Goal + Action = Reality

[PetiteSheWolf]

Ah, nice new flock! And not surprised, the way you react also emotionally kickstarts your reflexes - or slows it, lowers the immunity - or decreases it ... Resilience plays so much. Hence the importance of a disciplined mind doing some effort every day, even if it's not a full blown marathon or black belt preparation

 

[MadamMeow]

Thank you for the photos of the chickies!

 

[NancyTree]

definitely 'awww experience'!

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 5
- Upper Body Blast Day 12
- Dead Hang Day 12
- Chest press 3 x 10
- Tricep push-downs 2 x 10
- DB bicep curls 3 x 10
- OH DB tricep extensions 2 x 10
- Walk, 3km (includes some brief running intervals).

Feeling pretty tired today. Garmin nags about 'overreaching'. Perhaps I'll get to bed an hour earlier tonight...

 

[Damer]

I have such an enormous TBR non-fiction pile atm - hard to know where to start!

You and I both, we could probably start a club measuring whose pile is highest!

 

[SwimMeow]

How is your foot doing today?

Thanks for the pics, your chickens are lovely!

Totally agree with your last consideration.

 

[TopNotch]

You and I both, we could probably start a club measuring whose pile is highest!

New DAREBEE challenge?

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 6
- Upper Body Blast Day 13
- Dead Hang Day 13
- Hike, 5.13km. Did a lot of brief run episodes, mostly where it was relatively flat, but occasionally on inclines, less often on declines. Felt good. (And totally gross! Garmin's decided to give me a new metric - how much I've sweated out! Some things I do not need to know.)

- Stretching - this time I actually did an 'offical' post-run stretch. Not so different from what I generally remind myself to do but easier because I didn't have to think.

So, just for a bit of fun, I added up the non-fiction I want to read (this doesn't include those books I've already begun) and there are 34. In the "Really want to read" pile, as opposed to the "when I get around to it, I'd like to have a look at these" pile. And I started trying to work out how long it would take me to read them. Not enough data. So then I totted up the total number of books I have read this year (mostly fiction), not including those I finished this year but started last. That added up to 82 books. But it takes me longer to read non-fiction, particularly if I'm taking notes (which I do, depending on the topic and what I need it for) or trying things out or looking things up (today's concept was orographic lift), so I reckon time-wise, I read about three fiction books in the same time I'd read one non-fiction. But maths and estimates are all very well and good but I'm not giving up my fiction books to devote myself to non-fiction so how long it'll take me to read all this - well, that's anyone's guess!

 

[Lady Celerity]

Do you read each book one at a time? I'm never disciplined enough to do that. I've got five books going now...

 

[TopNotch]

Do you read each book one at a time? I'm never disciplined enough to do that. I've got five books going now...

Oh no! I may have two or three (or perhaps...five?) non-fiction books going at one time (sometimes something crops up that I simply have to know about!) and sometimes I have more than one fiction book. Not so common with that, unless the one I'm reading doesn't really grip me or I find I've read too much of this particular author recently and need a bit of a break. Of course, if any book doesn't grip me at all, I have absolutely no problem in simply tossing it away. There are way too many books to read to struggle through ones that aren't for me.

 

[CODawn]

Happy Belated Birthday!

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 7
- Upper Body Blast Day 14
- Dead Hang Day 14
- Lat pull-downs 3 x 10
- Single-arm DB rows 3 x 10
- DB shoulder presses 3 x 10
- Lateral Raises 3 x 20

Not the sort of day I had planned, but there were major stresses going on (none of my causing and I tried to stay on the side-lines and observe). Finished my last new jigsaw, and Laurence Gonzales's Deep Survival which was quite interesting and I'll have to read his Surviving Survival once I've finished Unbeatable Mind. Knocked two other books off my TBR list - started both but they were rubbish so I got rid of them. But I did add another couple to the pile so I suppose the status is quo!

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 8
- Upper Body Blast Day 15
- Dead Hang Day 15
- Chest presses 3 x 10
- OH tricep extensions 3 x 10
- Bicep curls 3 x 10es
- Hand-release push-ups 3 x 5 - squeezed them in because why not?
- Walk, 3km with a few running intervals but it's really hard to run as slow as Garmin suggests. Must take smaller steps...

Up to day 17 of the Medito 30-day challenge. It's only ten minutes but sometimes it's surprising how quickly that time goes by!

