Jarric

Wednesday - W2D3 Wednesday was a good day. I went to the physio for my knee - she was impressed that I wasn't in total agony at the race the other week, and generally happy with my progress. She switched up the exercises I'm doing; I now have: - goblet squats with a band tied above my knees - split squats - single leg glute bridges with a band tied above my knees, with a 3 second hold at the top All for 15 reps, 3 times per day. So nothing too taxing, but getting myself to fit in 3 slots per day over the next couple of weeks might be a challenge. Then again, I suppose that's why it's a challenge goal. Work was good - I was working from home and had no meetings so I managed to get my head down and finally tidy things up so I know what I need to be doing. In the evening WW and I went to see another comedy gig - Bill Bailey. It was good fun; he's a very funny man, but not the best gig for me. I think part of that is the venue is absolutely useless (I try to avoid the place, but that was the only local gig he was playing), and partly I recognised some of the material he did from somewhere (I guess he did some of it on TV at some point). Still he's a hugely talented man, and a hugely talented musician which makes it even more fun. When we got home I really wasn't feeling myself. I stayed up way too late staring at my phone and ignoring the TV, and generally feeling really morose. I'd had 4 pints at the gig, which was more than I'd intended to drink and I'm not sure why I felt the need to have as many. Just in a weird mental state all evening really. I also skipped my 3rd physio set that evening, so 2/3 for the day. Teeth done, 4 beers, no study, no drawing. Thursday - W2D4 Yesterday was a good day. I skipped the gym after my late night on Wednesday, and slept instead, but I did do a 5 minute yoga video and my physio exercises before getting ready for work. Work was good - another day at home. I managed to get a few bits done, and got in an hour of studying. I also realised that I only have a month until my next essay's due, so I really need to crack on with starting it! WW was feeling ill all day, so we skipped D&D. It was a shame not to play, but at the same time I felt like an evening in would be good for me too. I got myself a pre-made shepherd's pie, and a garlic baguette that I split with WW, and we caught up on Sewing Bee, Questing Time, and Taskmaster. I ended up feeling really crappy again late evening. I managed to drag myself to bed at half 10, so avoided sitting on the sofa for hours, but didn't do my final physio session again. Teeth done, no beer, 1 hour of study, no drawing.

Thanks for sharing this. We get a weekly box of surplus and odd shaped veg, and we sometimes struggle to get through it, so I'll definitely be using these tips.

Well done on the phone calls - the longer I leave things the more I find the barrier to doing them builds up, so getting them sorted after all that time's a huge achievement.

Thank you! I'm finding I quite like having a time limit on each pose; it forces me to be a bit more decisive and not spend hours trying to get everything perfect. I found a series on YouTube called Lockdown Life Drawing, which was a YouTube livestream in 2020. I've only done the first one, but it seems like it's going to be fun.

Tuesday - W2D2 Yesterday was a good day. I went for a bike ride first thing (a sentence I never thought I'd say). I'm really not used to cycling so I kept it short - 3.8 miles (~5.6km) in just under 20 minutes. Cardio-wise I was fine, but my legs were already hurting by the end of the trip. I'm going to try to double that next week, and see how it goes. Looking for the silver lining in the stuff with my knee, the cycling didn't hurt it at all. Guess that gives me an excuse to learn to cycle properly before the triathlon, given that I still can't run. Work was ok - a long meeting and a short but very important client meeting dominated the day. I did get in an hour of study before the first meeting at least. When I got home I cooked a quick dinner of gnocchi, pepper, leek, and spring onion, all fried in butter then mixed with mozzarella and pesto. For what WW describes as a 'five-minute fuck-off', it was pretty damn good. In the evening we went to watch Ed Byrne (the comedian), who was bloody brilliant. Got home about half 10, but with being up and about late, the couple of diet cokes I'd had at the gig, and general procrastination, I didn't get to bed until gone half 11. Teeth done, physio done, 1 hour of studying, no beer, no drawing yet.

