Fuji_fox dives in

[Fuji_fox]

 

Sakura season has passed, the new school year is in full swing, and it's time to get serious about my goals for summer.  So here goes:

 

1.  Swimming: Swim 14 days/month. Going to plan my workouts a week in advance to stop myself from skipping and thinking I can catch up later.  Focusing on increasing my start/turn efficiency, distance per stroke, and improving butterfly overall. 

 

2.  Core training: incorporate 3 30-minute bodyweight workouts into weekly training schedule, whether at the gym or at home.  When I started swimming, I was amazed at how it improved my stamina and lung capacity when running or doing other "land" activities.  But of course the opposite is true too, so I need to focus on getting stronger overall, which will hopefully improve my swimming as well. 

 

3. Diet: Eat around 1800 calories on weekdays, 2000 on weekends.  Also need to up intake of protein, iron, and calcium, through diet and/or supplements if necessary.  

 

4.  Life: a.) Continue reading Murakami's Killing Commendatore in Japanese every day.  I'm getting through around 100 pages a month, which is a lot more than I've ever managed before, so this is just about maintaining that level.

 

b.) Guitar once a week, more if possible. Master at least two more chords.  

 

c.) Build/ set up a bike shelter before the rainy season starts in June. 

 

Some pretty challenging goals this time around, but I'm going to give it my best shot! 

 

[The Borg Queen]

Stepping it up a notch, Fuji! I like it, well thought out. Good luck!

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

 

[Fuji_fox]

 Week one:

 

 Swimming: 3/14 days completed.  On schedule so far, but next week are the Golden Week holidays in Japan, so I'm headed to Hiroshima to visit the in-laws, and will have to swim Mon-Wed three days in a row to stay on track. 

 

2.  Core training: 3/3 weekly workouts completed.  Did two core training classes at the gym, which is good because I definitely push myself harder in that kind of group environment.  Not so good is the fact that the instructor has been using the exact same songs for 4 months straight, with no sign of changing it up any time soon (/_;)

 

3. Diet: Did pretty well eating the appropriate amount of calories, and started taking some supplements to make sure I'm getting enough iron/calcium.  

 

4.  Life: a.) Reading: getting a little reading done every day.  This is the first time I've read a long novel in Japanese without having read an English translation first, or having any idea what the story was before going in.  That being said, it's going really well! Of course I can'tunderstand every word, but I can guess the meaning well enough from the context that I don't need to use a dictionary, plus I'm really enjoying the story itself, which of course makes it easier to continue.

 

b.) Guitar: practiced around an hour, still just having fun with it.  My muscle memory has improved a lot, though! My fingers can naturally find the right positions far easier than before. 

 

c.) Build/ set up a bike shelter: nothing done yet, but making plans to work on it after next week.

 

So far so good! I'd really like to complete all my goals this time, but I know the real hurdle will start from next week. Gonna do my best to stay motivated and on track! 

 

[Terinatum]

Hey it's a guitar challenge!

I'm picking mine up after 2 years and although it's slow at the moment, it's still quite enjoyable. I have 2 songs I want to learn, knowing it will take awhile, so that spurs me on. Songs: Dimming of the Day by Bonnie Raitt and Blue Guitar by The Moody Blues

 

[The Borg Queen]

Fuji, you are doing flipping amazing. Keep up the great work!

[Fuji_fox]

13 hours ago, Terinatum said:

Hey it's a guitar challenge!

I'm picking mine up after 2 years and although it's slow at the moment, it's still quite enjoyable. I have 2 songs I want to learn, knowing it will take awhile, so that spurs me on. Songs: Dimming of the Day by Bonnie Raitt and Blue Guitar by The Moody Blues

 

 

Yay for guitar challenges! And those are both freaking amazing songs to work on, too.  My current pet projects are Sea of Love (Cat Power version, almost got it down) and Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart (still a loong way to go). 

 

9 hours ago, Primeval said:

Fuji, you are doing flipping amazing. Keep up the great work!

 

Thanks!! I'll do my best! (^o^)／

[Terinatum]

Sea of Love is really nice. I listened to her version, I like it.

I just dragged out my electric, much to my cat's chagrin! 

 

[Fuji_fox]

Week one:

 

 Swimming: 6/14 days completed.  Got my three days in before I left on Golden Week vacation.  I'll have to swim at least 4x a week for the next two weeks to meet my goal, but hopefully that shouldn't be a problem.

 

2.  Core training: Completed, I think? Didn't have time to do 30 minute workouts, but did 15-20 minutes of core exercises every morning while traveling, and also climbed freaking enormous sand dunes in Tottori, which was a pretty extreme workout in itself.

 

3. Diet: The latter half of the week was too difficult to track, because I ate lots of little weird dishes I don't even know the names of.  The contents of my meals were quite healthy (primarily fish, vegetables, and rice) but I also ate a LOT, and had ice cream pretty much every day... If I'm thinking wishfully I probably stayed around 1800 calories, but honestly who knows.

 

4.  Life: a.) Reading: Lots of time spent in transit meant I got TONS of reading time.  Passed the halfway point of volume one! 

 

b.) Guitar: was able to practice just a bit before leaving on Wednesday.  Not much, but even a little bit counts for this challenge (^_-)

 

c.) Build/ set up a bike shelter: plans are being made! Tomorrow I'll buy supplies and get started.  