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 9
- Upper Body Blast Day 16
- Dead Hang Day 16
- Hand-release push-ups 2 x 10
- Walk, 3.35km.

I realised that I probably ought to have gone for a bike ride today but my mind had that scheduled for Wednesday but I hadn't factored in... Anyway, had to go shopping instead (I hate shopping). Eldest came with me and, as she was hungry and it was about lunchtime, she decided that she wanted hot chips for lunch, and a soft drink. Well, it was nice as it was all going down... There are some things I am glad I don't do very often - not because I don't enjoy them or I feel guilty about having done them, but simply because I seem to have reached a point where things I used to enjoy just don't sit so well with me anymore. Fortunately scoffing an entire bag of jelly snakes isn't one of them!

So many books I want to read. Sometimes I wish I could hear them while I sleep and wake up knowing all about them, but that didn't work so well in Brave New World, so perhaps I'll give it a miss and just read, read, read instead. There is a scene in Hamlet where Polonius asks Hamlet what he's reading, to which Hamlet replies, "Words, words, words." Sometimes I feel that's what I'm reading and then I know either I'm not concentrating or the book's simply not working for me (and so I'll dump it). But often I'm not reading words. I'm absorbing concepts, distilling the essence, really sucking the marrow from the bones, and when I finally re-emerge into the real world, it can seem a shock to have to make dinner or change the kitty litter. I'm so glad I learnt to read when I was a kid!

 

[Lady Celerity]

But often I'm not reading words. I'm absorbing concepts, distilling the essence, really sucking the marrow from the bones, and when I finally re-emerge into the real world, it can seem a shock to have to make dinner or change the kitty litter. I'm so glad I learnt to read when I was a kid!

Well said. I heartily agree.

 

[Damer]

To add a little scientific context to @TopNotch's words. When we read, either fiction or non-fiction but especially fiction our brain is busy running "what-if" scenarios that help it better understand the world. It's like running simulations where we play-act situations and imagine our actions in them. This, in turn, changes the synaptic connections in our brain that determine our perception of reality and guide our decision-making. Once a book is done, weeks later, we can barely recall a passage from it or a character's name (there are some exceptions with books that resonate so deeply with us that they stay with us all our life) but our brain is different. We're different as a result of having read it. Each book we read changes our neural architecture.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 10
- Upper Body Blast Day 17
- Dead Hang Day 17
- Bike ride, 15.92km. Beautiful day. We do great autumns here! Curious, though, as to why it always seems I spend more time going up than coming down! There was a slightly unfortunate incident when I had to pass a woman who was walking her little dogs on the small narrow track (slightly wider than the width of a car tyre). I went around through the grass and hit a ditch. The horn of my bike seat hit a part of me that really didn't appreciate that! It's alright though; I've already had children.

My dodgy knee was giving me gyp after this though, reminding me that I really need to do proper rehab on it. As well as my foot. I have plans. Let's see if I can make things happen!

Realised that I was a little disinclined to do longer workouts in my training room because (shameful confession) it was not tidy! It's a large, essentially empty room (apart from all my exercise stuff...) so things tend to get dumped there. I took a good look at it last night and realised this, so today I began heaving stuff out, moving things around to give a good sweeping and dusting. This seems to be a workout in itself! The work continues...

@Damer Probably explains why I prefer action books to touchy-feely, emotional stuff! Things I can relate to. I can remember a lot of things about books I have read; I simply can't always remember which book it was or who wrote it! I just really love how books make my brain feel.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 11
- Upper Body Blast Day 18
- Dead Hang Day 18
- Walk, 3km. Worked hard to make this a slow walk, trying to get what Gamin calls 'low aerobic'. So it took me 35 minutes. There was a bit of a chilly wind, though, reminding me that at this time of year, if I'm not working hard, I need to wear a jacket!

Spent the entire day cleaning my training room. Hit my step goal just doing that - and, of course, having a couple of pots of tea. Finally decided to get rid of my balance beam. I really don't use it anymore, other than for things like tricep dips and I can do those on my weights bench, so I posted it on Gumtree. Amazingly, just over 4 hours later, it was being driven away by a man with an ecstatic 10-year-old in the passenger seat, and I had a few more dollars to put towards a new rowing machine.
And my training room looks lovely again, just waiting for me. The two 1x1m mats are neatly held on the other side of the room but are easily accessible. If I leave them down, the cats use them as scratching mats and that's so not cool! Not quite sure exactly where that elliptical should go - right now it's a bit of a shag on a rock. Maybe it'll stay there, though, because it's not in the way of anything.


