14 May 2012

This & That: Why I won't be online this week




This edition of This & That is all about new hobbies!

On the one hand, I picked up a new physical hobby: running! Yep. After loooong deliberation, and more procrastination because I didn't have the money for my shoes, I bought a proper pair of running shoes last week and have started running. I am so out of shape, it would be hilarious if it weren't so painful (I am so sore. I mean it. I am hurting in places I was not expecting to be hurting in. My feet, oddly enough, are fine though. Must be the awesome running shoes.). I found the Couch to 5k-training programme last year and have been interested in trying this because I thought it would be doable. Let me be honest with you: it wasn't. The first step, alternate running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds, for a total of 20 minutes, was already too much for my bad shape! I know, it's pathetic! So I'm taking it slow, and am slowly, slowly, slowly training to become better. Maybe next year, I will be running that 5k with ease.(I'm not getting my hopes up, though.)
 
On the other, a less physical hobby, and the real reason why I won't be online too much this week... Diablo 3 is coming out this evening at midnight! I AM SO EXCITED YOU GUYS. Diablo 2 was the first game the boyfriend and I played together, and played for hours and hours on end. We only stopped playing Diablo 2 because they announced Diablo 3 more than 4 years ago, and switched to World of Warcraft as an in-between game for a year or so. It turned out to be slightly longer than that. I have played the Beta, and we've tested all classes, so I can say with fair certainty that I am going to be playing a female Monk first. The storyline was always the main reason I played Diablo 2, and what I've seen and heard so far is looking very promising indeed. So this week, I'll be immersed in Sanctuary, saving the world from Prime Evils. And maybe angels. I don't know yet. That's why I'm excited!

7 comments:

  1. Haha Diablo 3 and running are total opposites!

    I am also super unfit. It' so so so hard to get started - wish you super luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I know... That's why it took me about a year to finally go for it! I'm very self-conscious about, well, everything I guess,and I was afraid that I would look foolish, that I couldn't keep up with the training schedule, that I had the wrong build for it and would end up hurting myself.. But I just decided that now's as good a time as any to get to work on getting into shape. And I was half-right about the schedule being too hard. My first run was last Friday and about half-way in, I wanted to just sit down on the pavement and cry. I have friends that run a lot, and they all told me that it would take some getting used to and that I should just keep going, but damn, my legs hurt! But I kept going, and went again on Sunday with my mother, and she made me drop the training schedule because it was making it hard to focus on the actual running when you're trying to listen for a beep in your ears (I have an app on my phone). We decided to count for ourselves (1 left right, 2 left right, 3 left right...) and that helps a lot to get into a kind of rhythm.

      So long story short: All it takes is some willpower, a good pair of shoes and a long stretch of road. And you live in Australia, so I assume there's plenty of long stretches of road around ;)

      Delete
  2. I envy the way you have taken up running. I want to so badly but honestly I am afraid. I already have bad knees and I am afraid of injuring myself. Maybe I can find some bravery and begin. Plus it is a great reason to do some shoe shopping:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Go for it :D I bought these shoes at a running centre, and they do a whole check to see what kind of runner you are, and they ask in advance if you have any trouble areas like your knees. The way it went with me was, the guy in the shop gave me some 'neutral' shoes without any extra support, made me run back and forth a few times while he taped it on camera, and then we watched the video in slow motion to see how I ran, what the position of my ankles was in landing, if my feet pointed outwards, etc. And based on that, he got me some shoes! It takes some time (I was in there for about 20 minutes), because you repeat this process with every pair of shoes you try on, but it's very helpful because there's a good chance your feet do things you don't even notice when you're running. My feet slightly leaned inwards on landing, so I've got a pair of shoes with some extra support in the sole to counter that. If you have bad knees, they can take that into account as well when they help you with your shoes.

      Delete
  3. You will get there!

    I too started running, in the gym at work. I would do 20 minutes on the tread mill and did 60 second spurts of jogging. I got up to 4 and a half minutes of jogging after 15 sessions. Good for me anyway.

    How are you getting on now?

    Kate x

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wish I could run but I found my joints just can't handle it, which sucks. I'll stick to walking and hulahooping :P

    Totally with you on Diablo, though. Taking it slow, but I'm loving my lvl 18 or so WD. :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was skeptical about the Couch to 5k program too, but it really did work for me. Twice! I ran the 5k last year and shaved 3 minutes off my time this year! Sticking with the schedule (whatever the schedule is) is the most important thing.

    ReplyDelete