Jarric

Ok, super quick update today: Monday - Week 2 Day 1 Yesterday was a good day. Gnocchi was cooked and was lovely, and I did get my foam rolling done. I spent a while reading our formal mortgage offer which arrived yesterday in the post, so I didn't get to drawing. Teeth and protein done. * * * Today I got up a bit too late, and procrastinated somewhat. Still got out for my run - 4.15 miles with 3 * 0.6 mile tempo intervals - but I didn't have time for a workout of handstand practice afterwards. At lunchtime I did a bit of drawing/designing of a D&D map for a one-shot adventure I want to write. Work today has been pretty long, though I've been a bit distracted so probably didn't spend much more time actually working than usual. This evening WW is doing a chicken and radish stir fry, and I will chill out, do some foam rolling, and maybe finish this map design.

Thank you! Let the jacksy kicking commence! Yeah, I'm mostly joking about the culture thing, I do realise that the USA has a huge variety of attitudes and ways of life. I think the other thing is you have a lot more open space (or a lot lower population density), so although you have that variety, you potentially have to go quite a long way to find the differences. Reading this I looked it up. The USA has 87 people per square mile. The UK has 725, making us the third most populous 'major' country in Europe after The Netherlands (1,095) and Belgium (973). That's an astounding difference when you think about it. And I am deeply, deeply envious of your PE lessons! Circus stunts?! That would have been incredible. Archery would have been really cool too.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the accuracy of this

I disagree - we got a long way as a race before modern safety standards, and most people did live long lives without these things (you know, the ones that didn't die in preventable accidents ). Not that safety standards are a bad thing, but I do think constant irrational fear of death is. More to the point, I don't think the people that try to make environments safe and put are warning signs are any less optimistic than anyone else - they don't spend their days hiding under the table in fear of dying in a freak accident either

Week 1 round-up Running: 27.9/116 miles for the challenge. That's 24% of the mileage in 20% of the time, so no issues here. Foam rolling: 3/3 for the week, 3/15 for the challenge. All good. Protein: 7/7 for the week, 7/35 for the challenge. All good. Create: 1/3 for the week, 1/15 for the challenge. I didn't prioritise this in week 1, so I need to make more effort to do so. I should have a little more time in week 2, which helps. Teeth: 6/7 for the week, 6/35 for the challenge. I missed one day because I simply forgot; it's less part of my routine on the weekend than in the week.* *I did use missing the morning tooth brushing as an excuse to miss the evening, which is bad. With immediate effect I'm going to start counting half points, which should hopefully give me an incentive not to do this. Overall a pretty good week I'd say. I've felt a bit overwhelmed this week, I think that this lockdown has hit me harder than I'd like to admit, and harder than the previous two, though I can't say exactly why. Nonetheless I've come out of week one strong, and ready to push on into next week. By keeping consistent and keeping in control of things I hope to get over the current overwhelm. * * * This morning I got up and worked out, starting with 3 rounds of: 6 assisted pullups at 23# (~10.5kg) on top of bodyweight 5 each side single leg elevated ring rows 6 half bridges** **If anyone knows any good tutorials for bridges (the full hands and feet ones, not glute bridges) then please let me know! I'm thinking I'll probably record a set next Monday and put up a form check video, because I'm not really sure what I'm doing with these. After that I did some hangboarding, which seems to be slowly coming back, and some crow pose practice that definitely felt strong. Having got out of bed far too late I had no time for stretching, which isn't good. Work today has been ok, though catching up feels like a neverending task. I was thinking of doing some drawing at lunchtime, but I got sucked into a very interesting discussion on divorce law with @Athena on @deftona's thread, so I ended up writing long replies to that instead! This evening I'm cooking gnocchi for dinner, foam rolling, likely drawing, and maybe reading D&D books. WW bought me Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and Xanathar's Guide to Everything for Christmas - I read Tasha's in a few days over the Christmas break, and now I'm working my way through Volo's.

Thank you for sharing, that's really interesting to hear. I've not got any (diagnosed) mental illness, but I do notice when I'm feeling stressed/anxious/depressed my self-care goes out of the window, but it my case it feels less like I forget or let things slip, and more as though I am willfully neglecting myself or punishing myself. Still, maybe making those small things a priority will help with the larger feelings, and having to be accountable about it here certainly helps me stick to the small things better.