Feeling a bit flat tonight. Probably a bit tired, what with hauling all those stuff around, but now it's done and that's good. Time to relax with a cup of tea and a book.

 

[MadamMeow]

So jealous of your training room!

My little guy made me have to get rid of a mat like that in my kitchen that was for preventing fatigue while standing.

Ripped it all up. Glad you can put yours out of their way.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 12
- Upper Body Blast Day 19
- Dead Hang Day 19
- Walk, 3km. Another gentle stroll but a little faster than yesterday.
- Side leg raises, 2 x 10es while waiting for the pasta to cook.

Last night, when I was listening to my Medito meditation (day 20!), something James said really struck me, so much so that I actually wrote it down! He said:
"consciously commit to prioritising your physical wellbeing and making choices that support an active lifestyle."
Yeah, not earth-shattering, right? But then I really thought about those words. Doing deadhangs, cycling, going hiking - all good fun and keeping me relatively fit and healthy, but there are bits of me that are not performing optimally. Ignoring those bits and continuing blithely along ultimately will do me no good. I must rein in my ego, my desire to push, and step back. I must do those really dull and boring and uninspiring rehab exercises - go all the way back to the simplest thing until I can do things with poise and without any pain. Pushing through is not, I have come to think, a choice that will support an active liefstyle, at least not for as long as I want mine to be! My foundation must be rock-solid. Now, I know I can do X, Y and Z, but perhaps I ought to step back to - well, not quite as far back as A, B and C. For example, I know how much I can shoulder press but when I do, my shoulder grates. A lighter weight doesn't cause that, so maybe it might be beneficial to use a lighter weight for a while, really building up the reps before increasing the weight again, and look at other exercises to support the joint. Who knows? Friday night thoughts. But if I truly want to prioritise my physical wellbeing and make appropriate choices, then this seems to me the way to go.
Perhaps the Rehab collection should be my starting point! Together with all the stuff from my physio...

Just watched the Video of the Week. Hmm, was @Damer talking to me?!

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 13
- Upper Body Blast Day 20
- Dead Hang Day 20
- Standing knee-to-elbow crunches x 100
- Heel touches x 100
- Chest press 3 x 20 - a lighter weight (hence greater volume) and I made sure to release the handles after each rep so that there was no rebound; every rep was like the first rep over again.
- Cable lying hamstring curls - 2 x 20es. I can do these using the lower cable of Marcy, which means I can increase the weight by a known quantity, unlike if I were using therabands which only go so far anyway (and exactly how far is that?)
- Banded lateral walk 3 x 10es
- Leg slides x 100 - these are quite dull and I don't feel anything with them. Perhaps they're just way too easy for me and I should leave them out. Just experimenting...

No walk today because

But the lad wanted me to play badminton with him in the training room. Had to move the elliptical out of the way. Sometimes we actually managed to hit that darned shuttlecock a whole four times in a row! Mostly, though, it was just once. Also known as the serve. We acknowledged rather ruefully that we're rubbish at badminton.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 14
- Upper Body Blast Day 21
- Dead Hang Day 21
- Lat pull-downs 3 x 30. Went a lighter weight and pulled almost to fatigue. As in, I could do more than 30 but not 35 but there was no way I could stop between. Hey, we all have our quirks.
- DB bent-over rows 3 x 10es
- Single-leg leg extensions 3 x 10. Single-leg because I've noticed that I let my stronger leg take over when I do both legs together. Doing each leg separately, I struggle a little with the right but the left has absolutely no problem whatever. My right knee is the problematic one and hence my right quad is weaker.
- Weighted standing hip abduction x 10es
- Weighted standing hip adduction x 10es
- Weighted standing hip flexion x 10es. I can do these all using the lower cable of Marcy which is great. I didn't get around to doing the hip extensions - by the time I'd done these three, my hips were tired!
- Standing and kneeling banded hip traction, about 30s each.
- Walk, 3km. With running intervals again. Run between that lamp-post to the next, then walk to the next lamp-post, then run again to the next one, etc, but only about 7 times. The lad was coming back from a playdate and I caught up with him not far from home. He had his bike. I challenged him to a race up the street to home. He's not so good riding uphill.

