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December 27, 2019

Declining Physicality

Background

I’m feeling weak at the moment. I suspect that’s because I went climbing for the first time in a while (due to illness and not having time on the days the others in work were going). I’m now achy, and didn’t feel I was doing all that well.

Add to that the recent spate of illness making running a non-starter (mainly due to the cold/wet weather which wouldn’t go well with cold/flu etc.). This has left me, along with the cold, getting out of breath and tired more.

I sort of feel like I’m missing a cohesive drive, and my body is slowly falling apart because of it. It used to be easy, when I had a rowing team that organised it all, just having to turn up and do as I was told. It also gave direction to the training. However I don’t want to go down that road, I just want to feel a little happier in my physicality.

I’m also reluctant to join a gym. A new one has opened near the office, that a lot of people have joined, which is almost tempting. However the things I’d want (basic equipment) don’t seem worth the cost, they all seem to be places for classes more than getting work done.

Principles

I think I need to come up with a plan for this one, which requires some thought, rather than rushing. What I have done is to determine some principles to aim for. I think a good start for me is:

  • All round good physicality not specialisation
  • Useful strength not appearance
  • Flexibility and good posture not performance
  • Efficient training not long sessions

A bit more on each of these:

All round good physicality not specialisation

I’m not aiming to be a weightlifter, nor a marathon runner. I don’t need to compete in anything that requires special work. I just want to feel generally physically good.

Useful strength not appearance

I’m not interested in getting “ripped”. I don’t want a beach body, I’m happy in how I appear. I have no interest in pointless toning exercises, or diets. Again, I just want to feel generally physically good.

Flexibility and good posture not performance

Being strong and “fit” doesn’t help if I’m aching and hunched. Given I work sitting at a computer, these are things that are always hard to not let deteriorate. However I think the aches and pains bad posture and flexibility cause probably are a lot of the issues I have. They once again come back to just wanting to feel generally physically good.

Efficient training not long sessions

I don’t really have time for hours training at a time. Efficiency will be key here. If I can fit things in here and there then so much the better. This does partly come back to the 80/20 rule. I’m happy with getting 80% of the results, at 20% of the effort.

The plan

The plan at the moment is to make a plan. I need to look at the time I can dedicate (both amount and frequency). Have a think about things that will satisfy as many of the above as possible within that time. Then make a start.

The sole thing I think I’ve got so far is to program something like 6 weeks, then do the program with as little deviation as possible. Then at the end assess how it went and make a new 6 week program.

Fitness Planning
December 20, 2019

Culinary Repertoire Update

Following on from Culinary Repertoire I thought I’d update on how this has gone.

In the intervening months I’ve managed to cook these things a few times, not sure if I’ve managed once a month, but probably once every six weeks.

  • Beef Stew
    • I found a good winter stew recipe, with some interesting spicing (All spice) which I’ve done a few times, and gives and enjoyable warming quality.
  • Vegetable Lasagne
    • This one I’ve mainly done as a mixed roast vegetable lasagne. Rather good.

Both the dishes have been a success and I’m sure I’ll carry on making them. I’m debating the next set of dishes, but I think it’s going to be:

  • Panna Cotta (as I’ve always wanted to make this properly)
  • Pyttipanna

Deal is the same, I’ll try and cook a couple of times a month and settle on a recipe I like.

Cooking
December 13, 2019

NaNoWriMo 2019 (a spontaneous attempt)

On something like the 28th October I stumbled on NaNoWriMo. I think I manage this every year, then think it’s too later, and forget until just before the next year. Instead I decided to just crack on and do it this year.

I had no plan, no plot, no characters. Basically no idea. I forced myself to write some the first day, just out of nothing. I then realised I should sensibly do what the organised had done in October, namely plan at least a little.

I singularly failed to do that. I wrote some sketches, halting paragraphs of prose. I missed a few days here and there. Then I called it as a lost cause (on about the 10th).

Lessons learnt:

  • I need to plan.
  • It talks a fair bit of time each day.
  • It’s hard.

I’ve set a reminder for October to become planning month next year. Hopefully with that NaNoWriMo 2020 will be more successful than 2019.

Writing
December 6, 2019

Running Accountability

As promised in a running update here’s how it’s been going.

Short version is badly to start with. Having decided to run more the dreaded lurgy stopped it for the first two weeks. Running in cold wet weather with a dodgy chest/throat/nose was not a good idea.

After that I’ve at least managed to get out a little. Can’t say it was easy after the break, but some gentle 3k runs seem to have been ok. I’ve managed about once a week, but that’s partly weather, work commitments, days off with long walks and easing into it.

Now I’m back into it I plan to continue, at least once a week anyway. More would be good, but we’ll see how it goes.

Running
November 29, 2019

Photo Klassik International 2019.III

This arrived pretty much the same day as the review of the previous two went up.

It’s taken me most of the time since to get through it, with one thing and another. Once again it is an engaging read, with a wide variety of types of article. I think every time I dipped into it I hit something different.

When it comes to calling out particular favourites, I found it hard this time, it was all good.

I did enjoy the “Expressive Printing” article by Andrew Sanderson. As with the other printing/darkroom articles in this and previous issues, I found it really interesting to see how the final output can be controlled, and the variety of vision possible from one negative. Especially using only light, lenses and chemicals. Given how much I dislike scanning I am slowly thinking I should explore either a local darkroom or a home darkroom in the future.

I enjoyed the sheer difference of George Horsington’s “By the Light of Distant Stars” portfolio. A vision and results that are fascinating.

That said the whole issue was excellent, and I still recommend everyone subscribe to it.

Photography Books Magazines Review
November 22, 2019

Learning to Paint (perhaps)

I’ve been thinking about visual arts recently. Perhaps this is not too surprising, given my photography. But I’ve been thinking about that, and how I want to explore other mediums. Not to forget or stop photography, but complementing it.

I’ve experimented with sketching/drawing, and enjoy it, but feel inclined to something else. I used to paint a little bit, mainly water colours, but I haven’t for a long while. That said I’m not wanting to go back to water colour. I considered oils, but got put off by the cost, and general difficulty of use. Current thought it to try some gouache paint.

I have no experience in this, but as an opaque medium that is somewhat like water colour (in a way) I think it sounds good. I mistakenly bought a cheap set, that ended up being closer to water colour (for £6 with brushes and some paper etc. it should perhaps be no surprise). So I’ve just gone to have to go and get some more, from the nearby art supplier. Now that’s done I’ve found some introductory videos etc. to work through. After that, who knows, but I’ll attempt to report back, once I’ve managed to learn something about it and do some painting.

Painting Art