Jaz Xiao Long

I kinda want to hug you. Just so precious. Haha I like the look of your challenge, ans I also like that you're keeping it simple. Nice easy way to keep track of your progress! Actually...I think I should check my own posture...hm. Attitude is pretty big, fitness-related or no, and I think you're definitely on the right track. So I'll be keeping an eye on you! (AND YOU WILL OWN YOUR PARKOUR CLASS.)

@Manarelle: Seriously! I have a Level 20 rogue and I'm standing here barely scraping by as level 2, tsk tsk, self, tsk tsk. And I have no idea what I was thinking, but I have already paid the fees. XD Parkour is awesome! I drill different moves for about 75% of the time and then spend the rest of the time working on linking moves together. When I go to jams, there's a lot more linking practice though. @Neva: YANG XIAO LONG IS MY SPIRIT ANIMAL...ahem, yes, indeed! I love Yang so much

The Inquisition. An idea, a legend long gone, revived by the Left and Right Hands of the Divine. The Inner Circle is a ragtag band of mages, rogues and warriors from all over Thedas, backed by armies of knights and commoners alike, serving as the only hope Thedas has for restoring the peace disrupted by the Breach. And at the head of it all, a young noble who was the only survivor of the explosion at the Conclave, nicknamed the Herald of Andraste, the Inquisitor! To all who stuck with me through that intro, welcome to my first NF challenge of 2016! If you can't tell, I am just slightly drowning in my adoration for the last installment of the Dragon Age series. And since I've been playing the game rather fervently for the last two months it will also be the theme of this challenge! A little about me... I've struggled with getting into shape for a while, always starting strong and then falling off after a few mishaps i.e. my last two challenges on NF. I always convince myself I'm too busy or I can't fit anything else into my schedule, etc. Playing Inquisition has really pointed that out to me, as I've been able to make time to play and further my Inquisitor, but I can't do the same to further myself - I refuse to let this go on! No matter who I was before, I am now the Inquisition! (Interchangeable with Rebellion xD) Main Quest: Knock my body fat percentage back 5% over a series of months. Quest 1: Make those critical hits fatal strikes. As a dual blade wielding rogue, I'm lacking in the strength category right off the back. This usually isn't a problem once you get around behind them and do a backstab or flank attack, right? WRONG. If your attack lacks strength, the blades don't sink as deep. (I REALLY LIKE BODYWEIGHT CIRCUITS AND MAKE THEM PART OF EVERY CHALLENGE...ahem.) A = 3x a week ☆ B = 2x a week ☆ C = 1x a week. Quest 2: Fly under the radar. I hate running into an ambush of Red Templars or highwaymen on my way through levels. I avoid them by scaling walls or running along cliffs after spending a good ten or so minutes platforming my way to the top of a rocky ledge. So this is getting tied into this challenge with parkour, which I'm getting back into after some knee injuries - I plan to give a good 45 minutes or so to each session. A = 8 sessions for whole challenge. ☆ B =5 sessions. ☆ C = 3 or less. Quest 3: Read everything. I use the pulse search function in the game every few feet, not only looking for things to loot but also to find codex entries! You get EXP for those too, This is mostly in relation to my studies as I've maxed out my unit limit with six courses and dread reading my textbooks (which are really long)...but what if I treated it like sifting through my codex entries? A = Studying for 6+ hours a week. ☆ B = Studying for 4 hours a week. ☆ C = Studying for 2 hours a week. Life Quest: Finish Act 2 of Inquisition. There is just so much to do in eact part of Inquisiton that I have 70 hours of gameplay and I don't think I've even gotten around to the halfway point of Act 2.

