personal trainers and their musical tastes!) and did a full straight-arm bridge, holding for about 5 or 6 seconds. No witnesses though. I've asked Flyer19 to adjudicate my skills after school tomorrow.

Flyer herself has perfected a gymnastics move called the scorpion and she has been demonstrating her amazing flexibility for her delighted parents.

Portuguese audio, plenty of paleo goodness, doing alright so far.

[Princess Pineapple]

Great stuff! Gym music is the worst.

I hate runner beans and aubergines. There are more veg I hate than like.

[18ck]

Great stuff! Gym music is the worst.

I hate runner beans and aubergines. There are more veg I hate than like.

[Shukar]

Just saw this movie the other week, good story, good theme, good luck. 

[Princess Pineapple]

You're just trying to guilt me into liking Aubergines. Emotional blackmail won't work.

[18ck]

Controversy today in the 18ck household as the Bridge Judge ruled 18ck's efforts inadmissible due to unlocked elbows. I cried and denounced the decision as part of a massive conspiracy of something-or-other but in the end the verdict stuck and I am not past stage 1 yet. It was a good one though. I was really pleased with it.

[18ck]

Just saw this movie the other week, good story, good theme, good luck.

Such a great film, eh? My Neighbour Totoro is excellent too. We have watched a few of them in our family film night.

[Princess Pineapple]

We hired a cinema for my eldest's eleventh birthday, took his whole class and watched Spirited Away. Only two children cried at the pig scene.

My husband has a nice little collection of SG films, they are great for families.

[18ck]

Foot Selfie

Flyer19 just ran a full mile without stopping (apart from to tiptoe around boats that were blocking the path) so she has completed one goal and is in the lead.

[18ck]

Further exploits of 18ck: a lacklustre Park Run (done in the rain for added badassery), a disappointing bridge attempt, running the mile with Flyer, of course.

[18ck]

Neither of us was at our best today, Flyer having had a long day at a dance show and 18ck being a broken down old man. 18ck managed a pitiful bridge attempt and a reasonable short-fast run but not much more.

On the food front, this happened

That's um... Prosciutto wrapped frittata muffins (from Nom Nom Paleo), cauliflower "rice" and steamed artichoke. The muffins were gorge, but the artichoke's much more trouble than its worth.