Monday W2D1 Yesterday was a good day. Went to Crossfit for the first time in a couple of weeks, and it was nice to be back. It was squat day, and given my knee I kept it light; working up to 50kg for a couple of sets of 5. After that was theoretically a workout of push press, front rack lunges, and double unders, which I adjusted the hell out of to do push press, kettlebell swings, and hollow body rocks. It was still enough that I was knackered when I finished. I thought about skipping my physio exercises when I got home, as I'd done similar stuff at the gym, but I decided that in this case more is more. Speaking of physio, I'm finding this is really hard work. It's only single leg glute bridge (15 reps, 3 second hold at top), banded hamstring curls (15 reps, 3 second hold at top), and chair pistol squats (15 reps), but I'm finding it really challenging. By the end of a set I can really feel my muscles working, which feels unusual for physio exercises. Probably just shows that I really need the training! Work was good - I was out most of the day meeting a client, which was nice but meant that my e-mails were stacking up without me at my desk. I did have a beer at lunch with the client, so at 1/10 for the week so far. I finished work a little late trying to catch up on stuff. In the evening I made lamb dansak with the leftover roast lamb from Sunday lunch, and we chilled in front of some Taskmaster. I wanted to do some drawing, but WW didn't and I didn't force the issue. Teeth and physio done, 1 beer, no study or drawing today.

Your little turtle is so cute - I love him! Makes me want to crack out some watercolours.

Weekend 1 Saturday was a good day. I chilled out, wandered in to town to go round the market and the zero waste shop with WW, and then spent most of the the day on the sofa. Not mega productive, but I really needed the rest. Sunday was a good day. We slept in late, watched a lot more TV, and that was mostly it. I felt pretty shitty and tired all day, so rest may have been a good choice I guess. We did go the the supermarket, and I did some online shopping to pick up a late birthday present for Hopalong and a just in time birthday present for WW. I also spent some time designing a mini for my Elven cleric, Psyche: Week 1 scores Physio Rx: 4.5/7 - the conference threw me, but I'm back on it now Life drawing: 1/1 - plus a bit of work on another drawing project that should keep me occupied The art of war: 0/4 - I didn't do anything at work due to not being at work. I should have done some at the weekend, and clearly nothing happened at the weekend. Tusks: 6/7 - with the disruption of being away, that'll do. Ale: lots/10 - definitely well over this; I thought I would keep it low during the conference but you know what they say about best laid plans!

Sounds like a productive day yesterday - hope today was good too.

All the job opportunities are exciting, good luck with those! And with the book proposal; that would be amazing! Hope the headache clears soon.

Friday - W1D5 Yesterday was a good day. Did some yoga and my physio first thing, then off to work. Managed to start catching up on work - after a week off I've got a lot of catching up to do, but some stuff got done at least. In the evening I finished that life drawing lesson before WW got home. WW cooked roast chicken thigh with pesto potatoes, and we chilled in front of Critical Role. Physio, drawing, and teeth done, and no beer. No essay writing yet this week though.

Sounds like you've had a fantastic week - goals or no if you're enjoying yourself I think you're doing well.

I didn't know that this was a thing. That sounds great!

But you did it, well done! Awesome stuff!

Oh that's really sad. Do you have other options for gyms nearby?

Interesting food sounds like a fun challenge goal - looking forward to seeing how you do. For the lasagne, is it the bechamel sauce you're working on, or the tomato and meat bit? I think I have a good bechamel recipe somewhere which I can dig out if you want to compare.

Ok, I finished a drawing video that I started the weekend before week 0. Most of these pictures were pre-challenge, with just the last one being tonight: 2 minute sketches: 5 minute sketch: 10 minutes: 15 minutes: 25 minutes: The last one the video cut off 5 minutes before the end - not sure if I would have finished in time; think I spent a bit long on construction and started shading too late. I enjoyed them all anyway though. I'm counting this as the goal for the week, but if I get a chance I'd love to do a full session over the weekend.

