Friday, September 5, 2014

The continued desire for packs, pledges, and other hazards

I stopped blogging mid-way through the Savage Minds writing series. I'll be doing the fall series again (1 hour/day) and I haven't really stopped writing this year. I'm currently in a heavy editing phase where I am no longer generating new manuscripts but working on revising and revising existing manuscripts and grants. Again, I'm hoping to get a few more out over the next few weeks, so post-wedding I can get the decks cleared and get back to writing instead of revising.

My other pacts however, are a continued passion. I did the Academic Muse Writing Group, and decided that it was too pricy for me. I wasn't getting what I wanted out of it, even if I did get a paper submitted during the month. I was just as productive the next month on my own.

I'm currently doing gympact, everymove, walgreens rewards, and Achievemint. Also, CharityMiles, and currently, the #RunAnnaRun pledge of 0.1 miles per day EACH for Wounded Warrior Project and Red, White, and Blue. I'm accomplishing these through a midday sanity walk, that breaks up writing and forces me to move and think. Lifehacker had a great piece on the need to unplug and reconnect with nature (Darwin did it!), and I am finding it really useful.

With EveryMove, I've personally saved $25 off new running insoles (which I like, but don't love), and donated $30 to charity.

Walgreens Rewards gives us money off purchases. We'll easily save $5/month just from what I was already doing.

Achievemint continues to plug along. They've modified what is accepted and balanced out the points a bit. But I can still regularly gain 200+ points per day, towards my $50 visa gift card. I'm at 38,000 thus far - and for a long time, not a lot counted.

Gympact is the stick, if Achievemint is the carrot. Everymove and Achievemint are just rewards. You earn what you do. They are essentially giving you money for your data, which I am okay with.

But gympact is a stick. A big stick. I do 4 gyms, 3 food logs, and 8 veggies a week, each at $5. I pay $5 if I don't complete the pact. I get much less for completing the pacts - usually around $2/week. But man, does it get me moving, eating, doing.

Overall, I suspect by the end of the year, I will have donated $400 to charity between all the apps, and earned around $100 for myself. Not bad for being healthy!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Week 2 - Sabbitical

Blogging fell by the wayside. I can barely keep up with the research blog.

But I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, and reboot myself during year 4. Year 4! I've been TT for 3 full years.

What's going on? Training to run a 10k after injury after injury. I am down to a 9:43/mile for a 5k, with a goal of 9:40/mile (under 30 5k) for my last 5k of the season. According to runkeeper, I've logged 304 miles so far this year, significantly under the target goal. But, I spent May in an ankle boot after a fall and was not back to regular miles until July.

Writing - 3 papers in review (woohoo) with a revisions to a book chapter due mid-month. Two other papers are out for comments. We're halfway done with the lab analyses on two more.  It has been a mad, mad summer of productivity.

I'm also turning into a DIY wedding freak. I'm wrapping vases, making my own invites, maps, info cards, designing the website, and making favors. Plus spray painting welcome bags in my spare time.

Tomorrow is the last evening race of the summer series, then a 10k and 5k and my season is over. I'm planning on doing group runs Thursday morning, so we'll see how that goes. Probably will fade as the weather cools.

Current count
Miles: 304!Only 538 left to go! Probably not going to make this goal - but I am doing a minimum 1.5 miles each day, with long runs on T, Th, Sat.
Meal/dishes: 54. Only 30 left to go! Today was a tasty "science of cookies" experiement. Link: http://www.handletheheat.com/ultimate-chocolate-chip-cookies. I also think this goal is possible.
Writing: 4 in review; 2 of which are accepted with tiny edits needed. 2 others out for comments. Well on track to make 8/8 this year.