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Hello you all. So I committed to doing a long distance run (marathon) later this year and as I'm planing my training's I am looking in diet for running too. I lost a lot of weight doing low-carb and am really pleased with the low-carb lifestyle but running traditionally is a sport where you eat a lot of carbs (especially before races). So since researching online didn't really brought any results I'm going to take it to the community...so: -Have you done long distant running while on a low-carb or similar diet and what where your take away's from it? -What diet tipps would you give to someone preparing for long distant running that also wants to keep the weight loosing going? -Any books/websites/podcasts/whatever with running and diet that you can recommend? Thank you in advance for sharing your wisdom with me

I'm moving into the last 5 weeks of marathon training...so the challenge is kind of more of the same. I have two or three hard weeks left and then a taper. Hard weeks are hard. Taper weeks usually lead to obsessing over phantom injuries etc. Hoping you guys will help me hold it together J 1. Plan the run. Run the plan. This is my most important goal. 11 weeks into a training plan aimed toward a 4 hour marathon. week, there are 4 possible points (2 speed/tempo workouts, a long run, and being within 2 miles of target total mileage) 2. 150 push-ups. (Spread over the whole challenge!) 3. 8 times to the gym. Still working very slowly toward chin-ups. Because I can’t do any actual chin-ups yet, I mostly do negatives and use the gravitron as a quantifiable benchmark. I actually improved a tiny bit last month. Able to do sets of 8,8,7 @ “11”. 4. Fun cooking goal. I got a bunch of great spices for Christmas and some soup mixes…make one dish using each of these things (not all together!) 5. Stretch goal. Finish 30 day splits challenge (13 days to go). And do two at-home restorative yoga sessions.

Talvi: "All part of the plan I just made up" Hi there, I’m a scout who started running about 2 years ago and I’m currently in the last phase of training for my first marathon. I’ve had plenty of mixed feelings about the upcoming marathon in the last month or two. On one hand I’m really pretty excited about the race, the course (Paris) and setting new PRs, but on the other hand I’m worried that I haven’t trained enough and that the long distance training has begun to bore me. There is only one month of training left before the big race on 3rd April, so I’m going to use this challenge as the last push to get me to that starting line. Fitness goal: Get the runs done I have a schedule of sorts planned out for the next month, which I’ll post below. I’ll be running at least 3 runs a week peaking with a 20 mile run before tapering the distance down in the last two weeks prior to the big day. I simply need to keep up with the plan and complete the lucky 13 runs . Fitness bonus goals: Support the running I’ve learnt that running paradoxically makes me stronger and yet more vulnerable at the same time. To become less fragile, I want to support my running with cross-training, yoga and general self-care. I will earn points for completing these complementing activities – and because I find it easier to avoid these activities – if I earn enough points at the end of the challenge then I’ll earn a reward.. Points allocated: 0.5 points for feet care, 1 point for Runner’s yoga session or cycling somewhere (instead of metro) and 2 points for a dynamic workout (BBWW, darebee or bouldering session) or an extra run of 5-10km. Carrots: 8-11 points for Slytherin, 12-14 points for 5 euros to spend on lol or 14-16 points for 10 euros to spend on lol Life goal: Get busy Since the beginning of 2016, I feel like I’ve been stalling. I have a magnificent list of things I want to achieve this year and I haven’t been working at it at all. Ultimately, I got into bad habits and my personal drive must have gone on holiday. I don’t need to anything specific this challenge, but I want to just correct my attitude and get back on top of things. I have a lot of ongoing projects, including French, Spanish, coding and cocktail making. I’m going to have a point/reward system here too and I’ll see if it works well. It is a little vague, but I’ll give points to anything proactive that works towards my epic quests for 2016 or adulating in general. Examples of points allocated: 1 point for anything I do that sorts out my admin folder, 30 minutes chatting in French or Spanish, 30 minutes working on French or Spanish grammar or 30 minutes coding. Rewards: 4-7 points for Gryffindor, 8-12 points for a Raspberry Pi/running magazine, 13-16 points for Domino’s pizza and 17+ points for a nice restaurant meal out (perhaps that Mexican down the street….) By Sanshikisumire on DeviantArt P.S. I’m very into playing League of Legends at the moment, where I play best with Lux, Caitlyn, Ashe and Jinx, so there may or may not be lol art and memes… just saying

