Conquius

In the mean time, I'm doing my bike thing to/from work, racking up miles before my bike trip at the end of July.

Howdy! Some good weeks, some bad weeks, some weird weeks? Put running to the side for now. Hip pain is still alive and throbbing. The occasional walks I have to do to the metro are bad enough. Thankfully, it doesn't impact cycling! While I build my new bike, my touring bike has been getting me to work most days. As for my calisthenic routine, I've also dropped it. I think it was a bit too ambitious? Or maybe my habit of exercising after work isn't built yet.

Friday June 23 🌚 Own the Morning. Fridays are my weakness because I'm coming off 3 days of in-office, so I want to sleep in. I want to stay getting up early so I can actually use my mornings for things other than commuting. 🔴 Work after Work. Got off work around 5 and didn't go into my workout. Got some good chores done (set up my guest bed, fixed my touring bike's dynamo light) and played some more Ghost of Tsushima. Can't win 'em all.

Maybe. I'm running on pavement with minimalist trail runners, but I also get the hip pain when I'm in my chunky Brooks running shoes that have lots of support.

Thursday June 22 🌞 Own the Morning. Up at 5:45, otd by 6:45. Got a quiet morning metro. 🟠Work after Work. Walked home from the metro, hip was giving me some grief. Decided to try to run anyway. Changed into my running clothes, went out the door, within a quarter mile my hip was hurting pretty bad. Turned it around, walked home. Half a mile of movement is better than nothing. I'm going to look up some stuff about internal hip rotation, because I used to walk with my feet kind of splayed \ / and running has forced me to keep them straight | |. I wonder if there's some muscle or tendon that's being overexerted.

Yeah. The duality of control - things we can control vs things we can't - is a pretty well-known one. The impediment to action advancing action is one I think I have a decent understanding of, but still noodle on from time to time. It's the idea that we get to take impediments and reorient them as an opportunity to practice virtue. The impediment is an obstacle to what we want because it inherently challenges one of our virtues, e.g. Patience. If we can identify that our patience is being challenged, we can reorient the impediment in our minds to instead be an opportunity to practice and improve our Patience. If we can become patient enough to tolerate the impediment, it ceases to be an impediment. That's my understanding.

Howdy @Kadriel! I've had a few attempts historically in trying to learn how to run, none of them going particularly well. Eventually I decided to stick to the forms of cardio that I like: cycling, walking, and hiking. Over time, I built up an aerobic base and a decent mental game, so when I picked up running again to prepare for this Spartan Race, I was pretty primed for it. Being able to run a mile w/o stopping is just something I stumbled into eventually by doing the things I enjoy. Thanks! It took a while. I was convinced I'd never be able to do it consistently. Eventually I found the right combination of tools and habits to make it happen.

Something I got pretty good at while bike adventuring was dealing with bad weather. Rain, hail, wind, heat, humidity, etc. You do your best to prepare for it. When it hits, you can find cover if it's available, but if not, you just bear it and keep making miles because.. what else is there to do? I'm wet now, but later I'll be dry. Hot/cold, hungry/full, tired/rested. I was embracing the suffering of my choosing. I've been on the metro a lot due to my job enforcing 3 days per week in-office, and until I finish building my new bike, the metro is the best way to commute. The worst part about commuting on the metro (other than the time & money spent) is people who are inconsiderate - those who seem unaware of or are unwilling to adhere to the social etiquette of a shared public metro. And I've thought about getting mad at these people - they are people with agency who are making choices to the frustration of everyone else on the metro car, but there is no action I can take that does not end up escalating the situation, or at the very least, implicating me in their ugliness. So I was thinking this morning: what if I treated them like the weather? I had this great saying while bike adventuring: "I'm out here for three months. Some days it will rain." I can't control it, the best I can do is know that it will happen, prepare for it mentally and materially, and bear it when it does. I will get to my destination eventually. It is loud now but it will be quiet later.

Nice! I believe in getting the hard stuff done first. What's the most difficult part about meditating for you?

