Day 81 - Swords (and rope) drawn at dawn

Can you spot the would-be samurai? He is often in the park at 6 am
practising his kendo swashes when I'm jumping rope! One of these days
I'll challenge him to a fight...

Okay, here's my report for Thursday, Day 80.

Workout - GMA?

Yes, I gave my all in the morning, but not in the evening when I did 8-min abs and pull-ups/KF sits ups - time constraints of finding a bar. Abs are always a pleasure with Mike and the gang. My pull up still consists of me jerking around and lifting my legs rather than my body. Disappointed with that, but you can't have everything.

Mental progress!  I am very pleased to report that I did not check watch ONCE during entire jumping session. Imagined a piston of a steam powered ship and this seemed to help me keep my movement solid. I did of course trip up about 7 times!

Hearing the alarm as a suprise, not a second countdown, is very sweet! When you just give up and go into it, go into the movement, it's altogether more enjoyable. The body wants to excel.

Nutrition

Good. Only glitch was 5 grams under on evening carbs as I ran out of the supply in the fridge. Cooked up a pile of sweet potatoes for tomorrow and restrained myself from eating a big plate of them, Irish peasant style. Added some rosemary from the garden - that's very worth getting up for and working out for...Call me simple!

Sleep

Light was out at 11.15. Very deep sleep, but still dozy in the afternoon. I've got to catch up that elusive hour or two on the weekend. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, kudos to PCP-ers with young kids or super heavy workloads. Next week I have three late nights with work and I'm not sure how to handle it.

Day 81 for our group and Day 35 for those behind. The midway point of Day 40 is tantalizingly close and a bit of a blur for me now!

Let's have a strong day!

Day 79: I heart morning workouts.

Hi gang!

This is coming from NHK's staff canteen surrounded by the smell of ramen, soba, and sushi. I already had my own PCP meal before the 7 pm recording.

Thank you by the way to those who listened either to the Thursday Radio Japan Focus show or the news last night. I'm still quite new to the whole radio thing and I appreciate the encouragement. If you have any critical feedback, that would be awesome too!

Ok, here's the report for Tuesday.

1. Muscle work was a Give My All! Banzai and hurrah! Got into 'form failure' on shoulder presses.V sit ups were tough but satisfying. Enjoyed the shoulder flies which I went at quickly. Rope jumping is all about settling my breathing. Less dillydallying.

2. Nutrition.

I had packed tonight's dinner before getting new diet plans and had to guess an extra 10 g of protein and 20 of carbs. It's such a small amount! Plus the tin of tuna at lunch weighed 65 rather 80 stated on tin after I drained it. Grrr! Ate an extra egg white, bought a tuna egg salad and trust my body will start to recognize a new pattern by tomorrow. I'll weigh out 20 g couscous at home tonight. I don't like guessing carbs...Fruit is weighed and waiting at home! It's some juicy melon... Can't wait. Anyone else happy to end the relationship with the scales!?

3. Sleep!

The biggest favour I did my body was setting a timer for one hour of feeding and relaxing, between getting through the door and getting into bed. Lights out around 10.45, reveille at 5.30 Monday morning. About 6.5 hours, which is a slight debt. Got a seat on train and hunkered down on and of for about 30 min total. Sometimes I try a counting meditation and if I don't sleep then it's rest of sorts. After recording the evening news two weeks ago I was on a big high and found it hard to settle. Need to just take the same approach tonight. Getting it done early sucks at the time but the feeling of freedom is exhilarating. It helped that today, at least, my body is in 'build and repair' mode.


Have you noticed what I have? At this stage of the PCP, the body has just different levels of tired but with flashes of unexpected energy? Take care everyone. We're getting close. And hit the switch as early as you can tonight!

Day 77 - Walk on

Today is the end of Week 11! Feel like the hardest is to come, so I 'm going to get tougher on myself, before the 'Super sets' come in.

I'm going to report each day on my performance in the three areas needed to build muscle and get fit.

1. Muscle stimulus

Did I give my all in my workout or not? Give my all (GMA) is my way of saying 'Do my best on the day'. It might mean a wonderful workout or a mediocre one depending on the muscle group or the number of reps.

Some of the thing I can control are 'Did I concentrate on the exercise or just wish it was over?' 'Did I waste time between sets?' 'Did I feel a burn?'

2. Nutrition

Did I hit the grams? Did I introduce something I shouldn't? Did I eat my last meal 1.5 hours before sleeping?

3. Rest

How many hours did I sleep the previous night or during the day?

I'll report the previous day, so Day 78, Tuesday will reflect how I did on Day 77.  Feel free to hassle me if you see an area where I need to work harder or smarter!

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Some of the practical changes I will make in the last 14 days.

1. No turning on my PC after 9 pm. I want to turn off the light earlier, get up earlier, get the WO done on a well-rested body.
2. Keeping breakfasts a lot simpler. A raw egg on rice, sashimi, a salad. Breakfast fritatta can be on the weekend.
3. Preview exercises the day before. Imagine what I will do. (Image training)

How about you guys? Is there any screw you can tighten up? Now is the time. 

