Important Summer Training Tips

Important Summer Training Tips

Your runs don’t have to be fast to be helpful.

Stringing together a bunch of medium-paced average runs is more effective than going all out a few times a week (only to be too tired/sore to run that pace again), especially when you’re focusing on increasing your mileage.

If you’re able to choose between sleep and running, do your run later and get more sleep. It’s not hardcore to skip sleep, it’s unproductive. Your body needs it to absorb the training.

Don’t do AB workouts, do CORE workouts. Ab = abdominals only. Core = abdominals, obliques, glutes, pelvis, lower back. Purpose of working out just your abs = vanity. Purpose of working out your entire core = getting functionally strong to run faster. 

Do runs on grass and trails for the soft surfaces (and because in the winter you’ll miss the color green, believe me), but don’t worry about your pace. The terrain will naturally slow you down, but it will also force you to work different muscles which will strengthen your core WHILE YOU RUN (why core? see above).

Don’t just hydrate with water. Replace the electrolytes you lose when you sweat with gatorade or powerade, or if that’s too sweet for you, dilute it with water or invest in Nuun or Skratch or a similar product. 

Most most most importantly…ENJOY YOURSELF. Setting only outcome-based goals (”win state”; “break 19″; “take a minute off my PR”) drains the joy out of the sport that you love very quickly. Remember that. Set another, more important goal: to enjoy the process. To love the sport more in July than you did in June, and to love it still more in August. Actively cultivate your passion, and let the rest take care of itself.

🌼🌻study smarter🌻🌼

(here are some study tips straight from my psych notes)

1. interest: the brain prioritizes by meaning, value, and relevance so u remember things better if ur interested

find a study partner

do extra practice or research

teach it to someone else (this works so well!)

2. intent: be actively paying attention. very little learning actually takes place without attention

use a concentration check sheet (every time u get distracted, put a check on ur sheet. this is supposed to program ur mind to pay attention)

while u read, talk back to the author

ask questions during lectures (this is scary ik!! but do it!)

3. basic background: make connections to what u already know

preview and skim the material before u read it. or google it!

write out a list of vocab words before a lecture and leave some spaces between them to fill in during the lecture

read ahead of lectures

watch crashcourse tbh

4. selectivity: start by studying whats important

look for bolded words, graphics, pictures, chapter review questions in ur readings

listen for verbal clues like emphasis and repetition during lectures

make urself a study guide as u read and write down questions for urself to answer later as review (kinda like cornell notes)

5. meaningful organization: u can learn/rmr better if u group ideas into diff categories

apply vocab words to ur life

make flashcards and sort them (try not to have more than seven items in one category!)

use mnemonics

6. recitation: saying ideas aloud in ur own words strengthens synaptic connections! when u say something aloud u r forcing urself to pay attention

after u read, ask urself questions

talk abt what u learned w/ classmates outside of class

again, teach someone else

7. visualization: ur brain’s quickest and longest-lasting response is to images

convert info into a chart or graph

draw it out

make a mental video of a process

look at picture/video examples

8. association: memory is increased when facts are consciously associated w something u already know. memory = making neural connections

ask urself: is this something i already know?

9. consolidation: give ur brain some time to establish a neural pathway

make a list of what u remember from class

review notes at the end of the day, every day

stop after reading each prg to write a question in ur notes

make ur own practice quiz

10. distributed practice: we all know cramming doesnt work but we do it anyway! but yeah short and frequent study sections work better

make a daily/weekly study schedule

create a time budget/time tracker (track everything ur doing for a week and see how u can be more efficient w/ the time u waste)

divide the reading/vocab by the number of days before an exam and do a little bit each day (u can use sticky notes to divide ur reading)

other tips:

stop stressing! this sounds stupid and it isnt going to be easy, but anxiety causes u to lose focus. try ur best to think positively. sleep a lot. minimize ur caffeine intake. take a walk maybe

when u need to remember something, look upward or close ur eyes (when ur eyes are open ur using visual parts of ur brain that u might not need to be using)

find a rival! (like the person right above u in class rank) secretly compete w/ them (envy can improve mental persistence bc it makes u focus more intensely) but dont overdo it! 

