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We're still in the week leading up to this and I am usually of the school of thought that says you should work through the off weeks, but I am definitely taking a week off to recover and aiming to be as fit as possible when the challenge proper starts. I'll come up with some goals later in the week depending what I can cope with. At the moment I'm not feeling bad at all *crosses fingers*, Mrs is a tiny bit worse but also not terrible and Flyer, as a teenager, shows no symptoms at all. For someone in my age group, sex and age I would have been at about 4% risk of death a year ago but all I have now is a slightly blocked nose, so the vaccine is obviously doing its job. Of course this is just a representation of what's going on in my body just now. The picture in the wider world is a lot different, so there's no room for complacency. We need to get the vaccines out to places that haven't been able to get them yet, as well as people who have become convinced that they don't need it or that it is harmful. I hope that doesn't include anyone reading this, but if it does... Please try and be this guy 👆 and not this guy 👇 So anyway, rest this week. Not leaving the house, obvs. Try and get some light exercise if possible but don't go mad with it, eat daily vitamin D, proper food, meditate, rest, read.

First time Ranger here. I missed out the past couple of challenges mostly due to feeling uninspired to doing them. But I'm back and ready to begin my journey as a Ranger. I have set myself a challenge to lift more and run further than I did last year. The lifting part should be easier as I have a head start on last year (I started going to the gym in April/May) and I can lift more than I did then but I need to keep it up. Running, well I've probably lost my progress and only have the slightly warmer months to do it (the cold air hurts my lungs and makes me feel as though I can't breathe). This challenge is about trying to move towards reaching this while adapting to my new job. Which has more regular hours but my flexibility is compromised. I also have an off peak gym membership. I'm also starting this challenge during an election campaign of which I am part of which helps and hinders (delivering leaflets is a lot of walking and if you get a flat with lots of stairs it can be quite a workout). So my stats for last year: Lifted: 60,234 Kg Travelled: 124km PRs: 21 (Information from fitocracy. I'm relying on them doing so again at the end of next year otherwise I have a lot of counting to do) Challenge 1: Keep on lifting I have one day a week where I am off during the day. I should use this opportunity to go to the gym. I know one day a week is not great but it is my only option for now. This visit should be weights focused (although all my visits are) and cover at least one exercise for each muscle group. To track all workouts will be posted on Fitocracy and I shall update here. Grading: A - 6+ visits B - 5 visits C - 3 or 4 visits Challenge 2 On one day that I'm off at a weekend I should go for a run or do something that is active if I have something else to do (e.g. Delivering leaflets) though first preference should be running. It is warmer now so I will be fine. I will use my zombies, run! App and track on fitocracy and post here. A - 6+ (or equivalent runs) B - 5 C - 3 or 4 Challenge 3 - sort out the diet My diet the past few weeks hasn't been great. I have just gotten in to bad habits. This challenge I'm going to try and get rid of these habits and eat more healthily. This will mean finding healthier lunches and not snacking on junk food at breaks. I have started bringing an apple to work with me and typically have egg sandwiches for lunch. It's not easy being vegetarian though as there is such limited choice and I only have half an hour. I aim to cut down on current eating and more fruit and veg. I am also going to track some days on my fitness pal. I'm going to grade myself by giving myself points per day of healthy eating. All day healthy - 5 Chose healthy lunch - 2 Chose healthy snack - 2 One junk food snack - 1 A - 190-210 B - 170-189 C - 150-169 Life challenge - Learn a new language This is something I've always wanted to do but never 'had the time to'. I've been watching lots of Outlander recently and it has inspired me to take up (Scottish) Gaelic again. I've learned a few phrases over the years ("I love you", "give me the whip", "I'm fixing my car" (I neither own a car or fix one) and "it's very dark" I plan to use my days off mostly again for the bulk of my learning but I want to spend time on nights I am working (or possibly bus journeys). This means 18 days for the bulk of my learning and 24 to supplement it. I will aim to clock 20 hours (just to make it a round number more than anything. But aware that this might be a bit too much. Still, I will track here how many hours I'm doing and some phrases I have learned. A - 20+ hours B - 15-19 hours C - 10-14 hours