My brother called me again tonight. Complained (again) that the only time he hears from me is when he calls. I told him that's the only time anyone ever hears from me! Promised I'd call him but I never have anything to say. He said I could say 'hello' and I thought, sure, he can take it from there.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 15
- Upper Body Blast Day 22
- Dead Hang Day 22
- Hike, 7km. Had intended to do a 5km hike, using one of the ZR 5K races, but my mum called shortly after I'd begun and at the 2km mark, I saw that the race had stopped so I had to restart it from the beginning and go around the streets on the way home to get the full 5km of the race done, hence 7km in total. Hey, what doesn't kill you...

Had intended to do some stuff later this evening but 2nd born has a friend suddenly staying over, so there goes that.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 16
- Upper Body Blast Day 23
- Dead Hang Day 23
- Chest press 3 x 30 - felt cranky today so belted these out. Ow.
- Single-leg leg extensions 3 x 10es
- Walk, 3km. Much slower today because of the stopping. The Lad had come with me on his bike. Well, he zoomed off ahead and we met up at the oval, then he zoomed back and we met again at the underpass. He's been having trouble with the gears on his bike (it had been left for a very long time outside in the weather and things have rusted). I managed to fiddle with things and suddenly the chain actually moved from 3rd gear down, but then we couldn't get it to go back to third gear and it hasn't been near 2nd or 1st since he's had the bike. I promised him I'd have a look at it. Yeah, I'm hoping YouTube and WD40 will help here. I am not a bike mechanic. Actually, I'm no sort of mechanic at all.

Did some push-ups too, but I can't recall how many. Oh, and had a go at an ab-roller plank. Well, that's an interesting plank variation. Really focuses on stability. I like it!

Not a very productive day due to lack of sleep. [Had a bit of a rant here, explaining why, but having got it out, don't need it anymore so deleted it. I think it's enough just to say - teenagers...]

Might have an early night tonight.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Courage with dealing with teens They'll grow out of, that's ... sure, LOL!

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 17
- Upper Body Blast Day 24
- Dead Hang Day 24
- Cable bicep curls 3 x 10. Something different for a change. Because, yeah, I'm always doing the same things. Right?
- Banded lateral walk 3 x 10es
- Walk, about 2km.

I had things planned for today but something else stepped in so, oh well. You see, I'd looked up about the Lad's bicycle gear issue and it was so scary, so I looked at Gumtree, and there were three ads for children's bikes and one of them was just perfect. And only - time here for a dramatic drum roll! - $30! An hour's round trip and he had a new-to-him bike. It's in pretty good condition and all the gears work! And there are more gears for him to play with. Once we got home, he wanted to take it for a test ride and asked me to come with him. It's a tiny bit big for him, but once he's on it, he's fine. I showed him how to change the gears and where he should hold the handle-bar to make it easy and he was off. That was when I got my shorter-than-usual walk in. He took off for another short ride a little later. And the old bike? Well, it has done pretty well - he's the third child to use it, after all. I'd actually sold something yesterday on Gumtree for $50 so I'm still $20 up. That little bit closer to a new rowing machine.

 

[MadamMeow]

That's great you were able to find such a great deal! Your son must be beaming!

 

[Lady Celerity]

Why not go for a 2-in-1 machine?

 

[TopNotch]

@MadamMeow He certainly is, and went out twice today on his bike.
@Lady Celerity Is there an indoor option?

- Cardio and abs Day 18
- Upper Body Blast Day 25
- Dead Hang Day 25
- Indoor bike, 50 mins, 25.11km.
- Vertical battle-rope pulls, a few minutes.

The morning started slower than I had hoped because Garmin changed their app and I had to play around to find out the exact format I wanted, no, maybe if I..., hmm, what about putting this here and... Anyway, took me about half an hour to get it where I think I want it. Well, today, at any rate. Then I got on the bike because I thought I'd give the feet and ankles a bit of a rest. And I hadn't been on the exercise bike for a while. It gave me an opportunity to watch a few YouTube videos that I wouldn't otherwise have watched.
Later, I hauled the battle rope off the deck and slung it over the top of the squat bar and had some fun pulling it down, noting that if the rope landed on top of itself, it was harder to pull than if it landed next to itself. As you might expect! Anyway, that was a lot of fun and I can see myself playing more with that.

I thought I might set myself an actual bedtime, perhaps of midnight, but I note that it's already 11:51 and I haven't showered yet, so perhaps not tonight... It's school holidays, and I have the eldest and youngest with me, and when that happens, the eldest spends much of her time with me in my room, until about 10pm. This means that a lot of things that I might like to do, I don't because I'd rather spend my time with her, but I want to do those things so I do them later. (That excuse only works for this situation and doesn't explain why I normally have late nights - or rather, early mornings.) So I'll enjoy her company until next week when the holidays are over again and then I'll endeavour to establish a midnight bedtime. And use the Darebee challenge to keep me going.

