Nachi's Log

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by Nachi, Apr 23, 2015.

  1. axelb

    axelb Master of Office Chair Fu

    mmm crisps, my diet arch nemesis.

    You're still in a calorie deficit I wouldn't worry so much about it :D
     
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  2. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Indeed, I hid them away for quite some time, but Sett remembered a couple of weeks ago I admitted we had a packet :D And once open, I can't stop eating.

    Well, yes, but still...
     
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  3. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Saturday 12.9.

    Did some grocery shopping in the morning, then some chores - cleaning, baking, etc. and then we went for the first proper BIKE RIDE on my new bike. We used the subway for a part of the way - to avoid the center of Prague and rather go to the forests further away. We went through the forest, on the way back, thought the center, it was the usual paved road or asfalt roads.

    As usual, the people make me mad. Like the path along the river is really wide, and there are two very narrow paths for cyclists in both directions so that they don't need to ride on the rough paving, and yet, the people would pick this path to walk on and wouldn't budge that a bike is approaching. Well, I could go around, but people are everywhere and apparently don't care if someone hits them or what. At one time two women walked on the bike path just towards me. I was already rather angry and decided that this time, I am not making way and I am not stopping. I was slowing down bit by bit, but they would only realize they should move when I was like 2 m away. Then in the less busy place with the place like 10 m wide with only the narrow path for cyclists, a teenager decided to take a selfie... guess where. I couldn't hold myself back and shouted for her to pardon me from afar. Luckily a friend pulled her away telling her she was stupid. Ugh. This bike road is perfect as it is all the way from the north of Prague to the very south and all the way by the river with no hills or anything. But the people... I just hate the people. I can't help but think back to March and April, when everyone was scared of the virus, walking aimlessly was forbidden anyway and there was nearly no one there! That was awesome!

    That's it for the rant. Other than that, my new bike is awesome. The full suspension and wide wheels mean I can easily go over the paving as well as in the terrain in the forrest. I now have a very similar bike to Sett (the only difference is that I have larger wheels and a telescopic saddle) and... I can just stay right on his tail! (I even overtook him in one hill!) The forrest path we rode on was something I would have quite some trouble with my old bike and when there was a hill somewhere, I am very very sure I wouldn't be able to ride to the top. But now this bike with its light gears is something completely different. And for some reason I was faster even on the roads where my previous trekking bike should have an advantage. Maybe that I wasn't so tired in general? Yeah, I was able to keep up with Sett basically all the time, which made him go faster and faster, nearly to his normal travel speed when he rushes for work :D I didn't think the bike would make such a difference on regular roads. But I did think the difference would be on the forrest paths etc. and that one was huge! I am very happy with my purchase :) The only downside is that despite generally going faster etc., I burned significantly less calories :D Not twice or three times as many as Sett, only a little bit more. I won't be lying, it boosted my confidence that maybe it is not just because of my legs that I was so slow etc. I am not claiming I will be very fast now and the hills won't be any problem at all, but as far as I can tell, the difference between my old and new bike is rather large!
    My wrists hurt, as expected, but luckily only started hurting in the second half of the trip and progressively got worse, until hurting quite a bit at the end. I am going to buy different grips asap.

    Polar 'and Sett's Garmin) results:
    Time: 2:20 (This is only the time we were actually moving, without any breaks)
    Distance: 42,3
    Average speed: 18,1 km/h (again, counted from the time we were realyl physically moving)
    Altitude gain: 385 m (surprisingly, this was a bit more than our trip last week and it did not feel like it at all)
    Altitude lost: 425 m
    Max HR: 167
    Average HR: 130
    Training benefit: Steady State training+
    Kcal: 1282
    Fat burn: 40%


    Food Log: not a particularly healthy diet today, but I got cocky thanks to the large calorie burn :D
    - Two waffles with yoghurt and a cup of milk
    - Uzbec lamb samsa I bought at a market from an Uzbec family selling their national delicacies. A great stall to stop by :)
    - Kulajda - a traditional Czech mushroom soup with a bread roll
    - Ice cream along the way on the bike
    - Planned to make sushi, but we returned late and had some calorie reserves, so we made scrambled eggs which we ate with rye bread and another glass of pickled cheese I prepared in August
    - Finished with "vdolek" - something like a doughnut eaten with home made spiced cherry plum jam, farmer's cheese and whipped cream (I made a lot of jam this year, we need to start working on eating it :D)
    Intake of 2174 kcal, 3550 kcal burnt.
    Total kcal: -1376, next morning weight: 76,6 kg

    I apparently had quite a bit hiugher HR during the night than usual. It got a bit lower in the morning, but still, looks like my body is recovering from the trip :D
     
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  4. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Sunday 13.9.

