Gotta get my head in the game..

Un Croissant

I've decided to train and compete in some form of marathon this time next year.

Problem is I said the exact same thing last year. Plus I've been meaning to learn French for the last seven or eight years.

And maybe one day I'll get around to writing my romantic novel about a man in the far future who falls in love with a woman in 2015. Her life is all up online for him to see so he travels back in time to meet her. Chicks eat that junk up.

What have you always said you'd do or learn but just never bothered?

Mr. Incognito

Give up procrastinating on boards and do a combination of

Work,
Studies,
Get outside
Gym

Etc.

Hasnt happened yet.

You could do your training listening to French language podcasts?

Marathon training is intensely boring.

4zn76tysfajdxp

Deleted User wrote: »

You could do your training listening to French language podcasts?

Marathon training is intensely boring.

So are French language podcasts, though.

dxhound2005

Deleted User wrote: »

You could do your training listening to French language podcasts?

Marathon training is intensely boring.

Train for a half marathon. It's only half as boring.

Berserker

Un Croissant wrote: »

I've decided to train and compete in some form of marathon this time next year.

Marathon training is extremely hard on the body and mind. I would recommend that you set an easier goal to start off with and focus on running 5K, 10K & maybe a half marathon over the coming year and look at doing a marathon next year.

dxhound2005

Or just walk 26 miles, it's not that hard. You will finish before most of the 80 and 90 year olds on the day.

UCDVet

I think people approach these things from the wrong direction. Let me demonstrate....Un Croissant, how many hours per day do you spend staring at the wall, doing nothing?

Odds are - zero.

I'd bet money you utilize all 24 hours of every day, in some fashion or another. Coming home from work at unwinding in front of the TV might seem like 'nothing' but it's not. It's something. People need some amount of downtime, and some amount of trivial things and enjoyable things.

If you want to run a marathon, you'll need to train. A lot. At a minimum, you'll need to build up to a 1/2 marathon before the race day. It won't be long before you're running an hour or two most days and longer a day or two per week. Let's be generous and say, training for your marathon will cost you an average of 1 hour per day.

Don't think of it as, 'I'm going to run a marathon' - that will NEVER happen because you are already using all 24 hours. Instead, come up with 'What I will give up, so that I have an hour per day to train for a marathon'.

Because, you have to give up something.

Learning a foreign language is a HUGE undertaking. You could spend an hour per day studying, for five years, and still not be considered fluent. 'Workable knowledge' - maybe - but a local six year old will run linguistic laps around you.

If you want to speak French you need to give up a LOT of something. What thing do you do now, that you can cut back an hour each day, for the next five years, at least?

I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's like an RPG game. You've got 24 points to spend each day, and you can spend them on anything you want, but you only get 24. And you still need to sleep, eat, cook, bathe, work, etc - just to survive. You need to cut something out to make room for 'COOL NEW THING #1'

(for what it's worth, I did an hour per day of Spanish for months. I kept track of every word I learned, verb conjugations all that jazz - was up to 800 words on my list and was doing audio tapes. Never got close to fluent, screwed up my routine after a surgery and never started up again. Now, a year later, I don't remember 1/10th of what I had learned. Huge waste of time for no benefit)

Yurt2

Run the Paris marathon

4zn76tysfajdxp

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Or just walk 26 miles, it's not that hard. You will finish before most of the 80 and 90 year olds on the day.

Doing a marathon is supposed to be hard, though.

cml387

I see that those strangely named training logs that clog up the latest posts and now in AH as well.

Egginacup

Un Croissant wrote: »

I've decided to train and compete in some form of marathon this time next year.

Problem is I said the exact same thing last year. Plus I've been meaning to learn French for the last seven or eight years.

And maybe one day I'll get around to writing my romantic novel about a man in the far future who falls in love with a woman in 2015. Her life is all up online for him to see so he travels back in time to meet her. Chicks eat that junk up.

What have you always said you'd do or learn but just never bothered?

Go back to Galway. It's the graveyard of ambition.

