Avalon

I don't know if it's ok to post this here, so Mods I trust you to take it down if necessary, but it's a big deal to me and I wanted to share. I failed to finish last challenge because of fear. I have had anxiety issues for a while, and after this I am FINALLY getting help. My first session is next week, and I'm so looking forward to putting all the scary stuff in my head to rest. Recently my thoughts have been running around a possible exposure I'd had to HIV last year. For the way my obsessive thoughts run, this damaged me greatly. My boyfriend and I had trouble being intimate, I was nervous all the time, I couldn't sleep, I ate poorly, my workouts suffered, it all just straight up sucked. I talked to him about it, and we both made an appointment to get tested, even though I'd been tested and came back negative before, to put my fears to rest. And yesterday the day finally came - we went together to Planned Parenthood and we both got tested. I could hardly talk the whole time for fear, but he somehow made me laugh. And after about an hour of peeing in cups and swabbing my gums and the nurse holding my hand and joking about feinting, she finally came back into the room and said "Congratulations, you're both fine - your test came back negative, non-reactive. You'll be ok." Today I celebrate by going to get a new tattoo - I'm putting "I'll be ok" and a small "13" on my right wrist (for getting tested on Friday the 13th), to remind me that whatever f*cked up sh*t either the world or my own mind throws at me, I'm strong enough to overcome it. And this week, I celebrate by starting yet another NF challenge, knowing that I'll see this one through 'til the end.

@cline: It takes about 35-45 minutes depending on how I hit the lights, so I'm guessing I'm doing about 12mph give or take a little bit. It's Indiana, so the worst hills are mostly mild, though coming home is annoying more up than down. Good to hear that it won't be hurting me too much, maybe I can just skip my traditional 5min jogging warm up. @eseng666: That was what I wanted confirmation on, thanks. I'm trying to see if I can keep my schedule worked out in such a way that I can get my boyfriend to give me a ride TO the gym and then I can bike BACK. Hopefully I can maintain that. Today I started doing a pre-workout, mostly with fruit (banana, raspberries, pom juice, and a vegan energy supplement my boyfriend really likes) and felt a bit better during the workout. Still sore from getting back to the gym after 2.5 weeks away, but better. Hopefully I'll just acclimate and it'll be fine. Thanks guys, wish me luck!

Not saying it is! Actually love it, just want to know how to fuel or reschedule things appropriately to make sure that I don't lose out on strength gains. I've never done a pre-workout before, should I start doing it? Should I increase my carb intake or start doing a refeed during the week, to keep my glycogen stores steady? Should I increase my post-workout, or change it to be better fueled for the ride home? Should I give myself a break when arriving at the gym before starting to lift, or wait a while before heading home? Just lots of questions. It's going to happen anyway, I'm just trying to figure out how to make it work the best for my body.

Need some help from the warriors on this. I've recently moved back to the USA from abroad. In most of the places that I've lived outside the 'states, the gyms that I'd lift at were within very, very easy walking distance. A quarter mile meander home was no problem before and after a heavy lifting day, and never interfered with my progress at all. However, now I'm living in Small Town, Indiana. Without a car, I've purchased a (really awesome!) bike to get around with. My problem is that the gym is 9 miles from my house, and while getting to/from is not an unpleasant ride, I need to know how to deal with this in such a way that the cardio-load doesn't negatively influence my strength-building progress. To run the numbers: 9 mile bike ride to gym A = deadlifts @230lbs standing press @90lbs assisted pull-ups @3x5 lunges @165lbs / B= squats @220lbs floor rows @120lbs bench press @125lbs step ups @200lbs (on box) + floor work for abs and at least 10min stretching 1 scoop post-workout protein (in coffee and whole milk on ice) 9 mile bike ride home I do no pre-workout nutrition, as I normally lift fasted in the mornings. I eat paleo and try to get under 100 carbs/day, about 1900 calories (with an additions 250 on lifting days) and about 130-150g protein. I do not take creatine. All my current physical stats are in my sig. How can I continue to make progress getting stronger when cardio immediately before and after workouts can't be avoided? --- TL;DR = help out a fellow lifter who can't avoid the cardio!

Update: made it safe and sound back to the USofA! Now to get to work. Last week was crazy in so many ways, this week needs to be focused. Stick with me guys, here I go!

