Shukar

Carried my work bag up and down the stairs and around a few buildings for a while today, which is something but not really all that heavy. Also had to truck some lamps around work and up and down a ladder, but again more tedious than heavy. Did clean the apartment some though so that's always good.

Day 12. Breakfast was egg monster, lunch was a burger with sweet potato fries from Smash Burger, dinner was a trip to Sweet Tomatoes with the wife (her choice). Not all amazing but all at least fresh and tasty. Reading today was some long form fiction, some articles, and finishing up Relax into Stretch. Audiobooks today included finishing the Foundation Trilogy and the entirety of Sun Tzu's Art of War. Workout today consisted of a 1.4 mile run this morning, 3 miles of walking today, and then a series of squats to warm-up followed by my TGU day on my kettlebell program. Also included today were some isometrics and some stretching for my neck and ankles as well as some work trying to keep my hips and feet in the proper alignment when standing. No Mobility WoD today since I'm waiting on my bands to be delivered. Until next time.

Day 11. Breakfast today was egg monster, lunch was a cheese burger and fries with the boss (burger came with a fried egg, arugala, and something they called bacon jam which seemed to just be finely chopped bacon with the fat rendered and slightly solidified), dinner was a ribeye and some asparagus cooked in butter. I also had some cheese as a snack and some homemade ice cream. Reintroducing Dairy today following the Whole 30 reintroduction strategy and seeing how things go, the burger was a slip on my part I should have properly held off on the bun until this weekend. Workouts. Today started with an abbreviated run due to time constraints, only 1.2 miles, and sitting in a training seminar all day reduced my other walking to only 2.4 miles. During the meeting and other portions of the day I did some isometric contractions, which I am hoping will help increase strength through the range of motion the position at the time includes though if nothing else it helps me be less bored. After work I did KB swings tonight, two 4 minute sets and a 3 minute set with rep counts of 138, 135, and 105. Back was hurting a little during the middle but it worked out by the end. Also did some squats to warm up and some stretching of the hamstring for day8 of the MWoDs. In addition I did some work on my neck and ankles. The neck seems to be coming along nicely but the ankles are plateauing it seems. Will have to see what I can do. For reading today it was mostly blog posts and some brief work in Relax into Stretch. Also just about finished listening through Asimov's Foundation Trilogy on audiobooks, having finished Brave New World and Mostly Harmless (from the HHG2tG series) already this week. Not sure if my next will be Sherlock Holmes, or Sun Tzu. Until next time.

I'm sure I can find some cables, servers, microphones, or projectors at work that need to be carried around tomorrow. If not I'm equally sure my apartment could use some cleaning up.

Day 10. Breakfast today was Egg Monster. Lunch was chicken thigh and spinach (change of pace). Dinner was a ribeye, spaghetti squash, and mushrooms. Baked up another round of egg monster for the upcoming week. Today I found the time to not only read some light fiction but also to make another quarter of the book in progress on Relax into Stretch as well as finishing up a chunk of the Foundation Series audiobook. Workouts today consisted of a 1.8 mile morning walk, another 4.1 miles of walking past that. The day saw some more isometric work, some work on my neck and ankles. In the evening there was a workout with face the wall squats, regular close squats, pushups, pull-ups, leg raises, bridges, and etc. Also did Mobility WoD #7 today. So all told a pretty decent day.

Day 9. 29th day of the Whole 30, almost done with it and trying to figure out my way back to someplace I'm happy with in between. For now though, simple continuation. Egg Monster for breakfast, chicken thigh and green beans for lunch, and sausages and cherries for dinner. Resisted the temptation of ice cream cake at my grandfathers birthday party tonight as well, almost to the end why spoil it now? Reading today included some long form non-fiction and a chunk of Relax Into Stretch (by Pavel of course). Workouts today started with a sprint session with the wife, total distance of 1.12 miles, and walked another 4.5 past that. When I got home from said birthday party it was time for the workout. Warm-up with a collection of squats, followed by 5 minutes alternating sides of TGUs. For mobility today I took it easy and just did some simple stuff with my neck and ankles. I also mixed it up today and did some isometrics work with my legs and postural work with my shoulders and back while driving around for work and while standing around for various things. Until next time, be the you you want to be.