Tonight I'll be listening to Day 27 of the 30-day Medito challenge. It's been interesting.

Shower-time now and then bed.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 19
- Upper Body Blast Day 26
- Dead Hang Day 26
- Vertical battle-rope pulls, a couple of minutes

A waiting day today so I couldn't really do much. Count it a rest day.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 20
- Upper Body Blast Day 27
- Dead Hang Day 27
- Exercise bike, 50min, 24.14km. A bit slower than last time. I watched some more interesting YouTube videos - about the only time I can do that without feeling like I'm wasting time!

Had a poor night - or rather, was woken at 5 and things weren't much better at 8. Things had picked up a bit by around 9. And that's not really so bad. I haven't had a bad night for a while now so when they do come, part of me thinks, okay, that was a bad night and now I get another couple of months of good nights. Only I know it doesn't quite work like that, that things are totally random, but I like to think that way. Makes stuff more tolerable, you know.

My eldest had to attend a birthday party out in the countryside, quite a pleasant 40-min drive. And then I realised I had to drive that back, and then out and back again. Part of me had intended to stay in that neck of the woods, have a mooch around as I hadn't been that way before, but I had to be back home to meet someone at 3 (who came at 3:20...), and then the Lad came back from a playdate at 4 and we set off again.

As we approached these trees, my eldest remarked that only the tops of the trees were changing colour, then she added that of course she knew it was really two rows of trees. Only it wasn't! She had been right! As we discovered when we were on the other side of them. Only the tops had changed colour so far and it was odd to see. I so love autumn!

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 21
- Upper Body Blast Day 28
- Dead Hang Day 28
- Single-leg leg extensions 3 x 10es, 2 x 20es - happily, I'm not struggling so much with the weaker leg now. It's not time to increase the weight (given the plates are 10lb/4.53kg each so that's a fairly big leap), rather I'm increasing endurance, hence the two sets of 20 reps.

I dropped down to some ATG squats, just to see how things were going with the knee/leg. Did 4 with no problem, which is totally excellent, but I'm not going to push it too much, not with ATG squats right now. They are pretty hard on knees! I think this time (this year, it seems!) that I've taken to rehab is definitely showing some benefits. Got some way to go, though.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 22
- Upper Body Blast Day 29
- Dead Hang Day 29
- Chest press 3 x 10
- Elliptical 25min, 6.14km, average speed 15.4. I had thought to do just 20 minutes but I was watching an interesting YouTube video that actually lasted 24 minutes so... I did the first five minutes forward, then went backward for the next five (to hit those hamstrings), then repeated and ended going forward - as we all should! When I stepped off, I knew that I could have kept going only I seem to get more bored doing the elliptical than the exercise bike, even though during both I'm watching video. Odd. Anyway, I checked back to when I first got that elliptical and gave it a go. After 10min, 2.5km and an average speed of 12.5, I was a wreck! I haven't gone on it much since then (last August) but today it seemed I only started sweating when I got off and I really wasn't tanked. Sometimes it's only by really looking back we can truly see how far we have come.

School starts back tomorrow so my eldest is no longer spending time with me. Oh well.

Still having difficulty with my caloric intake. I'm still over 3,000 kilojoules short for today and I've already had dinner. I make sure I get enough protein but I so struggle to get the calories. Often I'm about a third short and that's way too much of a deficit. Well, now that I'm not cooking for the children anymore (only during school holidays), from tomorrow I can put a greater focus on my own proper nutrition.

I finished the Medito 30-Day Getting Active meditation challenge. Not sure how 'well' I went, but I don't think meditation is something you become good at in only 30 days. Like many things, it'll take practice. And I'm going to give that a go. There are other courses to follow so I'll start small and work my way up, taming this monkey mind of mine.

 

[Silent Wolf]

Congrats on the meditation challenge! I really enjoyed that one.

