Baron

Updates

Posted on 16th Dec 202316th Dec 2023 by Baron in Monthly Blog

V02 up to 41!!

Exercising pretty much everyday, however im in the office for the rest of the year, so my daily steps are down a fair bit. Weights happening a bit, but mostly treadmill or walks down the river. Been a massive year on the fitness front, i feel ive done really well and have lost a decent amount of weight, keen to keep going next year, work on running and weights.

Brocollis are all done, so ive put the rest of the chillis in, grabbed a trinidad scorpian and a carolina reaper to see how they go in the garden instead of pots this year, flower garden is going well, ive added a few more plants to it, i think in a few weeks its going to look amazing.

Lawn has been scarified 3 weeks ago, and have started on it with the reel mower this last week mowing every second day, will need a fert again soon, weather is starting to heat up so will sort watering program soon.

3 more days of work before holidays, ive only had 3 days off in the last month, as we have been super busy and running during weekends. at the same time we have had quite a big reshuffle, so have had a few job interviews happening, nothing changed yet.

Ive got a home brew kit coming for christmas, going to take a bit to set up, as will need to sort a cupbard, filtered water etc to get it right first time, ill have to do a chunk of research before the first batch.

A few pictures of the garden progress

Massive fire down the road the other day at a boat manufacturer, not far from my work, we got the stay inside alert message at home, was alot of smoke

Nobody hurt, but not much left of the building, was a power cut just before the fire, so possibly a cause.

We have had a blackbird making heaps of noise over the last week, our cat may have caught his partner? We have named him scott, he is pretty annoying and starts chirping from 5am right through to 8pm

Chillis and beer day happening this week, so i should get some content from that day !!

Recovery

Posted on 30th Oct 2023 by Baron in Monthly Blog

Just getting back into it this last week, due to getting the flu early in the month and it taking a good two weeks to feel good enough to get back into exercise, hurt my ankle too, so that didnt help progress either. Thankfully my weight remained pretty constant through it all.

Feeling much better now but don’t want to overdo it straight away, so currently the plan for the next two weeks is to do alternate days on the treadmill, walking and running for 30-45mins. Looking at around 6kph walking and 9kph jogging for the moment, just on a .5 incline. All treadmill workouts for the moment. Trying to take it a bit easy really.

Kinda disapointing that id only just added weights back into the routine, but will put them back in once ive done this two week cycle. I think i will have two rest days a week instead of one moving forward, but we shall see.

It’s spring here, nearly summer, so I’ve set up all the outside furniture, sails etc. It’s Very windy today but all seems to be holding up well. It will be a nice quiet area to spend hot days over the summer with the family.

Chillis are growing well, Ive got full gardens now, so untill the brocolli is ready i cant do too much beyond weeding and squishing white butterfly caterpillars. Ive put in five jalapenos as last year we didnt end up with any, hopefully the are ready for the chilli and beer day. Made a full flower garden, cant wait to see what it looks like in a few months.

Designed cut and partially assembled a new sim rig for one of the guys in the sim racing group yesterday, cant wait to see the final result as was looking really good the work we had done, managed to bend a saw blade, so that part wasnt much fun and an unexpected cost.

We have a hotlap challenge currently going in the racing group. Bathurst in V8 supercars, which is looking pretty popular, with 15 members having times so far, ranging from 2.07-2.14 ish, so fairly close.

Getting ready for spring

Posted on 20th Sep 2023 by Baron in Monthly Blog

Wow, what a month, nonstop. The average steps per day for the month was 18000, 145km of running, and 65km of walking, 28 days of the 30 I managed to get some exercise happening, so pretty good. This month I’ve upped my step goal to 15000 a day and started weights again this week. 3 times a week, the big 5, 4 sets of 12. I’ve managed to run 10km on the treadmill in a few minutes over an hour. V02 is still at 40, but I think the increase in activity will have it moving in no time.

Planted some chillis for this season, just the 3 plants so far, Rocoto, Jalwa, and a bird’s eye, I have a few habanero seedlings popping up too. I’ll post pictures of the progress. First spray on the lawn this week, foreign grass was sprayed on Saturday and weeds today, will need a follow-up in a few weeks, maybe after scarifying.

