Calistyn

Oh man, this past week was terrible. Main goal: Still aiming to be Ezio! Challenge Goals: Do Bodyweight Workout Level 2 3x a week Not even once! Run or Bike 3x a week Biked once. Mobility training 10 minutes per day Did this one day. Life Quest Get business cards and leave-behinds done – Business cards are still in progress. Originally wanted to do them in laser-cut wood, but unfortunately that's not working so I'm figuring out the best paper options for them. Network (ICFF) – Not relevant yet! Apply to three companies - Took my list of companies I wanted to look into and narrowed it down a bit. Now I'm researching the first of the set I'd like to apply to. Aiming to have the cover letter written (roughly) by the end of the week. Really just a terrible week. Things outside this went very, very poorly. However! This week is already looking like it will be better, so hopefully I can pick it up from here.

So I hope it's okay to keep using the spreadsheet, and continuing these for the next few weeks. They're all useful exercises!

I can't help it, the videos of these make me laugh, especially when imagining them more as headbanging. Now I kinda want to try them myself. Also, I have to Google so much stuff (the pike jumps, for instance) to know what's going on in your challenge, it's awesome! I'm learning!

Oh man, I remember doing the flat-on-the-butt landing off a staircase more than once as a kid. Not fun! I've practiced with both running up to the stairs, and standing jump. I haven't paid attention to which foot I lead with though, I think that's something I'll have to work on.

Update time woo! Do Bodyweight Workout Level 2 3x a week Continuing at Level 2 – I would like to improve several areas more before I move onward. Twice! Run or Bike 3x a week Having learned how much is too much last time, I’ll go with a combination of run and bike to keep up with cardio of some kind. I’ll be continuing with the Couch to 5k style program (currently running Week 4 but that’s probably going to last a month.) Biked two days, equivalent to 2.25 in terms of typical distances traveled. Mobility training 10 minutes per day Managed 4 days this week. Lost a couple due to 4am work marathons in one of my classes, and not deciding on my goals until super later on the start day. Fun times! I discovered that jumping up to the third step is a little scary, and jumping down from the fourth is equally so. I practiced though, and now it feels a lot more comfortable. Also managed to jump rope for 30 seconds straight. I think this coming week I need to practice falling, as it's going to happen eventually and I should probably be able to do it safely. Life Quest Get business cards and leave-behinds done – Business cards designed! They are meant to be done on a laser cutter, so I'll do a test run this week. Network (ICFF) – Not relevant just yet. Apply to three companies - I now have a list of about 8 companies to research and apply to. Improvement! I feel like I made progress this week!

Really? It doesn't seem like the learning curve would be very gentle on something like that. But then, I've never tried it. I'll take your word for it, and maybe try it myself someday. And if I could figure out how to do a link in my signature, I would. Everything I do gets me the big,ugly link. Even bbc code. :/

I love that your challenge is Firefly themed! Your goals are awesome, it sounds like you're slowly becoming River. Very appropriate!

This is pretty exciting - I totally saw pistol squats and was like 'Oh man, no way.' but I already do most of the Level 1 stuff during my stretching so now I want to see how far along this progression I can get!

Your challenge sounds like it's going to be awesome! That list of skills is great! It took me a second to remember what slackline is, but now that I've got it, I am impressed that you can do it all. I have issues balancing on a curb. Good luck with it - walking 25 steps along that sounds like quite a challenge!

Main goal: Still aiming to be Ezio! Challenge Goals: Do Bodyweight Workout Level 2 3x a week Continuing at Level 2 – I would like to improve several areas more before I move onward. 3/week: A, 2.5-3/week: B, 2-2.5/week: C, 1.5-2/week: D, 0-1.5/week: F Run or Bike 3x a week Having learned how much is too much last time, I’ll go with a combination of run and bike to keep up with cardio of some kind. I’ll be continuing with the Couch to 5k style program (currently running Week 4 but that’s probably going to last a month.) 3/week: A, 2.5-3/week: B, 2-2.5/week: C, 1.5-2/week: D, 0-1.5/week: F Mobility training 10 minutes per day This is everything from jumping rope, to jumping up stairs, shuttle runs, etc. This is basically all the bits of being an Assassin that I haven’t yet worked on. 6: A | 5: B | 4: C | 3: D | 2: F Life Quest Make progress toward getting a job. I graduate at the end of May, and I don’t yet have a job lined up afterward. To that end, I’ll be spending time working toward this through three goals: Get business cards and leave-behinds done – My portfolio and resume are done and I have practiced writing cover letters enough that I am comfortable with them, so these two things are all that is left. Network (ICFF) – I am with the group exhibiting with my school (SCAD) at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York in May, and this will be a phenomenal time to network with companies. Apply to three companies - This means I need to actually look in to places I want to work, and send out my info.