Sounds good! And yes... I admit I have almost a year of content percolating that I haven't moved or done anything on. The DMZ and North Korean defectors, Escuela del Sol and Montezuma Costa Rica, reverse culture shock in returning to the 'states, NASA and Cocoa Beach in Florida, Santa Cruz and Torres plus Ouro Preto in Rio Grande do Sul and Minas Gerais in Brasil, gem cutting/hunting, paragliding, an insane amount of food posts with pictures.... yeah, you could say I'm backlogged. How do you want to proceed? And... you know you could just eat the butter. I'm guilty of this on several counts, especially when my former college roommate and I hang out and she makes apple butter. She eats fresh bread and butter I eat... butter. It's kind of fantastic.

Thanks love, always awesome to know I've got you backing me. Last week in Brazil's going crazy - my school decided on MONDAY that they wanted me to write a two hour entrance exam for a new class they want to offer... that I won't get to teach - but it IS going. I'm on the road sun/mon/tues, but get in around mid-afternoon and will happily have the rest of that day to be with my hero of a boyfriend on his birthday. Huzzah! -- As mentioned this week is rough, but yesteday I lifted and today I sunned, and I feel like I'm keeping up with the taking care of myself. Yoga sessions at 2 so far, but both short - hoping to get a longer one in this evening, if I have time around the packing. Still really, really need to put together flow programs. I have individual MOVES down, but linking them together is proving to be a major issue. More work on that soon, definitely. Reading the $100 Start-Up and contemplating things. I'm a super primal life lover, but how to turn all my know-how on the stuff BESIDES food that's important to primal life into information people both can use and will want to pay for? Conundrum. Still playing around with the idea of creating a completely primal all-food body care line. Must get these things on paper, to be appropriately grappled with.

Totally agree! I'm thinking of asking the ranger mods to move my thread to the assassins for this challenge, because I just realized - rereading it - that it's basically about bodyweight, flow and gymnastics. Oops! One of the reasons I love being a ranger, though - we are the catch-all of guilds, which means we get to play around with all that cool "different" stuff. Looks like we'll both be doing the employment dance this go-round. Do you want an accountabilibuddy for your blog? Because I could definitely use one... I'm so backlogged with ideas and half-written posts it's ridiculous. Let me know, we could work out a per-week check up on each other if you want. Good luck with the challenge and lots of love from (my final week in!) Brazil!

EDIT: Thank you to the fantastic nightlight for moving my thread! TO THE ASSASSINS: Hi! I've been a ranger for too many challenges, it seems, because I posted for this challenge in my own guild without even thinking "huh, I'm focusing on different stuff this challenge, maybe I should visit a different guild". Guess I got to distracted by the shiny new challenge format. On that note though, I'm hoping I can learn more about bodyweight programming and overall gymnastic ability from you guys this challenge. Here goes! -- So even since before I joined NF every time I've watched an adventure movie or series all I've ever been able to think is: if that happened to me, would I survive? - Zombieland - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Fast and Furious - Firefly - Buffy - etc. Could I run from zombies, through urban or rural environments? Could I evade robots? Could I react to violent situations with certainty and strength? And moreover, could I do so with style and grace? So, MAIN QUEST: to become a human animal - flexible, supple, strong, graceful, sure. To do this, I will: 1. Dedicate 30 minutes, 3x/week to bodyweight flows, which I will write/compile today. This is a new concept for me, but I really want to try it, and now that I'm unsure over the next 6 weeks of what my access to a gym will be like, it fits in perfectly. These will all be floor flows, but in the event that equipment is available to play with, time spent flowing on playgrounds for example will count. (30min x3/week, x6 weeks = 18 flows, or 9 hours of practice). 2. Do yoga 5 days/week. These can be anything from 10 minutes in the morning to wake up, to an hour and a half on the weekends to sink deeper. The goal is sessions, and for a session to count it must be >10min. 5 sessions/week x6 weeks = 30 sessions. 3. Maintain - my lifting is almost right where I want it, so is my nutrition, personal care and mindfulness. Everyday I will do something extra to maintain these 4 areas - a lifting session, tracking macro nutrients, getting a massage or pedicure, and spending time meditating/sunning/praying/journaling. The goal is 7x6weeks of extras for current level maintenance, or 42 count by the end of challenge. Side quest: EMPLOYED WITH ALL THE THINGS! I'm moving back to the US for longer than a month for the first time in... a long time. Ecuador, Korea, Costa Rica, Brazil... Indiana? But as I'm moving in with my boyfriend (a thing I've never done before!) I want this, and am looking forward to the new challenges involved in the process. However... this coyote needs a job! Side quest: produce 5 independent, ACTIONABLE business plans by the end of challenge. These can be starting my own business, becoming an employee at someone else's, getting hired by a school or producing content on contract. The key here is actionability - I have to be able to DO something with these things. Recap: Quest - Becoming a human animal. 1. BW flows - 3/week*6= 18 flows 2. Yoga - 5/week*6= 30 sessions 3. Maintain - 7*6= 42 extras for maintenance Side quest: Employment - 5 actionable business plans. Didn't see in the new rules if we were still doing XP, but I want to, so I'll post the value later. Luck to all the rangers and rebels in other guilds this challenge - Forward!

