I'm calling it the 18ck Triangle

[18ck]

I seem to have an Andy Weir theme in 2016, so to paraphrase him again...

 

"I'm calling it the 18ck Triangle because after what I've been through, shit on Nerdfitness should be named after me."

 

 

 

So the goals for the month will be:

Workouts

Run 3x a week , aiming to finish my milestone target of a Sub-25 minute 5k by the end

Row (or ergo) once a week

Lift at least once a week, aiming to hit my milestone target of one unassisted pullup by the end

 

Eat right for the whole month - so not strongly dogmatic rules but "paleoish", low on carbs

 

Have 3+ lessons via skype with my tutor

Do some portuguese work of some sort daily

Have at least one day of portuguese-only speech

Watch at least one portuguese-only film

 

Xp for doing all the things is only 75, but if I do well I am expecting to hit some milestones this time around - possibly a speed goal, a strength goal and a lifestyle goal I've been working on for a while, so we'll see - it might come to more than a hundred.

 

 

 

 

[Syren]

This is an excellent trifecta

[Daryl of the Pines]

I'm curious to see how the language learning goes. I often find myself intimidated to tackle such endeavors. Good for you, for taking it head on and making it a specific goal!

[bgvanbur]

Sure beats the bermuda triangle which was my first thought   Actually a really cool triangle.  Either do a great job demolishing that triangle or building up a strong triangle.  Not sure which metaphor is more motivating

[18ck]

This is an excellent trifecta

Thanks!

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[18ck]

I'm curious to see how the language learning goes. I often find myself intimidated to tackle such endeavors. Good for you, for taking it head on and making it a specific goal!

Thanks. I've been trying for yonks but finally reached the "do or do not, there is no try" stage. What endeavours (ah, you're a guest in my thread so I'll spell it the American way - endeavors) do you find yourself intimidated by? Are you considering learning a language? There are really a lot of online resources out there now, so if you ever decide to take the plunge, let me know and I'm sure I can give you a link or two!

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[18ck]

Sure beats the bermuda triangle which was my first thought Actually a really cool triangle. Either do a great job demolishing that triangle or building up a strong triangle. Not sure which metaphor is more motivating

Both!

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[18ck]

Well, I came out swinging in day one. It's a work day but by breaking the work into chunks I was able to fit in two hours of Portuguese - including a one hour Skype lesson, a cake baking stint with Flyer19, making Wi-Fi cake from the Nerdy Nummies cook book, and a run to the rowing club for a brief but intense lifting session.

The big news of the day is that I can do a pull-up again. I have only succeeded in doing one on two occasions previously both of which have been followed by a precipitous drop in fitness levels, so um... Let's not let that happen again. I followed it up with 6 sets of three assisted pull-ups and some other things too. Next stop: five.

The Portuguese lesson was fun. I spoke for a long time and was much more confident than usual (it's not a high bar, I'm afraid). I got off to a good start by trying to explain the Wi-Fi cake (it has concentric rings so that when you slice it it looks like the Wi-Fi connection icon) and when she was thoroughly baffled I went on to describe the content of Nerdy Nummies (cakes and biccies in science and fantasy shapes) and Flyer19's favorito - "os biscoitos de cocô do unicórnio" (click here if you need a translation - http://rosannapansino.com/post/82834151962/loved-making-these-unicorn-poop-cookies-on-nerdy)

It all got a but surreal. I started to think of the monty python sketch with the Czech phrase book that has things like "my hovercraft is full of eels" in place of "please can you direct me to the police station"

Anyway, that all rocked. I've eaten well too apart from a couple of sneaky spoon-licks while we were cooking, but I'm only human. Anyway, let's see if I can make day two as good. Day three will be Mrs 18ck's birthday so there will be cake and wine in it but I won't be derailed.

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[Daryl of the Pines]

Thanks. I've been trying for yonks but finally reached the "do or do not, there is no try" stage. What endeavours (ah, you're a guest in my thread so I'll spell it the American way - endeavors) do you find yourself intimidated by? Are you considering learning a language? There are really a lot of online resources out there now, so if you ever decide to take the plunge, let me know and I'm sure I can give you a link or two!

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

 

What is intimidating is knowing that acquisition of a language requires long-term commitment and consistency, and right now I question my ability to stick with something like that. It's not like when I was attending university, and everything revolved around my commitment to that long-term goal (graduation). I still pursue interests, and whole-heatedly, but it has been quite some time since I have stuck with a single pursuit for over a year. I guess I'm just not willing to start something like a language until I'm relatively certain I will follow through. I feel like I've started and stopped a great many things these last few years, and it's starting to get tiring.

