# tlohde

1 × 4⅓

22:51 31/01/2026
1496 words
contents

What happened[1] over the last four and a bit weeks?

I started doing a bit more exercise after a too long hiatus.

A friend came to stay and made some ramen and it is my new favourite thing to eat. I had it for lunch, and will be having some leftovers shortly. Actually, that's not true, my new favourite thing to eat is this peanut rayu,[2] which I'm greedily adding to the ramen.

The dog got spooked by some other dogs and bolted home⸺including several busy-ish road crossings⸺and her behaviour has been a bit off ever since. We're working on it.

I read a bit more than usual; climbed about as much as usual; and ate a fair bit less than usual.

exercise

cycling

My partner, somewhat impulsively and extremely generously, gifted me a turbo-trainer.[3] It came with a two-month free subscription to the fancy online cycling world, which I have opinions about. It's a bit silly, and grossly over-priced. That's the main thrust of my opinion. There's more, but I shalln't go on.[4] I've done ten "rides" on it so far. An FTP test[5]; a few endurance sessions; and a sweet-spot session. Never more than a hour. When winter gives way to spring and I do venture outside, I will, hopefully, not feel too slow and rusty.

Cycling is good.

running

Nine runs. Tight calves after each of them.[6] Nowhere exciting, just back and forth along the slightly boring[7] strech of coastline. Some of the runs have been with the dog. She makes it look easy. Most of these were < 4 km; all were < 9 km. Some longer(ish) ~threshold(ish) intervals on one of them; and shorter snappier intervals on another.[8]

Running is good.

climbing

I am grateful for the bouldering wall that's a ~10 minute walk away. I've been a regular since it opened nearly two years ago and I am beginning to get to know a few other regulars. Additionally, a friend from my PhD programme also climbs there, so we tend to climb together once per week. Friends are nice.[9] The gym doesn't do grades,[10] just colours. For a good while my level was most-pinks-and-maybe-a-red-on-a-good-day, recently however, I've stepped up a bit and am now more of a more-reds-than-not-and-a-white-if-it-suits-me. I'm still not sure what my style is. I also got some new shoes[11], and I am a little bit annoyed at how much difference they make. I want climbing to be free from the tech & gear that sometimes makes cycling[12] annoying. Anyway, progress is nice. I haven't been on the end of a rope for a while, but I'm scheduled to do so tomorrow.

Climbing is good.

losing

A, not wholly unintended, consequence of picking up running and cycling again is that I have lost some weight. Over the last two years[13] my weight increased by ~15%. And I felt it. In four and a bit weeks I've dropped half of what I'd gained, and I feel a better for it. My "strategy" has been to stop inhaling biscuits by the packet;[14] cutting out sweet things entirely(ish); and not snacking between meals. This reduction in inputs, coupled with the above exercise, seems to be working.

elsewhere

The elsewhere page doesn't get populated as often as I mean to, so here's a big ol' link dump.[15]

the post's postscript

last year

Last year sucked. For the most part.

Granted, there were some good things:

Hopefully twenty-twenty-six will be less sucky.

thirteen what? thirteen thirds.

The cadence of Weeknotes™ is too onerous,[16] so, allow me to introduce the rational (that's a joke) modification to this: thirteen thirds, or 4⅓, or 13/3.

I will endeavour to (i might) write a little what-i've-been-doing every four and a third weeks month. These posts will serve as (a) a memory aide for future me; (b) something that might keep me accountable to something or something like that.

footnotes

  1. a non-exhaustive, prone to the spotlight effect, biased sample ↩︎

  2. which, according to the website, is "inspired by the Japanese condiment Taberu Rayu (食べるラー油)" ↩︎

  3. i'm still not really cycling outside, other than for getting places, on the rare occassion i gotta get places ↩︎

  4. when the subscription runs out, I will move over to the much more affordable icTrainer ↩︎

  5. 219 W, thanks for asking ↩︎

  6. a function of being a forefoot striker ↩︎

  7. it's nice, but, I'm bored of it, because it's flat ↩︎

  8. i am currently capable of holding my 5 km PB pace for ~300 m. there's work to do, and i feel reasonably motivated to do it ↩︎

  9. i find socialising pretty hard, and don't tend to miss it when i'm not doing it. but, i am reasonably confident that i do benefit from social interaction (even if it pains me to admit it) ↩︎

  10. for which i am grateful ↩︎

  11. much stiffer than the old pair, with a more defined inside-edge, and a less baggy heel ↩︎

  12. cyclists, more like ↩︎

  13. ...of general inactivity and at times deep depression ↩︎

  14. something I am very good at guilty of ↩︎

  15. some of these i've opened, and will close having never read them. that's okay ↩︎

  16. i tried last year, with the intention of posting them with a year's delay. i made it to week 11 before giving up for reasons, and having just skimmed a few, I shalln't be posting them ↩︎