SirHammerlock

Hey guys, thanks so very much for the advice. I actually did sign up for the race, after which I felt so happy about doing it, that it just because of that seemed like the right decision. I am now doing regular running training 3-4 times per week and thinking about joining a crossfit-box soon. We'll see how it goes, I think I just want to challenge myself and see what I am capable of. Unfortunately, there won't be a Spartan Beast near me in the foreseeing future, but I will keep a lookout, Spartan Races are definitely on my list .

Hey guys, I need some advice. I ran my first obstacle race, a tough mudder, a week ago and had so much fun, I got totally hooked. So, at the moment I am thinking about which races I am going to tackle next and I will definitely run a Spartan and a Tough Mudder next year. But regarding my question I need advice about: In March 2016 there will be a certain race specific to Germany which is called "Braveheart Battle". It will be around the mileage of a half marathon with a six hour time limit, pretty hard going through mountained terrain, which may have still some snow in march, having around 50 obstacles (some like tough mudder, some like crossing a river etc.). I am quarreling with myself about whether or not I should register for this event, asking if I am tough enough or will be when the time comes. About myself: The ToughMudder I ran was around 16k, I didn't run the whole race, but walked about half to two thirds of the distance. It took me 3 1/2 hours whole. My fitness level is ok/average I guess. I can do 3x30 push ups and squat my bodyweight; I am able to run a normal 5k in around 30mins. Therefore, what I need advice about is, if I should register for Braveheart Battle. I know that you all don't know me personally and can't give an accurate evaluation of my fitness or endurance without that. But I am not sure if I should enroll or not, because I don't know if the 7-8 month till the race will be enough training time to get me to the fitness level I need for running a half marathon cross country obstacle race. Otherwise I am thinking, that if I enroll, I will be forced to train really hard, and if I don't I will just let things slide over the next months, considering running the race a year later to be better trained then. So, what do you think? Should I enroll in this race?

Hey HD! Felt like I should join in with your challenge, too, since I am back again now . Nice lifts you're doing there. I never thought about doing one handed/armed planks, but that seems intense! I am definitely gonna try it some time.

Hey everyone, I am really sorry for not doing any new posts on my thread, but I was so swamped with work. Well, I am doing pretty fine nutritionwise at the moment. I needed to restart my whole30 one weekend, because at my fiancées there wasn't any food I could eat the evening I arrived there. So, bad preparation and I had to eat some bread cause I was so very hungry. Therefore, I restarted the whole30 and I am doing fine so far. My food mainly consists of chicken pan fried in coarse manioc flour (gari) and fresh spinach as a salad with vinegrette. I am having coconut pieces from the store as a snack at work and for breakfast mostly left overs or eggs with greens and bacon. Yesterday I tried to make pulled pork in my new crockpot, but used the wrong meat (did taste good, however), so I'll definitely try that again today or tomorrow, having it with avocado and green salad.Yummy! Ok, regarding fitness wise I am not doing so good. The last two weeks I had a pretty bad cold, so I couldn't work out. I am really missing this and I will start with my regular workout regimen next week again. Also, I pretty much screwed up budgeting. I spent pretty much (too much) money on food and on some other things (like ink for my printer, a kind of "pillow" for my wrist when working at the computer, a pair of vivo barefoot shoes and the crockpot. This caused an overstraining of my budget by around 150 € so far. I have to get a tighter grip on my money now. That's it from me so far, I promise to check in more often from now on for the rest of the challenge. @HDLevs: Sorry for not answering earlier. The problem I am having at my gym is, that they moved the free weights floor to the basement and I liked it much more before when there were windows etc. Also, they are having too few racks and stuff, so you have to wait pretty often to get one. They probably won't do anything about it when I talk to them, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Hey everyone, I am sorry for being awol the last weeks, I really messed up my budget over the holidays, so I am hitting restart and begin at day one again. Hope everyone else is doing fine?