 

As for which language, you know, I'm not even that particular about that little detail now. I just like the idea of having another language other than my native tongue. Any language, really. I often go back and forth on Spanish. It's the only one I have formal schooling in (though not for many years) and probably the most practical second language for living in the United States. But on the other hand, I'm a bit burnt out on numerous attempts. I rather like the idea of starting fresh on something I've never attempted before. Maybe because it's easier to give myself permission to be bad at it in the beginning.

 

Well, I came out swinging in day one. It's a work day but by breaking the work into chunks I was able to fit in two hours of Portuguese - including a one hour Skype lesson, a cake baking stint with Flyer19, making Wi-Fi cake from the Nerdy Nummies cook book, and a run to the rowing club for a brief but intense lifting session.

The big news of the day is that I can do a pull-up again. I have only succeeded in doing one on two occasions previously both of which have been followed by a precipitous drop in fitness levels, so um... Let's not let that happen again. I followed it up with 6 sets of three assisted pull-ups and some other things too. Next stop: five.

The Portuguese lesson was fun. I spoke for a long time and was much more confident than usual (it's not a high bar, I'm afraid). I got off to a good start by trying to explain the Wi-Fi cake (it has concentric rings so that when you slice it it looks like the Wi-Fi connection icon) and when she was thoroughly baffled I went on to describe the content of Nerdy Nummies (cakes and biccies in science and fantasy shapes) and Flyer19's favorito - "os biscoitos de cocô do unicórnio" (click here if you need a translation - http://rosannapansino.com/post/82834151962/loved-making-these-unicorn-poop-cookies-on-nerdy)

It all got a but surreal. I started to think of the monty python sketch with the Czech phrase book that has things like "my hovercraft is full of eels" in place of "please can you direct me to the police station"

Anyway, that all rocked. I've eaten well too apart from a couple of sneaky spoon-licks while we were cooking, but I'm only human. Anyway, let's see if I can make day two as good. Day three will be Mrs 18ck's birthday so there will be cake and wine in it but I won't be derailed.

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

 

Well done with the pull-ups! That's not an easy skill to acquire. Looks like you are off to a great start!

[bgvanbur]

Pull-ups are a pain.  I work on them and even a few weeks off and all that pull-up progress is gone.  Keep at it

[18ck]

Today was a bit more laid back. I did a short, fast run around the river path and the national archive, and some Portuguese listening and writing, and OCRed some scanned exercises the teacher gave me but other than that it's just been work, work, work.

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[Shukar]

You have been around quite some time now I suppose, naming things after you probably isn't unreasonable at this point. 

[18ck]

You have been around quite some time now I suppose, naming things after you probably isn't unreasonable at this point.

I asked for the 18ck memorial yoga class but I had to make do with this.

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[18ck]

I didn't do much today because of

Um... Because of work and the

Er... And anyway I didn't really have time to

Dammit Shia, OK, well look, I cycled to and from work, which was like three hours. And I got through a few rounds of Trivia Crack, some Memrise flashcard rounds, some podcasts and a chorus of "Happy Birthday", all in Portuguese. I ate well for most of the day but it's a birthday so the evening went a but Pete Tong.

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[Daryl of the Pines]

Lol...I like the use of the animations. Great style!

 

Just curious, are you learning continental (or peninsular) Portuguese, or Brazilian Portuguese? It seems here in the U.S. any Portuguese language courses or materials are (understandably) geared towards Latin America. Same with Spanish. Just wondering how it is on your side of the Atlantic.

[18ck]

Lol...I like the use of the animations. Great style!

 

Just curious, are you learning continental (or peninsular) Portuguese, or Brazilian Portuguese? It seems here in the U.S. any Portuguese language courses or materials are (understandably) geared towards Latin America. Same with Spanish. Just wondering how it is on your side of the Atlantic.

 

Good question - Portuguese portuguese. I was going to say Continental, but actually, the person I'm learning it for is from a small island called Madeira, well away from the continental mainland. It's tricky though - I actively avoid brazilians to prevent confusion!

[18ck]

That cake in full

https://www.italki.com/notebook/938059/entry/659447

 

Today was not as planned at all. Mrs 18ck was ill, so instead of going to the circuit session I took flyer to her dance rehearsal which meant hanging around teh local cafés for like 4 hours (because it was too far to be worthwhile going home). I had a burger with a bun, which wasn't great but wasn't a total disaster either, I guess. No chips with it, and I topped up on fruit when I got home.

 

Whiel I waited, I did some portuguese exercises from the CIPLE exam (the one below the level I'll be taking) to identify weaknesses (mostly listening I think... just like english really ;^)  )

 

And as you can see, I have written a bit too. So yeah, not terrible for an off-plan day!