walking and sleeping build memory storage in ur brain

eat flavonoids! (grapes, berries, tea leaves, cocoa beans make neurons in the brain more capable of forming new memories + increase blood flow to the brain)

obstacles force ur brain to try harder, so space learning lessons apart or create a puzzle to solve or change ur physical setting

the importance of self care

six reasons why you’re (going to be) okay

why being clean and organized brings you more success

you messed up, and that’s okay

don’t let frustration get to you

important things to remember

how to study while dealing with mental health issues

studying with depression

what to do when you loose all motivation

if you have anxiety, try breathing in sync with this

need a boost? some natural antidepressants

getting over a fear of studying

developing a growth mindset

small things to do that make your mind feel clearer

a guide to relaxing for people who probably need a break

how to catch up after taking a mental health day

what to do when you’re feeling overloaded with work

ways to avoid burnout at university

avoiding burnout

staying calm at school

what to do when your work seems like trash

when you study and still fail a test

failure, as a perfectionist

working hard is important, but

on studyblr and self care

what to do on a crappy day

how to improve your grades

things to do after a long study session

studying when on your period

stress affecting sleep?

tips for balancing sleep and education

how to fall asleep

sleep tips

how not to be a blanket buritto

get up early and enjoy the day

+ productivity masterpost

+ back to school masterpost

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

— Bertrand Russell

photo by: https://slytherin-psych-studies.tumblr.com/

How should I study?

This is probably the most asked question. And I will be totally honest now and give you some advice on how you should and how you shouldn’t study.

The ideal way of self studying a language

doesn’t exist. Or at least I haven’t found it. But there is no method which will give you a 100% success. You know that everybody is different and everybody learns different. I have made my self study plan (here) for Korean. In my opinion, it works awesome for me, and I think that I’ve created this one with common sense. But in this post I don’t want to go deeper in “which plan should I follow”. I’d like to focus on the methods you might use to achieve your goals.

Let’s divide it into 4 (and optional 5) sections: Vocab, grammar, listening speaking (and eventually signs).

Vocab

Learning vocab is the foundation of your language. You can’t build a house only by a plan. You must also have the bricks. But I have some common “mistakes” people make. Here comes my list of what to avoid:

Long study sessions once a week

Reading the word 500x to think you might learn it this way

Letting the learnt words on the side

Not saying the words out loud

Never writing words out

Making vocab studying monotone

Learning the unuseful vocab you’ll probably never need

Those are so important points. In several books I’ve seen that the brain learns faster if it repeatedly does something. Also if you don’t use the things you’ve learnt after a certain time again, you might forget it again.

Try those things instead:

Study sessions over the whole week

Reading, writing and listening to the word

Make a record of the words you want to learn and listen to it

Once in a while repeat also your “good” words

Say words out loud which are complicated

Make studying fun (Use flashcards, post its, make it comfortable, make yourself a tea)

Learn vocab which is very frequent or which you will need specifically for your needs

Grammar

Grammar is a rather hard discipline. Also here common mistakes:

Learning the rules by heart and thinking “that’s it”

Only practicing the sentences in your book

Not making sentences on your own

Making grammar boring

Letting it be only because you’ve understood it once

Giving up on it just because it seems hard

Replace it by this:

Try to decode it before actually read the explanation.

Try to learn the sense behind the grammar.

Use what you’ve learnt and build your own sentences. You’ve got problems? Means that there are some points you should work on.

Grammar isn’t boring (okay sometimes) but you can make it fun if you use also like with vocab stuff you like. And also: If you always connect studying grammar with something what makes you happy, for example always make a smoothie if you study grammar, than it will also have an input on your studies. More about that in the next post)

Keep going and master the challenge

Sometimes it’s also good to take a break and try the next day. It might be that you’ve overworked yourself

Listening

And here again the top mistakes:

Not focusing on listening

Or listening to very fast music and complaining how stupid you are

Listening to “non real language”

Not listen at all

If I say that a language must be spoken, it also means that there are people which listen. And that means that you also have to study the other side of the language. So many people neglate this part. This was also my mistake in Japanese. But I have some good replacements:

Watch TV soaps or dramas (the most natural language)

Start from the very first day

Don’t get mad. It’s hard to understand things, but you will get better

Celebrate if you’re right

Take notes if you’ve heard something interesting

Listening will get your best friend. It doesn’t only improve your ear but also your writing. Because if you know how the pronounciation changes, you’ll also know how to write better.

