TOPIC: There and Back Again, A Workout Competition

Miathan wrote:

Dave wrote: I'll probably weigh myself later today to see if this is paying of in weight loss, but things like this absolutely push me to see how much I'm capable of doing. I know I'm definitely walking at least an hour more per day simply to see how fast I can get to the next stop. I've been tracking my steps daily for going on 9 years and I've never logged this many miles in the month of April before. I'm just glad my knees are holding up to the extra activity. So far, so good.

If you are legit worried about your knees then I would look into compression sleeves and start using them now before an injury Happens. I run with compression socks all the time just as preventative for shin splints, no matter how I feel

Thanks for the tip. Probably something I should try. Had major problems with my knees about 4 years ago, but it was something I was able to recover from without surgery (but it took a little over a year before I could get back to a normal routine). They're a little achy from time to time, but generally ok. They're actually better when I'm moving, but do start to hurt if I stand in one place for too long. Part of it I just chalk up to getting old.

I am so happy and grateful. My doctor expected my recovery time to be 6+ months due to some comorbidities. I am at the end of two months and the doctor says realistically I should be back to normal in six more weeks. I have never had an exercise routine that I stuck to before. This competition has meant so much to me and consistently doing the exercises and overall increasing my physical activity.

Kory wrote: I am so happy and grateful. My doctor expected my recovery time to be 6+ months due to some comorbidities. I am at the end of two months and the doctor says realistically I should be back to normal in six more weeks. I have never had an exercise routine that I stuck to before. This competition has meant so much to me and consistently doing the exercises and overall increasing my physical activity.

I am thrilled to hear that man, congratulations!

I don't suppose anyone has any good book series suggestions? At this rate I'll be burning through my audible backlog and be looking for new books to listen to.

I'm thinking you already know the big ones like The Expanse and Stormlight Archive, so let's get obscure:

The Dark Profit Series, starting with Orconomics. It's a parody of fantasy and RP tropes that the author thought way too hard about and wound up writing a really interesting, surprisingly touching story. Two books out so far, third coming soon ish.

Riyria Revelations, starting with A Theft of Swords. This is a really well done fantasy series about a pair of thieves who get in way above their heads.

Castes and Outcasts, starting with A Warrior's Path. This one's kind of a mixed recommendation from me. The main character is the best strongest smartest most amazing person ever, and his main flaw is that he sometimes doubts how incredible he is. On the other hand it's a really richly detailed fantasy world built around Indian culture and myth rather than Tolkien fantasy, so it comes across as fresh and original. Read it for the world, not the protagonist.

Masters and Mages, starting with Cold Iron. What if the protagonist of a novel set in a grim dark world wasn't a horrible human being redeemed only by how much worse everyone else is? This is just a really well written, interesting trilogy set in a grim and gritty fantasy world but populated by likeable, compelling characters.

The Witches of Eileanan - great mix of old fantasy with a touch of sci-fi. Fun storyline. If you enjoy book 1 you'll enjoy the series.

Kushiel's Dart - alternate history Europe with a touch of fantasy and intrigue. Has some kinky undertones to the setting. Readers either love it or hate it. I'm a big fan.

Malazan Book of the Fallen - 10 book series with an approximate word count of 3,325,000.

Grizwald wrote: Malazan Book of the Fallen - 10 book series with an approximate word count of 3,325,000.

This one was a struggle for me. Book 8 destroyed the series IMO and he lost his way.

Books 1-6 are amazing though

Arcanist Kolixela wrote: Kushiel's Dart - alternate history Europe with a touch of fantasy and intrigue. Has some kinky undertones to the setting. Readers either love it or hate it. I'm a big fan.

I almost never find other people who've read the Kushiel's avatar series. As you say, AMAZING books, but definitely need to underscore the fact that there's kink/sex involved because it's a central story point (which is part of why I like them, but understand others don't appreciate).

The "We Are Legion (We Are Bob)" series is pretty great and the audible books have a great narrator.

"Off to be the Wizard" is a lot of fun. I've only heard the first book so far, but again, good narrator and engaging story. I've heard the sequels aren't as great, but are still decent.

"Dungeon Born" is interesting. It describes RPG dungeons from the perspective of a rudimentary intelligence that actually spawns the dungeon monsters and shapes the tunnels. It's a unique perspective and a fair amount of fun.

Anything by Neal Stephenson, start with "Snow Crash".

Anything by William Gibson. His newer (last 20 years or so) books are sort of interwoven into a couple of narratives and are some of my favorite books.

Azzy wrote: I don't suppose anyone has any good book series suggestions? At this rate I'll be burning through my audible backlog and be looking for new books to listen to.

I have one series recommendation for audio books

Sabriel and the rest of the Old Kingdom Series. The first few are narrated by Tom Curry

Got in a workout during lunch - picked up 5 masks and had to stop because I just had a newspaper bag. By the end I could have picked up 15 more. Bleah.

Up to 32 total so far.

I apologize for missing this, but Dave has blown right past Rivendell and is well into the Misty Mountains, with only 77 miles to go before he reaches the Precious. Azzy is in second with the fleet folk, camped out in sight of the elven city.

Meanwhile the hobbits are continuing to make their way up the road to Bree, with Phil Norton in a commanding lead, over halfway to the big people's town.