    my dad was the one who actually started about this whole buying a new bike thing. He was thinking about either a new bike or and e-bike and was more and more leaning toward the latter. I kind of thought I could use a new bike, too, but unlike him, I was quick to act and jumped at the opportunity of this discounted bike I am more and more happy about. I told my dad to first borrow and try Sett's bike before decideng on the e-bike. One wouldn't believe how much of a difference that alone makes. My dad has the same bike as I had, except he at least had the front suspension. Today he decided he's try Sett's bike after all. And before I could argue about it, my mum decided she'd try mine. She hasn't sit on a bike for something like 15 years. No exaggeration. She doesn't do any sports, so I hope it is not too surprising I was a bit worried about my bike... and mum, of course :D (a bit). I decided if they're going, I'll tag along on my e-scooter for fun. My mom wasn't the fastest rider, but she actually rode quite well and quite far. We turned back home after 14 km, while my dad continued on to try the bike in the forest up the hills etc. My mom was not as energetic and apparently decided to push the bike up every slightest hill on foot. So five km from home she accepted my offer to switch places and enjoyed the rest of the way on the e-scooter.
    My dad prolonged his trip quite a bit, trying all the hills he could find and called me that he probably doesn't need an e-bike if he can get a bike as nice as this. He said he didn't even need to take a break of breath hard anywhere and really enjoyed it. Now I am tasked with finding him the same bike that I have... unfortunately, the number of gears is hard to find on the new bikes of this type. Or more like is nonexistent. He will have to settle for what there is or I don't know. Anyway, did I mention I am really happy about the biek I found for myself? ^^

    Short bike ride today: 4,8 km and some 173 kcal.

    I spent quite some time today making sketches for the Slovakian IOGKF jackets and discussing them online with their chief instructor. From him I also learned that the next week seminar in Slovakia that is supposed to be taught by our teachers may or more likely may not happen. None of us, including the senseis dared to book any accomodation yet. With the current fast growth of new cases of Covid, Slovakia can very likely close their borders with us. I hope the government will start to listen to our university's professor, who speaks about the scenarios that are likely to happen and aren't very optimistic. I think some restrictions are long overdue. Originally the government said they will again bring some restriction if the daily count of new cases reaches 400. The past couple of days it reacher over 1500 and not many restrictions are in place. Only face masks in most indoor places and pubs closing at midnight. I wonder where this will lead.
    I learned that Slovakia makes more restrictions and they supposedly don't have as many cases. But the October seminar with IOGKF chief instructor and senior instructor is not likely to happen, either.

    Food Log:
    - Two waffles with yoghurt and tea
    - nut and honey bar
    - Kulajda - a traditional Czech mushroom soup with a bread roll
    - One "vdolek" and a small icecream
    - Home made sushi. Sett made it today and made plenty, so we are going to have it for a couple more meals and give some to my dad who loves it
    Intake of 1676 kcal, 2287 kcal burnt.
    Total kcal: -611, next morning weight: 77,0 kg Come on, I can't keep gaining weight, can I? :(
     
  5. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 14.9.

    Taiji

    We started the warm-up outside on the terrace. It was led by not sure if official instructor, but maybe "just" a senior student R. R is a woman from Ukraine I met at Talavan before. She was the one trying to teach me the nuances of feeling the strenght in pushing when tryin Push hands for the first time. Another instructor came to teach the "younger" group and we moved inside to the gym with R. The teacher was snowhere to be seen, so R went through the form with us a couple of times. This is a more advanced group than me, but kept practicind the 15 forms for some time now so I joined, since they basically still do the same forms as us. The first five forms start forward, then we turn 90 degrees to the left and the rest are done in that direction, before just turning forward in the last one. The teacher arrived, wanted us to continue, but sent R to the left so people can copy her after the first turn for the later forms. And called to me to come stand at the front. Aaarg, I didn't want that, but helping out is what I agreed to, after all. The teacher then went away, so after we finished the form once, everyone facing front where I stood and I wasn't sure what to do next. So I glanced at R whether we are going to continue. She was also looking if the teacher is coming, but he wasn't, so she said we'd go one more time. Still, the teacher was nowhere to be seen, still. I again glanced at R and she motioned to continue. By this time, sweat was pouring down my face as I tried hard. But didn't have much mental energy left to focus too much on repairing my mistakes. The teacher showed up and corrected us. Well, mostly me again. I am apparently still do the whole turning in the hips wrong. The teacher explained for everyone and tried to explain to me how to correct it. Well, I understand what he means, but can't figure out how to do that. I couldn't reproduce what he showed. The teacher then tried pushing on my shoulder so that I would get the correct mechanics by having to push him to the side. This apparently works best, but I still can't do it without somebody pushing on me. I will have a hard time correcting this. We went through the form once or twice more before the end of the class. Despite remaining at the front I tried to work on my mistake, but still wasn't able to figure it out.

    Taiji instructor class

    There were six of us today, with at least 3 people missing. My task for today was supposed to be figuring out the turning hip thing. R was told to correct the movements of her arms in the Three steps form. We first together did the first five forms and focused on the hip thing the teacher explained. Apparently, everyone except for me got it right, so it was going to be only my task later. The only present friend who didn't know further than the five forms was told to practise by herself another hip thing of hers. In the meanwhile we all tried the arm movements in the Three steps form and it was decided we could all benefit from practiseing that. I did not heard this kind of explanation before, therefore I did it wrong, but I think I managed to understand and correct it. We practiced for quite a while these steps only. We also practised the pushing applications in pairs. I did with R. She couldn't figure it out, though. She tried hard as she said to "feel" it in her body. She previously tried to explain me a lot to figure out the tiniest movemtn where it clicks etc. She appologized she just can't get the feeling and can't get it right. Well, I told her no need that I am not good with these feelings. R started to become more and more frustrated. She said she felt the correct push from me, but couldn't do it herself. Later the teacher came and reminded me to also push into her and showed me with him. Then he said in order for both people to practice at the same time, we can try the pushing horizontally and suddenly, we were doing exactly one type of kakie we do in Karate :) Wow, cool. I got corrections that I start pushing in a wrong direction, so I will have to pay more attention to that. Then we again practiced by ourselves. The teacher tried to help R and even simpify the movement for her to simply try to do this for now and slowly turn the elbows how she's supposed to etc. She seemed quite angry at herself. I then saw her from behind, obviously very frustrated, so I came to offer help once again and tried explaining to her in a different manner. It did not feel very proper as she does Taiji for years and usually she's the one to offer help to me, like earlier today, but we are here to help one another, right? So I tried to explain in a different way what I think is correct, but obviously she should take it with a grain of salt. I think she got it a slightly bit better and thanked me. I just hope my expalnation was right...
    This class again was awesome. No way would we be able to learn to such detail in regular classes. I really does feel like a sort of privilege to learn here. From what I can tell, the teacher is very knowlegeable. We spent the whole hour and half practising just these one motions. I had no time to separate myself to practice the hip thing. I will later, on my own.

