Going to work is better if you have gone hiking before
Just last week I wrote how we had left Thursdays free from work until 4PM so that we could go on ‘workday adventures’ - but that we hadn’t done one yet.
This past Thursday we did, and we had a great time.
Want to do something? Plan accordingly
We’ve left Thursdays free from work until 5PM so we could occasionally go on short hikes - but, in 9 weeks - most of which have had fantastic weather - we haven’t done one yet. Not because we didn’t have the time - simply because we didn’t plan it into our weekly schedules.
End of the cycling season, and why I actually prefer walking
Last Sunday’s brief bike ride made it clear that the cycling season is largely over. We like cycle-adventuring much more than cycling itself, and the cold temperatures that are now upon us don’t allow for pleasant leisure-riding.
I’m not upset about this, to be honest, as I enjoy hiking more than I like cycling, overall…
Work-life balance
One thing I’ve been considering lately is whether I should increase my work hours or not. The concept of work-life balance is popular among employees, but it’s quite a different thing when you are self-employed and have to choose how much and what kind of work to take - as it’s easy to do too much and then end up burnt-out.
Digital nomads
It is on days like today that I would like to be a digital nomad, to continue enjoying this streak of clear, sunny weather we are having...but instead we had to come back to go to work in our physical locations.
Not that being a digital nomad isn't without its disadvantages…
One does not simply finish a home gym…
I stumbled upon this meme just after completing the purchase of some new equipment for the gym - despite having said that I had anything I could possibly need…
Trail running races
Last weekend I did my 4th trail running race, a half marathon with 900m of elevation change. I was eyeing a trail marathon in late January as my next race, but then, as we were hiking last Sunday, I started thinking and realized it may not be the best course of action…
Long time no see!
It’s been a while since my last post - more than 3 months, actually. It’s been a wild summer, with our first cycling trip and a fantastic Workaway - and then we’ve gone back to working and adventuring close to home…
Incremental improvements
Another thing we saw on ‘A new life in the sun - Where are they now’ is how some of the more entrepreneurial people were able to expand their businesses by taking on more projects as their initial idea succeeded - for example, a couple invested the money they earned with their restaurant by buying a condo to renovate it and rent it.
Random thoughts on owning a business
We watched a few episodes of ‘A new place in the sun - Where are they now’ while in the UK, resting on the couch after a day of walking on the Dales Way. I like this show as we too have a dream of having a place of our own at some point, somewhere more rural than where we live and have grown up in - and to have some sort of passive (as well as active) income from it.
Dales Way completed
It’s a strange feeling - for the last few days our routine has been to wake up, walk and find spots to take a break and eat something while going to the next step of the journey, which we found to be rather freeing: the task was clear, the reward immediate, the end in sight - not something that happens very often in regular life.
![[Crafting] is cumulative](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/664dc754dd1ae83b208fd425/1720879092354-7KMPC897LZ24ZYL859JM/20220302_224021.jpg)
[Crafting] is cumulative
I once heard in a podcast by the Jack Mountain Bushcraft school the above quote - ‘crafting is cumulative’ - meaning that the more you do it, the better you become at it.
The seasonality of training
I believe there are seasons and phases in one’s training, and one should not deny this and fixate on just one modality when its timing is over [at least for the moment]. I used to be very much into strength training, and built a DIY wooden power rack to train heavy squats, bench presses and rack pulls - but now that phase is over
Heavy kettlebells
I’ve had a 40kg kettlebell for almost 10 years now, which I bought for swings and to use for weighted chin ups and dips. At the gym I mainly have students use it for deadlifts, as I find KB deadlifts are very handy for group classes. So, around this time last year I took advantage of a sudden discount and bought 3 other big kettlebells - a 48, a 56 and a 68 - to increase the progressive overload potential
Last adventure before the summer
I wanted to do one last trail running adventure before the summer travels, but we couldn't find a suitable race - they were either too long or too short - so we picked a track with the characteristics we wanted from a book I stumbled upon at the library.
Instant gratification mindset
I was thinking yesterday how weird it is that most ads I see in relation to physical training or nutrition are about promising fast results…
‘Everyone is a little weird once you look closely enough’
I had just finished teaching a private session when my student told me this sentence..
The adventure lifestyle
About a month ago I was reading about training for adventure racing, and I saw someone mention that it’s much easier if you have an ‘adventure lifestyle’…
‘think about your social media platform as a savings account..’
I read this quote in Jonathan Goodsman’s newsletter and I really like it, as it sums up nicely the way I’m thinking about my social media accounts and this website
Just do it!
In March we moved into a house with a larger balcony that has much better sun exposure, so we decided to just do some container gardening, and the results are quite good!