Walk on gang!

Day 59 - Whither Abs?

I'm clearly getting braver/stupider about showing you all what's happening here. This was taken at about 8 am after getting through my workout in 49 minutes - with the exception of the Kung Fu situps.  What helped me get through faster was having the workout scribbled on a small post-it note which I carried in my pocket between the sets.

 

This is from yesterday I think. As you can see, I'm a bit of a dunce with numbers, but I'm figuring out a way to count down. Just to get myself confused, I sometimes count down, say 60, 59, 58, then get to 50, and start counting up. I don't know why I do this, but it happens. The thing I have got straight is turning my body a full 90 degrees if its a new skipping set or a 180 degrees when I'm in my tiny apartment. I'm sure I'll still be miscounting on Day 90, but that won't stop it getting done. 

Today is Thursday, but tomorrow is Golden Week Friday, and a long weekend! I'm going shopping for clothes and shoes for the Sassy Girl video shoot on Saturday night. I'll also need to do some practise at home as I'm still behind the other, more diligent, students. Things like the Sassy Girl Dance class and capoeira are important right now. All the things I need to do - putting on my gear before sleeping, getting up, remembering to count, and finding the burn - can seem a bit trudgy at this point. I need to remember that it all adds up.

Have a great day everyone!

Day 57 - PCP is like puberty

I've had a thought that PCP-ing is like puberty, for me anyway.

1. Dramatic bodily changes
2. Increased sense of personal power, coupled with
3. Sense of apprehension about what to do with new power
4. Loss of control - my body is doing it's own thing now
5. Feeling of delight and pleasure
6. Stronger sense of self and thus
7. Need to have time alone
8. Somewhat judgy-wudgy and superior attitude to those who make 'lame' choices.
9. Need for lots of sleep
10. New found surges of confidence.

Anyone identify with these?

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Today was another freakishly early morning - at 5.30 if you please! The plans came in a little later than usual, but they were worth waiting for. My nose is well and truly in the trough.

I have a new pain, on my right shoulder and it is dull and a bit depressing, but I guess that's muscle tissue doing that thing that teenage revellers do after the first party of the night - getting their booze, fags, texting friends from other places, before going to the party after the party, which is bigger and louder and more debauched than the first.

Okay, on that note, time to disperse!

Day 55 - And miles to go before I sleep

This verse from Robert Frost sums up how I felt today, being in the middle of this journey...

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, 

But I have promises to keep. 

And miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before I sleep

For some reason, I woke at 5.30 and got all my workout and jumps done before breakfast. Don't ask me how that happened, but I hope I am in a good rhythm for next week. I failed pretty early on the pullups, my jump rope is inconsistent, my back work is good. 

Went to Kawasaki and had lunch at the Oyster Gumbo bar with Yoko. They patiently listened to what I needed, decided to charge me an extra 200 yen for throwing about five more prawns onto my pasta, and then promptly brought Yoko a diminished bowl of rice and dressingless salad. These things happen (Side observation - why did she send it back and ask for more but tell me that she wouldn't eat it all? Strange things happen when you want your money's worth...). 

As usual, the food I made myself was the real treat - pan-fried buri and steamed sweet potatoes with ginger/red onion thrown on top. Probably too much frying, but hey ho. 

Going back to the poem, I feel totally immersed in this experience in the same way the traveler did when in the woods. I know that it'll be over and I've got to look to day 90, the tough last section, but right now, I feel on top of things. 

Fellow PCP-ers, what are you feeling on top of? I know Paul is on top of his plank!

Have a great week everyone!

Day 52 - Feeding time, fun in the park, and bowing out of capoeira

Again, I'm astounded at how long preparing food takes when you are
weighing everything. Last night I decided to jump rope, 'do a bit of
prep' and then think about biking down to the onsen. Did this happen?
Did it heck!

Two and a half hours, a bag of veggies, eggs, milk, yogurt, a pot of
said eggs, boiled, veggies chopped for the nori roll this evening, a
cinammon salmon veggie omlette cooked for this am, plus actually
eating my evening rations (love AMAYL veggies).... Made it to local
(sento) bathouse just to get away from the sight of food!

Enjoyed a moving Radio 4 play while puttering in the kitchen. I adore radio drama!

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Today's been hard. I did everything early today, by 9. All except the Kung Fu situps before leaving for the studio - including packing food for tonight. Now it's close to capoeira time, my energy is very low and I just want to be transported home with no need for walks or subways or bike rides. Sorry to whine, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.

This is the kind of thing that gets me - I expect tiredness midworkout, but knackered during the day is a drag. Must be in the shredding stage of muscle growth, huh?

My friend, Joy, took some photos this afternoon in a local park. They probably give a completely false account of how much energy I have!

Start of a pull-up?

No, it's a Kung Fu sit up!

Kids behind scared I'll clock them! Wisely, they beat a hasty retreat...

Note pointed toes and scary face! Now let's see if this elephant will take my weight...

Pass on that one I think.

Elephant breathes a sigh of relief!

