Moroccan trip and few photos from this marvelous kingdom

Hi there, fellow runner! It's been a long time ago when I wrote you last. Now I've got it, my mistake :) Bug s are fixed and here is some review of my Moroccan trip. It was ages ago, I know, but forgive me -- I have to start with something :)

So here it is, city of Agadir panorama taken from the mountain at it's side

Here is how people should get to their plane in Morocco -- on foot.

Meet the king, Mohammed VI of Morocco

Google I/O easter eggs (some of them)

Hi there, fellow internet user ) Today is the day of funny Google pics, it's like their doodle stuff but about a bit more tech-full in some ways -- they, this easter eggs, are hidden in interactive Google I/O  logotype right in the middle of web page dedicated to this event.
Here they are, they come to life by clicking on two parts of the logo for a certain times
:

ASCII Google I/O logo

Bacon and egg

Original Google I/O logo

8bit Google I/O logo

Cats Google I/O logo

Morocco daydreaming and other stuff

Hi there, fellow runner. The spring is finally here, but here in snowy Russia it is still far and winter still grabs it's hold on humankind. How the things are going out there in your lands, countries and cities or small towns? If you'll ask me, I've almost finished my re-reading of Robert Jordan's and Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of time. Meanwhile gained additional 15 kilos of fat and began running again.

Jüdische Hochzeit in Marokko

For now, one of the main points on my agenda is choosing new running shoes, planning my ongoing vacation and losing this so stupidly gained weight.

As for weight, I still have a plan, but weather in this county makes me feel dizzy and canceled two out of three planned trainings already. Honestly, I've started running last week on Saturday, had a descent run on Sunday and since then I had no opportunity to continue on. The next issue is about overweight. Since this crap occurred, I have troubles running in my current running shoes, legs feel itchy and almost scratchy after slow 30 minutes training. So I added more at home exercises and is googling all day long for a new pair of shoes that I am sure will support my feet in much better way.

The awful weather made me jealous of other countries with other weather conditions. You know, Russia is large and anyone might find his or hers place under warm sun here, but I've found out that I'm stuck in Africa with all my thoughts. I have dreams and daydreams about Tunisia or Egypt. Almost every night and day in that case.

City of Essaouira mwanasimba from La Réunion

So, I've decided to plan my trip for upcoming vacation and plan it remembering and keeping in mind my beloved Africa. I sure as hell will go to Tunisia again, it is very beautiful country, full of ancient stuff and nature's wonders but I've been there less then a year ago and it would be somewhat weird, won't you say so?

And here I am in front of this dilemma, looking for a calm African country with sea or ocean and which accept Russian tourists with no visa. I've decided to go to Morocco. Always wanted to visit Marrakesh and I am really fond of mountains of Atlas. Wish me a concurrent stay there and nice flight, I'm going to escape this terrible spring and wash away all memories of it in cool waters of  Atlantic ocean.

By the way I'm still thinking and overlooking this matter. I'm planning to have this trip in May or even in June, so there is plenty of time to throw dice few more times and go somewhere else.

Stuff I love: G-SHOCK GD101-NS (collaboration)

New Nigel Sylvester collaboration model: G-SHOCK GD101-NS

New Nigel Sylvester collaboration model: G-SHOCK GD101-NS

Sometimes things don't go as well as they should and there are many ways they can go wrong from that point. In case everything stumbles down from the hill and there appear to be a snowball of troubles upon you in the result you go and hang yourself or buy some bright g-shocks. They can cure what need be and you'll handle the rest. In other case, when there is no trouble at all except from that one you imagined, you go and hang on every f*cking opportunity to let your steam get out of your head. Or you just can get this black as a crap g-shock (New Nigel Sylvester collaboration model: G-SHOCK GD101-NS). An life will be much better, be sure of it.

Great infographic out there: the average american savings approach

Here you go: http://www.thetinylife.com/the-average-american/

Good study on savings approach among regular American households

I wonder if anyone have something like this about Europeans or Russian households? If no, it's a great thing to invest spare time in such a research.