Well that definitely makes a difference, if you have different decorations all year round. We're so lazy we barely put anything up and still never get round to taking things down! Oh really, that's interesting. I'm glad to know it's not just me. Do you find having that as an early warning system can help you pull yourself out of it before things get worse, or is it just an observation?

Well done on week 1. I get the sense that you're not that pleased with the week, but you've done great! I wanted to point out a few things: So you hit 6/7 for yoga and 6/7 for massage gun? That's a really good start. Your goal was 3 sessions, and you hit 3 sessions. You've hit this goal perfectly, no 'buts'.

Thank you! Don't stress about checking in, I'm really struggling to keep up with people this time round. So are you usually forced to, or do they just stay up all year? I took down an indoor wreath last week that's been up for about 5 years, so I can relate

Friday - Week 1 Day 5 Friday was a good day. After my beers on a team catch up I drank a little more than I intended, including a couple of whiskys when my beer ran out, and got to bed a little late. Teeth and protein done for the day. Saturday - Week 1 Day 6 Saturday was a good day. I got up and, after a small amount of procrastination, went out for my long run. I hit 13.98 miles (~22.4km) in a little over 3 hours, and the first 2 hours or so felt really good before I started flagging. It was cold as fuck out there, but it was amazing to see the ice extruded away from bushes on the downs, really pretty stuff. After I got back I showered and tried to get some blood flowing back into my feet, and then cooked scrambled eggs. Then is was time for D&D, where we had an excellent time and a big fight with some grimlocks. I know a few things about grimlocks from the group challenge just before Christmas, so I'm intrigued to see where this goes. In the evening we got takeaway fish and chips, and vegged out in front of the TV. No rolling or drawing was done, but I felt like the rest was needed after my run. Teeth were not done, as I forgot to do them first thing and my 'morning shower' was in the afternoon after my run. Protein was had. Sunday - Week 1 Day 7 This morning I got up and went out for my run - 5.66 miles (~9km) with 10 x 110 yard (100m) sprints spread throughout it. It felt fairly good, although it was so cold that there were ice crystals in my beard by the time I got home! I walked up the shop to get some stuff for lunch and dinner - about 10 minutes each way. When I was halfway back I realised I hadn't looked at my shopping list and hadn't bought a chicken for dinner. Nevermind, thought I, I'll go home, have a bacon sandwich, and then... Fuck, I haven't bought bacon either! So I dropped everything at home, went for a second shopping trip, and managed to cook a bacon sandwich just in time to eat it before D&D. D&D was fun, we've reached a great part in the adventure where the players are running their normal characters and an NPC each, and trying to defend a massive walled temple-farm. Combat is time consuming as we have 6 PCs, 6 NPCs, and the enemies, but I love the scale and complexity of the whole thing. It's been made all the better by the players going out of their way to enjoy the world and get invested in this location, which largely involved getting blind drunk and chatting to the NPCs.

Yeah, I hated PE in years 7-9. It was only in years 10 & 11 that we were allowed to choose which group we were in for PE - I think we had about 6 options and I chose the one that kept me as far away from soccer as possible. Wow, that's bizarre. I can't imagine that being allowed in school now (I hope). I seem to remember girls in our school wore shorts that were just above the knee, although as we didn't do mixed PE until year 10 I have no idea what girls would have worn for gymnastics. I suppose thinking about it, when we had swimming competitions everyone would be less dressed than in those pictures. So context is definitely a thing. So I used to have the latter issue, and I did exactly what you suggested - when I turn off my alarm I immediately pick up my phone and start checking notifications. Now the problem is that I'm still scrolling through Instagram 25 minutes later

Yeah, the vast majority of my free time is taken up by D&D. It's fun, but it's definitely a time consuming hobby. I'm going to try! I think you should love yourself like you would love a child. You don't stop loving your child because they're overweight, or underweight, or otherwise unhealthy. But because you love them you also want the best for them, so you try to get them to make healthy choices. To put it another way, you shouldn't judge someone's worth based on their appearance (and that includes judging your own worth), but you can try to make informed judgements on their health.

Well, I haven't devised it... Oo, that's exciting. Let me know if you want to talk through any ideas.