[18ck]

Today: good eatin' a solid interval run and I recorder a 5 minute virtual tour of the local area in Portuguese using Google Street view. I'm going to put it on youchoob and invite comments on italki.

I've just written a transcript if it and I was disappointed by how little I'd managed to say in between all the ummmm and errrrr but it felt quite good that there were a few occasions when I didn't think I knew a word but I put my hand out and there it was....

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[robozebra]

I'm impressed with all your Portuguese work! I've been off and on trying to learn Spanish the past few months. Problem is, you can't study a language off-and-on and expect to actually retain any of it. I have two advantages: one that I live and work in heavily Spanish-speaking neighborhoods, so I'm surround by it and hear it a lot; and two, I studied Latin in college and while I haven't kept up with it as much as I had initially planned to, it's similar enough to Spanish that it's helping with vocab and wrapping my head around the very different from English grammar. I need to get back into studying.

I have never been able to do a pull-up, it's definitely on my list of long-term goals.

Good luck with everything!

[18ck]

I'm impressed with all your Portuguese work! I've been off and on trying to learn Spanish the past few months. Problem is, you can't study a language off-and-on and expect to actually retain any of it.

True! So true!

I have two advantages: one that I live and work in heavily Spanish-speaking neighborhoods, so I'm surround by it and hear it a lot; and two, I studied Latin in college and while I haven't kept up with it as much as I had initially planned to, it's similar enough to Spanish that it's helping with vocab and wrapping my head around the very different from English grammar. I need to get back into studying.

I have never been able to do a pull-up, it's definitely on my list of long-term goals.

Good luck with everything!

Thanks. And yeah, make that plan, because if there are spanish speakers in your neighbourhood, being able to speak to them seems like a pretty cool thing!

[18ck]

Yesterday - lots of portuguese but no actual leaving of the house.
Today - the finale of Flyer 19's series of dance shows. It was a-flipping-mazing, and she came home covered in glory. I managed to squeeze in a quick interval run while dinner was in the oven, and did some portuguese work too, but not as much as yesterday.

I ate OK but had some celebratory wine. I always feel like I've earned some when I've driven a car. It's not on the OK list though, so classing that as a fail 

*takes out stamp*

*stamps FAIL on this thread*

[18ck]

End of the week summary: OK but not sparkling. I've had wine on two days which is not terminal but not really in the spirit of things. I've done all three of my runs, even though one of them was in the rain and the cold and the dark, I've lifted weights on one day and I've been like a crazy portuguese-learning machine, but I've missed rowing and circuits. There were extenuating circumstances, but still, this neext week needs to be better!

[robozebra]

You've inspired me! I redownloaded duolingo on my phone and I finally went back to one of the online Spanish courses I was doing. I'm going to get back in the habit of practicing every day. Duolingo is so good for being able to squeeze in a quick five-minute practice in a busy day.

A little wine every now and then isn't such a bad thing, you could do much much worse. Especially if you otherwise ate well. Not saying you shouldn't have scaling back on it as one of your goals if that's what's important to you, just that you shouldn't get too upset over it.

Good luck on the upcoming week!

[18ck]

You've inspired me! I redownloaded duolingo on my phone and I finally went back to one of the online Spanish courses I was doing. I'm going to get back in the habit of practicing every day. Duolingo is so good for being able to squeeze in a quick five-minute practice in a busy day.

A little wine every now and then isn't such a bad thing, you could do much much worse. Especially if you otherwise ate well. Not saying you shouldn't have scaling back on it as one of your goals if that's what's important to you, just that you shouldn't get too upset over it.

Good luck on the upcoming week!

Yessss! Hey, I'm so glad you're taking the plunge. OK, let's keep each other motivated. If you see me nit learning Portuguese, stick a fork in me. What would be a good motivator for you? Say the word, I'll do it!

And I'm not really upset about the wine but I have a tendency to see it as a gateway drug to toast and the next thing I know I'm magically fat again. So duly noted: the wine is now in the past. No reason to have any now till... Well, my birthday, I should think. I dunno, we'll see.

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk

[18ck]

I didn't study Portugu - ow! No, just kidding, @Robozebra, I did loads. My lesson was cankled,and it was a heavy, heavy work day, but I did some reading and listening, some written exercises and a translation of a poemy thing. That and the exercises were a way of practising preterite imperfect subjunctive. Seriously, there's a tense called that in Portuguese. Good heavens. And they learn it as children. Clearly a nation of geniuses.

In the evening I ran to the rowing club and cranked out forty minutes of weights. I wasn't at my best but hey, it's all in the training bank, innit.

Ate well, no wine.

Posting from a phone. If this doesn't make sense, blame Tapatalk