Designed up and made a small button box for one of the sim racing guys, pretty simple but thats all that was needed

I’ve put a few videos up on youtube, mostly testing the camera so far, I’ve got loads of work to do out in the gardens before summer, so I might get some timelapses of that. Head over to the youtube channel : whatnz

Getting out and about

Posted on 22nd Aug 202323rd Aug 2023 by Baron in Monthly Blog

Hey guys, has been a busy few weeks, running everyday, and getting out taking videos, camera testing, going for walks. Keeping up with the fitness goals.

Ive setup a youtube page where ive been adding videos, mostly testing cameras at the moment, as the two im using are fairly new to me and i would like to get the best i can out of them.

Heres a bunch of images from my river walks, walking past the Hamilton Golf course down the river path to Braithwaite park and back, still winter here but some great weather.

Like, leave a comment or subscribe to keep up with content

Youtube page link : https://www.youtube.com/@Whatnz

Challenges

Posted on 10th Aug 2023 by Baron in Uncategorized

Yesterday marked the end of my 1 month of walking challenge, managed 27 days out of 31 to actually get on the treadmill or go out for a walk, 7 of the days ended up being treadmill jogging/runnning final tally was 122km walking and 51km running. Pretty good. Walking times per kilometre reduced considerably getting y down from just under 9 minutes per km to being able to walk 10km at 8m15s average per km. which is pretty fast and you really have to concentrate, a better pace is about 8m45s which is quite comfortable. Was really good to get out by the river and surrounds so many times, always greeted by loads of friendly people out walking/running/cycling. Great views. Ive worked out a few circuits for myself, 5km,6km,8km,10km. just to have a goal on the day

New challenge for the next month is to jog/run everyday. Started today with 45min treadmill jog managing 6.4km, so a decent start, i want to try to do at least 30mins everyday, hopefully i can get out in public for a few jogs, as the view on the treadmill isnt that great, just gotta get the confidence to get out there.

I purchased an action camera this week, so can start taking some videos. Its a Kaiser Baas x450 which was the best rated of the cheaper cameras, coming in about a third of the price of the cheapest gopro, looks to be a pretty good unit, still have to test it properly, will be awesome for the trip to Central Otago next year, hopefully ive got it sussed by then.

I might look at starting a Youtube channel now that i have the camera, but still thinking of ideas, hot chillis and beer, cycling by the river, sim racing or i have a few projects im currently working on, building a table etc.

V02 movement

Posted on 27th Jul 202329th Jul 2023 by Baron in Monthly Blog

Hey guys, finally ive seen some more movement in my V02, up to 40 as of the start of this week, since getting back from the Invercargill trip Ive been either on the treadmill or out walking/ jogging tracking just over 100km so far in 2 and a bit weeks. Back into weights next month, decided to just do the walking & jogging only this month. But obviously still putting in the effort.

Waikato river on a nice winter morning, once the fog had lifted

The Invercargill trip was awesome, but quite a whirlwind tour, didnt get much time to relax, straight to the smelter after landing, back to the hotel for dinner and then back at the smelter at 7.30am and then flew out at 4pm.

The Tiwai facility was huge and took quite a bit to work out where everything was and how it all worked, the staff were really amazing, friendly and informative, and you could see a real sense of pride in the workplace and the area as a whole. So much information was packed into such a short time, got to spend some time with the quality control people and also some time on a ride along in one of the machines they use to transport the molten aluminium. Really amazing how the whole process works, we saw ingots and logs being produced, walked through the whole process, from molten aluminium to finished product. Attended toolbox meetings, checked out health and safety procedures. Really cool time, enjoyed it alot. We managed to get up to Bluff hill and to Stirling point, was really windy when we went, but still enjoyable.

The sim racing group is going really well, getting about 10 racers most weekends. Ive been working on some mods for my rig, added an improved button box, and currently working on a flag/shifter light. Join the facebook group if your interested in participating, mostly Assetto Corsa, and all levels of skill Sim Racing Barons. We have discord chat etc, mostly short races 10 min qualify and 5 lap races, so we can get in about 6 events in the 2 hour block.