Week 1 Day 3 - Wednesday Wednesday was a good day. In the evening WW cooked a chicken hotpot, which was lovely, and then we chilled in front of the TV. I spent far too long doom scrolling through updates on the... I guess attempted coup? in America. So I didn't manage to get much done, but I did do a quick foam rolling session to tick that off before bed. Teeth and protein were also ticked off. * * * Week 1 Day 4 - Thursday Yesterday was a good day. I got up far too late, and procrastinated a bit, but did get out for my run. I ran 4.13 miles (~6.6km) with 8 x 0.25 (400m) tempo intervals spread throughout it, bringing me to 8.26/116 miles (~13.2/186km) so far for the challenge. By the time I was home I didn't have time for the rest of my workout or any handstand practice, so I just did a little stretching. Something to work on is probably getting up and getting out quickly after my alarm goes off, but that's a goal for next challenge. (Feel free to remind me of this.) In the evening the searches came back on the house we're buying, so I spent a bit of time reading through those. That left me a bit short on time before Pathfinder, but we have recipe box meals this week so I had to make one of them rather than trying to throw something quicker together. I made Turkish spiced lamb pastries with bulgur wheat, carrot salad and garlic mayo. It was absolutely lovely, with the only downside being that we had to eat it during our Pathfinder game. Pathfinder was fun. Our half-orc barbarian Woody had died during our previous session, way back in December, so we started with his reincarnation. The GM told us (everyone but Woody's player) that he had rolled a male dwarf on the reincarnation table, and then asked us to describe how the dwarf looked and roleplay explaining that to Woody. And that's how we ended up with a very ginger dwarf, with a mohawk as tall as his beard is long, who is now known as Rocky. After that we went exploring and had a tense encounter with a couple of cultist monks and a couple of girtablilu (imagine a centaur, but the bottom half is an enormous scorpion). We ended the session as my bloodrager Urah decided to barricade the doors to the dungeon we are in to stop us being attacked from behind, only to spring a trap which summoned four hierocosphinx that will undoubtedly try to kill us. Again teeth and protein done for the day. * * * This morning I got up and worked out. Today was 'push day'. I got 4 rounds of 6 handstand pushups to a cushion, 7 decline pushups from a chair, and 4 dips from a muscle up. I filmed myself doing the last set of muscle ups to dips: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJxshi_ghXi . I followed that with some hangboarding, which felt much stronger than it did on Tuesday, some L-sit practice, and some stretching. Question for anyone who knows about L-sits. I'm doing tuck L-sits, and I find it really hard to keep my knees together. I end up with my feet together but my knees out wide. What causes that, and how do I correct it? Work today was ok. I feel like I'm struggling a bit as the week ends, but now I have the weekend to recharge. Every couple of weeks we finish work on a Friday with a team catch up, so I've had a nice end to today with a couple of beers before writing this. This evening WW is cooking our last meal from this recipe box, cod and chorizo I believe, and then I plan to relax in front of the TV. in advance of a long run tomorrow morning.

I think Deffy hit the nail on the head, we think about it as the number of different cultures rather than the geographical distance. I've only been to the states once, but I've been to 9 different countries in total, and I am not well travelled. 11 if you count England, Scotland and Wales separately, rather than counting the UK as 1. Also, the USA only borders 2 other countries, but mainland UK doesn't border any Seriously though, before I'd been to America I'd never been more than about 1,000 miles from home - that's tiny compared to a lot of Americans I talk to.

Thanks man! Now I'll just have to remember to keep it updated

Interesting that you went to play 'boys sports'. I had the exact opposite experience, I signed up to play badminton and hockey with the girls. I could never get on with basketball, or most team sports really. No matter what option you chose at my school it included going to the gym at some point. Not that we objected to leaving school at lunchtime, or to walking to the gym via the chippy. You should watch Star Trek, it's fun. nothing wrong with enjoying yourself mate. I've done most of those, though I've only left Europe once to go to New York with work - the furthest I'd ever been before that was Portugal. I never met my granddads either - dad's dad died when he was a teenager, and mum's dad died when she was about one year old (and before my mum's brother was born). Also, when I reply on mobile it automatically follows for me - does it not do that for you? Thanks, it was very much a Tank inspired write up. Yeah, sure, definitely a good thing

To be fair, I'm never going to have time to do foam rolling on a D&D night, that's why this is a 3/week goal ?. I did get a bit done last night though. Really? I'm surprised at that one; we had to go to a gym as part of PE at school. I didn't go to one for at least 10 years after I left mind! Fair enough. I enjoy it, but I can totally understand why it isn't for everyone. My mum has been sober for almost 8 years now after nearly killing herself with drink, so I know how badly it can go wrong too. I certainly will! There's quite possibly one or two pictures of me in drag somewhere on the internet from my teenage years as it is We can only hope that it inspires @deftona to watch it!

