hmcoyne

puddletheduck - I definitely love the power to snuff at will Main protagonists seem to be about four contenders at the moment, so I'm just going to keep writing until someone asserts themselves. Hello Terinatum! I have been (evidently!) lax at updating my progress on the old interwebs, but I have had a good week number 1! Walk 10,000 steps a day: Grade B Friday's travelling from Bristol to my parentals scuppered the step count. On the plus side, my total steps for the week = 79,413 Cut down coffee intake: Grade A every day On Sunday, it was just the one cup! Drink 1.5l plain water a day: Mon - Friday = Grade A Sat - Sun = Grade C Birthday shennanigans at the weekend meant I drank a few cocktails and not enough water... Oops! Sidequest - write 2,000 words a week: Grade A Somehow hit 3,000 words (half just plain typing stuff from notebooks, the rest from my head) Week overall - I would give myself a B overall, as I knew the weekend was going to be manic, but don't think I planned quite well enough!

SMART Goals? Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? Running 10k in under 1 hour 16 minutes is definitely achievable - the last time I ran a 10k I did no training, so I can definitely improve with extra work! Do your 3 quests all build towards your main quest in little ways, or are you taking on too much? Do your quests have sub-quests or is it just one thing to focus on? My quests will all help build up my fitness and keep me hydrated, which will make improving my running much easier. Are your main goals realistic? Can you scale them to smaller steps to fit your life better, even if it will make it take a little longer to achieve them? I've purposefully given myself tasks that I can fit in to every day life without needing to take too much extra time each day: that way I can build them in to habits and work from there. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? I'm using my handy pedometer to track my steps each day. I have a 1 litre water bottle to check my intake, and a tally to jot down how many coffees I consume each day. Finally, I will be using trust Microsoft Word to keep count of the words I've managed each week. How are you grading your goals? Are they pass/fail (“every dayâ€, “not even once over the six weeksâ€)? Is there a reward for the effort, or are you only grading yourself on whether or not you “lose the weight†or “run the distanceâ€? I've decided on my grading system, though I only plan to reward myself at the end with improving my stats. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? Health comes first, so if I become ill or injured, then I will continue with what I can manage and won't beat myself up if I can't do everything I set out to do. Did you take into consideration any special occasions (Labour Day, Independence Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc) that may occur during the challenge? What modifications do you need to build into your goals for those? I do have a lot of travelling around the UK scheduled in, so I am going to get up early on travel days in order to fit in walks/ runs to make up my step count for the day. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? All my goals seem to mesh well together - drinking less coffee will make me thirsty, so drinking more water should in theory be easy. Do you already have the time in your schedule to actually complete the goals you’ve set? If not, what are you planning to do to make time for them? As stated above, I've chosen things to fit in with my schedule until I can start habit building enough to feel like I want to make extra time. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? I'd say all of my goals point towards my running quest (with the exception of the writing side quest!)

Big well done for overcoming a naff day and managing to hit your goals - that's definitely a big hurdle and you've proved to yourself you can overcome it I think that's a good success and hopefully today goes a bit better!

Good on you for pushing through despite the hip niggle! Also - is it bad that my eyes were immediately drawn to Karina Amken's amazing glutes?! WOW! I'd love to get my body into such amazing condition...maybe that can be an even longer term goal?

It's weird, as I've always found myself to be the opposite - it's about the only time I'm able to just get away from everything, so I quite like going solo. That said, I do find that going to the gym with a group is a lot easier! Good job for the first day: drinking enough water is weird - as Amdhiel said, some days it's so easy and other days just impossible! Are you carrying your water bottle with you, or leaving it somewhere for pit stops?

Hey puddletheduck - that is most definitely the plan! And having lots of characters means I won't feel quite so bad about offing the ones that don't take my fancy quite so much... OK, day one went well. I achieved my steps, drank all my water, and stuck to my three cups of coffee (even sneakily pouring away a cup one of the lovely ladies I work with made for me). Sadly, no writing was achieved! But onwards and upwards - A grade on day one.

Hey driscool - I haven't signed up for one yet. I did one last year, but haven't actually run since June of this year, so I'm interested to see how much I've regressed since then :S I think I'm definitely going to need to look around for one, as that will put enough fear into me to keep me going with practice runs!

Hey alwaysreading! I like that you've already signed up to achieve your main quest - that way you know exactly where you're aiming for and when And being able to set a good example for the people you will be helping in the future is brilliant. How are you starting off your running training? Have you got a training scheme in mind, or are you going to coach yourself through it? (I only ask because you mentioned an exercise app, and I found running apps C25k and zombies!run were very helpful as motivation). Good luck, and let's help you run your 5k (also, fingers crossed the weather is nice to you on the day!)