I'm going to start writing these nightly. Wednesday 6/21/23 ✅ Work after Work. Hit my reps on everything except Inverse Row. It's the last major strength exercise in my routine (Pike Push-Ups -> Asst Pull-Ups -> Full Push-Ups -> Inverted Rows) and the one that I have the least experience with. Might look up some form videos. I was looking up the progression scheme for BWSF. I'm going to progress by adding one rep per set per week, so my routine will look something like this: (Test means test moving on to the next Progression) If I can get to the Rep Counts under Week 4, I'll count this Challenge Successful.

Kind of! I studied Latin for 10+ years, and Ancient Greek for 3ish years, culminating in a Classical Studies degree. The Stoics came up a few times, including one college course dedicated to Seneca, and another where we translated some of Meditations. I became enamored with the duality of control and the impediment to action advancing action.

Congratulations on making it through the hardest part of the fight. I'll be following along. You've got this.

Welcome back! Following along.

Following along!

Tuesday 6/20/23 - Wednesday 6/21/23 ✅ Work after Work. While walking to & from the metro, I discovered that I had some hip pain. Could be from running, could be from not stretching. Instead of going on a 1mi run, I dedicated 20 minutes to some stretching & mobility on my hip. Then to Ghosts of Tsushima. Spoilers for Act II below 👇 🌞 Own the Morning. Up at 6, otd a little after 7. I might try to get out the door by 6:30 because being otd by 7 means I take the 7:30 metro which is packed. Metro had a delay today (I think due to someone in another metro car not letting the doors close) and someone decided to take it as an opportunity to evangelize to a captive audience. Final days, eternal hell, open your heart to Jesus, etc. People will be rude, but I do not have to implicate myself in their ugliness.

👀 I had that translation of Seneca in college! I wonder if I still have it anywhere...

A note on the BWSF workout: I'm keeping my particularly tough exercises (Pike Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, Full Push-Ups) low rep for the time being. I think that this will help establish the habit, and get into the rhythm of the movement.

Had a fantastic weekend, with some stuff that's very relevant for my Epic Quest. I'll update there. As for the Challenge: Monday 6/19/23 - Tuesday 6/20/23 ✅ Work After Work. Slight delay, but completed my workout. Spent some time being intentional about my form. Moved up to the next Bridge Progression and it's adequately tough. Monday night is my cook night, so I got to cook some Mattar Tofu and naan with a side of sauteed kale. Ended the night trying out Deep Rock Galactic with some friends. ✅ Own the Morning. Up at 6, realized I lost my key card at work, out the door a little after 7.

Wednesday 6/14/23 - Thursday 6/15/23 ❌ Work after Work: Worked late, was p exhausted after the metro ride home, and still had more work to do. Had dinner around 9, then immediately turned around and did the dishes. Since my partner and I have been getting up at 6, we've been trying to go to bed at 10, so it was p much straight to bed. Didn't get to train. The workout also felt super daunting. Next time I will remember that I can turn the dial down and do something easier. ✅ Own the Morning: My partner has been feeling bad abt not getting to exercise as much as they want. I suggested that since we're both WFH on Thursday, we go for an early 1mi run. Up at 6, dressed, watered, OTD by 6:15. Ran a mile in 9:43 without walking and then my partner led me through some dynamic stretching that they did for track. Water, coffee, bagel, vegan cream cheese. Feeling good. Stats for the Nerds

@Janus Echo Oh yeah! Don't know how I forgot about that. Yeah, that's exactly what I was asking. Do you own a copy of Fizban's? It's dragons all the way down.

Righteous goal. Are you basing it off of a premade, or are you doing homebrew?

Tuesday 6/13/23 - Wednesday 6/14/23 ✅ Work after Work. Got home from work, put down my bags, changed into my workout clothes (packed in my backpack) got out the door. Ran a mile. Started too fast, had to take a break about 75% of the way through, and walk the last 10%, still ended up being my first 10-minute mile. ✅ Own the Morning. Up at 6, pretty wiped, got just over 6 hours of sleep. Coffee, water, banana, bagel, vegan cream cheese. Otd around 7:20. Really wanted to go back to sleep. Getting in bed early tonight. Stats for the Nerds

Monday 6/12/23 - Tuesday 6/13/23 ❌ Work after Work: Worked late, had to turn around pretty fast and start dinner. I overcommitted to how much food I could make on a Monday night (Chickpea cutlets, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, stir-fry vegetables), so that was kind of my whole evening 😅 ✅ Own the Morning: Up at 6. Water, coffee, bagel, veg cream cheese, banana. Otd by 7:15. Would've been better if I prepacked my backpack but you can't win 'em all.

