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Friends, Rebels, Countrymen, lend me your ears; I came to create good habits this day! The sloth that doth do infect men's minds grows near, When mighty warriors forgo their training, And do nothing! So let it be today, That this Assassin picks the route that calls-- The way of the Spartan. Okay, I tried. I'm a huge Shakespeare nerd, and Marc Anthony's speech in Julius Caesar is a truly remarkable one. So, here's the thing. I've been planning on doing a Spartan race for almost a year now. I've found one that'll be near me in July. Yes, that's 5 months away. Yes, that's plenty of time to train. And that's the thing. I want to not just complete a Spartan race. I want to excel at it. Not win, but certainly not finish dead last. I want to make myself a real Spartan mind, body, and spirit. I was planning on training with the rangers or the warriors this time around, but... I realized that the Spartans, Leonidas's 300s, were essentially the most deadly Assassins in Europe at the time. Warrior discipline, Assassin skills, Ranger endurance. The best combo I can imagine. As such, I want to train for the next 5 months like a Spartan. Challenge 1: Warrior Discipline I'm a huge fan of Xena, Warrior Princess. If I could turn into any fictional character, it would be a tie between Xena, Wonder Woman, or Black Widow. Xena's incredibly strong, and has incredible physical discipline that comes as a result of her warrior ethos. If I want to run a Spartan race, I need to be strong like Xena and adopt her warrior ethos. My goal: strength-train three times a week. I can do three basic exercises: bench press, deadlift, and squat. I do sets 5x5, and want to slowly work my way up. I'm currently benching the bar+10 (55 lbs), deadlifting bar+15 (60 lbs), and squatting bar+15 (60 lbs). By the end of the six week challenge, I want to be able to bench 75 lbs, deadlift 90, and squat anywhere from 80-90. Challenge 2: Way of the Assassin (Because who doesn't want a gif of Ezio jumping as Assassin motivation?!) Assassins are agile, strong, and disciplined. I'm going to channel my inner Assassin that's been sluggish because of the cold lately and turn her into a Spartan machine. I'm planning on working on bodyweight as well as lifting (on the same days, because I try to keep all of my workouts condensed). Specifically, I want to work on my upper body, because I am terrible at push-ups and can't do a pull-up. So I'm going to train my upper body to do these things. I'm going to work towards pull-ups by working on the monkey-bar set in my gym and by doing hanging leg-lifts. By doing hanging leg-lifts, I not only work on abs, but I also work on strengthening my grip and my bag and triceps. I'd like to be able to do a pull-up and 2x20 hanging leg lifts by the end of the challenge. Challenge 3: Ranger Endurance Aragorn can run and run and run and be awesome and become a king. And he's pretty awesome. I hate running, but if I'm going to become a Spartan, then I'm going to have to go running. The goal: go running at least once a week. Probably on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Or both. If I can manage it. I hate running. So much. But I want to be a Spartan and sometimes that means doing things I don't like. Alright! I can do this! Aroo! Aroo! Aroo!

Quest for the Spartan Trifecta and Beyond! For the last year, becoming a member of the 2013 Spartan Trifecta Tribe has been the goal. Having completed two Sprints, and the Super, I am 2/3 of the way there. And, the Beast looms on the horizon. On Saturday, September 21, I will be attacking the 13 mile Beast at the Spartan World Championships in Killington, VT. And, upon crossing the finish line - that quest will conclude, and I will begin a new quest. That new quest will to be Spartan Up and get harder and stronger. So, I'm going to have to lift heavy things with endurance. I figure a good way to gauge that is by completing the 300 Workout. But, not just completing it. I want to complete it in under 30 minutes. More than likely, this quest will take longer than this 6 week challenge to complete. As of now, 50 pullups will take quite a bit of time for me to complete. And floor wipers kind of scare me since I have never completed one of them. In this post, Steve says that his fastest time for the workout was 46 minutes. I'm not sure if he's blown that out of the water since then, but because of that, I think 30 minutes is an aggressive goal. We shall see. The Goals for the Quest(s) will go hand in hand, however, and are similar to the structure of my last challenge. Main Quest Goals 1. Run at least 4 times per week. (+2 STA, +2 CON) 2. Lift/workoutTrain at least 4 times per week. (+2 STR, +2 CON) 3. Complete the World Championship Spartan Beast on 9/21 (+3 DEX) 4. Complete the 300 Workout to get a baseline time. (+1 STR, +1 CHA) Life Side Quest(s) 1. Apply what I learned in "Four Hour Work Week" into at least one project. (+2 WIS) <<---I'll post more details about this later. I've created another Goal Tracking Spreadsheet. And, here's The Motivation. Let's do this!

