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Finished the book this morning. All in all, I enjoyed it but I felt that the author's choice to "eliminate the boring bits" flubbed the ending a little bit. There is no denouement, so like upirygirl I felt that a lot of stuff was unresolved. Spoiler below ... I wish there were more viewpoints for Uncle Enzo - that was a really interesting chapter!

Hey everyone, work has been crazy this week so I haven't been able to log on lately. Here's some updates - I would like to write a trip report for the weekend later, as well. GOAL #1: EXERCISE FOR GREAT JUSTICE Saturday & Sunday - 23.76 miles of backpacking over the two days. It went really well; as I said, I'd like to write up a trip report later. I only have a few pictures though, as I forgot to take any until almost the end. Pass & Pass! That means I earned an A for Week 4. w00t! Monday - I was suffering mightily from DOMS from the hike, so didn't want to try anything. Since I'm planning a 3 day a week BBWW, I'll count this as an off-day. Pass! Tuesday - Ran with my fiancée for the first time in almost a year. We ran on the rail trail out of town. Run stats can been seen here. Pass! GOAL #2: EAT DIRT, GET SICK Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday - Even when relying on hiking food, I managed to avoid all HFCS. Easy peasy! Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass! That's another A for Week 4. GOAL #3: SHOW ME THE NUMBERS Missed measuring weight while hiking, but I did track everything I ate. That puts me at an A for week 4. Measurements for Week 5: Measurement Unit/Type Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5----------- ----------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------Body Fat %/Callipers 21 21 19.6 19.6 19.6Weight lbs./Scale 203.4 201.4 201.0 198.8 199.2Neck in./Tape 15.25 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00Left Bicep in./Tape 12.75 13.50 13.50 13.50 13.50Right Bicep in./Tape 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00Chest in./Tape 40.00 40.50 40.50 41.00 40.50Waist in./Tape 35.50 35.00 35.00 34.00 34.00Hips in./Tape 38.25 38.00 38.00 38.00 37.00Left Quad in./Tape 22.25 23.75 23.75 24.00 24.25Right Quad in./Tape 23.00 24.00 24.00 24.50 24.50Pretty stable. Minor shrink in chest size (boo!) and hip size (yay!), small bump in left quad size (yay!). Callipers showed a smaller reading, but still in the 19.6% on the chart. Monday & Tuesday - Still logging everything! Pass & Pass! LIFE GOAL: CLEAN UP, YOU SCHMUCK Saturday & Sunday - Wasn't home, which means there wasn't any cleaning, but there also wasn't anything to clean up. Pass & Pass, giving me an A for Week 4! Monday & Tuesday - I'm keeping stuff tidy, but if I don't get some cleaning done this evening it's going to have to be a fail for Wednesday. Pass & Pass!

*Trumpets blare* 1:05! That's a 5 second increase! w00t w00t! Sounds like you had a hell of a morning Ash. Glad to see you overcoming the NOTs! Keep it up, you can do it, go go go! And of course: RAWR!

Just challenge the housemate to a plank-off to settle disputes! I hope it's not too dramatic. Sounds like the bike ride was killer. You're a battle-hardened warrior now. As Kiwi said: RAWR!

I was just wondering about Hero, though now that you mention it I haven't seen Bee recently either! Cool, what program? (You might have said already, but I forgot ... haha) Buggs, that's an awesome shirt. You better kick it the rest of the challenge so you can wear it!

Glad to hear last night went well! My friend recently joined a Planet Fitness in my hometown. Sadly, the least expensive gym that I can find here is $49/month, which isn't too bad, it's just an expense that I'm not used to paying, haha. I think that sounds like it could work. I know that if you were to record yourself you could get feedback from the Warriors! And if your friend would be willing to help, that would be even better. Let us know what you decide!

I'm glad you decided to share your writing then! Let us know if there's anything we can do to help - it sounds like we have quite a few writing assets in the group.

Great job upping the times despite being super sore! I hope you're enjoying C25K!