Wrap Up: I learned a lot this challenge, like how easy it is to forget to post things here. And also exactly how much is too much! Trying to work out 3 days, run 3 and bike 3 was just more than I could reasonably handle. I'm pretty sure the leg issues that have been plaguing me this whole time are due to jumping up substantially in how much I work out. Next challenge will actually be more reasonable in goal setting. Do Bodyweight Workout Level 2 3x a week B - Averaged 2.25 per week Successfully complete weeks 2-7 of the Couch to 5k program This switched to 'Run 3 days a week' B - Averaged 2.16 Spends 2 hours a day working on capstone project Averaged 6.16 hours, and that's with Spring Break in the middle. B Life Quest Averaged 5.6 - B Secondary Life Quest Averaged once a week. F Overall, I give myself a B. Yay!

March 31-April 6: Do Bodyweight Workout Level 2 3x a week 3/week: A, 2.5-3/week: B, 2-2.5/week: C, 1.5-2/week: D, 0-1.5/week: F D - Not a good week! Worked out once, and only got halfway through the second workout. Though that's more because my study buddy showed up very early than because I couldn't do it. Successfully complete weeks 2-7 of the Couch to 5k program Ran 1 days, Week 4. I couldn't tell yet if the calf raises were helping, since the long gap between runs probably made my legs feel better than anything else. Spends 2 hours a day working on capstone project 7 days out of 7. I'm am at least succeeding at this! Life Quest Draw –something- every day. I need to improve my drawing skills anyway, and this is a good place to practice. 7 out of 7! Also success! Secondary Life Quest Continue to bike to work and class at least 3 times a week. I like not spending money on gas, and this tends to slack right around finals time, so I’ll be keeping track of it during the challenge. Biked Twice. I don't think I was quite prepared for this particular challenge to end, seeing as I just kept going as if it hadn't this past week.

March 24-30: Do Bodyweight Workout Level 2 3x a week 3/week: A, 2.5-3/week: B, 2-2.5/week: C, 1.5-2/week: D, 0-1.5/week: F B - Worked out twice. Managed a full body push-up for the first time in years! Successfully complete weeks 2-7 of the Couch to 5k program Ran 2 days, Week 4. Still having issues. It's very discouraging. My mother has suggested adding calf raises to my workouts everyday. Apparently that helped her when she had the same problem while in the military. Hopefully it will help! If not, I'm going to have to let running go for a while because my frustration with this is impacting my desire to do my strength training, and that's really more important to me. Spends 2 hours a day working on capstone project 6 days out of 7. Oh man, this quarter's gonna be nuts. Life Quest Draw –something- every day. I need to improve my drawing skills anyway, and this is a good place to practice. 7 out of 7! Woo! All the drawing! Secondary Life Quest Continue to bike to work and class at least 3 times a week. I like not spending money on gas, and this tends to slack right around finals time, so I’ll be keeping track of it during the challenge. Biked once.

So despite having followed you way back at the beginning of the challenge, I've only just gotten the chance to actually read through your posts. Your pullup progress is impressive so far. I hope Wednesday goes well with them! Likewise, I hope your hanging frog raises go well too!

March 17-23: Do Bodyweight Workout Level 2 3x a week 3/week: A, 2.5-3/week: B, 2-2.5/week: C, 1.5-2/week: D, 0-1.5/week: F A - Kicked butt! I can finally do 3 sets of 10 kneeling pushups in a workout. I shall now be slowly (oh so slowly!) progressing with full body push-ups. Or, that's the goal. We'll see how it actually goes! Also managed 3 sets of 10 inverted rows - with my knees bent. Gonna attempt the proper inverted row now. I suspect both progressions are gonna take me quite a while. Successfully complete weeks 2-7 of the Couch to 5k program Ran 3 days, following the Week 3 setup. I am looking forward to Week 4! Week 3 was taunting me with its 3 minute running intervals, as right around 3 minutes is when I tend to hit my stride, and then I suddenly have to walk. Now I'll get to run a little longer. Spends 2 hours a day working on capstone project Worked 4 days of the 7. Pretty good considering it was Spring Break. Life Quest Draw –something- every day. I need to improve my drawing skills anyway, and this is a good place to practice. 4 days out of 7. Some furniture sketching and some people. Actually built one of the furniture sketches, which makes me happy. My desk is now standing height! Secondary Life Quest Continue to bike to work and class at least 3 times a week. I like not spending money on gas, and this tends to slack right around finals time, so I’ll be keeping track of it during the challenge. Not even once! I was so lazy! I could have done better this week and the two before it, especially with my Life Quests. The thing is, normally when finals hit everything just gets dropped. I don't work out, eat well or bike. This quarter I managed to do a far better job of keeping up with the physically focused goals, even if my diet did turn to Taco Bell and pizza. This counts as a major win in my book, so I am still very, very happy with how his challenge is going.