Day 85 - 86, Report for Tuesday and 'I-spy'

Sleep - just 6.5 hours. Paid extra to get a reserved seat on my tripto Kozu. This meant I arrived feeling refreshed and got the am jumps done on the station platform. Felt a minor triumph.

WO
Did I give my all? Yes. Could have worked harder to get to a faster failure, but I got there. And spent a bit of time with The Gang too. Thanks to Kristi for her encouragement!

Nutrition
Weakest part of the day. Breakfast and snacks all good. Lunch at clients, (first one out of the PCP) included some processed meat and a spring roll, which I ate. Fruit afterwards. Pleased that I took a homemade 'bento' (tinned fish, rye bread, cabbage) and I ate early before WO. Had a bit of yakitoria from a stand to 'make up' for missing protein at lunch - but it was dunked in sauce before I could stop her. And I ate it. Anyway, I'm starting to sound obsessed, so I'll say one more time I HATE EATING OUT ON PCP and shut up.

On a more relaxed note!

Here is a picture of me in my PCP-ed out home. How many PCP-related things can you see?

(Yes, I know I need to get out more.)

In celebration of the group behind at Day 40! Chariots of fire - movie, opening scene

This is for the group behind, soon to be the group ahead! And to Shirley, our running girl in Hong Kong!

Day 80 - Report for Day 79 (Weds)

Just a quick post here, as I want to look at how you guys are doing!

1. Work out

The exercises were hard work, but doable. Going a bit faster through the sets meant my muscles were still warm and it made it easier, not harder. Rope jumping...hmmm. I change my style and pattern alot to keep away the pain in my legs! According to Patrick's mail yesterday, 'less is more' re movement. The clockwatching was about 4 times on the first set, 2 on the second, and 1 on the third when I remembered I wasn't supposed to do it.

I'd say the WO was a GMA given the long day previously and the slight lack of sleep. Pat on the back there.

2. Nutrition

Some advance planning on Monday and Tuesday meant I had a  homemade bento ready before I moved from my regular office to the studio before reading the lunch time news! This is a suprising strong suite for me. Hit all my grams, no nasties.

3. Sleep - went from getting home around 10.20 ish to LO at 11.15. Saying 'no' to some time to myself was hard, but I did. And good sleep is time to myself in a way because it makes me more present when I am awake the next day. At least, that's the argument I make to my toddler mind! Got up at 6.15, so 7 hours. I could have done with more, but it was enough as I got a seat on the trains.

I enjoyed not just PCPing yesterday, but the sun, my great colleagues at my regular job and at NHK, reading the lunchtime news, and Spring in Tokyo!

Congratulations to all on reaching Day 80! This is a landmark and the 'T' minus countdown begins.

Day 68 - Ma, Jump rope, Radio

Liked Patrick's mail today about the sheer hard work it takes to learn to jump rope. Well done guys on Day 69 and to those behind us, it IS worth it! Today I'm going to weave two PCP themes - Jump rope and bodily awareness - with a personal one, my radio broadcasting.

To be a good announcer, I need three things.

1. Correctness.
For example, I need to ensure I know how to say names and ask or research if I do not. Also, I need to keep to the timings for each news item.

2. Confidence.
Once the On Air 放送中 sign comes on, I need to believe I am in the right place and I am going to do a good job.

3. Cadence
I've been complimented on having a good sound or pace to my voice. I try to feel both the overall direction or music of a sentence and the individual words. Sometimes I slip into my super-local Essex estuary English and have odd pronunciation, but the overall rhythm and tone is good.


Rhythm, confidence, good form...hmmm sound familiar to my fellow PCP-ers?

If you do something as elemental as jump rope everday, you don't get perfect straightaway or even the next day. I am still unable to consistently jump for more than a minute. But I am consistently jumping around a minute and with time and sweat, this will get longer. You improve in a cyclical manner. Improvements, steps back, plateaus, sudden unexpected leaps forward. And this applies to any skill.

If you do something that calls for confidence, which the rope does, you need to know how you are inside, to be aware. Like the space or 'ma', when eating, there is also a pause in the middle of a jump.

And in this pause is awareness of our strength.

Day 38 - I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made

Today's been a great day so far, so I thought I'd 'use up' this amazing quote I've had in mind for a blog post.

I woke up naturally today! At 5.55 to be exact. Felt suprised and for a change did not roll over but decided to roll out of bed. Jumps were done on my doorstep and I moved through the WO at a steady pace. I do look like an old geezer with the piston squats, but that's going to change. And the cycling was fine at first, but I was close to failure on the third set. In fact, I seem to be close to failure in a few of my third sets.

Another recording session at the NHK studio, this time for a lighter show (Radio Japan Focus). I got there earlier than expected, had more time to rehearse on my own, and felt the benefits of better breathing.