    Polar results:
    Time: 2:31
    Max HR: 155
    Average HR: 107
    Training benefit: Basic training
    Kcal: 802
    Fat burn: 50%


    Food Log:
    - Two waffles with yoghurt and milk
    - yellow melon and mango salad
    - Kulajda - a traditional Czech mushroom soup with a bread roll
    - One "vdolek" and a small icecream
    - Home made sushi. I didn't eat much protein today, so I planned for a chia shake, but I wasn't hungry and didn't have when to drink it... Tommorrow!
    Intake of 1539 kcal, 2779 kcal burnt.
    Total kcal: -1240, next morning weight: 76,4 kg
     
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  6. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday 15.9.

    Morning Taiji

    I spent the silk reeling focusing on my hips. Not sure if at least a little successfully. THere were only 6 of us in our group today and we stayed outside. We were taught by the main teacher today. He again showed me my mistake iwth the hips and explained it in the last form. He noticed I tried paying attention to it, though, so I guess it may have been a tiny bit better! We then practiced the Three steps shortly and were asked if we had any questions. I asked for explanation of the breathing in brushing the knee form. I think I never heard it explained and couldn't figure it out. The teacher explained and we all practiced that form. It turned out breathing wasn't the only think I could improve on. Basically every single movement of that for I had a mistake in :D The other teacher seemed to be doing it a little different, though! Arrrgh. Another think to work on. Well, bring it on! We practiced this form till the end of the class. Only then did we try the whole 15 forms again once.

    Polar results:
    Time: 1:02
    Max HR: 142
    Average HR: 114
    Training benefit: Basic training
    Kcal: 416
    Fat burn: 45%

    Karate

    There were surprisingly few people today. Only Sett, me, two orange belts and one new guy from sensei's school. Sensei came to us appologizing that he had to take the whole kids class before and still has some work. He asked us to work with the others for an hour, then we'd send the younger ones home and sensei will have a session with us. I won the orange belts with whom, as sensei instructed, I went through Saifa kata and Renzoku kumite, while Sett was teaching the basics to the new guy. As well, half expected, sensei never showed up and we finished the 90 mins training with Sanchin kata. It is mostly for the orange belts, but the new guy could try, too. We went through it three times, me only once as I spent the other two going around, correcting. I did hardly any training myself today, unfortunately. And there I kind of forced myself to work hard to be able to make it in time. But that's life... Hopefully next time.

    Polar results:
    Time: 1:42
    Max HR: 141
    Average HR: 89
    Training benefit: Recovery training
    Kcal: 289
    Fat burn: 61%
    (yes, it was very relaxed for me)


    Food Log:
    - Two waffles with yoghurt and milk
    - Vdolek and a bit of ice cream
    - Leftover sausage from Sett and cucumber and red bell pepper from the garden
    - Low fat curd cheese with apple and raisins
    - Home made sushi
    Intake of 1898 kcal, 2831 kcal burnt.
    Total kcal: -933, next morning weight: 76,8 kg
     
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  7. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 16.9.

    Taiji

    Evening class with teacher P. During the meditation I tried to focus and figure out the reverse breathing. I am not completely sure how to, though, so it was just trying and I may try to find or ask more about it. During silk reeling I was trying to figure out how to rotate in my hips instead of ankles. I did figure out a away to do it differently, more from the hips, but I am a bit afraid I may have just figured another way to do it wrong. I am an expert in that :D
    The main part of the training was spent with instructor H, with the teacher always coming, showing what to do and H going through it with us until the teacher returned. Funnily, the teacher picked the form "Walking Three Steps" to work on. Exactly the one I spent the whole 90 min training practicing it with the main teacher on Monday. Unfortunately, the way teacher P and instructor H move the arms seem, luckily only a tiny bit, but still different. The only real difference I guess being putting their elbow to the side before pushing with their hand. We did learn the elbox should be turned sideways, but the main teacher did not really let his elbow leave the body, which is a principle in coordination with what I know from karate. Nobody explicitely said not to move the elbow, neither did they say to move it, though. So unless I am told to do so, I won't. Although I they seem a bit like I don't follow the teacher's example exactly, but hopefully I have a good enough reason not to. I kept practicing what I learned on Monday. We then also added the "walking Obliquely" form, where the two teachers have differences, too. I am again going by the head teacher, who definitely explained how we should do it and why, so...