Tuesday to Thursday - W1D2-4 It's been a really busy week! A good week, but busy. On Tuesday I did some morning yoga, worked until half 11, and then got picked up to go up north for a conference. We arrived about half 4, and I logged back on to work some more to round out the working day. A quick shower later we were out drinking at a couple of events for various work groups. I had a really nice time chatting with colleagues and with new people, but by half 11 I was drunk and tired and very pleased to get to bed. The fact that we didn't stop our journey for lunch and 'dinner' was a small buffet didn't help my condition. Wednesday morning was a bit of a struggle. I was up at 7 to get over to a different hotel for breakfast, because I was staying above a pub that didn't serve breakfast until 9. Then we headed into the conference for a day of meetings, talking to loads of people that I deal with regularly by phone and e-mail but seldom get to see, and wandering the conference hall meeting new people and seeing what was on offer. I had said I would go for a drink with an old friend/contact, and that I was out of meetings after 3. So a 2.58pm he walked up to me while I'm talking to someone else, said 'I make that about 3', and leads me off to the pub. That was the start of a long, long night of events put on by various companies all trying to outdo each other. I got to catch up with some other old friends, which was wonderful, I went to a comedy night featuring Shappi Khorsandi and Rob Beckett, and ended up pub crawling to a whole range of places. At quarter to 1 I got refused entry to a swanky club, and used that as an opportunity to go back, watch trash TV, and get some sleep. Thursday morning was only marginally easier than Wednesday, as I went to sleep at 2 and got up at 7.30. I went back into the conference for a few seminar sessions, took my last chance to chat to some people I hadn't seen on Wednesday, and we got back in the car by 1pm to head home. 6 hours later I was dropped off, at which point I dropped on to the sofa for takeaway pizza and the solitary beer that was in the fridge. I didn't do any physio at the conference, so getting back on that now for the rest of the week. Also, my leg really hurts from all of the walking around the conference and all of the time in the car, so I'm extra incentivised to get that sorted. Teeth were missed on Wednesday, but I was back on it on Thursday. No studying done as I wasn't home, so I'll need to catch that up at the weekend. No drawing either (might do that now actually). And what was the other goal? Oh yeah, I have no idea how much I drank but it was certainly well in excess of the weekly limit.

Thank you! It was really good. Stop, you'll make me blush ? Don't actually stop though... Not quite back to the grind, because it's been a crazy week, but hopefully back to normality sometime soon! Awesome; I've only made it a couple of times but I really like it. Unpopular opinion though: I'm not a fan of naan bread. It is something really special, isn't it? Without friends I'd met online, most of them through NF, my life would be significantly poorer. Pretty sure this is aimed at you @DarK_RaideR, so in case it's not clear...

Oh, that's a good point, I should look at who I'm least like too! Bottom of my list was Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, which makes perfect sense as someone the opposite of me.

Monday - W1D1 Yesterday was a good day. I got up a bit late, dropped the hire car back, did some yoga, and unpacked from the weekend. Then I decided to soak in the bath and watch a D&D stream - Children of Éarte. It was good, but for some reason I thought it was a 1 hour episode, when it was actually 2 hours. I realised this after soaking in the bath for an hour and a half After the bath I packed up my stuff to head out to a conference today. It felt slightly surreal to only have one day to unpack and tidy up from one trip and pack for the next one to be honest - I know it'll be a good event, but right now I quite fancy a few days at home! In the evening I cooked butter chicken and we chilled in from of Critical Role. I had intended to get some studying and some drawing done, but between the late start, long bath, and low energy none of that happened. Teeth and physio were both done, no beer today (as tempting as it was to have one after a relaxing day).

