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Here it is, time for Challenge Number 2 and here you are, reading along. We'll cure you of that soon enough. In this Challenge you will see me: prepare for and compete in my first ever kettlebell lifting competition, the Mid-Michigan Open at 90 kg lifting 2 24 kg kettlebells as many times as possible in ten minutes Compete in the preliminary rounds of the Granite Games Turn 35 years old I will maintain a bodyweight at or below and average of 90 kg I will talk about, review and rank video games wow, I said video games. What's wrong with me. I don't like video games all that much, I meant board games. (EDITED 06/17) I will tell you a bunch of other stuff you really don't care aboutYou're still here? I'm shocked. The last guy only got to number four and ran screaming. To be successful in the above I will: Train a total of fifty hoursWrite and post five boardgame reviewsWrite up a circuit that I like and have tested outI'll likely find a number of other distractions along the way but I'm leaving myself room to play with it. A normal training week will look something like the following (warning, no week will be a normal training week) Monday - off, game nightTuesday - 24 kg Long Cycle practiceWednesday - Barbell work, ConditioningThursday - 28 kg Long Cycle practiceFriday - Make up any missed days, take this day off or get a bonus workoutSaturday - Additional Long Cycle practice as neededSunday - Barbells and circuitsAdditional - somewhere in there I will attempt to squeeze 30-60 minutes of pilates and 45 - 90 minutes of aerobic work per week for a total of about 8.5 hours per weekThat's it. That's my intro. It's not great but it's mine.

Let's get one thing out there. I fucking hate Monopoly. And yet, sitting down with my friends to play a well made board game is the most fun I can conceive of. I'm taking a break from the epic quest of my last several challenge to have a little fun with my goals and get myself back in the game. As I posted at the end of my last challenge, my physical fitness has taken a back seat to my mental health. I feel sad about letting my fitness slide, but at the end of the day, I don't have any regrets about getting my head back on the right way around. This challenge is going to be themed around the ideas that I find that make modern board games fun. Have a plan and follow it <insert Scot joke here> No, I will not post pictures of me in my kilt. That's for the Highland Games. Come to Fergus. See the geek. The good board games require you to think at least a little bit. Even the really fast and simple ones give you a goal that you need to be aware of. Be the Sheep Baron. Buy all the Villages. Shoot the Sheriff. These simple, grokkable goals give the board game player something to focus and and engage them. And really, who doesn't have wood for sheep? My plan is to rebuild my push-up habit. I'm being groomed for 2nd dan "soon", which could mean anything from two months to a year from now. What that means is that I don't often participate in the general workouts during class, but instead work with the higher ranked black belts to refine techniques and practice my own stuff. Then the general class is teaching. I don't mind this as these techniques are not a walk in the park, physically speaking. But my callisthenics have suffered. I will do push-ups every day. Numbers have historically thrown me off, so my goal is just to do more today than I did yesterday. Not in a single set (that would be crazy), but if I do X push-ups today, then I must do X+1 tomorrow. Simple. Learn by doing This is not related to my goal in any way. It is just funny. There's a very interesting difference between Euro-games and North American designed games. So much so that board game enthusiasts attend design panels where game developers and retailers will have incredibly detailed conversations about those differences and what that means for consumers. The very, very short version is that North American games are designed to be explained in a newspaper or television ad and that Euro-games are designed to be explained in about 5 minutes, or while playing the first few turns. The implications of this are that North American games have a tendency towards shallow game play (Kerplunk, I'm looking at you) and Euro-games have depth that a player becomes more aware of the more that they play. And the fact is that I need to play more and learn that depth. That's my black belt techniques. I can be honest enough to say that I'm going to miss classes over the next six weeks. It's summer and that means my weekends are not my own (EXCEPT FOR NERDS, BITCHES!). I... I don't know where that came from. It must be finger-Tourette's. In order to keep up with my training, my Monday nights must be sacrosanct. Monday nights are the black belt classes. That is where I learn the most about the fine details that differentiate a black belt from the lower ranks. Don't miss a Monday night. That is all. Cooperation is victory Manatees are funny. Also, Dominion is awesome. There is an emerging trend of more games which force the players to work together against the mechanics of the game itself. Victory is rarely easy and relies on a combination of good communication, effective use of game mechanics and a little bit of luck. But when victory occurs, it is sweet indeed. And it took each and every person around the table with you. That moment is awesome. I have the privilege