New icons / 9 retro icons by damn-love.com for free

Here is the overview:

New icons / 9 retro icons by damn-love.com for free (you can use them in your commercial projects, but it'll be great if you drop me a line and leave a link back to damn-love.com)

in png:

Frugal training plan to look extremely great up to summer starting in February

Hi there fellow runner! Finally, here is a plan for the rest of us.

1. Nutrition

Here are my basic advices on food. You can stick to them if you want to, but can shift to your own nutrition plan, it's not mandatory, must of my thoughts are based on two points -- healthiness and frugality. And it's average plan. You can imagine more healthy and less frugal variants, while some other folks may think it otherwise.

a. Breakfast

Muesli is the key here. Buy some and add some kefir instead of milk. It might be nice to grab some additional stuff to put it in your bowl later -- vanilla sugar, cinnamon, various nuts, dried fruits of some sort, fresh fruits like banana or apple.

How to get it: according to a rule of fist (the rule where you consume no more then the size of your fist in one meal) grab a fistful of muesli and put them in a bowl, put some additions if you want, fill the bowl with kefir, mix everything well, wait for a couple of minutes, eat.

Tip from a pro: don't prepare your meal a long time before you'll eat it. For example in the evening the day before. It tastes better fresh.

Alternative variant: fruits and cheese. Simple, fast and tasty.

b. Early lunch

Drinkable yoghurt would be a perfect decision. It can be the only dish there or can be accompanied by whole grain snack like muesli bar or some fresh fruits like apples, grapes or pears. Nuts will do good too. It's an optional meal -- good for those fellows who commute from home to office for about an hour or more.

c. Lunch

If you prefer eating out then try some complex lunch here with a bit of everything -- fresh vegetable salad, soup, buckwheat porridge and some meat if you love meat or fish if you love fish or just porridge if you don't like eating dead animals and fish. I, myself, would rather prefer such complex approach to alternatives like subway or other sandwich-based meals. Ant here is my point explained: sandwich approach is good if you are short on time but you will soon be hungry again, so if you are free for about an hour or a half of it -- spend it whole tasting food you eat and feel good long after. No hastiness mean good meal for me.

Tip from a pro: from the other side you might as well prepare your lunch box at home and deliver it to your office. It has it's benefits: it's more frugal way, it can be healthier way, due to your area may suffer lack of good places to eat out healthy. But there are negative points here too: eating at office cuts your opportunity to walk out of the building for a certain amount of time, less socialization and also it takes time in the morning or evening to prepare descent food for your upcoming lunch. So choose your way.

d. Afternoon snack

Some fruits or nuts if you feel hungry still. And by the way it's not fixed to the office hours. So if your trip back home is long enough you may become too hungry to stay in control of yourself later in the evening, when you'll be enjoying your healthy dinner.

Tip from a pro: always have something healthy and tasty with you in your bag in case of sudden hunger struck.

e. Dinner

Here it is, last meal of the day. Typically you will reach dinner worn out and would like to refresh yourself towards some evening opportunities, or dinner may be eaten out though it will be an affair itself. My basic rules here are: when eating out you may intake more calories because you'll consume some of them during your trip back home. Though, when eating at home you may switch to vegan style or something like that. My personal choice is: bowl of creatively mixed vegetable, fruit or combined salad with some yoghurt and spice topping.

Tip from a pro: if choose salad, be creative, invent new mixes each day so you'll never get stuck with it's taste.

f. Some typical advices

First: hydration. Some say that coffee does not count as a fluid intake because of it's nature. Tell this to the about 50% of people who prefer drinking coffee all day long instead of water. Though you might want to switch to water. And you should if you could. By the way promote a habit of drinking a glass of water early in the morning.

2. Training

Here is the carcass of your training plan. It's not very complicated, especially in comparison to p90x )) But there are options even in this plan. So you can shift activities, mix in some from "additional training" section and exclude parts of running, weight lifting or abs, squats and push-ups. Therefore you should consider that fact: if there are more exercises during your route from February to June then there are greater results in your final shape proportionally.

a. Running

There are only two ways to run for you here: first is to tun like hell and second is to run as you can and want to. For me decision is made already, for you I can't give any advice because I'm not a pro at all.


Read more in next week's shiny little episode, so stay tuned )