Hey guys, this is my 12th challenge already, and I am slowly closing in on two years at NF and paleo. But, altogether, the last christmas holidays and the two to three weeks surrounding it have been a complete desaster, nutrition-, fitness- and budget-wise. I had a real hard time and felt pretty bad allover. However, I don't wanna bother you with the details, and I am hitting the restart button. It's like I have been playing Dark Souls for quite some time and now killed an essential npc, so I have to start over again to finish the game for real. That means, my MAIN QUEST for this challenge is: Adapting this from my last, failed challenge, hitting restart, focusing totally again and become one strong orcish warrior (ok, shaman, as that's my main character in WoW). In detail: I had cherished the good time I had with my PhD, but then I had a bad phase. Again, I want to establish strategies compensationg with "bad days".As last challenge - I want to become more fit and healthy and I won't let any company or person get in my way by making fun of my eating habits or luring me with the sweet, sweet tastes of their baked "goods" (which are in fact every rebels cryptonite). As last challenge - I will let nothing and nobody get in my way while I pursue my dreams, even when I am having problems with money. It is on me to change that, once and for ever! To support this, I enlisted in the nerd fitness academy and will pursue my goals with its quests. Subquest #1: Well, like every challenge this is sticking to my workout routine. I am pretty unhappy with my gym at the moment (because they moved the free weights to the basement and its not so nice there) and consider switching to another. Therefore I will at first do the NF-bodyweight-workout routine, until I found a new gym or decide to stick with the one I am attending at the moment. Three to four teams per week, together with sprint training on the tracks nearby where I live. Subquest #2: This one regards nutrition, again. I am doing a Whole30 starting from Tuesday, Jan. 13th, to get back on track with my paleo eating. Subquest #3: I am adapting this from my last challenge. It will be supported by NF-academy quests and regards the mental preperation. I will every day do something to become stronger mentally, that will be either meditating or writing a diary or something similar were I will state what thing went fine and what motivates me in life. My side quest #1 - same as last challenge I want to make this budgeting again - the limit will be 75 € per week, with no extra spendings like magazines, books, dvds etc. outside this range. My side quest #2 - same as last challenge I have decided to try practicing guitar again. I don't want to do something like half an hour of practice again, I just make practicing at all per day the goal, if it's 5 minutes or 2 hours, I just have to grab the guitar and play. So, this is it. I hope, this will help me get going again and focus on getting fit, happy and healthy again.

Hey guys, how's everybody doing so far? Anyone playing WoD? I am sorry for being pretty much awol on all your threads, I am pretty stressed out at the moment, but I will try better in the future.

Hey guys, again, I have been awol for too long, but I am just having quite a stressful time at the moment. I have finally begun writing my thesis (I mean actual writing) and try to get at least one page done per day. This is working great so far, but together with playing WoD and doing my workouts, it doesn't leave me much time to post around here. Really sorry for that, I hope that I can do better next week. But here's a little wrap up from last week. Subquest #1: Did my three workouts, but didn't go running cause - well - I was too lazy. I think I have to work this out, how I will do this next week. Work Out - 2/3 - 3/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 5/18 Running/Swimming - 0/2 - 0/2 - 0/2 - 0/2 - 0/2 - 0/2 - 0/12 Subquest #2: Again, I mostly stayed within the caloric range, but I have to make a better meal plan. I mostly ate hard boiled eggs, potatoe salad and sausages, but I gave in to my old weakness and also ate prawn chips.. Have to cut back on that from now on.. Eating Paleo/PHD - 7/7 - 7/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 14/42 Counting macronutritions - 7/7 - 7/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 14/42 Counting micronutritions - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/42 Subquest #3: Didn't do anything for this last week, also. Seems like this quest is a bit unspecified, like last challenge. I have to overthink this. Sidequest #1: I went over my budget 40 € last week, but I have already saved 45€ this week, so budgeting is going fine so far. 3/7 - 7/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 10/42 Sidequest #2: I was so stressed out, that I totally forgot about practicing. I will have to leave the guitar in a more prominent spot, so I will be forced to practice more often. 0/5 - 0/5 - 0/5 - 0/5 - 0/5 - 0/5 - 0/42 Overall, I am pretty satisfied, although I don't feel like I am making much progress with lifting, which is probably due to the fact, that some weeks I don't have a gym available and am limited to body weight training.

