Goal + Action = Reality

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 27
- Abs and Core Blast Day 4
- Go to bed on time Day 5 - well, to be exact, I only turned out the light 2 minutes after 12, but I was in bed at the time, so I reckon that counts!
- Run, 5.19km. Yep, that surprised me too. I drove out to a different place, somewhere I have hiked, but I followed a different path. It was all paved and relatively flat - okay, I went down 50 metres so when I turned around at the half-way mark, I had to go back up 50 metres but it was pretty gentle. It took me 48 minutes all up. Funny thing, when I looked at Strava and read all the (much faster) times of other people there, I didn't feel envious or embarrassed by my speed (or rather, lack thereof!). I must have grown up a bit! I looked at my running and thought, "hey TN, you haven't done any running for ages and you're pretty rubbish at it still but you got through that pretty well. You must be getting better." Actually the first 15 minutes was pretty easy but then my HR shot right up. It didn't climb, it rocketted up and stayed there. I should have noticed and had longer walking intervals to bring it back down, but I didn't. Next time I'll keep a check on it. According to Garmin, I walked for 7:44mins, running for 40:17.

 

[SlothEnergy]

Great job with the run! And good for you to be proud of yourself no matter the speed. Comparing with others can be motivating, but can also make you feel like you are too far behind. It's tricky for me too to keep a balance.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 28
- Abs and Core Blast Day 5
- Go to bed on time Day 6
- Run/walk. The usual 3km route. I was trying to pace myself better but working on the pacing seems to be harder than the actual running! Always something to work on. Good thing - I'd get bored else!

Strength work:
- Lat pull-downs 3 x 10
- Single-arm DB rows 2 x 10
- Seated cable rows 3 x 10
- Seated DB press 3 x 10
- Shrugs 3 x 10
- Lateral raises 3 x 20

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 29
- Abs and Core Blast Day 6
- Go to bed on time Day 7
- Banded lateral walks 3 x 10es
- Vertical battle rope pulls - until I got bored and wandered off...

Had (briefly) considered going for a walk this afternoon but I was finishing another (fiction) book and suddenly it was almost sundown!

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 7
- Walk/Run. 3.5km following Garmin's instructions - 5 min walk, 5 min run, rinse and repeat. Twice. And then a 2 min cool-down which was actually about 5 minutes because I wasn't quite home yet.

Didn't get to bed on time last night. Looked at the time and decided that I really needed a warm-up shower because I was a bit chilled and there was no way that was going to be quick enough to get me to bed by midnight. Loved the long, hot shower though.

Was working on the story-board today and the Lad saw. Later this evening he declared that he was going to write a book. He just didn't have any plot yet... He came into my room and we played with some ideas. Later, when I got cranky with him because he still wasn't in bed, he yelled that he wanted me out of his life. Unfortunately, I can't afford another house so I have to stay here a while yet. Thought perhaps I'd keep my door closed but the cat complained because she couldn't get in to curl up and purr on my lap. Cats make things better.

 

[MadamMeow]

Cats make things better.

Agreed!

But sorry your son was a little hurtful. I remember being the same when I was younger. Never lasts too long at least.

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 8
- Indoor bike, 90mins, 43.29km. It's the only time I get to watch YouTube! I don't think my bum is going to be too happy though...
- Calf raises while waiting for pasta to cook.

Did some playing with the arnis again. It's been too long and it's such fun.

Realised that I can't continue with the GOBOT challenge. I figure if I miss a day, I can't consider that I've successfully completed the challenge - not if the challenge is to do it every day.

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 9

Strength training:
- chest press 3 x 10
- incline bench press 3 x 10
- DB flyes 3 x 10
- tricep push-downs 3 x 10
- hammer curls 3 x 10
- OH tricep extensions 1 x 10 (though I might do some more later...)

- Hike, 3.5km. I took this way easier than I had thought I would or had. My max HR was only 121 and I didn't get there very often! In 45 minutes, I did manage to squeeze out a whole 18 minutes of moderate intensity, though. Not really much physical exercise but my brain enjoyed it. It was a very pleasant late afternoon and lovely to be out. There had been a touch of rain earlier but it was just grey now, though it did begin to spit again just as I was on the home stretch.

 

[Mamatigerj]

Lovely autumn photos!

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 10
- Elliptical, 40mins, 10.36km. YouTube has a lot to answer for... I had set the timer for 30 minutes but the video I was watching at the time deserved to be watched to the end, so I got to 40 minutes. The sweat was flowing nicely, even on this grey and drizzly day.
- Banded lateral walks, 3 x 10es
- Toe-taps x 100

Finished two books today, but one was non-fiction! Unbeatable Mind by Mark Divine. Interesting.