To my fellow Assassins, If you are reading this, well...you're probably stuck in this little room with an excessive amount of walkers against all four walls. You see that window up above you? Use a wall run, grab the sill, do a climb up, jump across to the fire escape. Sounds dangerous? Think I'd rather let parkour kill me on a supply run than walkers. If I made it, you'll see a crude drawing of an Assassins Creed jacket on the wall. Maybe'll you see it on the way down. Maybe you'll be the one to scratch out my masterpiece. But whatever you do, don't be scared. You're pretty screwed either way you go in this world. Just keep moving forward. Oh. And hope you learned something from all those parkour videos I'm assuming you watched before the world went to shit. Ciao. ------- Welcome to my...not sure what number challenge this is actually but it's a challenge nonetheless and I'm back with the Assassins squad! Due to my current obsession (and serious withdrawal) with the Walking Dead, that's the theme for this here 6-week challenge of mine! Hope you enjoyed my survivors' note, now onto my quests and the like! Main Quest: Prepared for the Apocalypse We don't know when the zombie apocalypse is actually going to descend upon us. So I'd like to take this challenge (and perfect timing of the Walking Dead spinoff starting) to try and make sure I'm well prepared. Quest 1: Queen of Supply Runs Thanks to the sudden uprising of ravenous dead people, supplies are pretty scarce. You had a lot of people trying to stock up or do supply runs just like me. However, supply runs don't always go very neatly nor leave the runner with much life in them. (Haha, get it, I made a funny. Life undead, you get the joke, right? ...moving on.) The thing about being good about supply runs is getting from point A to B quickly, foraging what you can carry and then getting back from point B to A. The e best way to do this? Some good ol' fashioned parkour. It also comes in handy for making quick exits. A = Training sessions 2-3x a week B = Training session 1x a week C = Training session every other week. Quest 2: Don't Stop Running Do we call them walkers? Yes. Does that mean they walk slow? No. A crowd walking will slow down a runner no problem. The solution to this problem? Be faster than the crowd so as to not get caught up. Or the group of Hunters that want to use you as a decoy. Oh, and of course, be able to run for a while - you're gonna need to put as much distance as possible between you lot. A = Complete 6 weeks of Zombies Run! 5k Training App B = Complete 5 weeks of ZR!5k C = Complete 3 weeks of ZR!5k Quest 3: Advanced Melee Fighter Guns make quite a bit noise, no matter how effective they are. Noise attracts walkers. Translation: use weapons that don't make a lot of noise, like crowbars and bats. Or a katana. Katanas are nice too. And to be able to swing them repeatedly for extended periods of time, I'd better be comfortable throwing my weight around! THE FORCE WILL BE WITH MY BAT. A = Complete NF bodyweight circuit 3x a week. B = Complete NF bodyweight circuit 2x a week. C = Complete NF bodyweight circuit 1x a week. Side Quest: Scenic Route Won't Kill You. Just because the world's overrun with ravenous decomposing bodies doesn't mean it's not a beautiful sight to be found. There are pretty scenic routes one can take here and there. A = Take one picture of beautiful scenery 3x a week B = Pictures 2x a week C = Picture 1x a week Motivation: The zombie apocalypse is going to come as a surprise...I will be ready!!

Hey there, Noor...need a jump? This Crystal Gem's got you covered. Don't let Homeworld take you alive! Really hope you're feeling better!!

I can get behind you on the punch someone in the face angry...I just happened to resign to crushing paper cups at work. Ah, sorry to hear you've been so stressed out Q~Q But one fierce look from the CoderGatherer and they'll pick up on it...eventually. STAY STRONG.

Sooooo...I was just thinking. When you escape, take the train. Stop and stare at the sun. Then crush your pursuers with your deadly assassin-ness. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. And this future English teacher would like to mention Shakespeare is gorgeous~

Sorry for the utter lateness of my reappearance but school and work has been keeping me pretty busy. I see everyone's pretty busy being awesome Nerdians in my absence! Ah, how is everyone? How are things? Keep it up, two more weeks, we got this! This has been a PSA from your local Steven Universe lover.

