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Jarric’s Aramenté – Finding Space with the Druids Hi all, for those of you who don’t know me I’m Jarric. I’ve been doing challenges across the forums for a couple of years now, and this year I came up with a plan to visit all of the guilds to meet new people, learn new perspectives and become a more well-rounded person myself. Two challenges ago I fought alongside the Warriors, not for the first time, and whilst I love hanging out with those guys there was so much going on in my life I felt overwhelmed. I ended up more or less bailing on that challenge, and I didn’t take part in last challenge at all as I just tried to get my head straight. But I don’t want to stay away from here for long, and so what better place to find some balance and learn to better cope with the stresses of life than alongside the Druids. I already have a bit less on this challenge. Snooker season has finished, which means no more matches (I was usually playing two nights per week), and I’ve made the decision to not join any summer competitions or practices to keep those nights generally free. DnD will still be happening, on average once per week, but that’s something booked in well in advance that I can work around. Aside from that I’m going to make a conscious effort to say no to extra commitments, or at least to honestly consider whether I want to do them in the context of whatever else I have going on that week. Just being mindful that I don’t have to take every cool opportunity that comes my way will be key here. So, I have some goals. None of these directly impact my main goals for the year, (running the Obstacle Course Racing World Championship and getting out of debt by the end of the year), they are more about getting my head in order as a foundation for moving forward. I will of course still be running, lifting, climbing and trying to eat good food too, but none of that’s a specific goal this time. Check-In Daily – 5XP A simple one to start, but one that’s great to keep me on track. Check in here daily. It doesn’t have to be much, in fact it can be just a single word if it needs to be, but just post in this thread every day. Meditate Daily – 10XP This is something I have been meaning to commit to for a while, because I’m not very good at meditation, but I really do think it will help to make those few minutes for myself every day. Generally I’m planning to do guided meditations at home, but if that’s not possible then any 5 minutes of mindfulness will do. Study – 10XP I need to make a structured start on my insurance studies so that I can tick along with them at a sensible pace (the alternative, and my usual method of study, is to feel guilty and stressed that I haven’t done anything for a few months, and then to panic and rush everything at the last minute). To that end I will do one Pomodoro of studying each week. Research/Project Work – 10XP In a very similar vein as the previous goal, I need to get on with a work project I’ve been working on – the sooner I start on this the sooner I’ll finish. This is also a group project where other people are relying on me, so that adds to the general stress. Again one Pomodoro of time spent on this each week. To-Do List No XP awarded for this, but I have a to-do list that I want to try and get through this challenge, to unfuck my house and get some shit sorted that’s been hanging over me for too long sorted. At the moment that looks like this: · Clear spare room stuff · Clear sofas and keep them clear · Buy shoe rack · Mow front lawn · Mow back lawn · Clothing cull · Clean bedroom stuff · Sort computer desk and permanent printer set-up · E-mail Steve · Start gathering stuff for Irish passport And that’s it. 5 weeks of challenge ready and waiting for me. Now to try and get my head in order.

