Firedance

Day 1 of my challenge complete! I carried out my run according to plan and was really happy that I didn't wimp out on the last five minutes of running. The result was 2.36 miles In 30 minutes according to the treadmill. A pretty good start! Then I did three reps of 10 body weight squats, plank regular(next round right and then left side planks), and ten lunges. Then I did 2 sets of 10 knee push ups concentrating on getting lower without losing my core. 2 sets of 5 assisted pull-ups (setting 15) and 10 assisted dips (setting 13) since I was already on the machine. I stretched and did foam rolling and now I'm waiting for a train writing this on my phone hoping my fingers stay on! ErikaisEpic: That is gorgeous. How did you get into that? It's really beautiful and terrifying. My first response was "um I could never do that" which really makes me want to actually give it a try. Glow in the dark at least sounds like a lovely starting point. Erick the Red: yeah I was originally trying to just increase my distance from a mile, but I wasn't making steady progress. I got to 3 miles once but then I couldn't replicate it. The time based method paces me and has the added benefit of me actually warming up long enough, so I was way less sore too. That image is perfect! Where is it from? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Mini Quest 1: Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? Yes, it is definitely possible that if I keep training I could eventually run a 5k. 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? Yes, part of my goal is to avoid getting injured in my quest and the best way to do that is the run on a good schedule with down time and cross training. The push up thing is a little bit separate, but getting stronger all over is part of being a Ranger. 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 think that 6 weeks of training could be enough to make it through a 5k, but since it’s winter i’m going to keep training until spring no matter what. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? If I can stick to the running plan I found that should help me track my progress. At the very least I’ll keep track of what the treadmill says my time and distance were. 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€? Each of the sub quests are a bit different. Running 3 times a week and doing cross training will be a weekly grade of how well I stick to the plan. The third goal of push-ups is more pass/fail if I can do 10 in six weeks. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? If I become ill or injured I’ll have to expand the timeline, because the most important thing for me is to build up properly. 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 did a terrible job of running of thanksgiving, but I think I can be flexible about the days I go as long as I go three times a week as it gets closer to Christmas. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? None of these challenge goals do, but I’m going to have to do some prioritizing with my other life goals. It’s hard to keep up the energy to cook after I workout for example, and reducing how much I eat is an ongoing financial goal for me. I’m going to need to strategize and prioritize on a weekly basis. That is always tricky for me because I always want to do everything perfectly all the time! 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? I have successfully carved out the time in the last few months, helped by my two roommates being my gym buddies. They keep me motivated to go even if I’m tired or whatever. I just have to remember to stay focused on my goals and not get distracted by whatever they were going to do. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? I’m always trying to build multiple habits, it’s constantly something I have to force myself to pair down without letting my inner critic tell me I’m failing or something equally obnoxious. But I’m WAY better at it than I was a few years ago, thank to some dedicated work.Mini Quest 2: ​I set up my signature and joined The Wild Hunt. Mini Quest 3: 1. I'm reallly struggling with push ups, because I'm not strong enough to do even one. 2. I found and read Proper Push Ups last week. (Thoughtfully ErikaisEpic also gave me a link which reminded me of this challenge) 3. Since then I've focused on proper form, and saw a HUGE improvement. Like I almost got to 90 without getting stuck when doing a set of knee pushups. Which was really exciting haha.