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Only one day till the weekend and then Indulgence, Sass, and Japanese Grandmother!

I think the capoeira tonight might just be sacrificed for sleep because the class finishes at 10.15 which won't bring me home until 11.30. This is a bit annoying, but in the grand scheme, it's no biggie. And Roald Dahl's short stories for adults are on Radio 4 too.

Day 50 - A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.

Love that Irish proverb there!

Slept long and deep last night although I felt ridiculous about having to concentrate so hard (don't turn on computer! don't open book! don't put away cups!) Woke up a bit groggy and more aware of my body. Give your muscles get a chance to rest and they seem to hurt more! I take this continued ache as a message from my body (the toddler) to do the same thing tonight. I will put out the light by 11 pm at the latest.

 Gretchen Ruben  has some wise words on treating yourself as a toddler and planning ahead.

This is the first day in the whole project that I have had an entire workout (jump rope and muscle work) to do in the evening. I might swap out the jump rope for a mini dance session - if you remember I'm doing a Sassy Girl dance class and there will be a video shoot in two weekends. I need to learn the steps and Kike kindly gave everyone a CD with his choreography. The music is Christina Aguleira's 'Burlesque' and it's great to do it with a stronger leaner body. So I get to Be A Woman as well as a fractious toddler. Ace.

How about you guys? How are you going to get a good night's training?

Day 44 - Reveille

It's 5.50 am as I write this and I have been up for about 20 minutes. I'm not tired and I woke naturally. I didn't even sleep super early last night!

In the past the only time I would wake up naturally this early would be if I had a really important MUST NOT MISS type appointment like a flight to the UK or a work assignment. And I wouldn't be feeling refreshed like I do now.

I feel a bit lame saying this when there are people who regularly get up at this time or have been doing so since Day 1, but it is huge for me.

Last night's workout was interesting and I did give it my all.

Some things felt really easier, like the lunges and others that had been relatively smooth, like the jumps were weak. Press ups failed earlier than usual. I was quivering like anything on the final planks!

I've decided to invest in a pair of workout gloves rather than the one hundred yen pair I'm currently using.
If you know of a good pair, give us a shout!

Day 41 - PCP curry.

I'm all for Zen and 'ma' and white space and all that, but surely they could have arranged this a little more intelligently! It's screaming 'Look Mum, No Nan Bread!' I went to this curry house in Kawasaki 30 minutes before meeting Japanese grandma and told them what I'd like by the gram. I wanted to get tandoori chicken, but I'm trying to do my PCP with fish as my main protein source, so I asked for tandoori prawn. This was very dry and I'm sure it was not 120 g. so I bought 20 g. of dried fish from a station platform afterwards.  Not good. 

Going back to this culinary extravaganza, the red dish is vegetable curry and was rather uninspiring. Usually I'd get a two-curry set with nan, rice, and salad. I'd usually pay 950 yen. For this, I paid 1, 500 yen because of the tandoori prawns. Meh. All this grousing is wholly unimportant compared to the pleasure of spending time with my delightful Japanese grandmother, Yoko. I missed meeting her for a month. The world is a better place after seeing her. 

After I got back to my part of Tokyo, I went to Toshimaen for a bit and had this...squid and salad. It came to 1,200 yen which is more reasonable than the curry, but in truth, I'd paid someone to chop and arrange some vegetables and then grill some squid. If I did this at home, I'd have arranged the squid properly.  It tasted good though, ordered sans salt, sans mayo, salad with vinegar.

I don't mind paying to eat this when I can look at a huge pink sakura lit up against the night sky.

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Did I mention that I did all my WO before breakfast? I think I'm over that throat thing now. Maybe I have a stronger immune system already. 

Let's finish Week 6 in style with some sexy jumps tomorrow. Go TEAM IO!

Day 40 - Holding it off

After a jubilant week of feeling big and strong, I'm now holding a sore throat at bay. I had a four-hour class today and had planned to go to the Sassy Girly dance class after that, but changed my mind when I started to notice slight shivery-ness and sore throat. This is very normal for me to a) get sick at the weekend b) feel it in my throat.

Good stuff was jumping before breakfast. I wasn't as coordinated as I'd have liked to be, but it was a bit windy and hey, I hadn't eaten anything.

I am calling this weekend, my 'Screw the Duvet' weekend. Namely, I'm going to try to keep as much as possible to a regular week schedule and just crash out earlier if I need to. I missed a bit of sleep Thursday and Friday hence feeling under the weather today. I hope I can do jumps before breakfast tomorrow.

A bit worried about eating out again tomorrow. This is a meal that is usually a two-weekly thing with a delightful lady called Yoko, AKA my Japanese grandmother. It hasn't happened because of the earthquake, so it's going to be special. In fact, it was Week 1, as I was eating half sushi portions. I'm going to have a look online to see if there are some better options than our usual places.

I'd like to take my scales in, but the ones I have at home are just too 'down home' looking to feel okay about in a restaurant!

Such are the challenges of trying to be PCP compliant and sociable. I'm in awe of people who regularly eat out and with clients!