TALVI: Nimbly I go (to the Druids!) Hi Druids! I’m quite definitely a scout in my overarching goals, but I’d like to hang out with you guys for a challenge if that’s okay. I’ve gone from running 5km to 15km in 2015, and I’m now planning on running my first marathon (the Paris one) on 3rd April 2016. Nearly all my NF challenges have concentrated on either running or climbing. I’m fairly confident that I’ve built sustainable running habits now, so it doesn’t need to be the principal focus anymore, and frankly I'm ready for a change. Hence YOGA CHALLENGE! I’ve heard of a few other rebels trying out various yoga challenges on their threads so I thought I’d give it a go. With gains in flexibility, balance, peace of mind and, all the while, complementing my running and reducing my chances of injury – why the hell not? Main yogi goal: Complete the 30 day yoga challenge Potential stat allocation: 4 DEX & 2 CON I’ll be doing 10 to 30 minutes of yoga a day from the doyouyoga.com challenge. I’ve heard good things about this particular yoga challenge, but there are a few of them about the internet so I’ll change if another suits me better. I also quite like the runner’s world yoga videos, so I score extra brownie points if I end up doing a few of those too. I plan to do the yoga everyday, but if I miss a day then I can catch up by doing multiple videos in one day. Secondary running goal: Keep up with the Novice 1 Hal Higdon's marathon training program Potential stat allocation: 3 STA The challenge will be to complete the yoga routines, but it motivates me to report on challenges about my running. I aim to run three times a week: 1 x 5km, 1 x 5-10km and one long run (currently is between 12 and 21km). If anyone has advice on warm-up activities or stretches then I’d love to hear it. I currently slack a lot with warming up and I’m hoping daily yoga might change my stretching ways. Life quest: French it up Potential stat allocation: 2 CHA & 1 WIS I live in France and I do speak French, but I’m embarrassed about my level. I want to change that this year, so it is on my epic list for 2016. Last year, I read Benny Hill Lewis’s book and followed the principles to immerse myself in Spanish and to speak as much as possible – and it worked really well! Now, I’m hoping to do the same in French and take an active approach to improving my fluency. I will need to get 7 points per week to be successful, and I will earn one point every time I do one of the following: Listen to the news or audiobooks for 30 minutes Listen to French music for an hour Watch 60 minutes of French TV/cinema Read a chapter of a French book Spend 30 minutes studying grammar Go for a coffee with a co-worker and ask them to correct me Thanks for reading and good luck with your challenges!

This is kind of a turning point for me. I’ve decided to really commit to trying for something that I might not be able to do. I’m following a training plan for a sub-4 hour marathon (will try in early May). This challenge will be weeks 3-6. I haven’t run below 4 hours since 2010. The best I did last year was 4:09. The first goal is the meat of my challenge. (edited because I was starting to hate the picture I originally posted. This one is much cuter) Run the Plan. There are 4 key things each week: (a) an interval workout, usually Tuesdays, but I can substitute my Wed. track workout for whatever is listed, ( a tempo/packing workout, usually Thursdays but I can adapt my Friday group run to this if I want, © a long run, usually Sundays. One of these will be substituted with a Saturday race. One is a travel day, so if needed, the run can get pushed to Monday (with some concession for weekly mileage totals). (d) fill in, usually with easy running to get within 2 miles of the prescribed total.4 things each week. 4 weeks. 16 possible points. Goal to get at least 14. Unleash the beast – I’ve been working pushups for a while and started working toward chin-ups last challenge. This builds on last time. During the whole challenge: 60 pushups 200 negatives 8 gym workouts that include chin-up work. At least 2 additional strength workouts (could be at-home); a full yoga class would count here. Stretch the hamstrings at least 3x/week. You may know, I have one weirdly, ridiculously tight hamstring. The past 7 weeks I’ve been doing regular, intense stretching. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve benchmarked my flexibility. I’m going to give it another 4 weeks and see if I get any improvement. As a reward for finishing the stretches last challenge, I’m going to get a sports massage, so that might help too. Water water everywhere: Drink 1 liter of water every day. I still have to make a conscious decision to do this. This is hard for me, so I’m going to allow myself 3 strikes here. Have soup at lunch most days…make a pot each week and bring that until it’s gone. If I’m traveling and short on time, store-bought soup is ok.