    Polar results:
    Time: 1:02
    Max HR: 129
    Average HR: 106
    Training benefit: Basic training
    Kcal: 349
    Fat burn: 51%

    Food Log:
    - Two waffles with yoghurt, tea
    - Vdolek and a bit of ice cream
    - Yellow melon and mango
    - One slice of rye bread toast with blue cheese spread and salami
    - Quickly coocked Chicken Tikka Masala just before training. Managed not to eat anything after when I returned at 9 pm.
    Intake of 1582 kcal, 2588 kcal burnt.
    Total kcal: -1006, next morning weight: 76,1 kg
     
  8. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday 17.9.

    Karate Kids
    We teach this class with Sett until he goes for his surgery. He didn't make it today, so I taught the 8 or so kids. We started with a game, Junbi Undo and then worked on Mae geri with various exercises, including practicing how to get up from the floor without using hands. A game at the end.
    At the end, since the kids wer obviously loud most of the time, but most got silent for the etiquette except for two boys, possibly brothers, I told them that more or less fine if they shout during techniques, etc., but I need them to be siletn for the final etiquette not to disturb others etc. I said that three times before we did the short meditation with eyes closed. One kid though started doing provocative sounds with him mouth. I ignored it, but since he did it at least ten times while everyone elso was silent, although I did not want to disturb the etiquette, I told him with a firm voice to do 20 burpees. He started sulking and didn't seem to want to do a single burpees. I ignored him for when we went through the etiquette. His mum called him and tried to make sure he did his burpees or at least push-ups. I went to him after class. At this time he was crying. I asked if he understood why the punishmnt. That he was purposefully trying to disturb what I just said several times he should not. I told him I didn't like how he was acting, either, and I also wasn't sulking. Well, his mum got angry with the boy. He didn't seem capable of doing the burpees at the moment and went home crying. I felt bad for it, I hoped for the kids to go home happy from the training, but there simply have to be some boundaries and I want to be firm in what I ask of the kids so they know I always mean it.

    Karate adults
    Sensei was nowhere to be seen when the time was up, so Sett and I decided to start. Just then sensei arrived. Two people in his school were coronavirus positive and he was just solving it. He said he was really tired and his young son was ill, so he went home. Sett taught the class. Some running for warm-up, Junbi Undo, basic Kihon ido. Then it was time for kata, but there was one girl who did not know it, so I took her sideways as tried to teach her at least half of it. We joined the rest of the group for some final running.

    Karate black belts
    Sensei is supposed to teach this, and since he wasn't there and it was only Sett, me, and a friend here, we only went through Sanseru kata a few times as the friend didn't remember it well as he only started learning at the beginning of summer. It got dark (we were outside) and went home after half an hour.

    Polar results:
    Time: 2:54
    Max HR: 153
    Average HR: 96
    Training benefit: Basic training
    Kcal: 637
    Fat burn: 55%
    Today again, I did not burn nearly as much as I'd like. I ate too much today before training...

    Food Log:
    - Two waffles with yoghurt, tea
    - Vdolek
    - Yellow melon and mango
    - Quickly coocked Chicken Tikka Masala
    - Chia Shake between trainings
    - Half a baguette with ham
    Intake of 2248 kcal, 2544 kcal burnt.
    Total kcal: -269, next morning weight: 75,8 kg

    The coronavirus is spreading faster and faster. My university's proffessor's predictions are coming true. Finally the government starts to talk about how the situation isn't good, but I am afraid they only do mild restrictions. The government worst-case scenario is that a third of our population will have contracted the virus by the end of the year.
    The Slovakia seminar this weekend as well as one with sensei Nakamura in the middle of October were, not surprisingly, cancelled. We have bike plans for this weekend instead. ¨
    Now I worry if I should stay away from sensei and another friend who teaches at his school and didn't go to training yesterday due to a headache. Sensei said we might do some training or barbecue on Sunday. I wander it that will work. It is his birthday, too, though...
     
  9. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Friday 18.9.

    Took a day off of work. Sett and I took our bikes and first rode to the main train station:

    Polar results:
    Time: 0:35
    Distance: 5,54
    Altitude gain:
    Max HR: 166
    Average HR: 116
    Training benefit: Regeneration training
    Kcal: 230
    Fat burn: 42%

    We got off at Pribram and rode across Brdy - a hilly area that used to be an army practice ground, but was opened to public a few years ago and became a popular destination for hikers and cyclists. I tried to pick a road with the least hills. The final destination was our cottage some 43 km away. The trip was nice. The difficult part was that the first 12 km was basically all up the hill. Therefore we devised a plan to stop at 9 km mark for a sweet snavk and at the peak for a lunch - chicken tikka masala we packed into thermo food boxes. We found a nice lake to do that at. After the late lunch we were going down the hill for quite some time. The paths seemed a bit different to what the map showed or we turned wrong and went through a tough terain. Pretty good place to test my bike. However at some hill with big stones and small trees laid across the toad we hac to get off the bikes altogether. And to cross a stream twice as well. There were a few hills even after we left Brdy, but the rest of the waywas rather easy. I really would have trouble with my old bike here, but on the new one, I thoroughly enjoyed it, although obviously, with climbing 500m in altitude, I was fairly tired as well. Istill think that Sett's gears make it easier for himup the steep hils as he can pedal fasterand easer. Maybe it is because of his smaller wheels? Never mind, af least I,yet again, burned twice asmany kcal as him :D


    Polar and Sett's Garmin) results:
    Time: 2:51 (This is only the time we were actually moving, without any breaks)
    Distance: 42,3
    Average speed: 14,9 km/h (again, counted from the time we were really physically moving)
    Altitude gain: 570 m
    Altitude lost: 628 m
    Max HR: 173
    Average HR: 136
    Training benefit: Tempo training+
    Kcal: 1760
    Fat burn: 42%

    Food Log:

    - Two waffles with yoghurt, tea
    - Vdolek
    - Biscuit
    - Chicken Tikka Masala with Basmati rice
    - half a Chia Shake
    - Sausages cooked over fire with a couple of slices of toast bread at our cottage
    - Sett insisted we get crisps and a bottle of wine... Ruining my healthy eating completely. Luckily, I burned so many kcal todax that I can eat basically anything...
    Intake of 3004 kcal, 4103 kcal burnt.

