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... and somehow kicking it up a notch, through no fault of my own. Goal #1: Floor 1 I'm still working on the GMB program "Floor 1", still in the very first phase of the beginner's program. As long as I can't consistently hold a crow pose, that's where I'm going to stay. I have managed to hold the balance for a couple of seconds (PR as of today: 15 seconds!!!), but there are still days when I don't get the balance at all. Though considering today's new PR, I hope to progress to the next phase sometime during this challenge. For now, F1 practice will happen 6/7 days a week. If work allows, I'll also aim for the usual 2 kettlebell classes + 1 yoga class per week. And, of course, there's Rosie, my part-time pony. Goal #2: Keep the Emo Sugar Monsters in checkThanks to my Lent-ing atheist friend, I'll be trying to stay Sugar Monster free on 36 / 42 days. *glup* This is going to be HARD, especially since I'll be under a lot of pressure at work, and that is usually a good opportunity for the Emo Snack Monster to ambush me. I'm going to need all the help I can get! Aiming for: 1 lonely Sugar Monster per week. Goal #3: No alcohol, also thanks to my friend. Since I had been down to 1 glass of wine per week, anyway, that shouldn't be too hard. Unless I go visit my parents. Wait, that sounds wrong... Aiming for: 0 alcoholic beverages at all. Life Goal: Set up a better working environment with Git and possibly a VM for developmentTry setting up an Ubuntu VM on a stick so I can take it home with me. Set up Apache + same PHP version as current dev machine on said Ubuntu VM. Figure out which DB to use (DB on current dev server? local DB on VM?). Install Git on VM, clone project data and set up repo so that we all can work with it. Git happily ever after. Not sure if I'll have much time for that, but we will see. I would have loved to join the 10.000 Swing challenge, too, but I don't think it will work this time around. Oh, and let's not forget the usual fire engine red battle cry... WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM???!!! :livid:

I'm not sure if "challenge" is the correct term for the next couple of weeks. While there will be a lot of work involved, my challenge is surely not going to be spectacular, there won't be any huge milestones to be achieved, and progress will be slow, at best. Goal #1: Floor 1 I'll be starting the GMB program "Floor 1", which is supposed to teach me essential strength, agility and body control over the course of 14 weeks or so. The program has me working on that 6 days a week, alternating balance, strength and flexibility days. While I will have probably few problems with the flexibility basics, I have a lot to catch up on regarding strength and balance. For example, day 1 will start (after a proper warm-up, that is) with a crow hold, "up to 30 seconds", according to the program. Ha! As if... I can not really do a crow hold at all. For a second, maybe, if I'm lucky, on a good day, when the stars are in favour or something. So this is going to be interesting frustrating a good learning opportunity. I'll also not have a dedicated handstand practice goal this time around, because there is going to be a lot of hand balancing (or training for hand balancing) in this program. No need to put more strain on the wussies than that. Goal #2: Check up on those Emo Sugar Monsters Same thing we do every night, Pinky... try to stay sugar free on 21 out of 42 challenge days. This should be easier, now that the holidays are over, and most of the treats have disappeared. I'll stick to two health / fitness related goals, because anything more wouldn't make much sense for me right now. I will be going to my usual kettlebell and yoga classes on top of Floor 1, then there's Rosie, so in some weeks at least I will probably get mroe exercise than I have bargained for... Life Goal: Set up a better working environment with Git and possibly a VM for development Ahem. There is still a lot to do in this regard. So, the life goal stays. - Check current Ubuntu VM for LANability. - Set up Apache + same PHP version as current dev machine on said Ubuntu VM. - Figure out which DB to use (DB on current dev server? local DB on VM?). - Install Git on VM, clone project data and set up repo so that we all can work with it. - Git happily ever after. Just like the last one, this challenge will be done without stat points and without leveling up. It's more about consistency and keeping doing the things that work than working on major changes. Still, the battle cry remains... JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM????!!!

So here I thought I'd start a regular kettlebell routine again, looking into the Simple & Sinister program. I did some initial benchmarks to figure out where to start and how to progress eventually. Enter not the kettlebell, but the possibility of Patellar Tendonitis. Exit my challenge-plan-to-date. Now I'll need to figure out what all I can or can't do in order to fix the buggy knee. Since it's been buggy for the past 11 months and didn't even hint at getting better despite all the physical therapy and strength training I threw at it, it seems like I need to do something different. Meaning I need to talk to various people who know more about this than I do. In the meantime, I'll use the time slot in the morning I had reserved for the S&S practice for GMB's Movement MultiVitamin. Which is all about the exploration of movements, not learning any specific exercises. I hope this will be easier on the knee as well as help me un-klutz a bit. Goal #1: Movement MultiVitamin It would be great if I managed to do the practice every day for the next four weeks, but being realistic, I'll be happy with an average 5 out of 7 days a week. The program runs for 4 weeks, after that I'll either ease into a modified Simple & Sinister routine (knee permitting), or I will repeat parts of the Movement MV program until the end of the challenge. Goal #2: Wussy conditioning + handstand practice Again, it would be awesome if I did it every day, but I'll aim again for 5 out of 7 days a week. Wrist prep is a MUST on all of those days, actual handstand practice will depend on the current state of the wussies. Goal #3: Be prepared for the attack of the Holiday Sugar Monsters It's that time of year again when the Sugar Monsters turn up in droves (or insert appropriate term for a group of Sugar Monsters). I'm keeping my usual goal of staying sugar free at least 21 out of 42 challenge days. Life Goal: Set up Git and possibly a Virtual Machine at work I've been meaning to do this ever since we started our current project earlier this year. As usual, life got in the way, and I'm still sans Git and a sensible development set-up. I need to: Set up (or download) an Ubuntu VM and have it accessible via LAN. Would be nice to have for VMWare player, but any VM environment running on Windows 7 and 8 would work. Set up Apache + same PHP version as current dev machine on said Ubuntu VM.Figure out which DB* to use (DB on current dev server? local DB on VM?).Install Git on VM, clone project data and set up repo so that we all can work with it.Git happily ever after.At least that's my theory so far. Aside from that, I'll keep doing the usual (if the medicos don't nix that): kettlebell class 1 - 2 x / week, yoga class 1 x / week, doing fun stuff with Rosie 1 - 2 x / week. Grades and stat points tbd later. *DB as in DataBase. Not DumbBell. I think trying to store client data in dumbbells might be more of a challenge than I can handle...