Pumpkin Pi

Progress report (weeks 1-3) Yikes! Where did the time go? I am so bad at updating! So, let’s see it is now nearing the end of week 3: What have I managed to achieve in my challenge? Week 1: Q1: Strength training Only managed 1 of 2 sessions Q2: 30-min run Did it but didn’t manage to run non-stop. Ran for 24 min (3K) @ 7.5 kph Fast walked to the 30-min mark (total 3.6K) Q3: 2L water & 5 f/v daily Check! Week 2: Q1: Strength training Managed the 2 plus made up the 1 missing from week 1 for a total of 3 Q2: 30-min run Again, did it but with a stint of fast walk in between Ran 20 min (2.5K) @ 7.5 kph Fast walked @ 6.5 kph for 5 min Ran @ 7.5 kph up to the 30-min mark (total 3.6K) Q3: 2L water & 5 f/v daily Check! Note: on many days, struggled to space out my drinking throughout the day so had to down 3-4 glasses of water not long before bed. Not a great strategy (meant getting up multiple times in the middle of the night to go to the loo, disrupting sleep). Don’t like reminder apps, so just gonna have to try to remember to drink more water during the day. Week 3 (writing this on day 5): At a conference all week, so struggling to get any workouts in. However, there’s a small park near where I’m staying, so forced myself out of bed early to go for a run. So, ... Q1: Strength training Haven’t managed any yet Q2: 30-min run Still haven’t managed to run without slowing to a walk for the full 30 min Ran 2K in 15’47” (just under 8 min to the km) Km 3: Fast walked ~500 m then sprinted ~300 m then fast walked to 3K (8 min 18 s) (so 3K in 24’5”) Walked to 4K (9’25”) Total distance of run/fast-walk/sprint/walk: 4 km Total time: 34:20 Avg. pace 8’34” to the km Not too bad for me, though I really want to get to not having to slowdown to walks in between Q3: nutrition Looking good so far

Yes! Thanks! Though surprisingly I was behind on the strength training. I guess it was because I knew I was gonna be busy later on in the week, so I made myself get the thing I liked least out of the way. Progress report to follow.

Welcome! And yep, can totally empathise with the respawning then wiping. Still, you’re here now and looks like you have achievable goals. Keep at it!

I’m doing the NF Academy level 4 gym workout which is a 2x-a-week one, so I’m thinking I’ll do that for a couple of weeks then do the Boss Battle. If I kill it, then I might move onto the level 5 gym or body weight one, possibly upping it to 3x a week. I’m actually not too bad at keeping at the strength workouts when I get going. It’s the cardio that I keep finding an excuse not to do! I find running on the treadmill such a slog but running outside is just too hot most of the time (I live in Bangkok). I’d have to get up earlier than I’m prepared to or run later in the evening than I’d like. I do see people out jogging in the middle of the day, though. Christ knows how they manage! I’d really like to get my running up to scratch though as I’d love to try a spartan one day.

Hey, and welcome! Wow, your running time is great as it is (that’s like 2x faster than me, so I’m totally in awe) but all the best in aiming for even better. We’re right behind you (literally :-P). Good luck with your October race!

Hi, and welcome back! I am respawning too and I can really relate to some of the things you said, though I’ve never made it as far as nearly black belt, so way to go! Totally rooting for your 100 press-ups. Sounds amazing!

Progress log goes here.

I started on this journey before. I was doing quite well, levelled up a few times (outside of the challenges and NF), then ... "You have been waylaid by bandits." I got lost along the way, fought off some monsters but then got trapped in an evil wizard's dungeon where I kept reliving my greatest moments of achievement. But I couldn't move or get out of the spell I was under. Finally, I managed to free myself from the shackles and escape the clutches of my captor. And I discovered who my nemesis was: None other than a mirror image of myself! But I had lost a lot. All my gear was gone and I was low on health. I didn't know how to continue the game, didn't know how to beat myself ... I stopped playing. It has been a while. Now, I can't remember where I left off. My progress had stalled and I had regressed. Picking up where I left off is just not an option now. Nothing for it ... I am rerolling my character. So ... what is it I want to achieve? Well, let's see ... before I got waylaid, I trained up to the point where I was able to do 2 strict pull-ups in one go, and I could run 5K in just under 40 min. It took me nearly 2 years of training *hard* to get to that point, but my work suffered a fair bit. I want to get back to being able to do at least 1 pull-up and run 5K in about 40 min again. But I can't commit as much time to it as I did before, otherwise I just won't get any work done. So ... small steps. Don't overdo it. And the important thing is to be able to stick to it! Right, here goes. My first respawn challenge! Cannibalising my first ever challenge and grading myself like I did back then. Also gonna assign a total of 10 attributes - because, you know, RPG Let's see how it goes! General main fitness quest. Be badass again! Main fitness quest: Be able to do one strict pull-up again and back to running 5K in around 40 min by the end of the year (2019). So, here are my 5-week challenge quests: Quest 1: Get strong Strength train 2x per week. Measurement: A = trained 9/10 days, B = 8/10, C = 7/10 Attribute: 4 STR Quest 2: Get fit Do cardio 1x per week (either run non-stop for 30 min OR swim 30 lengths of the gym's 20 m pool) Measurement: A = 5 times, B = 4 times, C = 3 times Attribute: 3 STA Quest 3: Eat better Eat 5 portions of fruit/veg a day & drink at least 2 litres of water a day. Measurement: A = 32/35 days, B = 30/35 days, C = 27/35 days Attribute: 3 CON As for logging the quests, I keep a notebook, so will post photos of that as I remember struggling to keep up with finding the time to post in the forums. Yikes, it's Monday already! Better get started!