This post really has nothing to do with swimming as the title might suggest. Instead the next month will be about keeping some good habits I formed last month, working on some weak areas I observed, and generally trying not to get overwhelmed by my work and training load(s). I only have two months until I toe the line at American River 50 Mile and to be honest, I'm freaking out! The next six weeks will be the most important training block, but will also overlap with two separate week-long trips, trying out a new position at work, and taking two night classes. Whew! Things are moving, but they seem to all be coming to a head at the same time. As a result I'll likely have more than four standard goals. FITNESS & HEALTH GOALS - Goal # 1: Increase weekly mileage. Run 4 days weekly. Right now I'm comfortably running close to 35 miles each week. Over the next six weeks I'm going to add 10% mileage increase each week until I'm running 50 mile weeks in March. The breakdown will look like this. Week 1 - 37 Week 2 - 40 Week 3 - 44 Week 4 - 48 Week 5 - 53 Week 6 - 55 Goal # 2: Pack Lunch and Breakfast every work-day during February. This was a great success last month, and definitely saved me some money that can instead go to paying down debt and saving for travel later in the year. Goal # 3: Strength train twice weekly. Again, this was part of my last challenge, and I think it's valuable to being a good ultra-runner and important for overall fitness. I'll be following stronglifts 5x5 which I enjoy, is a simple program, and produces results. Goal # 4: All the little things! I have a really hard time remembering to foam roll, do hip and glute strengthening, basically all the little things that help me not get injured. The goal for this challenge will be to develop a 20 minute session that I can do most week-nights before bed that will help me to get rid of some nagging pains and be a more resilient runner. Goal # 5: Dinner time is winner time. Last challenge I noticed that my eating habits really deteriorate around dinner and the weekends when things are less structured. This challenge I'm going to focus on no grains, dairy, or sugar around dinners. And on the weekends I'm going to allow myself only one "off plan" meal. I'd love to get to my race 5-10lbs down from where I currently am and I know this will help. PERSONAL GOALS - Goal # 6: No skipping! I will now blow off class unless I'm traveling, I will not blow off my homework, period. Goal # 7: Try really really really hard at work, and be really really really nice to everybody. I'm being given a trial run at work for the position I want to move in to and I really want to impress everybody and show that I can hold my own and deserve the job. This challenge will be about knocking it out of the park when it comes to work. In addition to that I know one of the biggest things holding me back is how I present myself and how I work with others. My review from this year was stellar aside from that so it really is the only thing holding me back. I need to revive the old version of me who taught snowboarding, could take crap all day from dumb clients and do so with a smile on her face and the air that made everybody think they were having the best time ever. This challenge looks like a lot, and it is. But there is a season for all things, and this is the season for simplifying life outside of a few key areas, working really hard, and embracing the challenge. Come April I'll have more time on my hands to relax and decompress.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope the holidays were good for everyone. I sure have had a great holiday season, and am excited to take on 2016. This year could either see much change in my life, or a lot of the same old same old, I don't honestly know which way it will go, its all dependent on what will happen with my husband (The Mastermind), who is working on his PhD. Either way, I want to make the most of the year ahead, and I have big plans to do so. The biggest of my plans is that I signed up to run the Detroit International Half Marathon in October, EEEK! So that is the current fitness quest I am on. Other plans include exploring and soaking up all there is to do and see around the area where I live, because if The Mastermind finishes his PhD we will be moving, most likely. So without further adieu, this is what I have planned for the first 4 weeks of the year! 2016 Take 1 - Love thyself Step 1) Rehab that ankle! I will do my physical therapy for my sprained ankle everyday, first thing in the morning. The motivation, you cant run a half marathon on a sprained ankle, plus I need to develop good workout habits in the morning. The PT only takes like 10 minutes and its so simple there should be no excuses! 42.8%42.8% 3/7 as of 1/10 Step 2) No spend soda/Starbucks! I will not spend any money on soda or Starbucks. I have to break this bad habit. I got a good start with my 2 week vacation back home for Christmas (still here actually). So I'm already caffeine detoxed and on a roll. The caveat here is that I can still drink said beverages if someone else buys them for me, like Saturday morning dates with The Mastermind, but those are rare so its not a big loophole. 100%100% 7/7 as of 1/10 Step 3) "you are so used to your features, you don't know how beautiful you look to a stranger"- unknown Since I gained all this weight I have struggled with my body image. I spent last year avoiding photos like they were the plague. I have bought minimal clothes in the last few years because I hate looking at the large sizes and getting frustrated when things that used to look good do not. This body image issue reached a critical level when my mom offered to buy me pants that fit for Christmas and forced me to try on a bunch of clothes. It was such a demoralizing experience for me. So I have decided I need to work on my body image, and learn to love my body no matter what it looks like. This is a 2 part quest, part 1 I will clean out my closet and only keep the clothes that fit and that I look good in today. The others will either be packed up for the future me, or sent away. Part 2 will be more challenging, I will go shopping once a week and try on some clothes that I need to complete my much smaller wardrobe and must buy one piece each trip. Closet Clean Out 33.33%33.33% 5/15 as of 1/10 Shopping 0%0% 0/4 as of 1/10 Scoring All three quests will be pas/ fail. Step 1 and step 2 are obviously a daily pass/fail, step 3 part 1 is pass/fail for the entire challenge, while part 2 is a weekly score. I think I will just go for a completion percentage and see how I do. If I accomplish everything there may be some pampering for me for my birthday which is at the end of the challenge.