Yeah, it was good! Rho, C_Q and I all live in vaguely the same part of the UK, so with Willy travelling over to the country we had to make a meet up work. Thank you! It was really good fun. Right back at you! And I forget you've never met WW over in person - we'll have to try and come and see you in Belgium; WW's got family living over there now so we've got even more excise to visit. Definitely need to make it sooner - I'm hoping for next year too!

Weekend Zero It's been a great weekend. On Friday I packed up at a leisurely pace, picked up a hire car, went shopping for supplies, and drove up to Rat Race Dirty Weekend. When I got there I met up with @Mr_Willes, who helped me get my stuff to the campsite. I got set up, grabbed some food, and we set about drinking and catching up. I wanted to make sure that I was fresh for the race, which still meant I had 7 beers and went to bed at 11pm. There was an ACDC tribute band on in the evening, who were pretty fun, and lots of people I know from other races to catch up with too. Saturday was race day. Apart from failing to pack my burner to make a cup of tea, I got ready without drama and headed over for my 8.45 wave time. Willy, his Dutch friends, and the UK mud running group, were all in the 9am wave, so I ran round the first couple of corners and then stopped and waited for people to catch up. I found one of Willy's friends, F, but we waited for the whole wave to pass but couldn't see Willy or his other friend, A. So F and I set off to catch them up. It was a really fun race - it's not a mega technical one so we got a decent amount of running in, and there's a good variety of obstacles and a great lake zone. F was a really good running partner; he set a pretty quick pace which was about all I could keep up with and I was glad for his company. He also speaks very good English, which is handy because I speak bugger all Dutch. After about 9 miles of trying to catch up with Willy and A we finally found them... about 2 miles behind us. Apparently there had been a mix up at the start and they had started half an hour later, so all our effort to catch up had, if anything, got us further from them. By that point my knee was also starting to really hurt, and whilst I could have forced some more running on it I really wanted to avoid any permanent damage. F and I walked for the next couple of miles, ostensibly to allow Willy and A to catch up, but also because I couldn't go faster. I took the short course option when we got to the course split, and finished in 14 miles instead of the full 20. Finishing at about half 2 was nice though. I got a shower, had a snack, and grabbed a victory beer. Then I managed to see Willy and A finish their race, and got some pictures of them on the final slide and at the finish line. The rest of the day was spent chatting, drinking, and eating. In the evening there was a Queen tribute band, followed by a set by The Darkness, followed by fireworks, and finally a DJ set from Chris Moyles. It was a great party day, and I had 9 beers over the course of it before finally rolling into bed at 2am. Sunday was pack up and leave time. We went at a leisurely pace, and eventually met up with @Rhovaniel and @Charlie_Quinn for dinner and a lovely evening with lovely company. I had a couple of hours of driving to get home, and after the race and lack of sleep I made sure to take it carefully and stop for an energy drink on the way. Finally got home about half 10, and had a final beer that Willy gifted to me before collapsing into bed. Zero Week Scores Physio Rx: 2.5/5 - this wasn't easy to do at the camp site, and after the race I was doing no exercise of any kind! Life drawing: 0/1 - I didn't make time to do this, and WW not wanting to join in made it a little harder to find time. I will find a way to do it this week though. The art of war: 4/4 - knocked this out right at the start of the week. Tusks: 6/7 - I missed race day between trying to get ready in the morning and the late party night. Ale: 17/10 - not all of the beers were pints, and everything was a different strength, but whatever this number is it's definitely a fail for the week. With that said, this goal did stop me drinking earlier in the week, and I didn't have a single drink just for the sake of it - I enjoyed it all very much.

I love this idea; I didn't know you could get those separately but they sound useful...

I got Jeremy Chetri (Wynonna Earp) at 83%. I have no idea who or what that is. At 82% was Leonard from The Big Bang Theory, which is probably pretty accurate. I think I'm most pleased to get 80% Willow from Buffy. I can't see the similarity, but I remember him being a cool character in the season I watched.