Hey guys, it's been a busy first week, so here's a little wrap-up: Subquest #1: Working out went ok, but I had such sore muscles after the second workout, that I didn't do a third one. I also didn't go running etc. Work Out - 2/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 0/3 - 2/18 Running/Swimming - 1/2 - 0/2 - 0/2 - 0/2 - 0/2 - 0/2 - 1/12 Subquest #2: I stayed within the range and counted my nutritions, but didn't look out that much for the micros. Eating Paleo/PHD - 7/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 7/42 Counting macronutritions - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/42 Subquest #3: Didn't do anything for this last week. This has to get better. Sidequest #1: I kinda blew my budget this week, cause I had my fiancèe over and we went out a lot. This week, so far it's going fine. 3/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 0/7 - 3/42 Sidequest #2: Didn't do any practice, cause I hadn't the guitar available. Will try better this week. 2/5 - 0/5 - 0/5 - 0/5 - 0/5 - 0/5 - 2/42

Hey scout, looking really good so far! Congrats on that pound lost, that's really what's most motivating, isn't it? Sorry for not keeping up with your post, had a pretty busy week at the challenge beginning, I'll try better from this week on .

Hey, great job you guys! You can handle the streak thing like you want, see the rules as a guideline^^ (so for example, if you screw up one week but manage to save that much the next week that you get an even budget, that's fine, too).

Hi Zendikara, since this one is an open challenge, with no real beginning and end, you can of course join at any time! Welcome to the pack!

Hey guys, so here's my thread.

... by becoming titanium! Hey everyone, so, this is my 11th challenge already. Since WoW-Warlords of Draenor is coming out tomorrow, I decided to include it into my motto for this challenge (asking myself: what's stronger than iron?). My goals for this challenge aren't that much different from my last ones, I guess they are again one step further on my journey to becoming strong both physically and psychologically. Therefore, my MAIN QUEST for this challenge is: Become one strong orcish warrior (ok, shaman, as that's my main character in WoW): As last challenge, I got some more specific details on this quest. I had a really great time at the international conference last weekend, where I presented an oral paper on a part of my PhD and people were really nice and excited about my research. That was really motivating and I want to cherish this feeling, especially when I am getting depressed about it - I have to establish strategies compensationg with "bad days".As last challenge - I want to become more fit and healthy and I won't let any company or person get in my way by making fun of my eating habits or luring me with the sweet, sweet tastes of their baked "goods" (which are in fact every rebels cryptonite). As last challenge - I will let nothing and nobody get in my way while I pursue my dreams, even when I am having problems with money. It is on me to change that, once and for ever! Subquest #1: Well, like every challenge this is sticking to my workout routine, this time again weight training three times a week, swimming or running two times a week. Last challenge went pretty well and I want to continue this. I want to break my personal records of squatting (160 lbs), bench pressing (80 lbs) and deadlifting (160 lbs). Subquest #2: This one regards nutrition, again. I want to continue staying 100% within the rules of PHD and also try to eat within a nutrition range of 1800 calories, with 180g Carbohydrates, 180g Protein and 40g Fat at least 50% of the time. Subquest #3: This regards the mental preperation. I will every day do something to become stronger mentally, that will be either meditating or writing a diary or something similar were I will state what thing went fine and what motivates me in life. My side quest #1 - same as last challenge I want to make this budgeting again - the limit will be 75 € per week, with no extra spendings like magazines, books, dvds etc. outside this range. My side quest #2 - same as last challenge I have decided to try practicing guitar again. I don't want to do something like half an hour of practice again, I just make practicing at all per day the goal, if it's 5 minutes or 2 hours, I just have to grab the guitar and play. Grades: A - completing the goals every week, B - completing 5 weeks, C - completing 4 weeks, D - completing 3 weeks, F - completing less than 3 weeks.

Welcome again to Clarys and Nic, added both of you to the list. Good luck! Yeah, food is mostly my problem, too. For the first time since I started I went over my budget of 75€ per week due to spendings while going out with friends and visiting a conference. I also preordered the WoW-Warlords of Draenor Collectors edition, had planned that as an extraordinary expense. Therefore, including the CE, I am over my budget around 100 € this week. Therefore, these was overall an extraordinary "spending" situation and the spendings I took when going out and at the conference where mostly unavoidable. I will try to reduce my spendings over the next weeks, so I will get balance back in my budget.