Okay, so this MIA is officially over. Heeeeeeey there, party people! Jaz Xiao Long here coming at you with a fairly late (overdue) update! Been a little tied up what with school ending in two weeks, an excessive shorthandedness at work AND I just got a new charger for my laptop this morning before I ran off to work. Why don't I post from my smart phone you ask? Because I can't post GIFs. Boom. There goes the canon. On to the updates! Week 3 Summary Quest 1: Garnet 2/3 workouts. Grade: C Quest 2: Pearl 4/7 stretches. Grade: C Quest 3: Amethyst Good foods when I managed time to get something into my system. Grade: B Quest 4: Steven 5/7 notes. Grade: B Week 4 Summary Quest 1: Garnet 1/3 workouts. Injured my wrists doing parkour so no pushups and the rest of my body has been stupid sore this week. Grade: C Quest 2: Pearl 6/7 stretches. Aching bones. Grade: B Quest 3: Amethyst I didn't do any of my own cooking. I also didn't eat much, but when I did, it wasn't all good stuff. Grade: B- Quest 4: Steven I managed to get another jumble of notes out. Grade: A @Evermist: Don't fall! You need those legs for escaping you know!? And thank you kindly for the belated birthdays, greatly appreciated! @Noor: Thank you! And ain't that the truth? Just imagine what would've happened if the Gems said forget it every time they got beat down...oh Rose Quartz, I don't even want to think about it! BUT WE GOT THIS. @CoderGatherer: Thanks for the birthday wishes! And the regen is going a little less smoothly than I had hoped but hey. there's still time to crush it! So the last weeks haven't been super awesome but not super bad either. And we've still got two weeks to go. So c'mon, Rebels. Let's crush this.

Week 2 Summary Quest 1: Garnet 1/3 workouts. Grade: F Quest 2: Pearl 2/7 stretches. Grade: F Quest 3: Amethyst Did not eat alot of anything this week. And when I did it eat, it was generally good stuff though. Grade: B- Quest 4: Steven I wrote the notes though. Grade: A Not a good week. I was so busy with work and sleeping that I didn't get to do anything that wasn't related to it! However, my birthday was the 21st and I turned 20 so that was really nice (even though I slept and studied all day). I also did a couple of exercises for the mini-challenge though. I really didn't like the way last week went at all - so I'm hopping back on the wagon this week. Wish me luck. @Evermist: Hopefully I can get back on the awesome train! Time to regenerate.

Uhm, I usually just grab an apple or an orange...or cook a big batch of something full of vegetables. I don't like to waste soooo I'm inclined to munch on the leftovers in the fridge. *nod nod*

t Hmmm, I like to think I'm doing pretty good this week. Stretchy stretchy stretch. Keep up the good work, Nerdians!

Haaa, thank you very muchly, Coder! It's only the beginner circuits, but heeey, gotta start somewhere! All the high fives!

| Day 8 | Completed the bodyweight workout today...and managed to get through a solid three sets!! I had a little bit of a struggle with the last set of pushups but I pushed and I did it and my arms are sore but I am so proud of myself right now. I also discovered that 5lb dumbbells (what my gran had) is a little too light for my tastes, so think I'm going to shoot for 10lbs. I also replaced lunges with fire hydrants as they're a little easier on my legs when the day's out. Stretched it oooouuuuttttt today like no other. Did my routine right after my circuit, and I felt soooo much more flexible, I was maybe an inch away from touching my toes! I can still touch my toes during the hurdlers stretch, but I want to be able to go all the way over my foot like I could back in high school. Finished off those potatoes and green beans today, looking for a new recipe to try out as I type this actually. Looks like it's going to be plenty of vegetables todaaay. And this week for that matter. I TOTALLY DID THREE WHOLE SETS OF THE CIRCUIT WITHOUT STOPPING.

Heeeey yoooou, I see the Nerdian Captain is just-a hopping along like the awesome little coder that you are and you stay awesome and you own it because you are aaaaawwwwweeeeessssoooommmmeeeee. Oh, and keep on top of your groceries, haha!

You're doing awesome, keep it up! Pokey pokey pokey artichokey! It's really awesome to hear about you so close to taking home a doctorate, like school success for the win? XD Ah, and seeing that your writing is still epic, throwing that 3500 steps a week up a notch with another 1400, AND YOU GET GOOD SLEEP, YOU ARE AWESOME.