of teaching a lot in hapkido. It is the art I love and I love to share it with people. However, one of the things I need to work on is to embrace the opportunities I am given. There are some belts I just don't like teaching. Whether it's because the techniques are a little flat or they have things that I still find struggles with, I just don't have the enthusiasm for those small portions of the art. But my role as a teacher is to share the joy I have in my art and to encourage students to find the things that make them want to keep coming back. This is difficult to measure as it's as much a feeling as an actual concrete event. My goal is to embrace the teaching opportunities that come my way. We currently have a LOT of people orange belt and under. I am regularly teaching within that group. There are always things that students find frustrating in this period because, frankly, they don't have a complete understanding of what they're doing. After every class, I want to feel like I paid attention to that student right there in front of me and taught for their needs. More nerds is more awesome Get a good group of friends together for a board game night and tell me I'm wrong. Especially if you've got a stable of fun games that leave you telling stories for months afterwards. Nerds are awesome. There's this thing happening in Toronto where a bunch of nerds are coming to Toronto and I get to finally put faces to internet aliases. Maybe even learn some real names in the process. As a socially anxious nerd, like many of you, the prospect of all these new people scares the ever-loving crap out of me. Seriously. I'm putting this up on my challenge as a life goal despite the meet up happening halfway through the challenge. My anxiety and depression keep me from doing a lot of things. I will not allow it take this one away from me. I will post pictures of myself with Littlewings and Catspaw and any other nerds that I meet and show my brain who's boss. Me! That's who! And that's my productive morning, digging up links and writing out silly things. Rock on, my monk-y nerds. Rock on.

Some basic stats Female: 28yrs: 5'4": 130 Lbs: approx 25% body fat using sight and a scale that estimates body fat. Accomplishment: I can run 5k on a wooded trail in 35 minutes Goals: 1 pull up and 1 chin up by Sept 16, reduce body fat from 25% to 20% at some point. I'm not really worried how long this takes because I'm more concerned with achieving strength gains while avoiding fat gains right now. How? 3 intensive upper body workouts on monkey bars and a pull up bar a week. I run 4 to 5 days a week and if I don't run I try to get long walks in. I also try to do sprint intervals at least one day a week. I do body weight workouts for my lower body, but it is just for maintenance. Cool thing I've done in the past month: I ran (walked) my first 5k obstacle course. What I learned: I need to work on upper body strength! Diet: I am on a low grain diet, but I'm not paleo. I eat and drink cultured dairy, and I have not attempted to limit beans and legumes from my diet. It's hard enough getting enough calories without sugar or grains. I don't like to eat more than 4oz of meat (always pastured) a day for environmental/animal welfare reasons. I try to do at least a day a week without meat. I drink a smoothie every morning, usually it is just fruit and greens and kefir. Family: I am married and have a 20 month old daughter. Our household consists of my little family, my mother, my sister, and my niece. The 4 adult to 2 child ratio is fabulous for being able to work out and meal planning. Work: I'm a comprehensive sexual health and violence prevention educator. I travel around from school to school. I really love my work. Nerd? I might be a nerd. I'm a nerd in that I enthusiastically read about all sorts of things that interest me. I'm not afraid of my interests or to be excited about new information. I'm in that place where I've watched every episode of Star Trek TNG but I haven't seen Star Wars since I was a child. I have never been an avid video game player, but love the RPG concept of the site. I love bored games. Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Twilight Imperium, and Nexus Ops right off the top of my head are what have been played most often. We don't get to play as much since having our daughter. My three favorite books are "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jarod Diamond, "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinline, and "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood. I don't know how to underline on my tablet, so quotes will have to do. Other: I started running about 10 weeks ago in a serious way to systematically get better. I use a standing desk. I believe in injury prevention, and am a little obsessed with natural alignment and movement in the way that some people are obsessed with the paleo diet. I believe movement is a key nutrient most people are missing in their lives. I use standing desks, but cheat a lot and type on my tablet in bed, or sit down to read articles. I knit. I like to cook, but I hate cleaning. I believe I should be walking at least 5 miles a day in addition to other workouts, but don't think I achieve this often. I only wear neutral heeled shoes, and I prefer shoes allow for as much movement as possible. I wish I could wear vibram five fingers all the time. Thank you for reading my introduction. I'm excited to be part of this community.