 

Overall, I'm really proud of myself for keeping up with the workouts this week, because normally I'd take the whole week off during the holidays.  Looking forward to week 3! 

[The Borg Queen]

Happy Golden Week to you!!! Looks like you did a great job on your goals!

[Fuji_fox]

Week 3:

1. Swimming: 10/14 days completed so far.  Right on track, but I did what I said I didn't want to do, and slacked off early in the week and then had to swim 4 days in a row to keep on schedule.  By day 4 my muscles were basically jelly... Goal for week 4 is to intersperse swimming days with rest/cross training days. 

 

2.  Core training: 3/3, though 2 were on the same day.  All done at the gym this week, as I lost motivation to do it by myself.  The gym workouts were super intense! The instructor is awesome in that she doesn't hold back, but everyone was dying afterwards OTL 

 

3. Diet: Basically maintained an average of 1800 calories/day, but I realized that I tend to reward myself with sweets far more than I should.  So that's something to focus on for the next challenge as well.

 

4.  Life: a.) Read every day.  Hoping I can finish volume one by July! 

 

b.) Guitar: done, but just the bare minimum again.  

 

c.) Purchased a bike shelter online and it arrived mid-week.  Really wanted to diy my own, but the cost of tools and supplies wouldn't have been worth it.  But all I have to do is set it up, and the goal is complete (≧▽≦)

 

Just one more week to go, really motivated to hit my swimming goals! 

 

 

[The Borg Queen]

Highly impressed with your stick-to-it-iveness, very inspiring. Keep it up!

[Mike_d85]

On 5/15/2017 at 0:56 AM, Fuji_fox said:

c.) Purchased a bike shelter online and it arrived mid-week.  Really wanted to diy my own, but the cost of tools and supplies wouldn't have been worth it.  But all I have to do is set it up, and the goal is complete (≧▽≦)

 

What bike shelter did you get?  I'm about to be sorting out the finer details of bicycle ownership in the near future...

[Fuji_fox]

22 hours ago, Primeval said:

Highly impressed with your stick-to-it-iveness, very inspiring. Keep it up!

 

Yay, thanks! Trying to keep the momentum going.

 

16 hours ago, Mike_d85 said:

 

What bike shelter did you get?  I'm about to be sorting out the finer details of bicycle ownership in the near future...

 

I went with this:

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/kaientai/alumi001?scid=me_ich_conf_order_03&_mpt=101&_mpe=205664-20170509-0555684286

 

Not the most beautiful, but it's quite sturdy when set up and seems like it'll do it's job.  So you're getting a new bike soon? 

 

[Mike_d85]

6 hours ago, Fuji_fox said:

 

Not the most beautiful, but it's quite sturdy when set up and seems like it'll do it's job.  So you're getting a new bike soon? 

 

Yes, I just moved out of the city center and I need a way to get around without asking my wife for a ride.  I don't think I have room for that (I squandered my small patch of lawn on a grill/smoker).  I might have to build something. 

[Fuji_fox]

On 5/18/2017 at 3:45 AM, Mike_d85 said:

 

Yes, I just moved out of the city center and I need a way to get around without asking my wife for a ride.  I don't think I have room for that (I squandered my small patch of lawn on a grill/smoker).  I might have to build something. 

 

Nice! Gotta love the freedom a bike gives.  

[Fuji_fox]

Week 4 overview: 

1. Swimming: 14/14 days complete \(^^)/ Ok, so day 14 wasn't technically swimming, because I went scuba diving instead! I was in the water, so it totally counts, in my mind.  This was my first time to try diving, it was kind of scary but also super fun, and a great way to wrap up the challenge. 

 

2.  Core training: 3/3 days this week.  One day was a 20km hike over a small range of mountains in Kanagawa and western Tokyo.  We took it pretty easy, but I was really surprised to find that I was hardly sore at all the next day.  Last year after the same hike, I couldn't climb stairs without my legs buckling for days afterward, so that's progress.

 

3. Diet: Meh.  As usually happens when I do a lot of exercise, my diet became considerably less balanced this week, because my mind tells me I can "burn off" unhealthy meals with the extra activity.  Which is not untrue, but in the future I'd rather have balanced meals with the occasional indulgence, not indulgent meals tempered by exercise.  Still a work in progress at the moment.  Technically, I met my calorie goals, but I wouldn't call it a successful eating week.  

 

4.  Life: a.) Read every day, and now have just around 200 pages of volume one left.  My reading speed and ability to concentrate have increased noticibly since I started this book, so it's been a really beneficial goal for me.  Not finished yet, though!

 

b.) Guitar: practiced all the open chords, and have pretty much mastered G and C.  Time to start practicing more than once a week, though I'm satisfied with meeting my goals for this month.

 

c.) Set up my bike shelter, so this goal's complete! All set for the rainy season.

 

Really pleased with meeting my exercise goals this month, especially swimming ヽ(^o^)丿 Not just hitting the number goals, but I'm starting to notice improvement from the increased training as well.  Hoping I can keep it up throughout the summer! 

 

 

 

 

[The Borg Queen]

Congrats on finishing another great challenge! Very nice progress, and good work. 

 

I have the same problem with my diet... trying to balance lots of exercise with calorie control. It's a scout's problem!