ohmygodshutupandtakemymoney! Do you have an etsy site/something similar? I'd love something like this! They look amazing!

AAAAHHHH!!!! So much kudos on the mile! I remember when I tried for my first "run a faster mile" challenge and how friggin AWESOME and rewarding the time on it was, congrats congrats congrats! As to the BF, I'd trust your measurements. The little body-fat machines I've seen used are never particularly accurate - in my experience - and the way you look and feel is a lot more important. If you don't want to eat more than 1500 cal/day then DON'T! Your body's talking, listen. Eat to your bliss, not to your calorie-tracker goal. (Sorry to get on a soapbox there, it's been a personal pet-peeve of mine that when I eat as many calories as I SHOULD be getting, I gain weight - when I eat what makes me FEEL good, I stay stable or drop it. Fight the numbers!) Congrats on finishing the challenge, on leaving room for adventure in your life, and on getting that fantastic mile time. Thank you for all your support and friendship, I know I wouldn't've made it through as well as I have without you. Keep being awesome, and I'll see you in the next challenge!

Go Super-Momma! Congratulations, that's fantastic! I'm so thrilled for you. One of my friends works in labor and delivery at the major hospital in my hometown back in the 'states (Albuquerque), and I can't tell you how many stories she's recounted of moms coming in just completely unaware of how their nutritional and physical decisions effect both their delivery and the health of their babies. That you're being so proactive and healthy about this just absolutely makes my day! Congrats again on keeping it strong, and on finishing yet another challenge. Go level 7, Ranger!

Harder: 5/6 stories written. 83% ("Adventurer's Wanted", "Antlermen", "Werewolf on Vacation", "Bledge", "Never the Two Shall Meet") Better: (see previous post for individual pose totals) total - 83% Faster: 70% (16.3/17.7kph, up from 13.5) Stronger: 100% (deadlift: 100kg, squat: 90kg) Challenge total: 84%. A solid B. I am super-proud of the lifting achievements, the continued attention to stretching and yoga that this challenge has brought me, and the continued commitment to my writing that I hadn't realized how much I'd missed. I am currently working on a longer-form piece of futuristic fiction that I am very much enjoying (it reminds me a bit of Neil Stephensen, whom I adore) and with the winter intensives starting next week here I'll have a lot more time to dedicate to it. Now for ice cream and Superman. XP totals to be updated forthwith - level 4 achieved!

Harder: update forthcoming (currently 50%) Better: right prone pigeon - 100% left prone pigeon - 100% king pigeon right - 100% huzzah! king pigeon left - 50% hero - 80% (head on the floor, shoulders still up but knees straight!) wide angle forward bend - 70% (shoulders still too round) total - 83% Faster: 70% (16.3/17.7) Stronger: 100% (deadlift: 100kg, squat: 90kg) Bottle of wine: purchased Ice Cream: tomorrow before Superman movie Sauna: need to find one in Santa Cruz Massage: will book after next pay-day. Huzzah!

Hey LoD, checking in to make sure you're still killing it all the way through 'til the end. Hope your week/end is awesome and that you get through all your crossfitting and family-ing adventures. Love, luck and good karma from Brazil!