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INTRODUCTION: My name is Ted and this is my second challenge. I am looking forward to being a part of the assassins during during challenge 44. If you are interested, my first challenge thread can be found here. When I found Nerd Fitness, I joined the academy first. I was searching for how to build intrinsic motivation into a fitness routine and Nerd Fitness came across my path. Thanks to my first challenge, I am getting closer to my goal of intrinsically motivate fitness. My hard work and my look into essentialism has really helped me focus my efforts. I chose the assassins because I enjoy bouldering, calisthenics, and balance work done through yoga. I want to build a learner stronger frame. People I admire and look to as I train would be Kevin Poeung and Simon Park. I am a 33 year old English and History teacher and live in San Francisco, CA with my husband and our orange bob-tail cat named Cha-cha. We have been in the Bay Area for about a year. Before California, my husband and I were living in Japan (I was there for seven years and he was there for his whole life). I am a lover of science fiction and have been a fan of all the Star Gate seasons which is why my topic titles reference the dialing sequence. These challenges are a way I can take back control of my dreams by making my fitness and health a priority in my life. I am excited about doing this for myself and glad I have gained some great support and friends along the way. MAIN QUEST: I will have an active life full of movement and activities I find joy in so I can live a life of peace and adventure with my husband. CHALLENGE GOAL 1: "Be-Four Dawn" GOAL: By 14 December 2015, I will exercise for a least thirty minutes in the morning, at least four days a week, for a total of 24 workout sessions over the course of the challenge. REASONING: During the last challenge, I scheduled a workout everyday of the week. On any given day, I was either practicing yoga or doing the body brigade workout. This left little to no time for recovery. This challenge, I am giving myself three days for potential recovery. I also want to work towards enjoying morning workouts since I can take full advantage of the after-burn over the course of the day and be more energized. I also would like to have my evenings open in order to spend more time with my husband. Up until now, getting up early in the morning and working out has been difficult for me. I am a teacher and wake-up really early already. MEANS OF EVALUATION: I will post on my thread the details of each workout for the previous week by Sunday evening of that week. The details of my workout will include the time started, duration, and what I did to workout. If I have at least 24 workouts recorded by the end of this challenge, I will have met this goal. [Attribute: STAMINA A=+3 B=+2 C=+1] CHALLENGE GOAL 2: "Pull It Together" GOAL: By 14 December 2015, I will work for 10 minutes, at least four days a week, on my training to do a complete, unassisted, pull-up for a total of 24 sessions over the course of this challenge. REASONING: I have enjoyed bouldering and have some pretty solid upper body strength. Unfortunately, I do not have the muscle strength needed to do a complete unassisted pull-up. Systematically working on my pull-ups throughout this challenge will help me build the needed strength in order to get close to doing an unassisted pull-up. MEANS OF EVAULUATION: I will post on my thread the details of each training session for the previous week by Sunday evening of that week. The details of the training session will include what I did to train and the time I started. If I have at least 24 training sessions on my thread by the end of the challenge, I will have met this goal. [Attribute: STRENGTH A=+4 B=+3 C=+2] CHALLENGE GOAL 3: "This End Up" GOAL: By 14 December 2015, I will work for 10 minutes, at least four days a week, on my inverted poses foundation for a total of 24 sessions over the course of this challenge. REASONING: In my practice of yoga, I have always felt inspired by inverted poses. In the beginning, I had a fear of going into an inverted pose. I thought, if I went into an inverted pose, I would drop on my spine and break my neck. Several years back, I trampled that fear by running into a handstand. The momentum of this method got me into a wall-assisted hand-stand. I want to work toward doing an unassisted tripod headstand. To do this I will need to work on building my foundation on a consistent basis. MEANS OF EVALUATION: I will post on my thread the details of each foundation building session for the previous week by Sunday evening of that week. The details of the foundation building session will include what I did toward building the right foundation and the time I started. If I have at least 24 training sessions on my thread by the end of the challenge, I will have met this goal. [Attribute: A=+4 B=+3 C=+2] LIFE CHALLENGE GOAL: "Write On Track" GOAL: By 14 December 2015, I will write over 40,000 words towards a new novel which I will plan with my husband. REASONING: My husband is an illustrator and a graphic designer. We have been playing around with the idea of me writing a novel and him drawing illustrations for the story. We have floated ideas and concepts around but never got anything seriously together. Since November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and this challenge covers the month of November, I thought I would inspire our project to head in the "write" direction and get my husband and I "write" on track towards completing our novel. MEANS OF EVALUATION: I will have met this goal if I have written at least 40,050 words on my novel by the end of this challenge. My word-count progress can be seen on my NaNoWriMo page. I will also give weekly updates on Sunday evening on how I am progressing towards the 40,000 word goal. [Attribute: WISDOM A=+3 B=+2 C=+1] PRE-REFLECTION: Setting new goals fills me with such great energy. I feel geared-up and ready to begin. I feel even better this time around since I have already engaged in one challenge and know my goals are challenging yet attainable. Learning what works well for me and what needs tweaking I believe will help me towards an intrinsically motivated practice. I am proud to be part of the assassins and growing stronger with everyone!