Wally Report! Wally, against all the odds, has become a creature of refinement and taste, at least until the full moon. I have been writing to women! Well, to two-dimensional representations of women. They include: a violinist, an alternative music and film devotee and a sci-fi geek. (The letter to the alt.girl was titled "Let's all band together to stop the spread of country music".) I'm less inclined to take a scatter-gun approach now, I'm developing more of a picture of what I need to hold my interest.

Anyway, we'll find out if any of them are likewise inclined. They need a little attention. They need a little tenderness. They need a little Wally.

I like a ratio of 1 running segment to 3 walking segments at first, and then after a couple days of that, 2-to-2, and then 3-to-1

What Raq said. 5K is very doable. I would stay at the 1/3 ratio for longer than a couple days though. And go you!

Um...because it's almost 8am

Of course it is...I counted the wrong way from board time. So the real question is, why is ita awake?

So...anybody have any suggestions for travelling in Munich? To xpost from my LJ: Finalizing vacation plans today. Of the 5 people going, one wants to visit King Ludwig II sites, following the trail of Gabriel Knight in "The Beast Within." He keeps referring to Ludwig as "Our Big Gay Werewolf King." Another wants to track down the fabled Wolpertinger. A third is just going to get out of Moldova for a bit. A fourth is all about the luge and bobsled potential (that would be Mallory). I would love to see marmots, but December, not such a good time to spot hibernating mammals.

They need a little Wally.

wrod

you don't need to be prepare your fitness to start a martial arts program. You can make the martial arts part (or all) of your fitness program.

Hmm. The thing is that in Egypt, I don't know how many good Martial Arts teachers we have. I mean, there are lots of karate instructors, but they seem to be largely macho Egyptians who terrorise the kids. So I probably wouldn't be looking at starting a martial arts program in the immediate future. Probably.

Also, I really do need to prepare my fitness - psychologically and emotionally, if not physically. I've never, at least since I started Junior school at 7 years of age and promptly piled on some weight (very stupid response to being picked on, but there you are), felt confident about my physical appearance or abilities. All the cliches about being the last kid picked for the team blah blah blah - my body image is just this awful, painful issue that I try to ignore and not care about simply because it feels so humiliating and hopeless. I have more respect and admiration than I can readily express for your own ethos and athleticism, and I realise that I may well be coming across as a whining idiot, but I know how I tick. I've got a lifetime of NO positive associations with exercise. (And this whole thing of being fuckedup about physical control and abilities extends even to something as non-athletic as singing - I just expect to humiliate myself when it's a case of trying to build/use/demonstrate physical competence & skills in front of other people. I KNOW it's insane, but I've got all this baggage that I have to work through.)

Er. So in short, I think that I need to build up a lot more confidence and belief in my own strength, flexibility and abilities and so forth, because otherwise I'll either flee or default to my Incapable Clown Girl setting (if I'm laughing at myself first, and not taking it seriously, then I can't be truly gutted when I screw up, and the Other People can't belittle me if I've already got there first), rather than daring to take it seriously.

pops in

Congrats, Drew!! That's so awesome!

pops out

So the real question is, why is ita awake?

I think ita's headache is back in full force.

5K is very doable. I would stay at the 1/3 ratio for longer than a couple days though

This is the program I'm looking at; although I think I'd adapt it to cover 3 months rather than two, in deference to my extreme unfitness. In January I want to move on from the Treadmill to using weights, but I'm thinking about trying this running stuff instead/as well.

Hey, PC!

Fay, I so totally get that. And hey, I was picked last for every team (well, me and the girl who had polio) even BEFORE I decided to deal with junior high by eating steadily.

I started martial arts before I learned to run, and it was a horrible and demoralizing experience. Now I know that's mainly because I had the wrong kind of teacher, but then I just quit. And started fencing, which was better, but really not my thing. Whatever physical skills I have, they don't lend themselves to fencing.

I did drop some pounds and build some endurance fencing, though, and due to that and other reasons I decided to start running. Which helped with EVERYTHING. I'd never been able to run around the block, let alone 5k.

I will say that ita's right, though - I've been to three dojos (and taught at one of them) where you didn't need any kind of physical fitness or expertise to start and get better. Judo can burn 800 calories/hour if done solidly, and you get muscle tone. But it is tough to find these dojos, and I've never found any like them "overseas" (one was in York, two in the States).

Weightlifting's another good confidence-builder. That (and exercise biking) were actually my first love. The great thing about weight training is that while you feel all macho doing it, and get to sit down a lot, it helps burn fat - an ounce of muscle tissue "eats" the same number of calories as a pound of fat, so if you are constantly asking your body for muscle, the calories you eat go to the muscle rather than the fat.

Gosh, I'm wordy today.

I think I'm getting a cold. My throat is sore and my head is fuzzy.

Yay!