Summary for Thursday, Week 4: GOAL #1: EXERCISE FOR GREAT JUSTICE First day off from exercising and my knee can definitely tell the difference - it's not crackling when I stand up! I did do my first long plank today for a time of 2:00.46 as stated earlier in the thread. Really looking forward to hiking this weekend! Pass! GOAL #2: EAT DIRT, GET SICK Oh, what? You expected me to fail here? Please ... Pass! GOAL #3: SHOW ME THE NUMBERS I'm on a streak of being in the 196s all week - I'm super pleased about this! And I hit my calorie goal sans-exercise almost on the nose yesterday. Double w00t! Pass! LIFE GOAL: CLEAN UP, YOU SCHMUCK After packing for my trip, I spent the time to pick up, which I normally don't do. Total bonus points there. Pass! I'll be around this morning, but we are driving to see friends this afternoon and then I'll be backpacking during the weekend so I'm going to have another "long" absence. Hopefully y'all will forgive me!

Happy birthday! I've never paid for a gym membership. I've been toying with the idea recently and think we can afford it (I tend to be needlessly cheap on things like this) but am not sold on the idea yet. Maybe go with the next two days and see how you feel about it. If it's still something you really want to do, maybe we can find a way for you to make the money! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. Good luck with the friends tonight. Social stuff always comes down to things like this and it has to be something you either accept or deal with being a teetotaler. That's a big decision to make!

That's awesome Vixen! So glad you had a good experience! It sounds like you found a quality coach and gym. I hope it works out loads better than your previous gym.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: I was giggling hysterically - in a totally manly way, I assure you - while reading these updates from all you guys. Totally worth reading them on the tablet!

Man, I might be in over my head! A forty second increase in two days?! Jess is a beast! Oh, to be young again. It's on like Donkey Kong!

*Blinks* I can't believe this exists ... Oh, wait. Rule 34. Good find!

Haha, I meant see who can get the longest plank time! That sounds super fun - but at this point would probably be a next-challenge type activity. Anyone else like the idea? Haha, Kiwi you always make me laugh.

Well that's cool - sounds like you're in balance with yourself! I feel like that's a necessary thing to be happy for most people - be in balance mentally, physically, and spiritually (for whatever definition of spiritual you want to use).

It's a core tenet of the Insanity program (and, I would guess, other Beachbody products) to show you how you've improved throughout. I think it's a great idea to track whatever you're doing so you know - and it can help you to do one more next time. Any thoughts on how we want to do the PvP activity? Do we want a weekly thing, or just a challenge long one?

So Fitocracy has a group for the 5-minute plank. I looked it up after doing my plank and came across this video from the founder of Fit Deck - I don't know how I watched him do a plank for that long, but it made me laugh. Maybe we should set up a Brigade PvP thread!

We're hoping that wherever my fiancée lands her first professorship has some built-in friends. Living in a purely college town has been rough on making them, other than contacts through her program (our main friends here are her advisor and his wife). And it sounds like you do a great job of that!

Hoo boy ... Just about overheated doing this. I was doing controlled breathing and every in-breath was causing me to shake violently. Never held a plank for more than a workout exercise before! Anyway, the time I hit was ..... *trumpets sound* 2:00.46! I guess my Insanity training helped my endurance quite a bit too!

Oh boy, I forgot about him, haha. I think your geek points are safe - it's mainstream enough that you don't really gain any, but understandable to get that reference before an obscure Final Fantasy class.

For some reason "pick things up and put them down" made me think of this priceless moment in The Avengers! I can't say that I've ever heart of a Fire Elemental Druid before, but I have to admit: your chosen profession given your race certainly sets a challenge for yourself! Thanks for sharing! I'm proud of you for hitting up your trial at the gym after committing with Vixen!

Nope, Buckeye through-and-through. Born, raised, and school (undergrad and grad) all in Columbus, OH and "grad school"ed at Ohio State (hate the football team though, no worries! ). My future brother-in-law is a Wolverine-by-grad-school and future sister-in-law went to Calvin for undergrad, so we have ties to Michigan. If I had to guess, the family history is similar to a lot of people in the modern era - family just isn't as important as it used to be to society! Makes meh jealous of people that have it, haha.

I went back and updated my level up post to include information on my race and class. I'm copying it here so you don't have to click through!

Thanks for sharing Snow! I'm glad that your work/life balance is helping you feel healthier - that's definitely one thing that I know I slacked on during grad school.