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[TopNotch]

Thanks, @Silent Wolf (I'm going through the beginning stuff. Any one in particular you recommend?), and @Fremen

- Cardio and abs Day 23
- Upper Body Blast Day 30
- Dead Hang Day 30
- Go to bed on time Day 1 (though, of course, this will always relate to yesterday).
- Lat pull-down 4 x 10 (got a bit carried away)
- Single-arm db row 3 x 10es
- Seated cable row 3 x 10
- Seated db shoulder press 3 x 10 (pleased. The weight increased.)
- DB shrugs 3 x 10
- Lateral raise 3 x 10 (increased the weight here too)
- Bent-over lateral raise 3 x 10
- Banded lateral walk 3 x 10es
- Walk, 3km. I decided that I'd walk to the oval, then run gently around it (which took a whole 5 minutes, the longest single running period I've done since I broke my foot) and then on the way back I'd do the lamp-post thing again. Was pleased that everything felt good while doing it, though the foot was a little tired for a bit. I'll give it a couple of days off before we go again. Bit chilly on that hands to start with, now at this time of year. I warmed up though. Lovely late afternoon light against the autumn colours.

 

[MadamMeow]

Congrats for Upper Body Blast!

 

[Anek]

Congrats on the challenges!!

 

[NancyTree]

Congrats on upper body blast and dead hang!

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

bravo for the challenges!

 

[TopNotch]

@MadamMeow @Anek @NancyTree @Fremen @PetiteSheWolf

- Cardio and abs Day 24
- Abs and Core Blast Day 1
- Go to bed on time Day 2
- Exercise bike, 50mins, 25.43km. Included a few minute-long sprints.
- Walk, 3km. Hadn't been going to do this as I had already done my cardio earlier, but the late afternoon called me and I wanted to clear my head.

 

[Mamatigerj]

Cheers for Upper Body Blast and Dead Hang!!

 

[Silent Wolf]

Congrats on the challenges!

Thanks, @Silent Wolf (I'm going through the beginning stuff. Any one in particular you recommend?)

I think Getting Active has been my favourite so far, but I also liked the 30 Day Mindfulness Challenge. I haven't done one of the packs for a while though (except Getting Active) so I don't really remember them that well. I've been a bit slack with meditation lately, so I've just been doing shorter practices like the daily meditation or body scan meditations.

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 25
- Abs and Core Blast Day 2
- Go to bed on time Day 3

Weights session:
- Chest press 3 x 10
- DB incline bench press 3 x 10
- DB flyes 3 x 10
- Concentration curls 1 x 5es, 1 x 3es, 1 x 4es (all over the shop with these but I totally tanked on the second set!)
- Standing DB bicep curls 3 x 10
- Tricep press-downs 3 x 10
- OH tricep extensions 3 x 10es
- Banded lateral walk 3 x 10es

- Hike, 3.5km. First hike in the barefoot shoes since The Incident. Last time I saw him, the physio did say that I could start wearing the barefoot shoes again, and this was a relatively slow and gentle hike and everything feels fine. But whenever I go for a hike, I think about the beautiful pictures other people post (yes, @NancyTree looking at you!) of lovely smooth tracks and then I look at mine...

But then I think, where's the fun if you're not risking an ankle?!
Besides, isn't it worth it?


And just a little skite:

 

[Mamatigerj]

Very pretty!

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Very pretty! And bravo for the owl

 

[MadamMeow]

Wow, 1,700 days of anything is pretty impressive. Way to go!

 

[NancyTree]

Beautiful view!
And congrats on your streak!

 

[TopNotch]

- Cardio and abs Day 26
- Abs and Core Blast Day 3
- Go to bed on time Day 4

Unashamedly lazy day today. I did thinking and stuff like that. I also did some incline push-ups. A few evenings ago, while I was waiting for the kettle to boil (one of my perennial occupations!) I wedged my feet up against the fridge and leaned over the kitchen island and knocked out 50 incline push-ups as fast as I could while still doing complete reps - and being careful not to skewer myself on a fork or something! That felt good (especially the non-skewering thing). But the kitchen island didn't really like my pushing against it - made some unpleasant noises and movements, so I thought best not to do that again. Today I tried the same on the squat bar. The barbell had to be a bit lower than the kitchen island is, but that didn't matter. But with nothing to brace my feet against, I found I had to wear shoes, because polished wooden floors and socks or bare feet simply don't work. Which is a shame because I would have done this more often if I hadn't had to keep putting on shoes. Perhaps I should move the fridge to the training room... Anyway, the whole point was to knock these out as fast as possible because I'm relatively slow on the floor. And again, it felt good.

Oh, did some single-leg leg extensions too but I can't remember how many. Think I did end up increasing the weight though...