Greetings, fellow challengers and others. I am Sythez (intro) and I've come to become the Spartan badass I was meant to be! Or the superhero, hunter, warrior, secret agent... I'm not that picky on the badass, more just the becoming of one. Main Quest: I will healthily lose 10 pounds over the next 6 weeks, to a weight of 210 lbs or lower. 1. I will remain within a caloric goal of 1460 net calories per day. (I do eat mostly paleo) 2. I will alternate between running and doing the beginners bodyweight workout every day, unless I have some other major physical activity (ex. Martial arts class) planned. 3. I will make a lunch for 4 of the 5 days I am on campus, with one day being allowed to eat for lunch at a campus establishment (while retaining net caloric goal) Side quest: 1. To complete all homework at least a day before it is due! Motivations: I’ve never really had the crisis moment. Till now, that is. It came to me in an almost silly format, one which I never really thought I’d face… Walking onto university campus, being surrounded by my peers, I had a good look, and realized that extraordinarily few of them were even close to overweight. Both girls and guys, in excellent shape… and I don’t know how I missed it first year, but there are running trails all around the campus, we have a gym membership included in our tuition, and an amazing recreation program open to students. It is a bit painful realizing that while you aren’t the most unattractive person at the university, you’re not even close to the benchmark of average. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not overly concerned about becoming an Abercrombie and Fitch model (yet.) but suddenly, it made me look at myself. I have lots of things I want to do still, and as I’m coming 20, this is the point in my life that I’d like to do them. I’d like to be able to run 5k, go to a bar with my friends and be confident and appealing, live to a ripe old age while being in better shape than the young whippersnappers, have a six pack, all the while saving the world and achieving a 4.0. I’d like to travel, see other cultures, live in Asia for a bit, become an awesome cook, learn to fly… And when I had these dreams originally, it was with me being a smiling, good looking son-of-a-bitch with a hot body matched by an irresistible temperament (James Bond anyone?) So I decided on some goals; Before really focusing on going hard into strength training, I’d like to first establish a somewhat healthier weight, an overall increase to strength and stamina, and the ability to do the thing I hated growing up, every single PE class. I want to run, to move, to be able to get up in the morning and travel around the city upclose and personal. While doing that, I’m focusing on the beginner bodyweight workout, building up stability and other muscles so I can enter the strength training with a more solid foundation. As incentive, I bet my roommate that I’d run 5k in 2 ½ months or give her $75. For me, that’s a lot of money, as almost all I’ve got is going into tuition and living. Also, I knew she probably wouldn’t consider taking more money than that if I failed. So far I’ve been out twice, once with her (she is a casual runner) and almost dying due to overwork, and the other time today, starting a couch to 5k program. The program difficulty does not feel like an issue. I’d like to go the route Saint did, and bet $500 for six pack abs, but truthfully, getting the sixpack is secondary to being able to being healthy, happy, and… who am I kidding. The six pack right now is far more motivating. I blame being young for that. I’m trying to think of good motivation to do that route. I’ve found reading stories about Mark Twight, the trainer for 300, Man of Steel, and other blockbuster hits to be good motivation. Perhaps I’ll start a small savings fun for finding a personal trainer who would be willing to get me through to the stage of six pack abs. Currently, university is whats in the bills. Later though, it will be work, or kids, or some other thing. I will never have the money for a trainer UNLESS I make it a priority in my life. Ok… this Challenge motivation kinda went outa control… in a good way I guess. So ya. 6 weeks to a lighter me, after that, hopefully in saving loonies, birthday money, the like… I can get into the gym scene! And then… SPARTA! I WILL DINE IN HELL AND RETURN TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY BUHAHAHA! *cough

http://instagram.com/p/fErQnUIT9o/# Gymbro got pics, wish he'd gotten a shot of me at the bottom of the squat, but he assured me it was below parallel. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I weighed in at 155lbs. tonight, major PR for me tonight, physically wiped but that much closer to a 2x bodyweight squat for reps. YYYEAAAAAAAHHHHHHH