^That right there is definitely an amazing goal to aim for - I think it sums up how most of us rebels feel! As blaidd said, whipping up massive batches of stuff to go into the freezer might be a way to make sure you get the tasty and healthy food that you want? Mince and tomato based sauces are always a nice option to fill up on (especially if you pair them off with some sweet potato, or even some of those veggie bags you can steam in the microwave). And don't be scared to be a little demanding in restaurants - most are happy to cater to you if you want veggies rather than fries I'll be thinking of you and all our fellow runners whilst hitting my runs this week: do you find that you sort of dread getting started, but as soon as you hit your stride, you really enjoy your runs?

Hi Kathy - I will admit I'm very in awe of your Main Quest for doing the half iron-man races! And it looks like you've put together a good training programme to get yourself into the right frame of mind. Definitely a good move to work on your mindset as well as your fitness: feeling positive makes exercise look infinitely more attractive than feeling gloomy. Are you doing the half-iron man for a particular cause/charity, or is is something that you want to do as a personal mission?

Hi blaidd - it's some sort of steam punk (ish) adventure with lots of double crossing, shadowy assassins and plenty of wenches...because what is a novel without a good wench? I honestly have no idea where all my characters are heading or exactly how the whole world will connect together, but hopefully if I keep writing, I'll figure that out along the way Thanks for adding on the Scout tag; from the description, I guesstimated I would be one, so it's good to have it confirmed by someone who knows the business!

I can definitely sympathise with trying to do too much at once and then life getting too hectic! It's always good to give yourself a little lee way, otherwise it all ends up seeming too difficult :S I reckon the above quests are definitely nicely focussed and achievable. What do you use to run to - music/running app/nhs C25k? I've used zombies!run in the past and got surprisingly involved with trying to 'collect supplies' by running for another 5 minutes or so Good luck and hope we all help each other to achieve our quests.

Fingers crossed I'll hit that 12,000, as that will be a lovely big chunk towards the finished product. I suppose spending all day editing other people's work must sometimes leave you feeling a bit fatigued?! Also, having had a quick nosey at some other people's quests, I realized that I had completely forgotten to put my starting stats. Vital statistics Weight 140lbs Chest 35 Waist 28 Belly 32 Hips 40 (if I can even shift 0.5", I will be ecstatic!)

Good morning puddletheduck! I'll agree that consistency seems to be the stumbling block for me. I get into good habits, and then a holiday will come along/ work gets a bit busy/ I get a little lazy, and then suddenly, I'm back to wearing tracksuit bottoms and finding excuses as to why being on the internet is more important than going to do some exercise :S Your quests look really good, and I like that you've given yourself a bit of allowance to be human and have a few not quite so saintly days (I hope you enjoy your friend's visit!). The house sitting sounds absolutely amazing - what a way to go and see new places without spending a fortune. I look forward to hearing some exciting tales if you do manage to find a placement Hopefully we can all support each other, and help you to get your NF tee-shirt!

Intro: This will be my first challenge after lurking around here for a good few months. I have let my fitness fall by the wayside due to many very good excuses (or at least, I've told myself they've been good!) and now I feel like I need to knuckle down and start looking after my body properly. I've also recently gotten engaged, so having a wedding looming on the horizon (far, far horizon...two years or so...) definitely gives me the incentive to get myself in gear! Main quest: Run 10k without stopping, under 1 hour 16 minutes - the time I managed last year after not nearly enough training... Quest 1: Walk 10,000 steps a day, as a minimum. I used to work in retail and be on my feet all day, but I'm now in an office job and am starting to get a little lazy... Weekly grading: A = achieved every day of the week B = 6 days of the week C = 5 days of the week FAIL = 4 days of the week or less Quest 2: Cut down coffee intake to 3 cups a day. I used coffee as a crutch to get me through the day and I give in to sugar cravings when I come down from coffee highs. So I'm going to try and cut back, using Quest 3 to help! Daily grading: A = 3 cups or less B = 4 cups C = 5 cups FAIL = 6 cups or more Quest 3: To help me drink less coffee and keep me hydrated, I'm going to aim to drink 1.5 litres unflavoured still water every day. This should hopefully make me more alert, stop me eating when thirsty and maybe clear up my skin. Daily grading: A = 1.5 litres B = 1.25 litres C = 1 litre FAIL = less than 1 litre Life Quest: Type 2,000 words towards the novel each week. I'm a dreadful procrastinator and have a head full of ideas and notebooks full of excerpts, but I need to put everything altogether if I'm going to achieve my goal of publishing something by the time I'm 30 (4 years left). Weekly grading: A = 2,000+ words B = 1,500+ words C = 1,000+ words FAIL = under 1,000 words Motivation: I lost weight using weight watchers about five years ago, and have maintained since. But I haven't really focused much on the exercise side of things, and I'd really like to be able to run farther and faster than I previously have. I want to get a good base level of fitness, so that, when Mr Keeps and I do get around to having kids, I won't pass on the same unhealthy lifestyle that my own parents had.