Day 8, start of week 2. Breakfast today was the rather predictable egg monster, why stray from a tried and true classic. Lunch was going to be leftover chicken breast and broccoli but after eating the broccoli the chicken was found to be inedible (dry and past it's prime) and so chipotle was procured. Dinner ended up being foraging while the wife got fast food, I ended up with a mediocre salad some chicken breasts and some hamburger patties; not terrible but not the best. While at the movies I got some dried apple rings and when we got home a small bowl of cherries. For workouts today we had the first day of the new training program for our runs, we just finished my wife's Couch to 5K program so I'm starting her into half-marathon training since we are signed up for a race end of January. As such, only a short run today of 1.46 miles, plus another 4.6 miles of walking as well. After work I came home and did my warm-up for tonights swings, stretching and a series of squat variations, followed by the swings in sets of 4min, 4, and 2. I debating moving that least set to 3 but decided against since I was trying to focus more on good form today. With some spotting help from the wife I was able to ensure I was keeping better form this week than I feel I was last week so hopefully less back pain in the next couple days. Also did the 6th Mobility WoD and my usual neck and ankle work, ankle is starting to feel almost like there's never been an issue. To help with my Senses goal I went to the doctor today to ask about my issue. When given the information about what I've done to treat it with success in the past and the recent changes related to my diet he thinks it may be some kind of allergy and gave me some meds to try in the short term to try and see if that's the case. If so it's off to the allergist to figure out the causes. Reading today was mostly articles from various sources, including a lot of stuff on form for the various movements I do for my workouts, plus some Paleo Solution while waiting at the Doctor's Office. Until next time ladies and gents.

My total miles for the week was just over 50, combined walking and running. Scoping out the inside and the outside of the castle this week.

Day 7. Breakfast today was a southwest style omelet from The Good Egg (gave the potato side to the wife because she loves them). Lunch was some sausages and a bunch of mushrooms. Dinner was a delicious t-bone and some roast broccoli. Today after our weekly grocery trip I cooked up 3 ribeyes, a pack of chicken thighs, a pack of chicken breasts, and roasted a spaghetti squash. The fridge is so full of things it's rather absurd. For reading I finished Power to the People, put in some long form fiction, and some magazine type articles as well. For workouts I started the day off right with a 7.3 mile run, and another 5.9 miles of walking besides. For resistance I was pretty limited today with just some pushups and some face the wall squats. Mobility was hit pretty well today though with the next MWoD on the list being tackled, plus some focused time before and after the run on a grok squat, some time with the foam roller and my back being reacquainted, and my neck and my ankles receiving some loving. Other things that got done today included research with videos into some improvements for my swing form, which I am suspicious may help my recent back pain, the building of a running plan to get the wife and I through the races we have upcoming Labor Day weekend but also the half marathon we are doing as a team in January (and me through the marathon I'm strongly contemplating adding in March), some general cleaning in the apartment, and picking up some new audiobooks before I finished my current ones! So how am I doing on goals so far here a week in? Todays long run was originally going to be 5-6 miles, but I just decided to run until I either found my way back, couldn't keep good form, or it got too hot. I found my way back as it was starting to get too hot and that happened to be around 7.3 miles. It brings me confidence that I'm on a good track for my Running goal. For Mobility I completed 5 MWoDs so far, and did my trouble spots on the other two days so that's going better than goal levels right now. For Strength I completed all the workouts on my list and added in the work to help scour the castle for the Ranger mini-challenge, plus put a combined 51.31 miles helping scour the area with the Scouts for good measure, so I'm on track for that goal as well. I've got an appointment with my GP tomorrow to discuss a few things including my nose and hopefully when that's been done I'll have some idea where to go from here. So that's the state of the goals and of me. Until next time, be the you you wish you were.

Day 6. Breakfast today was egg monster before a short stint at work. Lunch was a steak spinach salad from subway with my new favorite hot sauce dressing, which is to say put hot sauce on the salad and mix it up. Dinner was a modified cobb salad at Red Robin. Reading today was from Paleo Solution in the morning and Power to the People in the evening. Todays workouts started in the morning with a 2.4 mile run, and another 3.4 miles of walking through the day. In the evening for variety day I did some squats, pushups, bridges, and leg raises. Good well rounded bodyweight work for my variety. For mobility today I did MWoD number 4, plus some neck and ankle work and some work on my lower back, which has been bothering me the past two days. I think the back may be bothering me related to my recent stint of kettlebell work so I'm gonna spend some time tomorrow researching and watching correct form to make sure I'm doing it as well as I should be. Until tomorrow, be awesome.