Speaking

It’s hard to speak sometimes, but in this section you can also make mistakes by not even doing anything:

Being speechless

Not speaking from the beginning

Not learning the pronounciation properly

Not trying to get faster

It really depends on the person how fast the progress is in pronounciation, but if you don’t work from the very first day on it, it will get hard for you. Replace those methods by this:

Speak whenever you can

Talk to yourself

Try to find someone who might correct you

Learn the pronounciation properly

Try to get faster from time to time

Fluency comes where axienty goes (wow I should copyright that)

But don’t try to be perfect

Progress is made by many many little steps taken to get to a higher obstacle. Work smart and make those steps.

Optional: Signs

The probably hardest part for any Japanese/Chinese learner: the signs. I’ve seen and I’ve done even more mistakes. Use that and learn from me:

Writing a kanji over and over again

Thinking you might get along without signs

Buying course books which tell you how to learn “2000 kanjis in 2 months” or so

Not thinking when learning

Learning only one reading style

Learn a kanji and don’t repeat it

Okay guys. When I say that, please take me serious. You can’t learn 2000 kanjis in 10 days IF you don’t have a super brain. And I think it’s okay. Not everybody is talented, but there are other ways. And one way isn’t writing it 50 times per hour. Of course you have to write it, but not so many a day that you might get sick of them. And only because you’ve learnt one kanji, doesn’t mean that it will last for your whole life in your brain. Replace by:

Combine different methods 

Repeat signs

Buy if you are 100% sure you NEED that and if you’re not so sure about it, think while on work “Is it worth it that I am working for it now?”

Use what you’ve learnt. The feeling is so rewarding

Also here: Make it funny.

To self study a language it is best to develope his own style. But with some methods it will take you certainly much longer than with others. Try it out and see what works.

Everything You Need To Know About MLA Format

General Format:

8.5 x 11 inch paper

Double spaced

Times New Roman font

12 pt font

Only one space after each period

1 inch margins on all sides

Indent the first line of each paragraph by half an inch

Use a header that includes your last name and page number in the top right hand corner

The First Page:

In the upper left hand corner:

Your Name

Your Instructor’s Name

The Class Title

The Date (Day Month Year)

The title of your paper should be one double-space down and should not be bolded, italicized, or underlined

The beginning of your paper should start one double-space down from the title with the first line indented by half an inch

What to Italicize and Quote:

Book titles are italicized

Play titles are italicized

Poem titles have quotation marks

Article titles have quotation marks

Chapter titles have quotation marks

In-Text Citations:

When you know the author’s last name

(Last Name Page Number) or

(Last Name Paragraph or Line Number)

When you don’t know the author’s last name

(Book Title Page Number)

(Article Title Page Number)

Remember to italicize the book titles and put the article titles in quotation marks

Works Cited Page:

Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one inch margins and header as the rest of your paper

Label the page “Works Cited” (do not italicize or put in quotations) on the top of the page and center it

Double space all citations but do not skip spaces between entries

Indent the second line of a citation by half an inch

List sources in alphabetical order

If the source has more than one author, the first given name appears in last name, first name format and the following authors appear in last name, first name format separated by commas. The last author’s name should be preceded by an “and”

Citing Print Sources:

Book or Poem:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book or Poem. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Print.

Magazine or Newspaper Article:

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Print.

Journal Article:

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Print.

Citing Web Sources:

Whole Website:

Name of Site. Sponsor or Publisher, date of resource creation. Web. Date of access. 

Web Page or Web Article:

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of Site. Sponsor of Publisher, date of resource creation. Web. Date of access.

Online Journal Article:

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Web. Date of access. 

Note: Don’t forget to indent the second line in the citation. I did not indent the examples because the indents on tumblr mobile and tumblr desktop differ starkly and I figured this was probably the less confusing way to write the information needed for a citation (trust me)

Unknown Information in Citations:

If the author is unknown, begin citation with the title

If the publisher is unknown, write “n.p.” in its place (no quotation marks)

If the publishing date is unknown, write “n.d.” in its place (no quotation marks)

I hope this guide is as useful for me as it it for you!