Fighting Alongside the Warriors Hi everyone, for those of you who don't know me I'm Jarric. My plan for this year involves me visiting all of the guilds, learning what I can learn, and becoming a more well rounded Ranger and a better person. I always knew I would end up here pretty early on - I've partied with you guys a few times and the Warriors Guild is a bit of a home from home for me. The other thing my plan for the year involves is hitting two goals. 1.Run in the Obstacle Course Racing World Championship (OCRWC) in October. 2.Get out of debt. So, to goals! Prepare for Battle - 10XP Last challenge I had some issues with getting up and getting my workouts in. To combat that I am going to have a list of things to do every evening, accompanied by tick boxes in my bullet journal, to make getting up and exercising as easy as possible. That list is: Write workout plan (gym) or read workout plan (runs) Check the weather for the morning (so I know what to wear) Lay out workout clothes Check alarm is set This applies every day, so scored out of 28 Do Battle - 15XP A simple goal (if not an easy one), 7+ workouts per week. My current workout plan looks like this: Lifting M & F, Running T, T, S & S, HIIT W, Bouldering S/S. 8 workouts in all, but I'll settle for 7 in any given week to give me some flexibility (and if I have to change the order of my workouts that's fine too). Scored out of 28. This goal is another major reason I want to be with the Warriors this month. You guys inspire me to hit the gym when I read your challenges and see videos of your sets, and I'm hoping that enthusiasm will wrench me out of bed in the morning. Star Fleet Rations - 10XP Take prepared meals to work every day. This went well last time for saving me money, but there were some nutritionally poor choices, so I'm adding two caveats. 1, the food I bring must be real food - no taking leftover pizza to work. 2, I can eat free food in meetings instead, but I must eat sensibly and stop when I've had a reasonable amount. Scored out of 20. Gold Pressed Latinum - 10XP Same as last challenge and a big part of my goals for the year. Each week I will take out a cash budget of £50 for spending money, and I must stay within it. Any surplus under £10 goes into a jar which I can crack open for fitness gear when I hit level 15. Scored out of 4. Ten Forward - 5XP I am not spending enough time on here. I feel bad for not keeping up with my friends, and it's hurting my own efforts to improve myself not coming here for support. Every day therefore I will post on my own challenge (it doesn't have to be a full update, anything will do), and every day I will post on someone else's challenge (the same person doesn't count 2 days in a row, so I can't just have 1 conversation for the whole challenge!). Scored out of 28. Some other things At the end of week 3 I have my birthday and my first OCR of the season, Nuts Challenge. It's going to be cold and wet and muddy and bloody awesome, and I've roped in the wonderful @jonfirestar @Charlie_Quinn and Mr Quinn to run with me. And why the Star Trek theme (vague as it is)? Well I've started doing something so geeky I'm almost embarrassed to talk about it, even here. I've been watching Critical Role for a long time, which is a group of voice actors playing D&D live on the internet. The other day however I found myself starting to watch Shield of Tomorrow, which is a group of people playing a Star Trek TRPG live on the internet. It's a whole new level of nerdy, but I'm enjoying it so far. Wow, that was a long first post, time to go get a drink...

Jarric Visits the Rebels Hi everyone, I'm Jarric. My plan for this year involves me visiting all of the guilds, learning what I can learn, and becoming a more well rounded Ranger and a better person. And what better place to start off the year than where I started off on the forums nearly 2 years ago, with the Rebels. The other thing my plan for the year involves is hitting two goals. 1.Run in the Obstacle Course Racing World Championship (OCRWC) in October. 2.Get out of debt. So for my Rebel challenge I'll be going back to basics, and (roughly) following the formula of the recommended first challenge provided here. 1 - Meal Prep - 15XP Prep all 5 of my lunches for work every week. This can be by doing a huge batch on a Sunday and making it last, or by making a little extra each evening and taking it into work the next day. Scored out of 20 lunches. 2 - HIIT - 10XP I've signed up to try HIIT workouts for the first time, once per week starting Wednesday. Basically until now my gym programming has involved power lifting style gym work, but nothing to really get my heart rate up. I am running, but on separate days to my lifting. With my goal of going to OCRWC I need some work that's more specific to having to haul my body about whilst I'm worn out and my heart is racing. I don't know if this is the answer, but it's worth a try. Scored out of 4. 3 - Hang Out - 10XP I have a pull up bar at home, and I plan to make use of it every day. This will improve my grip strength, help my core and back strength, and therefore should improve my climbing and my ability to get over obstacles. I have a set routine, and I'll report what I end up doing as I do it, but the main point is just to get on the bar for ~10 minutes every day. Scored out of 28. Level Up Your Life - Budget - 15XP As a starting point for saving money this year, I'm setting myself a weekly budget of £50 to spend on leisure. This includes all food and drink out (but not groceries), beer, cinema tickets, entrance to any leisure activities, parking at leisure activities - you get the idea. Any coins of £5 notes left at the end of the week go into a jar, which I can crack open for fitness gear when I hit level 15. Every week should finish within this £50 budget. Scored out of 4. So them's the goals. A few points of order before we begin: I'll be starting on Monday - I never understood starting challenges on a Sunday - so I'll be running this from 8th January to 4th February. All measurements may be expressed in metric, British imperial, US imperial or Klingon. Please don't ask me how Klingon units of measurement work; I haven't the foggiest.