Agent Mist, kyaaaah, so cool! Ah, stay awesome, secret agent - INFILTRATE LIBRIS AND TAKE 'EM DOWN. Nice job so far on the mission, can't wait to see how this week goes - excellent choice in escape route, careful of those jet ski riding shark ninja though, okay?

Week 1 Summary Quest 1: Garnet Got in a total of two bodyweight workouts last weeks (I slept in until the very last minute before I had to go work Sunday); going to be a little ballsy and get in four this week! Grade: B Quest 2: Pearl Did the full stretch routine four days out of the week, did brief stretches the other three. Grade: B Quest 3: Amethyst Cooking for myself is sooo much fun and way healthier than picking things up from my job. Made some red potatoes and green beans, still nomming on those suckers. But I grabbed a lunch or two from my job, and got quite a bit of ice cream in me, yuuum. Grade: B Quest 4: Steven All the notes for last week were written and slipped into the mason jar! Grade: A @CoderGatherer: Sesame chicken is so good. Thinking about going for Kung Pao this week. And thanks for the vote of confidence! @Noor: Oooh, contagious energy, sounds like I'm living a Steven-y life! XD And thanks for the tip, I was considering snagging 'em from WalMart, but Amazon is always nice - who doesn't like having something to look forward to in the mail? Stand back everyone. I'm going to blow up all hesitation to be awesome this week.

Heeeee, folks, have a dancing Vader on me! Well, looks like everyone had a good first week which is awesome and this is my gift to us all, ahaha. Sorry, I missed the Skype chat (lots of late hour shifts last week) but looks like I'm not the only one. SO! Let's have a great second week, shall we? Let's do this.

Jaz Xiao Long coming at you with a Day 5 update! @Evermist: Thank you thank you! I'll try to make this as awesome as possible @Noor: It's just so good, such a delicious frozen dairy product! ;~; You guys got this too! As for yoga, I tried it once and I don't think I was doing it right... I do want to try it out again though, so maybe I'll check it out, visit some druids, and throw it into the challenge! No bodyweight workouts in the last few days due to some unyielding thigh pains, but today and Sunday are circuit days! Stretchy stretch stretch stretching everyday so far 'cept Tuesday. I've been doing some pretty good eats what with cooking all my own food and whatnot this week. Stirfry, sesame chicken and rice for the win! Be happy, be happy, don't worry! Learned how to make sesame chicken on Tuesday, one of the kids I tutored crushed all of her homework during our session on Wednesday, an enjoyable haul of cute shirts on Thursday! And that's everything for the last three days! I forgot how much I enjoyed cooking for myself, can't wait until I get paid again to stock up on ingredients. I'm also considering buying some dumbbells as my folks tend to look at me a little funny when I'm lifting the milk jugs.

Well then, I'm pretty late to the party, but a fellow Nerdian stopping in to check on you and say hey! Your Fire Festival sounds really exciting and getting ready for it sounds pretty extensive, but all in all, I'm pretty sure you totally got this! Own it, ya Sailor Scout XD Keep it up, madame~

Ah, loving the goals! They're nice and clear cut, easy to go for, and with everything you've got swinging, easy enough to fit in, right? You got this!

Anou, sorry so late! Things got a little hectic with work and sleep and never being near my computer for long SO thanks for letting me join in! Guess it's time for introductions, huh? Well then, onwards! Hey there, Jaz Xiao Long on the forums and Jaz Thomas IRL. So all in all, when in doubt, call Jaz! XD I'm into bodyweight circuits, parkour, and occasionally a run directed by post zombie apocalypse survivors with a radio! I would also like to point out I know very little Star Wars and will try to keep up with you all to the best of my abilities! So something new I'm doing this challenge around is making flexibility a priority quest (bodyweight conditioning and cleaning up the eating been a little bit of a running theme). Seeing as I absolutely love getting some parkour in and I want to try freerunning, flexibility is keeeey! Sooo that about sums it up - thanks for letting me join in!

I would like to join in on this, if you don't mind?