    Total kcal: -1099, next morning weight: ? kg
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2020
    axelb likes this.
  10. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Saturday 19.9.

    I spent most of the day at our cottage drawing a design for jackets for IOGKF Slovakia... In the evening we at least went for a walk - 5,5 km and 433 kcal.

    Food Log:

    - Two waffles with yoghurt, tea
    - Vdolek
    - Grilled pork with 1,5 slices of toast bread
    - Baked barbecue sausages with 1,5 slices of taost bread and pepper and tomatoes
    - Apple cider and pretzel sticks (again, totally Sett's fault!)
    Intake of 1869 kcal, 2210 kcal burnt.

    Total kcal: -341, next morning weight: ? kg
     
  11. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Sunday 20.9.

    Today in the afternoon we rode back from the cottage. This time we made journey to Beroun, a town where we got on a train. And then from the main station rode home.
    The start of the journey was the workst, a sttep hill just by our cottage. This time I decided not to get off the bike here, but it was tough. Tha path had some rubble and rocks here and there and was a bit uneven and steep enough that my front wheel left the ground for a little while twice. This is where I got my max HR this trip. Then we continued mostly up the hill for a few more kilometers, but when we got to the summit, it was only descent and even road till the end, which was nice.

    Cottage to Beroun:
    Polar and Sett's Garmin) results:
    Time: 1:43 (This is only the time we were actually moving, without any breaks)
    Distance: 32
    Average speed: 18,5 km/h (again, counted from the time we were really physically moving)
    Altitude gain: 280 m
    Altitude lost: 486 m
    Max HR: 170
    Average HR: 136
    Training benefit: Steady State training+
    Kcal: 1074
    Fat burn: 37%

    Train station to home:
    Polar and Sett's Garmin) results:
    Time: 0:27 (This is only the time we were actually moving, without any breaks)
    Distance: 6,76
    Average speed: 14,9 km/h (again, counted from the time we were really physically moving. I went slow as I was tired already)
    Altitude gain: 81 m
    Altitude lost: 59 m
    Max HR: 169
    Average HR: 142
    Training benefit: Steady State & Tempo training
    Kcal: 353
    Fat burn: 26%


    Food Log:

    - Two waffles with yoghurt, tea
    - Vdolek
    - Grilled chicken breast with 1,5 slices of toast bread and some veggies
    - Cia shake
    - Two slices of rye toast bread with cheese spead, ham and around 150 g of home made pickled cheese
    Intake of 2246 kcal, 3202 kcal burnt.

    Total kcal: -956, next morning weight: 76,4 kg
     
  12. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 21.9.20

    In the afternoon I rode my bike to the bike servis I got the bike from - some 11 km. It will get service and some stuff I ordered -new grips and mud shields if they arrive in time. My dad came too, to try, well, the newer version of my bike. Of course, he liked it, so he took basically the same equipment as I did and will pick up the bike with me whne I have mine serviced. What a copy cat. He wanted to start the next season with the new bike, but after a weekend spent on Sett's, he said he can no longer ride his old one and went and got the same one as me, since I already picked the best for myself... :D
    Now I am in process of urging people frm two shops to try and get me some electronics for the bike till the weekend. I hope I will get the Polar bike computer from a shop they sell it for a good price. They don't have it there right now, but a few are on the way. I am calling and checking with the owner, so hopefully he'll let me know and he'll have one before weekend.

    Polar results:
    Time: 0:38
    Distance: 11,12 km
    Max HR: 167
    Average HR: 139
    Training benefit: Steady State training
    Kcal: 328
    Fat burn: 29%

    Taiji

    During wu-ti meditation, just like last week, I focused on figuring out the reverse breathing. I think I managed to do something, but if correctly, who knows. The silk reeling was spent focusing on turning my hips right. I think I did manage to move the spinning from my ankles to my hips, which is theoretically correct, but I kind of think I just do it wrong in a different way, now. Our group then moved from the terrace to the gym to spread and fill the whole room to keep distance. We went through our forms with the teacher and instructors and the teacher then explained how to let the hips ove the rest of the body and showed an example on one more complicated form. When he explained to everyone.