This looks incredible, I actually really want to play this now - everything from the setting to the way the mechanics support the grim guerrilla warfare really interests me.

Thank you! If I'd known it would get that reaction I would have talked about cross-dressing sooner

Tuesday - Week 1 Day 2 Yesterday was a good day. I was going to make paella for dinner, until I discovered we had no paella rice. Instead I made what I'm going to call orzella. I started by frying up two diced red onions, one diced red pepper, and four cloves of garlic. When that was softened I added a little paella seasoning, a ton of paprika, and 1/4tsp (1.25ml) of cayenne pepper. We had roasted a chicken on Sunday, so I cut the breasts off of that, diced them, and added them to the pan together with four diced salad tomatoes. Next I added about 11.5oz (~322g) of orzo pasta and mixed everything together thoroughly. I dissolved a chicken stock cube into 500ml (~17.6 UK floz / ~16.9 US floz) boiling water, added that to the pan, and then put the pan in the oven at 180*C (356*F) for 20 minutes. What came out tasted amazing, though the orzo didn't cook as evenly as I imagine paella rice would have done. After dinner it was time for Pathfinder. It turns out that the elder water elemental that we had inadvertently summoned was actually just there to clean the floor of the sewer we were in. Perfectly nice chap - we left him to do his work. Then we went hunting a quasit through the sewer pipes, and emerged to find ourselves confronted with some huge, tadpole-like daemons flying in front of us. I'd tell you what they were called, but I can neither pronounce it nor spell it. They were tough buggers, but we defeated them and went to meet their master. The master, it turns out, was a very fat, very powerful wizard, with a hole in his chest and tentacles writhing out of it. We were starting to make headway against him, when the bugger disappeared with his quasit familiar, and started summoning more daemons. We had to leave it there, facing down two vrocs (think vulture daemons), our original quarry nowhere in sight, and our spell slots diminishing rapidly... By the time we were done it was bedtime, so no foam rolling or drawing, but teeth and protein were ticked off for the day. * * * Today I got up and worked out. I spent far too long chatting to people on the NF Discord, and so only managed 2 rounds of rollup pistol squats (4 each side), toes to bar (7 reps), and side star planks (20 seconds each side). I followed that with 3x10 each side handstand palm raises, and then some split stretches to finish. Work has been ok, and meeting my new colleague was interesting. I also nipped into the office to pick up a laptop, and it was a nice novelty to leave the house and see other people. At lunchtime I did a little bit of drawing, slowly working my way through something that I'm fairly sure I started at the end of November! This evening we have a recipe box meal for dinner, and I'll do some foam rolling. I've been really struggling for something to say for this (at least, something I can share on a public forum!). I've never been skiing, which feels like a common thing with people I know but I don't know if that's universal. I've also never seen a lot of major films, off the top of my head ET, Jaws, and Nightmare Before Christmas stand out. Looking at a list of the biggest films of all time, I can add The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, Forrest Gump, The Sound of Music, The Silence of the Lambs, Gladiator... to be honest, it would be quicker to list films on this list I have seen!

That's interesting, I rarely meet people who've never tried alcohol. Any particular reason? I don't remember ever wearing a bikini either, though that doesn't 100% mean I haven't Ok, I'll try and put something in my next post... Yeah, lazy TV is definitely a good way to go. I've been thinking about this, and I'm wondering if temperature affects this for me. I have the heating off all day at home, mostly because heating costs money, but also I find if I turn the heating on I struggle to focus a lot more. I wonder if when the heating comes on in the evening that starts the process of shutting my brain down. And thanks

What time will you be going out? I'll be running Sunday morning before we play too.

Do people seriously miss the joke in 40k? That's terrifying, I thought the whole point of the 40k imperium was how awful they were whilst proclaiming supreme righteousness. I've always heard it described as a slash-'em-up. I don't think I'd ever considered referring to it as an RPG

Yeah, that makes sense. Moving in with someone can be intense at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a lockdown when you have nowhere else to go! Sorry to hear you had such a tough start to the week. Glad that you've got heating, and some of your food, now though.