Major breakthrough with the last book of my series thanks to a recent science article regarding gastrulation (yeah, I didn't know what that was either!). I knew there had to be a way out of the corner into which I'd painted myself (regarding DNA and cloning), and voila! there it was. Of course, I still have to write the actual book...

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 11
- Lat pull-downs 3 x 10
- Seated DB press 1 x 10

When I picked up the dumbbell for the press, my right forearm hurt a bit. Not when I did the lifts, however, because they didn't use the forearm, but certainly when I put down the weight. So I thought (perhaps for once I was being a bit sensible?) to lay off the weights for a while and rest that forearm. It hurt when I brought my teacup to my lips, but not when I was doing things such as push-ups, so really don't know what that's all about. Still, a bit of rest for it and I'll do other things for a while.

I had been intending to get on the elliptical again but then I found out (because of the rainy weather) that I would be needed to act as chauffeur and there wasn't enough time to get my workout done before having to drive. So I waited. And then the time was moved to slightly later and so I waited longer, and then finally it turned out I didn't need to drive after all and I'd wasted about an hour and a half! I'd also changed out of my workout clothes and was too cranky after that to get back to it. So I read instead. Finished another non-fiction: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. Despite the title (which initially put me off) it was intelligent and thought-provoking.

I note that my non-fiction WTR (want to read) pile has grown to 50, despite my having read a few since they numbered only 34... Dammit. On to reading Flow - which I have been wanting to read for a while. As for the fiction pile, well, @aku-chan I'm right with you! Well, actually not really because I haven't even dared to count!

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 12
- Hike, 11.55km, 2.5hrs. Here I thought I had been working hard but Garmin just said... Base. Oh well.
It's autumn and it rained yesterday so - mushroom time!


Busy day today, despite the weather. Well, it wasn't raining.


And this is why it's called Red Hill (really inventive with names around here...)

The mud so stuck in the treads of my shoes that my feet felt heavy! I had to walk alongside the track for a while, avoiding the worst.

Later this afternoon I contemplated going for a walk/run but part of me said, you know, TN, I'm not sure we've got enough left in the tank. To which I replied, hey, let's go find out! Besides, who wants to go to bed with something still in that tank? So
- Walk/run, 3.05km. The usual route. I spent as much time walking as running but the running intervals are getting (a little) longer. There was enough in the tank to make me feel as though I'd done a good job.

Tried to count my fiction TBR (virtual) pile but stopped at 300...

 

[graoumia]

Nice photos and nice hike !

 

[Mamatigerj]

Love that mushroom photo!

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 13
- Cycling, 31.27km. I had intended to go on the indoor bike and watch more YouTube but it was a sunny, windstill day so I took out the real bike. Tried a route I hadn't gone before - easy enough as I haven't done a lot of cycling, but ended up going way further than I had intended. One of the problems is when you get somewhere, you then have to get back home again! The way out was okay but as I was going down a decline, the unpleasant thought occurred to me that I would have to go up it on the way back. That was not particularly pleasant, especially as I was tired by then. Still, it didn't kill me, and Garmin said, again... Base. But the ride was lovely and I found myself at a lake.



It was a splendid day.






The best thing I noticed today is that my forearm seems to have recovered! Not even a twinge, so obviously resting it timeously was a Good Thing. I'll give it another few days, just to make sure everything's back to normal - don't need to rush anything.

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 14
- Calf raises, 2 x 50
- Hike, 5.77km

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 15
- Hike, 2.87km. Then when I was almost halfway, I changed it to a
- Trail Run, 2.89km.
- Sore feet workout
- Toe taps x 100

 

[NancyTree]

Nice pictures!

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 16
- Walk, 3km. A spot of gentleness to make sure my poor old knees don't get too stressed out I very much enjoy my late afternoon peregrinations.

 

[TopNotch]

- Abs and Core Blast Day 17
- Elliptical, 40min 11.11km. Listened to two interesting YouTube clips by Huberman about finding your purpose. Finding it is one thing. The difficult part may be doing something with it. Or possibly, allowing yourself to do something with it.
- Run, 3km. Later in the afternoon as usual. Improved on the last time - fractionally, but every fractional improvement is still an improvement.

Why does the cat feel a need to pummel my shoulder in the wee hours? And for so long! I'm just trying to sleep...

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

'cause cats be cats... and ignoring them is hard.
What really annoys me is when I hear Mademoiselle Luna puke during the night. Agh... Gotta wake up to check if it is not on a surface that needs immediate cleaning. That's rare, but urrrgggghhh....