    Taiji instructor class

    In the break, I talked briefly with the teacher. He asked me about how life was going and how about karate, if I still do it now (not sure if as in general, or as in during the coronacrisis). He knows I was doing karate already, I thought so :) I originally didn't really want to go telling people here I did karate and wouldn't mention it if someone else said they were doing karate previously or something near that topic, but like four people discovered I was doing something on my very first day at Talavan and asked about it. So soon, everyone knew, probably except for the teacher. But he seems to have eyes and ears everywhere, anyway. Last Monday he was approximating some techniques to external martial arts and explaining about something being similar to striking in box or karate, while looking straigh at me and that happened like three times during that class. I knew he found out :D

    We started today going through everything we know, but in more detail, to make sure we understand it as best as we can. Therefore we started with standing in Wu-ti, then added the reverse breathing, explained to more detail. Looks like I might have actually done it more or less correctly earlier today! We were told some more principles about it, which was great. Then we continues with practising the stepping. I was fairly sure I'd do it completely wrong. We each shown the teacher and everyone and the teacher would correct us. After all the bike riding and teh silk reeling where I did not go easy myself, my legs were killing me by now nad were harder to operate on top of everything. I got some corrections. Ther we moved onto how to work with the hips in silk reeling and everything. The teacher would explainin several ways and then corrected each one of us. He made demands on me that I still need to straighten my back and helped me push it into the correct position, mre or less. Like this, it is impossoble for me to move, though! Then he helped me rotate the hips correctly, which went to the points of my tendons feeling the pull in a not very comfortable way and if I were to go further, a cramp was behind the corner. I still didn't quite get it though. :( We tehn practised how to do fa-jins from this. I mostly just tried to operate my hips in a slow manner and then was also told that I can't really do fa-jins until I can straighten my back. Well, I figured...
    Then the teacher also spoke about theory behind this, about what Taiji is and some history, which was great. It was interesting and my legs were really tired already. And like always, I have so much to practice (and note).

    A also managed to wash my clothes from the weekend, re-pack them quickly and bring the bag to instructor L today, whom I befriended at Talavan. She'll go by car, but is not sure whether from Prague, as she lives elsewhere, but she can bring my bag, while I go by train and bike. Such is my plan. Unfortunately, it is supposed to rain through the weekend... So I hope it work. My motor bike didn't start last time and in case it rains, it isn't any better. And I really don't want to drive my car. It is too boring :D In emergency, I'll see who has a spot in their car for me, but I really want to make a bike trip. :)

    Polar results:
    Time: 2:29
    Max HR: 154
    Average HR: 108
    Training benefit: Basic training, long
    Kcal: 827
    Fat burn: 47%


    Food Log:

    - Cottage cheese, apple, raisins, tea
    - Vdolek and icecream :oops:
    - Mushroom sauce with dumplings (yum, ma dad found two baskets of mushrooms last week)
    - Rye bread (3 slices, I was hungry and did a lot of activity today), with liver paste or cheese spread and salami on one
    - A muesly
    Intake of 2246 kcal, 3044 kcal burnt.

    Total kcal: -798, next morning weight: 75,5 kg
     
  13. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday 22.9.

    Couldn't fall asleep last night and only slept for about 5,5 hours. Added with how my legs have been getting quite a work out these past few days, they were feeling really weak and I am generally wiped out. I still went to Taiji, though:

    Morning Taiji

    Focused on the reverse breathing in meditation and on turning the hips in circles and as much as I could during silk reeling. Weird muscles around hips actually started hurting. Maybe I am doing something good? just maybe... We then went throguh the 5 forms to five directions with the instructor, while the main teacher climbed onto the roof to take a video of us on the terrace... And my legs were already nearly giving out...
    then the more advanced group went inside with the instructor and the main teacher taught us. We went through the five forms and then works on the second part with him giving us corrections. I had some problem with the White Crane Spreads its Wings form. It is a hard one. We were told to try with higher stances, which I listened to, I couldn't do low stances anymore today. Phew, I wonder how I'll do in karate in the evening. If there are any shiko dachi... :confused:

    Polar results:
    Time: 1:01
    Max HR: 151
    Average HR: 120
    Training benefit: Basic training
    Kcal: 440
    Fat burn: 47%


    Karate

    Sensei arrived despite not feeling very well as he missed last week. He said he had just headache, no cough, no fever or higher temperature. However, in their school, they have like 20 teachers either in quarantine or covid positive. A friend, who also works there did not feel too great, either and I heard her cough slightly! :D honestly, I did not feel too good about the training at the school, although we were training outside. I am already thinking about skipping Thursday as I definitely don't want to get the virus and spread it at the taichi seminar this weekend. One of our fellow karatekas, one of the twins (so maybe both) is already positive. They didn't show up for a week and a half now, though.
    I'd like to stay clear of it to be able to go to trainings, at least Taichi,... Especially the two weekend seminars that are approaching.
    Anyway, there were only six of us today and sensei, who wasn't feeling well, so we were practicing kata. Gekisai Dai Ichi with tricky handicaps, renzoku kumite and then our group of three black belts worked on Shisochin and Sanseru and their bunkai, which none of us remembered well. Maybe that is why I wasn't able to do them very fast and strong, so I had a ridiculously low HR today and I don't remember if I ever burned less at karate :/

    Polar results:

    Time: 1:40
    Max HR: 151
    Average HR: 95
    Training benefit: Recovery training
    Kcal: 354
    Fat burn: 56%


    Food Log:

    - Two waffles and yoghurt, milk
    - Chia Shake
    - Vdolek and icecream :oops:
    - Mushroom sauce with dumplings
    - 2 slices of wholegrain toast with blue cheese spread and salami
    Intake of 2127 kcal, 2830 kcal burnt.

    Total kcal: -703, next morning weight: 75,6 kg
     
  14. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    I hate when this happens, and it happens to me fairly frequently.
    About a week ago I came across a method that is apparently taught to US navy personel.
    Here is a description I found on a quick search: How to Fall Asleep in 10, 60, or 120 Seconds
    Took about 6 weeks practice for the soldiers to learn...
    I have trying to train myself to do this, but somewhat haphazardly; I have ADHD which may make this harder, and also just don't try it every night as sometimes I want to think about stuff for a bit.
     