June Update

Posted on 27th Jun 2023 by Baron in Monthly Blog

Hey Guys

June is always a flat out month for me with 3 family birthdays, Happy birthday to Donna, Hannah and Mathew.

Ive been keeping up with my workouts, V02 at 39. weights have made quite an increase with bench,squats and rows sitting at 50kg each at the moment, which i think is really good progress, went for a nice walk down by the river today, 10km and pace was 8:30 per km, so definate improve from the 9 mins per km at start of year.

Im going away on a work trip to Invercargill and the Tiwai point aluminium smelter early next month, gonna be freezing, but should learn somethings about aluminium production and will be good to tour another factory.

Shout out to Hamilton beer and wine company Went in over the weekend and am still blown away by their selection of beer. Staff are always friendly and they have weekly events happening. I recommend stopping in if in Hamilton and need refreshments.

Ive been given a new old 3d printer, which ive tested and it works pretty well, have been using ABS with it , print area is only small 100mm. but for a freeby its good. Ill put up some print pictures when i have a few more made.

Sim racing in the weekends is going well, we are getting up to 10 people regularly with lots of friendly banter and some slightly competitive racing at points. Feel free to join the racing group Facebook Group Link . Mostly Assetto Corsa on PC however some play other games, there is a discord group for chat too.

Have a great month, hopefully i can start increasing the content here soon.

May Busy Busy

Posted on 11th May 202311th May 2023 by Baron in Monthly Blog

Hey guys, well flat out month so far, chillis all harvested, chilli salt and habaneos preserved in oil the latest recipes. My poor fridge is looking empty with only some sour beers in there and you know you have to be in the right mood for them.

Shirts have been printed, i have 12 of various sizes and colours, all have a home

Ive found a 10km route around my local golf course , down the river path with great views, lots of friendly locals, uphills,stairs etc these are some pictures i have taken while out walking

My fitness journey has been going great, so far ive been for one swim, a cycle and quite a few walks aswell as every other day in the gym doing either weights or cardio. My V02 hasnt moved on my watch yet, but i think it probably has, as ive gone from barely being able to jog for 10 mins up to 40 mins today. I have been seeing progress in weightloss, shirts getting loose, some muscle definition. still a long way to go. Have set a goal to be able to run 10km in an hour, quite ambitious i reckon, but hopefully achieveable.

I went to the Hamilton waterworld during the week and did an hour of lengths, kicking one way and then arms only the other, needless to say i was stuffed the whole next day after that, i think next time i will just pick a stroke and stay with that for the whole time, great facilities, was not very busy when i went – LINK

Ive put together my current workout plan incase anyone wants to check it out, it involves a 5×5 weights routine, 5 sets of 5 reps with 90 seconds between reps, Im adding a few kg every second week, which doesnt seem like much, but over a year is 50 kilo, treadmill runs ive also been upping by 5 mins every few weeks, i think there is enough variety in this workout at the moment with the equipment we have, so am getting quite a range

download as a pdf below.

workout-plan-2-week-rotation Download

April Update

Posted on 17th Apr 202318th Apr 2023 by Baron in Uncategorized

Hey, currently Im working on some other projects including fitness goals, saving for an awesome trip to the South Island of New Zealand, in March 2024 details to come. Building a dashboard for the sim rig, harvesting all the chillis, planting winter food, spending time with the kids and working 50 hour weeks, as such i just havent had the time to sit down and review some of the brilliant beers ive been having – 2 nice drops from Renaissance brewing (sofisticuffs & collision course) both well worth trying out.

I will write about a few of the projects im currently working on which include a fitness goal of raising my V02 level up, currently 38 and id like to be mid 40’s, losing weight around 10kg will make me happy i reckon. Currently doing 5×5 workouts with bar 3 times a week, hiit workouts, running on treadmill and going for walks.

We have been experimenting with some new recipes for our chillis. So far have made pineapple hot sauce, sweet chilli sauce, habanero hot sauce, chilli jam, and have just dried 20 ish habeneros. i still have to finish the harvest, but have about 100 chillis of different varieties in the freezer also for Saturday night curries.

Ive changed the logo to reflect the current changes in content, still similar but have removed the beer review writing.