So far I've added pullups to my warmup last night, with a wider range of motion on the pull-ups than I have previously attempted, added pushups to the warm-up the day prior, a set of pushups the day before that, and I'll probably add both to todays workout. Those walls are getting scaled and the floors tested for secret panels.

@Loren: But I thought my totem animal wasn't in the pain cave. Day 5. Started the day off with a run, 2.36 miles to be specific, and 5.4 miles of walking. Did my neck exercises while stuck in traffic today, and my ankles during the day as well. After getting home from work and settling down there was a quick warmup of some face the wall squats and stretching followed by my 5 minutes of alternating turkish get-ups. Did not do an MWoD today, but did my other mobility work instead. For food breakfast was Egg Monster, lunch was chicken thighs and spinach, dinner was beef franks and shrimp with some peppers. For reading there was some Power to the People again. Ordered my mobility pack from Rogue Fitness and an additional lacrosse ball and band to boot.

Day 4 is nearly in the books. Breakfast was egg monster as usual, lunch ended up being chipotle with a coworker, and dinner was a trip to a sushi restaurant with the wife for our anniversary. I had sashimi and kept up my Whole30 in the process. Reading today included another couple chapters of Power to the People. Being as it was our anniversary I decided I'd let the wife sleep in so we made it our rest day on her program. So todays walking only totaled 3.75 miles. Tonight's scheduled workout was 12 minutes of kettlebell swings with whatever needed rest breaks. So I did two 4 minute sets and a 2 minute set with minute rest periods in between, for a total of 135, 145, and 60 swings each. This was of course following a warmup including face the wall squats, regular bodyweight squats, close squats, goblet squats (very squat heavy, but the swings need some leg prep), some wall pushups, some misc stretching, and a bridge. For my mobility work today I did the 3rd entry on the Mobility WoD, which focused on my ankles, and then I put in some neck work as well to cover the program minimum. Because the party should be supple.

Pullups yesterday, pullups Saturday, pushups of some variety every day. If my weekend wasn't already full I'd plan on a visit to some rock climbing, but for now I'll find something to climb. Pushing my limits to see how many more pullups and how difficult of pushups I can do should be fun.

If barefoot style shoes are a point of discussion I'd suggest the Merrel Barefoot line for that thread. I have the Tough Glove for work and am glad for it.

Another vote in favor of the Vibrams. I tried on a pair of the skeletoes and found that the material didn't breath at all well, my foot got warm enough I wanted to take the shoes off rather quickly. I've not had that issue with any of my pairs of Five-fingers. Another point worth noting, the skeletoes only have four toes, not a real hindrance I suppose but worth noting. Just not natural.

Day 3. Breakfast was egg monster, thank goodness that's something that can be jumbled up different each time or this might get old . Lunch was a burger with mushrooms and corned beef from a local place, and sweet potato fries. Dinner was sausages and green beans and a few kale chips. For reading today it was primarily Power to the People, not making as good of progress as I'd like but I am making progress. For workouts I started the day with a 1.4 mile walk, and put in another 4.7 miles besides. For resistance today, being a variety/skills day, I took it a bit easy and only did a set of squats, a set of pushups, some leg raises, and a couple of bridges. And, thanks in part to a later night at work, I did not put in a mobility WoD today but instead just some work on my neck and ankles. Until next time friends.

That food sounds good, I really need to pick up a copy of Well Fed. Weirdly I also had a cheat dream last night, but mine involved mint chocolate chip ice cream floating in beer, which ended with enough in dream panic that I realized it must be a dream before I woke myself up. Crazy days; I lucked out on the meeting though mine was just at a different time than I had been told.

Haikoo, it's easier to get things ready for company when there are fewer things. Minimalism for the win!