    Nachi likes this.
  15. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Hmm, thanks for the link! I'll check it out. Yep, sometimes I want to think about stuff before falling asleep as well, but most of the days, I just want to sleep :D So this may be useful. Although I wonder if I can train myself in that way. :)
     
    Morik likes this.
  16. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 23.9.

    Bike ride from the store
    I went to pick up my bike from the service with my dad who went to pick up his new bike. We rode back some 11 km.
    Skipped Taiji in the evening as we planned to go to a cinema some time and unfortunately, to make time any evening means skipping a training for me. Since I was tired from all the training, I thought today was going to be fine. ASnd I even rode the bike for a bit anyway...

    I also picked up a bike computer - Polar V650 that has navigation and will be able to map my bike journeys well :) My phone is not really good for any of this. I've had it for over 4 years and the battery really doesn't last for any journey worth mentioning. I wanted to pick it up before the weekend when I plan a bike trip to Talavan - to the taichi seminar. However, some cold air is supposed to come with plenty of rain :/ I hope I will find a window where I can ride without getting too wet. I's see. Oh, I have also picked up the mud guards! :)

    Polar results:
    Time: 0:42
    Distance: 11 km
    Max HR: 167
    Average HR: 131
    Training benefit: Basic & Steady State training
    Kcal: 338
    Fat burn: 33%


    Food Log:

    - Two waffles and yoghurt, tea
    - Carrots from the garden
    - Vdolek and icecream :oops:
    - Mushroom sauce with dumplings
    - Veggie salad from tomatoes and a pepper from the garden and bought cucumbers, with feta type cheese. Also ate like two slices of salami from Sett's dinner :oops:
    Intake of 1831 kcal, 2505 kcal burnt.

    Total kcal: -674, next morning weight: 76,0 kg
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2020
  17. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday 24.9.

    Today was more or less a rest day. It has been a while. I had a lot of work and didn't manage to go to karate kids. I originally planned to only go there and back home - because of time for preparation for tommorrow's trip and Covid. I didn't go to karate, but since morning called to most (5) of the nearby bike services if someone had a bit of time to install my new tracking device into my bike so that I will be alarmed and could track the bike in case it was stolen. They didn't want to install it in the service I bought it with my bike from as they didn't have the experience with it and all the services I called were way too busy even for such a simple thing. I was alwaays told to come next week and if possible leave the bike tehre for a couple of days so they have time... I wanted it done today, though! Ine shop I called in the morning told me to ask again at around 5 pm and see if they managed to do all they had to and would squeeze it. At 5:30 I was told to try again in an hour, and at 6:30 they told me to come. Woohoo! They were open till late, so I rushed there. It was fairly close - 2 km, but 2 km up the hill on a relatively busy road. I set up my new Polar V650 (had some trouble with the GPS, but resetting it to factory settings again helped) and tried how it can record stuff and navigate. Everything worked well, so I am perfectly prepared for the trip tommorrow! Even rain won't hinder my navigation now :)

    Bike ride up the hill:
    Time: 0:10
    Distance: 2,32
    Average speed: 12,9 km/h
    Altitude gain: 55 m
    Altitude lost: 5 m
    Max HR: 162
    Average HR: 142
    Training benefit: Tempo & Steady State training
    Kcal: 97
    Fat burn: 21%


    I also ate way too much today. I seemed to be hungry all the time and always craved something sweet. I'll call today a cheat day...
    Food Log:
    - Two waffles and yoghurt, tea
    - Carrots from the garden
    - Vdolek and icecream, biscuits
    - Mushroom sauce with dumplings
    - 2,5 pittas with italian tomato sauce, thyme, salami, cheese and pepper. We baked it and turned the pittas into tiny delicious pizzas :D:oops:
    Intake of 2500 kcal, 2223 kcal burnt.

    Total kcal: +277, next morning weight: 75,4 kg
     
  18. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Friday 25.9.

    TALAVAN and bike ride

    I took a day off today to have enough time to prepare my things, hop on my bike and ride to a train station, meet a friend, catch a train to Příbram again and ride my bike to Talavan for a Taiji seminar. What a great plan, right? Except the weather got from nice warm summer to a day of rain and cold. We were lucky, though, it stopped raining just as we got off the train and it only rained a little for our last 5 km. My friend R had a bike similar to my old one and struggled a bit up some hills and generally prefered to go more slow. I kind of knew how it felt to ride a bike like that and I was happy she decided to go for it with me, so I did my best to find a tempo she'd find comfortable and when I couldn't look back when riding down a big hill or on a frequented road, I'd wait as soon as I could. I think we both enjoyed the ride, although my friend seemed like she was slowly reaching her limit. Especially when we rode through the forrest for the last part. It was very muddy, worse terrain, some hills and cut down trees we had to carry our bike over. But generally I think we both enjoyed the trip :)
    My new polar bike computer navigated us well, too!

