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waterproofs? i wouldn't know. i got an altura waterproof night vision jacket. i'm hoping it's as good as it looks. wiggle. innit. combat trousers for cycling in.
or shorts+tight combo perhaps. still unsure of that much lycra on me. i don't want to look like "a commuter who thinks they cycle fast"
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I got waterproofs from Decathlon for cheap. They are alright.
I think I would like another new bike though. Id like one of those fixd wheel ones that the hot courriers have. They go well with cut off combats. Mmm.
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My week was certainly improved for having Wednesday off, and that's before we even factor in how much fun I had snowboarding. An hour just isn't long enough, unfortunately. And I discovered yet another thing for which I have no natural talent. Oh well, I shall battle on regardless.
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Learning to snowboard is the aces! I did a couple of days in Colorado the other week, and at one point I was totally doing it! Going back and forth, turning and everything. For several minutes at a time! Then I fell over again. By the end of it I had whiplash and that brain thing babies get if you shake them a bunch. Was good though.
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Yeah, the trouble is in the space of a mere hour, you just don't really feel like you've accomplished much. All we did was some basic stuff learning to traverse using the toe edge, and even that I didn't really get the hang of. I think it's definitely one of those things where learning is all about repetition of the movements until your body can do it without intervention from your brain.
I bailed pretty hard a few times.
Next time I'm going to do three hours rather than one. I know it's more expensive but I reckon that a single three hour session is probably going to be of a lot more benefit that three individual hour long sessions.
I totally enjoyed it though and definitely want to stick at it.
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Be careful, though. I imagine ben would have some pretty scathing things to say about learning to snowboard. Probably something about how you were trying to maintain your position on some kind of continuum of trendyness by behaving like a soho copywriter and imagining yourself looking like a photoset from a Sunday supplement.
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I think we all know though that if I even have a position on a 'continuum of trendiness' it's pretty much right at the back.
Plus I doubt anyone that superficial would really be willing to put the effort into learning to do something which is so damn difficult. I don't imaging they'd want to do anything they weren't able to instantly be at least competent at, while snowboarding at least initially makes you look less stable on your feet than you have been since you were a baby.
No I think the kind of person you're talking about would be more likely to just buy all the gear, the jackets the salopettes, they'd learn all the lingo and study snowboarding, buying DVDs and magazines and such, but ultimately they'd never actually get round to doing it. There are a lot of people like this in the drifting community. We call them lifestylersPosts: 12211
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i got snowboarding lessons at the snow dome in tamworth (kitz and the glamour) acouple of years ago. 3 x 2 hour sessions. i wish i'd had more money/stayed in the uk to do more/ had access to good slopes in tennessee.
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I've got a few friends who are regular snowboarders and they often go on holidays to places with mountains and suchlike, which seems like a decent enough kind of a laugh, and certainly beats the crappins out of going to some shithole just because it's sunny while ignoring the local poverts and the the infestation of ugly red-faced British tourists whose idea of sampling another culture is simply getting cunted on a slightly different brand of beer than usual.
Plus it's another healthy physical thing to do, along with the walking adn the cycling. I've got the fitness now to be able to do shit like this so I intend to enjoy it.
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I've got in the magazine rack next to the settee. So far, it would seem, the pounds aren't melting off. It doesn't seem to be working - am I doing something wrong?
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doc d really isn't going to give out any more informatin than he has to is he? "Guardian health thing" "Health thing at the Guardian." It's like super minimalist posting.
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Know your limits Work within your own capabilities. Don't let your competitive streak get the better of you and encourage you to push too hardlol, fat chance - easily done in a group situation. The idea is to work hard, but at your own level.this sounds doable, though you might be suprised at how low my own level is
Go regularly To see benefits from any fitness regime, you need to do it regularly. The ideal is three to four sessions per week. The great thing about British Military Fitness is that you only need to muster up enough motivation to get there. Ah...
Be prepared to get your hands dirtyYou mean like... fire an RPG at an Iraqi school bus?
It's the first thing I've ever made, and I've nearly finished it. But what should I make next? This thing was really easy but I'm scared to do anything more difficult because I will just get pissed off and stop.
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It’s ok, I took the initiative and looked it up for myself. All seems a bit hardcore for my liking. I mean, sure if you actually intended to do something with that level of fitness at the end, like run a marathon or climb a mountain, but it’s the kind of fitness that really takes a lot of work to maintain and involves setting aside massive amounts of time purely for exercise. One thing I’ve never been able to do is just exercise for its own sake. That’s why you’ll never find me going to a gym, or jogging in the park. Exercise isn’t, in itself, a fun thing to do, no matter how rewarding it may feel afterwards. So for me, exercise has to be something with a purpose, either as a side effect of doing something fun (like playing sports, going snowboarding, etc etc) or as a means of travelling about, so walking and cycling to and from work, etc. Even though I’m oddly able to stretch this justification to quite an extreme by spending an hour and a half walking home from work each day, when I’d get a good workout just by cycling instead and spend less than a third of the time doing it.
Maybe when I reach a point where doing the above isn’t doing me any good any more, I could think about doing something like that. But for the moment I’m still seeing really positive improvements in my health and fitness (not to mention looking and feeling as good as I have done since I was a teenager. As I remarked to a friend recently, I feel more like an 18 year old now than I did when I was 18) so I don’t feel I need to add anything in particular to my ‘regime’.
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Re the army fitness thing, I'm going to fall at the 'test your own fitness' hurdle.
Press-up max test Do as many press-ups as you can manage in exactly two minutes: approx one
Sit-up max test After resting for a couple of minutes, now do as many sit-ups as you can in exactly two minutes. Again, don't worry if you need to take a break. Good
1.5-mile run test Next, time yourself running 1.5miles (2.4km). If you can't run the whole way, walk where necessary. where necessary = after the first 100 yardsPosts: 4537
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Monitor your progress Keep track of how you're doing - it's hugely motivating to see how far you've come. That really depends, doesn't it.Posts: 13758
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i really enjoy exercise. it makes me feel a lot better mentally. i don't like "plodding" through something. the fitness training carries on afterwards with another structured program, which appeals to me.
i like the feeling of pushing myself in terms of exercise. on monday i cycled to work (9 miles) in about 45 minutes. cycled back 45 minutes. then after 20 minutes ran around the common (3 miles) in 24 minutes. plus the situps (3x20) and pressups (3x20 (on knees))
tuesday was just a cycle (again 45 minutes) no running. but i did pass steelgate in hyde park. who was also on a bike.....
weds i walked from victoria to goodge street. played football for 90 minutes.
today cycled in again (45 minutes-maybe a bit faster not sure). and will cycle home.
when i run, i like to feel that i could not have tried any harder.
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Maybe we need one based around household and office tasks.
- See how fast you can get to the kitchen - While waiting for the kettle to boil, try lifting a packet of biscuits. Advanced version: a packet in each hand. Stop if this raises heart rate. - Try typing without resting your arms on the desk.
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drink litres of water. the constant getting up and going to the bathroom will add an extra bit of effort into your day. kegel exercises for bonus calorie burning.
wait as long as possible and you've got some sprints in as well.
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