Thanks! I’ll give it a shot.

Hi @Hazard! So, I'm respawning after being trapped in an evil wizard's dungeon of torture. I did my first challenge - wow, 4 years ago almost to the day! - and I never completed my second challenge, although I did continue to train. I got pretty fit and strong until roughly the beginning of 2018 when life got in the way and my workouts slowed to a stop around the summer. I managed to pick back up round about this time last year, but never managed to really get my momentum going again, and since this summer my workouts have been all but non-existent. I'm struggling to find motivation and the willpower to get back to the gym, and I can't seem to get out of the "I used to be able to ..." mindset. That's why I said I was trapped in an evil wizard's dungeon: basically reliving my finest moments but not actually being able to get past that and start over. But I am determined to respawn, and I thought maybe the challenge would help me stay focused, though I did find it difficult to find time to update and also interact with the community (which I hasten to add are lovely and so encouraging). So I guess my questions are: If I start back at this upcoming challenge, should I start back in the First Time Challengers? Or should I start back at where I was in the Monks' guild? Or perhaps the Rebels'? I feel a bit lost and directionless right now, and not really sure what I want to focus on first and not overburden myself. Or maybe, if I felt the challenge was difficult to keep track of before, perhaps just posting in the Battle Logs would be better? Sorry for all the questions. I'm feeling a bit lost right now.

Hi Luciana, I totally know how you feel. I often get those too, but somehow we need to be able to not beat ourselves up about it. Sometimes you just need alone time or time when you just do nothing at all. It's OK to not feel like seeing people or even interacting with people online, especially when we're in a world where we're constantly bombarded with sights & sounds and everyone's on social media all the time. It's all the more important to be able to switch off and not be connected sometimes. Having said all that, we're glad you're back!

Woot! Congratulations! \o/ So you're in charge of a blood bank? You may not be using them for vampiric purposes, but beware the one lurking in the shadow! I hear they're super quick. But with all your training, I'm sure you could take them out. ;-)

Pumpkin Pi bounces around the room trying to escape becoming dinner, knocking down all the glasses and cutlery, then bounds out of the room and camouflages in the pumpkin patch. Phew! That was close...

Alright, so here's my report for week four: All in all, it mostly went better than week three. I'm still a little behind on a couple of fitness things but not much. The research is well behind, but I hope to catch up on that this week and next week. I won't manage my 42 hours, but I'll try my best to not completely fail at it. Anyhoo ... Week Four Report Days 22 & 23 Didn't manage any training as had to be out of town for work. NQ: 5 F/V & 8 glasses of water each day Day 24 Q1 & Q2: Strength training, with chin-/pull-up training (resistence bands & negatives) with PT + 10 press-ups, followed by 10-min flexi. Q2: Did 10-min flexi after evening's MT class. NQ: 6 F/V & 11 glasses of water Day 25 Q3: Did 4K run in 36 min 15 s (almost 2 min (1 min 58 s) faster than last week!). Didn't have time to do 10-min flexi as had to hurry off to work (nearly didn't make it on time!) NQ: 6 F/V & 10 glasses of water Day 26 Q1 & Q2: Strength training (same as Wednesday's) followed by 10-min flexi. Also did 20, 10, 10 knee press-ups in MT class (didn't manage toe press-ups). Q2: 10-min flexi after evening MT class NQ: 5 F/V & 8 glasses of water Day 27 NQ: 6 F/V & 8 glasses of water Day 28 Q1: Strength training (slightly reduced session) with 10 press-ups. Didn't do 10-min flexi. NQ: 6 F/V & 10 glasses of water No research at all this week! Sigh ... 1x 10-min flexi session short this week So, I did almost all of my fitness quests this week, but no research. Current deficits are: Q1: 2x strength Q2: 6x flexi Q3: 1x 4K run LQ: 24h research For week 5, I've booked myself in for a 60-min yoga class on Thursday for after my 4K run, so that would bring me up to date with Q2 (flexi). I plan to do 1 extra strength session this week, and one extra next week to catch up with Q1. I will try my best to go for an early park run with my husband this next weekend to catch up with Q3. Then there's the research: Somehow I need to do 31 hours in the next 2 weeks to get to 42 hours. That means 15.5 h each week. That's just over 3 h a day week days. Or I could spread it out over the weekends, but I don't have a great track record of working during the weekends. Still, it really should be doable. /fingerscrossed

Hey, thanks for that. Yeah, I was starting to get a bit down, but at the end of the day, like you said, the real world comes first and training will still be there.