    When we arrived, the teacher said that the two of us are probably safe (covid-wise) since we rode from Příbram ( Đx people found it hard to believe, not sure if because of the distance in combination with a weekend of working out the legs, or the bad weather, or both). An instructor, who just overheard noted that they might doubt our mental health, though :mad: I would have said something back to her, but she was kind to take my bag with clother and brought it here for me so I wouldn't have to take everything on my back ^^

    Bike ride: Home to train station:
    Time: 0:22 (not counting breaks)
    Distance: 6,21
    Average speed: 16,4 km/h
    Altitude gain: 15 m
    Altitude lost: 30 m
    Max speed: 37,1 km/h
    Max HR: 164
    Average HR: 132
    Training benefit: Steady State & Basic training
    Kcal: 181
    Fat burn: 30%


    Bike ride: Příbram to Talavan
    Time: 2:46 (not counting breaks)
    Distance: 35,68
    Average speed: 12,8 km/h
    Altitude gain: 315 m
    Altitude lost: 335 m
    Max speed: 50,9 km/h
    Max HR: 161
    Average HR: 121
    Training benefit: Basic training, long
    Kcal: 1112
    Fat burn: 47%


    We arrived just in time to squeeze in a shower before dinner. We had three days (Monday was going to be a national holiday) of Taiji ahead of us. There were the same group of people my age I befriended last time and it was going to be great. Except for the rains and cold that arrived too suddenly. After the dinner we did some silk reeling and a bit of the form, maybe? I am not sure. And the teacher talked for a while about Taiji and principles, etc.

    Did not bother to log my food. There were always several things for breakfast, one dinner of 5 courses (throughout the weekend), etc. It was all vergetarian, delicious and I ate plenty...
    Total kcal burnt today: at least 2800
     
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  19. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    TALAVAN

    Saturday 26.9.

    Normally I was, like some others getting up before 7 am in order to go outside practise by ourselves. However, today was raining since the morning and for the whole day, so it was pointless. Luckily, Talavan, although it is the teacher's family home, was built like a wushu school and there is, obviously, a training room as well. Slightly smaller than our former dojo, so it is hard for a group of 12 people practice at once when we are moving, but doing the morning meditation and silk reeling worked well. There is a stove so we lit a fire and enjoyed a some warmth. If fact, we had to keep the door wide open when we were moving as it could get too warm very easily.

    After the warm-up we went for a breakfast, and then for the main training block. 9:30 am to 11:00. We practiced in the training room, usually divided into three groups with one practicing at a time most of the time. We got several corrections, both general and individual, so we had material to work on. Just as I stepped on the concrete or what floor, my shoes started sliding. I found it very annoying, so I took them off. The teacher didn't like the idea as the door was open and the floor was fairly cold, and told me to keep the shoes, or I'll get cold. I told him I won't do either and that I was used to it. He could not really force me and when his arguments didn't work, he just said something about oh those Japanese customs and how I should not think about spreading them around here :D

    This seminar, I shared a room with another girl named Martina (like me), who does Taiji for like 16 years (aged 28), has I think 11 gold medals from European Taiji tournaments, bronze and silver from World championships and I guess many more medals from other smaller events. Watching her perform is really amazing, so I took the opportunity to do so when I could. Apparently I do some of the mistakes she does or she used to do, so the teacher would laugh that perhaps the names are given based on how one does in Taiji. Well, I wouldn't be too angry if that were true :D

    Aftre lunch we again continued with the training inside and watched some videos of masters performing the forms wiht our teachers commenting what we should notice.

    I didn't measure my trainings properly today, so I won't bother writing the numbers down. For the whole day I burned around 2400 kcal. Which is not too much, but understandable considering that only four or so people could practice at the time and we did spend some time with theory.
     
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  20. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    TALAVAN

    Saturday 26.9.

    Today the rain was finally gone, hooray! I went out to practice, or rather mostly stretch at 7:30. The usual warm-up started at 8:00 and it also started raining, althoug only a little. After breakfast we were divided into our groups and practiced the forms we knew mostly by ourselves with teh teacher occassionally coming to give us pointers.

    Originally at this Talavan, me and the two girls wanted to come to practice the staff, sincethe three of us could form a nice group where we were at the same level. N originally had a plan to ask an instructor to give us a private class and help us with the staff. When I worked out the details with the instructor, N suddenly said she won't be participating as she should be ofcusing on improving her regular form now and not worry about the staff, which we were taught just as something we can do, although we do not have the basic skill to do it well. N got together with another guy at Talavan and I totally thought this was his influence, but whatever. For this reason I wasn't sure if we should even bring up the staff at this seminar if she wasn't up for it. However, it was brought up by the teacher the very first day. There were the three of us who "knew" 4 forms, a group who knew maybe half the forms and the rest could try to practice the basic skills if they wanted to.
    As it finally stopped raining, we took the staffs to practice. In our group of three, it turned out R was also taught privately, but shortly by a friend, whom she met for an afternoon and when N arrived, she seemed to know quite a bit more, like 10 forms, perhaps? Well, it made me feel a little weird... Did she just dump us? I do not mind if I know less, but her approach was a bit... Anyway, the teacher told N to help us with the forms that come next until he comes back from teaching the other group. I am not sure if she was really not listening, but didn't look like teaching us, so we all pracice by ourselves. When the teacher came back and asked us to show what we know and told us to continue further with what we learned, we had nothing to show. He didn't mind though and showed us I think 2 more forms. We continued this in the afternoon and learned some more. The 5th form I found pretty hard, but R having alread learned it briefly from that friend helped me with the explanation, which was great. I will have to practice, though.

    Just beofre dinned we went back to the basic form for a bit.

    3584 kcal burned today
     
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