BREATH! It's something I have to think alot about during workouts but then I stop caring afterwards. I'm trying to be more aware of it. When it's good, everything is good.

Came back to my office in time for our annual hanami party. Got a compliment on my dinner (everything in one tupperware tub) and it was really nice to have tasty food that I had control over. I was satisfied, but not stuffed, and in fact the handstand and bridge were AFTER lunch! This would not happen with a shop bought bento!

Most of today, not just during exercise, but during rising, moving around, walking through stations, doing my radio announcement, I've felt awesome power in my body. Long may this continue!

Day 35 (4.4) - Feta Fetish

I had cheese for the first time all project... Just a little feta,
creamy speckles in a Greek salad. Picked them out with chopsticks and
arranged them in a (ahem) scattered formation on my brown rice bread.
It was pretty lovely especially when I toasted them. I don't know what
will happen with the new diet plan tomorrow, so I really savoured two
whole slices. Did well to use only a teaspoon of dressing,
less well to eat the clusters of cranberries in the salad. Can't
believe this is the person who ate 12 dried figs in one go a year ago.
It's odd that I both want and don't want to be someone who is happy
with less.

In other news, I repeated the 300 jumps from yesterday and other runs
were about 250, a couple of clear 150s. Muscles and nervous system,
plus breathe came together under the sakura today. For this, I have to
thank my friend, sleep. Going to bed when I still have a bit buzzing
in my head is so boring at the time - I used to want to read or
whatever for ages until I was struggling to stay awake. Now I assume
sleep isn't far off.

Good sleep is vital not just for our physical training but for a clear
mind, imagination, and confidence. All things for we want at our peak.

To a strong Week 6!

Day 31 - Come train with me

Trained with Paul, Patrick, and Kazue. Feeling stronger and enjoyed
the weigh-in, feedback, and fun of training with someone, especially
mirror image tricep dips. Go Paul!
Results are on track - the nasty wetsuit fat is on it's way out.
I've still got a spare tire, muffin top, and saddle bags if anyone
wants them. No takers? Okay, I'll just sacrifice them to the burrrrn
then!
Bit of a low having yogurt, banana, and apple on station platform with
smell of hot savoury noodles nearby.
Anyone noticed heightened sense of smell? I'm starting to tell from
people's skin what they ate. This is not a blessing on a Tokyo train
at night...Maybe I'm becoming a vampire.
As long as it's a lean and strong one, it's all good.

Capoeira from a coupla weeks ago...

Oh, here's a shot of my crazy capoeira teacher Cacapa and me doing a samba at the end of the roda...

Day 30 - One third in!

It's only just after lunch now, but I wanted to nail a few things about the 1/3 mark!  There are a few negatives, but I'm saving those for another time. Maybe Day 45!?

New habits

We've put down the spade work for the challenges of the next two months. The first times you say 'no' to things it feels like a big step, then it becomes just your habit. Your habit becomes something that is part of you and you wouldn't do it any other way. When people say 'It's my habit' as an excuse for eating or drinking too much or not exercising, they really mean 'I don't care enough to do something different'. Habits are either your greatest ally or your worst enemy depending on how they impact your life.

The body speaks

Everyone is showing some changes, big in some places, and small in others. 

I'm suprised at how much my torso is flattening and my legs are bulking up. I feel more present in my own body. This gives me hope that the next two months work is going to yield results. 

Our community

I've received so much encouragement from my team, those ahead of me, and those who've already completed. This helped me face the situation in Japan and to push on with the PCP. You can always find a blog post that gives you ideas, inspiration, a reality check, a nudge. Whatever you need to hear, it'll be out there. If I was doing this on my own, I'd have given up on Day 2. I know it's going to get harder (and it should) and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's journey. 

Oh, and the greatest thing is that rather than feeling jealous of other people, I feel in their corner. I want them to lose that bit of weight or build muscle or complete their V sit-ups. This feeling of generosity, of wanting others to be fabulous and flourish, doesn't happen often enough for me. But when you see the comments people give you can't help wanting to be a part of it. 

[ SIDE RANT

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I do believe that so many situations in life nudge us to compare ourselves to others in an unhelpful way. Look at how people buy clothes in a shop. They always avoid looking too closely at fellow shoppers, but there is always a glance, an interrogation. In the UK last year as I was holding up a sweater to myself and looking in the mirror. A middle-aged lady walked past and exclaimed 'Looks lovely!' and was gone before I turned from the mirror. This is the kind of celebratory attitude we can take to others. But all too often we see each other as competitors. PCPing is a refreshing break from all that nonsense]

Self knowledge

Doing the same challenge each day teaches you about yourself. Negative things include being too quick to think a set is over, over thinking, procrastinating, being embarrassed exercising in front of strangers, being prideful exercising in front of strangers. Good things - I'm a fairly mean cook, I like sleep, I can be disciplined if I know what is expected.