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Well it's new challenge time. I've moved from the Monk trail for now as i need to take a few steps back with my goals. I'm still injured so this challenge will be interesting. But i'm back to get out of the red. Bad habits that need to be squashed and weight needs to start going the right way. For those who don't know i have nerve problems which at the moment are effecting my right hand/wrist really badly. I can't hold anything, can't lift anything (very weak). I can't put weight or pressure on my right arm from the elbow to the wrist. For this challenge i'm getting back into a regular workout that i've been lacking since i've been injured. In my last challenge i started the habit of working out in the morning, this will continue. I will also get back into the gym, get back into my interval training, continue body weight workouts and look at starting to attend classes at my gym. Morning Workouts: Every week day 1 minute warm up. High knees or butt kicks. Then I will do 10 reps at a time, combination of crunches, reverse crunches, squats, lunges, hip raises. Repeat for 5 minutes. Gym: Three times a week minimum Interval training. Get back onto the C25K. Will be starting from scratch but it's the only cardio machine i can use. Bodyweight circuits. There are a number of exercises that i can do with my injury. I will alternate these each time and keep track of reps, increasing each time. My gym also has cardio based classes, there are heaps of different ones. I need to look into which ones i can do with my injuries and start doing at least one a week. Being a friend I need to get back into the habit of coming on here regularly and checking in on the friends i've made, and new friends. I love this place for the support it gives me, and i need to make sure i'm giving it back. I have set up a spreadsheet to track all of my workouts. If anyone has any exercises that i can do with my injury please let me know, i thrive on variation as i get bored easily.

The Druid life suits me. I feel that my approach to coming into tune with nature is through physical meditation. I have noticed that working out and exercising in general has been helping me sharpen my relationship with my surroundings and myself! I looked through my Pathfinder rulebooks and found a level 2 Druid Spell that I love! Aspect of the Bear grants the Druid a bonus to his Armor Class and Combat Maneuver rolls. Armor Class isn't necessarily how much armor you are wearing, it's more about how hard you are to hit. I'm not looking at physical combat here, more like Metaphysical Combat. I am at war with my old habits and lack of discipline. I need to be harder to hit, more evasive in the battles to come. I need to be able to slip out of the grasp of my old nature as I seek the path to my Grove. The specters of my old habits are many, and litter the road ahead of me with the bones of past attempts. I need to hone my skills to better fight them off! My Goals will be summarized by three spells that encompass what I am trying to learn. SPELL ONE: BEAR'S ENDURANCE Right now I am working to cast off the abuses of my old life and shed some fat. I am working on strength training, but the way I am approaching my workouts lends itself more to better Endurance. If I reach this goal, I will grant myself +4 to Constitution. Spell Components: 6 Day Split workout, divided between upper body and lower body workouts. A: Not skipping any workouts, and adding intensity to those workouts B: Not skipping any workouts C: Miss one workout D: Miss two workouts F: Miss three workouts SPELL TWO: SLIPSTREAM I am assisting my primary goal (fat loss and health) by increasing my cardio workouts. I started my quest earlier this year through walks and working on the stationary bike. Now, I will be adding daily Interval workouts to help myself travel more in tune with nature. If I achieve this goal, I will grant myself additional Dexterity and Wisdom. Spell Components: Couch to 10K training program A: At least 60 minutes of Interval Training/Cardio every day of the week B: At least 30 minutes of Interval Training/Cardio every day of the week C: Miss one day training D: Miss two days training F: Miss three days training SPELL THREE: ASPECT OF THE BEAR Since the beginning of December I have been focusing on how, and what, I eat. I have practically eliminated processed foods from my diet, and I want to continue this. Not eating my "trigger" foods of pasta, breads, and sugars has greatly reduced my weight, and is really helping me understand a lot about other aspects of my nature. By reducing my size, I will increase my Armor Class and Combat skills in general, making me better suited for battling the Specters on my path to the Grove. I am also focusing on