Wacker The Attacker

Havez vous le ****

SEPT 23 1989

A gentleman will walk but never run

ignore the health Stasi and enjoy your life

MooShop

UCDVet wrote: »

(for what it's worth, I did an hour per day of Spanish for months. I kept track of every word I learned, verb conjugations all that jazz - was up to 800 words on my list and was doing audio tapes. Never got close to fluent, screwed up my routine after a surgery and never started up again. Now, a year later, I don't remember 1/10th of what I had learned. Huge waste of time for no benefit)

I've a very similar story too. Put a lot of effort into learning Korean while I lived out there. Started online just learning vocabulary and verb conjugations aided by podcasts, all for free. Did an intensive course for 10 weeks. Proficiency improved an awful lot in that time.

I'd say my vocabulary was up around 1000 - 1200 words, probably an upper beginner to lower intermediate level. I signed up for another 10 week intensive course and about 2 weeks in I dislocated my shoulder playing football at the weekend. Couldn't really study while I was recovering and just never got back in to studying again after it. That was 2 and a half years ago and like you said, I can't remember most of what I learnt. I put a big effort into it but if you don't continue it day in day out then you'll never pick up a language properly.

LadyAthame

I find I do accomplish things. But's maintaining them. I had conversational french for a while, but I forgot a lot. I am writing.

I have started numerous books before ..the first I started when I was seventeen. I wrote up to chapter five and had a confidence crisis. Then I was in college etc.

I run /jog but not training.

I am writing again.

I said I would learn not to waste time with people who were not worth my time this year. It's going better than I thought.

Un Croissant

UCDVet wrote: »

I think people approach these things from the wrong direction. Let me demonstrate....Un Croissant, how many hours per day do you spend staring at the wall, doing nothing?

Odds are - zero.

I'd bet money you utilize all 24 hours of every day, in some fashion or another. Coming home from work at unwinding in front of the TV might seem like 'nothing' but it's not. It's something. People need some amount of downtime, and some amount of trivial things and enjoyable things.

If you want to run a marathon, you'll need to train. A lot. At a minimum, you'll need to build up to a 1/2 marathon before the race day. It won't be long before you're running an hour or two most days and longer a day or two per week. Let's be generous and say, training for your marathon will cost you an average of 1 hour per day.

Don't think of it as, 'I'm going to run a marathon' - that will NEVER happen because you are already using all 24 hours. Instead, come up with 'What I will give up, so that I have an hour per day to train for a marathon'.

Because, you have to give up something.

Learning a foreign language is a HUGE undertaking. You could spend an hour per day studying, for five years, and still not be considered fluent. 'Workable knowledge' - maybe - but a local six year old will run linguistic laps around you.

If you want to speak French you need to give up a LOT of something. What thing do you do now, that you can cut back an hour each day, for the next five years, at least?

I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's like an RPG game. You've got 24 points to spend each day, and you can spend them on anything you want, but you only get 24. And you still need to sleep, eat, cook, bathe, work, etc - just to survive. You need to cut something out to make room for 'COOL NEW THING #1'

(for what it's worth, I did an hour per day of Spanish for months. I kept track of every word I learned, verb conjugations all that jazz - was up to 800 words on my list and was doing audio tapes. Never got close to fluent, screwed up my routine after a surgery and never started up again. Now, a year later, I don't remember 1/10th of what I had learned. Huge waste of time for no benefit)

Now I feel bad for putting this is AH. Thanks

To be fair, I won't do a marathon. I know that much, but the gf is Korean and she's been teaching me a bit. I think I'll knuckle down at that for now

LadyAthame

I find that you must do it everyday ...no matter how small a distance you do ...don't miss a day or for writing ...keep the chain.

osarusan

LadyAthame wrote: »

I said I would learn not to waste time with people who were not worth my time this year. It's going better than I thought.

Join date: Mar 2015

Posts: 730

:pac:

LadyAthame

osarusan wrote: »

Join date: Mar 2015

Posts: 730

:pac:

Have a lovely evening ..goodbye.