Been working the wife through the Couch to 5k program, when we started she couldn't run more than a minute without struggle, this week is the last week and 30 minutes at a pop is a reality. Intervals are the ticket if you build up to longer ones over time.

@Susie, Somewhere I actually have a neti pot that I never got around to using to try and take care of this problem, part of the reason I made it a challenge goal was to make sure I did something about it. Haven't done much googling but have done some experimentation. So far what I know is that about a week into the Whole30 my sense of smell came back, though my nose has been acting up again the past couple days so have to see if that holds, and that otherwise it's taken 3 days of a constant dosage of pseudoephedrine to clear it up for any appreciable function. I'm planning on heading in to my doctor in the next week or so to get his opinion on it and see if I can't beat this thing once and for all. (And be certain anything he says goes right to google, I'm bothersome like that)

@Roocifer, I'll probably be back some day, dip into ranger for some strength, an animal companion, and two-weapon fighting and then come back to Scout. Something like that And while I may be over here right now I'll still be over there too. So, Day 2. Breakfast was the traditional Egg Monster, lunch was a chicken thigh, steamed broccoli, and an enormous salad, dinner was a double protein style from In-n-Out. For reading I did my usual blog rounds and a chunk from Power to the People. Workouts today were a little simpler, 2.3 mile run to start the day off, another 5.9 miles of walking to go with it. For the nights workout the warmup included 5 each face-the-wall squats, close squats, and goblet squats with the bell, plus some misc stretching. The body of the workout was 5 minutes of Turkish Get-ups alternating sides (though I wasn't supposed to count reps I can't log it on Fitocracy by time so counting reps and not pushing for higher numbers on each workout is gonna be my plan here) with 7 reps to a side being the final. In true Pavel fashion it looks like the press days are gonna be much less important than the pull days, and I'm ok with that. For mobility I did MWoD #2, hip extension, and with some loose testing before and after noticed a difference pretty handily in addition to being much easier than yesterday. That probably means I'll just need to do more of the squat hold. I also did some work on my ankles and my neck, both of which are already starting to feel at least a bit better. Until next time, keep being the you you want to be.

I think the timed cardio goal will be a fun challenge goal, enough flexibility that you can try things you might not otherwise try. Also agree that planning ahead for the busy season seems wise, and making a point of still doing something during that time even more so. Even if it's not what you'd like to be doing always be doing something. Good luck!

Holy cow, I'm taken aback that I managed to snag the guild championship last challenge. Now I feel guilty about my deployment with the Rangers for this challenge. While I feel I'm a Scout first, my goals this time around were way too Rangery for me to not deploy there for this round of the mission. I'm sure I'll be back though, and in the meantime I'll make sure to report back to the Scouts regularly and keep up with the mini-challenges over here. No matter how many things I lift I'll always be running.

Alright, Day 1, let's see what I've got to say about it. Let's start with food, since it always does. Breakfast was a nice simple egg monster. Lunch was leftover pork loin roast with spinach. Dinner was Hebrew National franks with green beans (and some homemade ghee) and for an after dinner snack I had a handful of blueberries. Also finished up the production of my bone broth. What did I do for workouts today? Started the day off with a relaxed walk with the wife, around 1.5 miles; and the day included a nice 5 miles of other walking as well. Once I was home from work and etc. it was time for the days programmed workout, 12 minutes of kettlebell swings with as few breaks as possible. Did 200 in my first set, 100 in my second, and 30 in my third. Had about a minute or so to shake my joints out and walk around between sets but right on target. During the warmup for that I loosened up with a couple of bridge holds, some halos, some figure-8s over my head with the bell, and some face the wall squats. Those squats are killer. For mobility I did the first mobility wod, the 10 minute squat test. It was a real challenge for me and took 35 minutes by the clock to accumulate the time I needed but I managed to make it through. In addition to that spent some time working on my ankles and lower legs using the block from my trigger point kit and some trigger point work, and also some work on my neck. While all the joints I worked are a bit sore right now, including my elbows from the swings, I think it's helped some compared to when I started the day. In the interest of self-improvement I read some more of Pavel's Power to the People today in addition to my usual blog circuit. So far I'm keeping on track for my challenge but we will have to see where the future takes us, and what my body has to say about todays workouts when tomorrow rolls around.