Mini Quest One: SMART goals Is your overall quest achievable (over a short or long period of time)? Is it reasonable? Yes, it is definitely possible that if I keep training I could eventually run a 5k. 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? Yes, part of my goal is to avoid getting injured in my quest and the best way to do that is the run on a good schedule with down time and cross training. The push up thing is a little bit separate, but getting stronger all over is part of being a Ranger. 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 think that 6 weeks of training could be enough to make it through a 5k, but since it’s winter i’m going to keep training until spring no matter what. Are your goals able to be measured and tracked? What will you use to track them? If I can stick to the running plan I found that should help me track my progress. At the very least I’ll keep track of what the treadmill says my time and distance were. 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€? Each of the sub quests are a bit different. Running 3 times a week and doing cross training will be a weekly grade of how well I stick to the plan. The third goal of push-ups is more pass/fail if I can do 10 in six weeks. What is your plan for continuing/altering/grading those goals if you become ill or injured? If I become ill or injured I’ll have to expand the timeline, because the most important thing for me is to build up properly. 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 did a terrible job of running of thanksgiving, but I think I can be flexible about the days I go as long as I go three times a week as it gets closer to Christmas. Do any of your main goals conflict with each other? Will one goal make it hard to do another? None of these challenge goals do, but I’m going to have to do some prioritizing with my other life goals. It’s hard to keep up the energy to cook after I workout for example, and reducing how much I eat is an ongoing financial goal for me. I’m going to need to strategize and prioritize on a weekly basis. That is always tricky for me because I always want to do everything perfectly all the time! 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? I have successfully carved out the time in the last few months, helped by my two roommates being my gym buddies. They keep me motivated to go even if I’m tired or whatever. I just have to remember to stay focused on my goals and not get distracted by whatever they were going to do. Are you trying to build multiple habits, or is all your energy focused on your main quest? I’m always trying to build multiple habits, it’s constantly something I have to force myself to pair down without letting my inner critic tell me I’m failing or something equally obnoxious. But I’m WAY better at it than I was a few years ago, thank to some dedicated work.

Well that's cool. What does an actual fire dancer do? I've heard of fire baton twirling, is it similar? I did baton when I was in elementry school, but I got sick of the competitions that were required. I moved on to dance, mostly ballet. I created the name for an RPG character based on Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books, and I've stuck with it ever since. I have seen that push-up article and it was extremely helpful. Right now I'm in the knee stage, but I'm getting stronger. I can almost get all the way down without getting stuck. Progress haha.

Thank you for the welcome! The running plan is from c25k, which was listed as a resource on the Level 1 resources thread. I'm glad because I was mostly just winging it before this. I'm still learning about strength training, and I need to do more research and make a solid plan. Thus far, for arms it's mostly free weights until I'm strong enough to do bodyweight exercises. Abs is pilates style mat work, and zumba since I do that anyways. Legs is squats and lunges, and ankle work (releves and resistance bands). I was a ballet/pointe dancer, so the fact that I can barely balance because my ankles are so wobbly is depressing. I love yoga, but can't make the class times at my gym so I'll look into that site! Thank you

Hello! I'm starting a bit late, but since I love the Dresden Files I hope you don't mind if I join in. And since my goal is running related, trying to keep up with the Hunt sounds perfect.

I know I am late for this challenge session, but I have been working on this goal without posting since it started. And if it doesn't end up counting as a first challenge I'm ok with that because it's nowhere near spring. I realized this past week that I really need to take a longer view of my goal and actually follow a running program, rather than just running as far as I can every couple days. I did get to 3 miles once, but after talking with my friend about bone mass and avoiding injuries I'm focusing on a more regular progression with deliberate cross training. Monday 12/1: 00:00-5:00: Warmup walk 5:00-8:00: Run8:00-9:30: Walk9:30-14:30: Run14:30-17:00: Walk17:00-20:00: Run20:00-21:30: Walk21:30-26:30: Run26:30-30:00: Cooldown WalkStrength training focus: Legs Tues: Zumba!Strength Training focus: Arms Thurs: 00:00-5:00: Warmup walk5:00-8:00: Run8:00-9:30: Walk9:30-14:30: Run14:30-17:00: Walk17:00-20:00: Run20:00-21:30: Walk21:30-26:30: Run26:30-30:00: Cooldown WalkStrength Training Focus: Abs Sat:00:00-5:00: Warmup walk5:00-8:00: Run8:00-9:30: Walk9:30-14:30: Run14:30-17:00: Walk17:00-20:00: Run20:00-21:30: Walk21:30-26:30: Run26:30-30:00: Cooldown WalkStrength Training Focus: Arms

I'm an Elf, who has always spent her time studying, dancing and reading. But now it's time to help guard my territory as a Ranger, and the first step to that is to be able to run. Main Quest: Run first 5k in the spring Sub Quests: 1. Run 3 times a week for 30 minutes 2. Cross-training to avoid injury 3. Do 10 real push ups Life Quest: 1. Go out dancing Motivation: To be be more than just the Princess i've always been called. I don't want to change completely, but to grow and become a badass warrior Princess. To show myself that I can do things to make myself into the person I want to be, and that I don’t need to be perfect to be doing them.