laurafalafel

Close. I'm originally from Jackson, Mississippi, so about 3.5 hours south of Memphis. Went to Mississippi State University for undergraduate and then moved to Memphis to work. Now I'm in AZ for grad school. I miss memphis a lot, though! Its probably my favorite place i've ever lived!

Progress Update So, my second week of the challenge was definitely more difficult than the first. The combination of working really long hours with going out of town is definitely making things difficult. Also, I'm starting to get sick, so its hard to get in any sort of tough workout. Basically, in sum, I'm kind of starting to lose sight of my goals and need to make more clearly defined plans for achieving these if i want to succeed. Therefore, I've come up with some more short-term goals for the next week to help me along the way! 5k Goal: Got a benchmark run in last week and determined that I'm at around a 35 minute 5k, so I need to cut off a little over 5 minutes. I think this is possible, but I need to make sure to stay running, especially when I go out of town. How I'm Going to Work on My Goal This Week: I'm going to go for another 5k tonight. Friday night I will run sprints and Sunday I will go for a casual 5k run. Pull-Up Goal: I've increased to 9 pull-ups now. so YAY! However, that's still not progressing as fast as I need to. So, going to start doing weighted pull-ups with shorter reps and continuing to do negative pull-ups. How I'm Going to Work on My Goal This Week: Until I go out of town on Friday, everytime I pass under the pull-up bar I will either do pull-ups (AMRAP) or negative pull-ups (AMRAP). Then, at the gym I will do weighted pull-ups. Consistency Goal: This is the goal I'm struggling with the most. I'm going to try really hard to get in the mindset that a small workout is better than no workout. Often times, if I cannot make it to the gym for a normal workout, I just write that day off and don't do anything. I'm going to try to get over this with more body weight workouts/running/crossfit-style workouts. How I'm Going to Work on My Goal This Week: I'm going to make sure that I workout at least 5 days a week this week. I plan to follow the original schedule (3 days of lifting; 2 days of running/swimming). However, if I have day that I cannot make it all the way to to the gym, I will at least do a shorter workout at home. Journal Article Goal: Met with the second author of this paper about what needs to be changed for the final draft of this paper. How I'm Going to Work on My Goal This Week: I'm going to bring my computer on the plane on Friday and Tuesday and work the entire plan ride on the paper. Also, I'm going to try to work on the paper while running subjects at night. (Also, if I get any free time at work, but that's not likely). Hopefully these subgoals will help me get going on this challenge better!

I'd be in starting June! Also, Geer, I just moved from Memphis, TN last summer! How cool!

Thanks for the links! I'll definitely have to check those out for these next few weeks!

I didn't even realize it was happening until you asked!! sad. Oh well, I'll have to make sure to get in on the next one!

Monday Update (& more specific Plans for my goals): Consistency (workout at least 5x daily): So, one of the reasons that I have a consistency goal for this challenge (exercise at least 5x a week) is because we are travelling a LOT. I was out of town this weekend with the other first year graduate students, have weddings in houston, tx and jackson, ms the following two weekends, followed by my brothers graduation, and then anniversary/hiking trip the last weekend. Ahh! Trip this weekend was fun & I got some exercising in. Went out to Greer, AZ and went hiking/climbed down this huge mountain because we lost the trail Planning for a run tonight after work -- running subjects until 7:30, so it shouldn't be too hot! One way that I plan to accomplish this goal is to learn more bodyweight strength exercises. I am SO reliant on the gym and feel completely lost when it comes to bodyweight exercises. I know a few of them, but still feel a bit lost as to how to make one that is really tough. When I'm in Houston this weekend I plan on finding a park and doing Steve's playground workout or hotel workouts. I'll be sure to update how that goes! The OTHER way that I plan to accomplish this (and one of the reasons for my last fitness goal) is through starting to run again. Although its kind of miserable in the heat in AZ, TX, and MS (all the places im visiting!), it at least requires no equipment, so I have NO EXCUSES! 5k Goal: Like I mentioned up there, I'm planning a run for tonight after work, so I have a better benchmark to go on for this challenge. Also, I'm signing up for a 5k on June 10 (day before the challenge ends) to make sure to keep myself motivated! Its part of a group's (AZ Road Racers) summer series and should be a lot of fun. So hooray for that! Pull-Up Goal: Have a pull up bar at my apt., so I'm making sure to do pull-ups whenever I walk under it. Also, going to start doing more negative pull-ups to hopefully help out my strength! Overall, I'm pretty excited about this challenge and will keep updating as I move forward! Thanks for all the encouragement!

Next challenge!

gosh! im the same way! n00bs unite!

That is incredible. Thank you for sharing this!

Aw shucks! Thanks! Will have to go check our your challenge. Good luck as well! ha thanks! they're strict. i have a pull up bar on the door in my bathroom and would be afraid i'd fly off if i tried kippping hehe glad i could create some lols! our state IS pretty awesome.

I love your goals & challenge! And wow! your lifts are impressive! Really motivating me to get stronger Also: I saw that you were thinking of reading the Game of Thrones series. I HIGHLY recommend that. I've read the first one and most of the second and they are amazing. Pretty much all of my friends here are obsessing over them.

Thanks! I'm really excited! With pull ups, I'm at 8 as long as I haven't done anything else that day. Running is more difficult to give a good answer -- I used to run a decent bit. Have run 2 half marathons. However, I never liked it much, ESPECIALLY longer distances. So, once I discovered other activities (strenght training, hiking, swimming, etc.), I pretty much stopped running all the way. I want to get back to where I am in running shape, though, mostly just with speed. I figured maybe a short distance, like a 5k would help me get back started! All in all, I have no idea if that answers your question. I'm probably at about a 35 minute 5k now? Maybe? For graduate school, I'm in the Cognition, Action, Perception (Cognitive Psychology, basically) program at Arizona State University. Its a phD program, so should be about 5 years! Its fun, but pretty busy & overwhelming! How about yourself? What do you do? Gonna go check out your challenge page too!

Thanks! I live in Phoenix too! Moved here in July. That's awesome!

The Challenge: Hey Everyone! I'm a first time poster and very excited to get started on this challenge! The main point of this particular challenge is to help me stay FOCUSED. This past year has been very crazy (moving across the country, starting grad school, etc.), so its been difficult to pick goals and stay consistent for more than a few weeks. I'm hoping to meet people in this challenge who can motivate me and who I can motivate to achieve their goals as well! My Character: Race: Pixie Class: Ranger Age: 23 Weight: 108 Height: 5'2" Stats: • Strength (STR) - 1 • Dexterity (DEX) - 3 • Stamina (STA) - 2 • Constitution (CON) - 2 • Wisdom (WIS) - 3 • Charisma (CHA) - 4 My Goals: Fitness Goals: 1) Do 15 unassisted pull-ups (+3 STR; +2 STA) 2) Workout at least 5x a week (ideally, lifting 3 days, and running or swimming 2 days) (+3 CON) 3) Run a 5k in less than 30 minutes (+3 STA; +1 CON) Life Goals: 1) Submit my Journal article for publication (+3 WIS) **Will post my plans for these goals soon! **