reducing portion sizes by not having seconds on meals, if I am still hungry in an hour, so be it. Have an apple, dammit! Spell Components: Eliminate Processed Foods A: No processed foods B: One Day processed foods C: Two days processed foods D: Three days processed foods F: Four Days processed foods Spell Failure: If portion size exceeds one big bowl or plate, spell loses intensity and slips a grade. CAMPAIGN: The Lych King of Azum Ghul Thousands of years ago, there was a mighty sorcerer who, in his heart, was a Champion to the People. He could create amazing works and conjure objects of great beauty. Over time, the sorcerer grew arrogant about his power, and began to lose his connection with the mystical energy within the earth from which he drew his power. His body began to warp and distort, and his mind, now full of loathing and seething with hatred, began to snap. The People grew wary and fled his realm. Soon, he was a mere Shade of himself, and passed from the Mortal Realm. But his ravaged spirit lived on, and began to warp and twist the land around his crypt. The forest began to fester, and the ponds and rivers became stagnant and fetid swamps. The animals of the land started to avoid the Blighted Woods, and the peasants of the area began to whisper of evil spirits haunting those once sacred lands, now called Azum Ghul, or the Cursed Land. Adventurous souls took it upon themselves to rid Azum Ghul of evil, and were seldom seen again. Those that did survive spoke of terrors beyond comprehension, and roads littered with the bones of the dead. One adventurer claimed that he was attacked by these very same bones and barely escaped with his life. Another spoke of a bloodthirsty Gnoll that guards the path halfway through Azum Ghul and feasts upon the remains of those who have fallen before him. This is where I come in. I am an initiate in an ancient Order of Druids, and I have been entrusted with Hallowed Secrets about the true nature of Azum Ghul. I have been charged with a quest to enter these haunted woods and to vanquish those spirits that have sullied the land. My Order believes that a portal to one of our Sacred Groves lies deep within the woods, and only by restoring Azum Ghul to its pristine state will we be able to visit that grove again. I will have to face the Specters of those that have fallen before me, and face the true evil that has corrupted these lands to be successful. MINI-BOSS FIGHT: Rottgutt the Gnoll Rottgutt has grown fat over the centuries by feeding off of the corpses of the fallen. He lurks in the shadows by the road, using his knowledge of the land to trick his prey off the road, where they become easy targets. I will defeat Rottgutt by avoiding him altogether. I am going to go OVER him. Success: I will need to have much better upper body strength to pull this off. I will train daily to be able to do at least 4 full chin-ups by the half-way point of the six week challenge. Anything less than 4 full chin-ups is defeat for the week, I will need to defeat Rottgutt to move on to the Lych King's crypt. If I make this goal before the third week, I will continue to train chin-ups, since the more I can do the less likely Roattgutt will find me in the first place! BOSS FIGHT: Consumuerte, the Lych-King of Azum Ghul Consumuerte (the Eating Death) has made a palace in the twisted ruins of his crypt and the swamps around it. Facing the Lych directly is dangerous, since he can corrupt anything he sets his gaze upon. His crypt lies within a stagnant pool a little over 3 miles across. Consumuerte will attack anything that comes through the clearing, but he tires easily due to the enormity of his corpse. Success: Again, I am avoiding direct confrontation with the Fiend. I will cast Aspect of the Bear when I enter the swamps to make myself more effective at avoiding his attacks. I will then cast Slipstream to increase my speed over the swamps, and then Bear's Endurance to push my body farther than it has ever gone. If I can run through the swamps fast enough to evade the Lych King, I will be able to enter his Crypt and destroy his Animus Foci, which should hopefully break his Spell of Corruption over the land. The distance I will need to run is 3.10 miles. COMPLETION: The Portal If I make it to the Portal, I will seek guidance through meditation and communion with the land. I have no idea what lies beyond the Portal, but my Order needs to find our Grove soon. Only by completing my quest will we be able to find the answers we need! I have companions of a sort, a group of Knights that I have grown to rely on in times of need. They will not be joining me on this quest, but through the use of Waygates we can communicate with each other to offer encouragement and support. I think I will be relying on them more than ever!