Continuation of Conquius Moves Like the Myrmidons. Introduction Last year, my partner and their father did a Spartan Stadion. For those of you who don't know, it's the 5k Sprint format, but instead of being out in the countryside, it's held in a Stadium. I got to spectate. That was all fine and well, but I thought if I did one myself, I wouldn't want to do it in a hot, concrete Stadium. Well I voiced this thought to my partner a few weeks ago, who then found a Sprint less than 2hrs away, and asked if I'd do that one with them and their father. I accepted! For a few reasons: Sounds fun, and sounds like a decent accomplishment. Training for the Spartan Race will give me an opportunity to round out some parts of my physical fitness that have been previously neglected: Upper Body, Core, and Running. Gives me a good opportunity to impress my partner with my physical prowess 😏😏😏 So that will inform most of my Challenges for this go-round. Work after Work 🏃‍♂️ First Challenge is to create a habit of working out each day after work. I now have a hybrid work schedule where I work 3 days per week In-Office (T, W, R), and 2 days WFH (M, F). It's a traditional 9-5, so my plan is to have my workout clothes close at hand at 5PM, workout, and then I can continue on with my evening. My workouts will focus on two major areas: Running and Calisthenics. Running * Short Runs: 1 mile. Once I can consistently run that distance without stopping, I'll up the distance by 0.25 - 0.5 miles. * Long Runs: 3 miles. Once I can consistently run that distance at a pace better than 10:00 / mi, I'll up the distance by 0.5 miles. Calisthenics * I'm copying Reddit's BWSF Routine pretty directly, and nixing Squats. My legs already get enough work from Running and Cycling. Schedule: * Sunday: rest * Monday: BWSF * Tuesday: Short Run * Wednesday: BWSF * Thursday: Short Run * Friday: BWSF * Saturday: Long Run I'll assess after a week if this schedule is Too Much. The BWSF is more likely to push me into "too much" territory than the running is. Hitting My Mark 🏹 Did you know that if you fail an obstacle on a Spartan Race, you have to do 30 burpees? Did you know that the most commonly failed obstacle on a Spartan Race is the Spear Throw, because so few people can practice it at home? My plan is to incorporate some obstacle-specific training as the Challenge goes on. * For the Spear Throw, you can buy a replica, and I can throw it when I visit my hometown. * For a lot of the grip-based exercises, my partner and I are planning on spending some time at a local climbing gym. * For the loaded carries, my partner and I have thought about buying Farmer's Walk handles, but for now I'm going to stick with 5-gal buckets loaded with water. Own the Morning ☀️ If you remember Conquius Rises with the Dawn, you'll remember that I've historically had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. I'm better at it now, but now that I'm going into the office every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I need to be on point. The goal is to keep a regular schedule of getting up at 6 AM when I have to get into the office, and 7 AM when I don't. Getting up at 6 AM lets me do a few things: * Coffee with my Partner: If my partner is going into the office, they get up at 6. This lets me enjoy the morning with them ❤️ * 7AM Metro: If I'm up at 6, I'm out the door by 7, which puts me on a much earlier metro. Earlier metros have fewer people, and are much more pleasant. * Bike Commuting: If I'm bike commuting into work, I need to be up at 6 anyway so I can get into the office on time. I have a secondary goal here of finding a more suitable breakfast. A bagel with vegan cream cheese doesn't keep my satisfied until noon. Right now I'm eyeing Vegan Chicken Salad made with TVP or Soy Curls. Wish me luck!

Got in early on this one! Middle of the year, already? I'm not sweating, you're sweating. It's the middle of June, which means an iced cold brew coffee for me. Happy Challenge!