Hello fellow Scouts! Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year. I had a ridiculous chest infection which is still hanging around unfortunately. Anyway my scouting plans for 2016 involve a half marathon in March, a marathon in May and a 10k at the London Olympic Village finishing in the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in July. That's all I've got booked at the moment but I'll book more as I go along. So the plan is Goal 1. Run three times per week as per my marathon training plan This is a long slow run on Tuesdays, fast 5km on Thursday and a steady 7-8km on a Sunday. The long slow runs are currently at just under 12km and I will be increasing this each week, with a shorter run every 4-5th week to rest. I also run with the beginners group as a leader a couple of nights a week, and some skills sessions on a Monday evening. These will be in addition to the three training plan runs. Goal 2. Yoga or cross training three times per week I will focus on improve my core strength which should help my running. I will either go to the gym and follow a program set by my PT or do a session at home from the Yoga Studio app. Goal 3. Walk 7000 steps daily I'm not very good at walking anywhere. I'm happy to run it or I go in the car. I got a Garmin Vivofit at Christmas so I will walk 7000 steps per day, in excess of any running steps. Level Up my Life. Take my anti-hypertensive drugs daily Fairly self explanatory. I don't take my meds because I forget. It's one tiny tasteless tablet each day. I think my brain refuses to accept that I have high blood pressure as I do not sit in any of the high risk groups. Hopefully having it as a goal on here will prompt me. No fancy gifs or anything at the moment. I promise to be more entertaining as we go through the 4WC.

Alright. I'm bowing out of the challenges for a bit. Well, at least for this one. I've got the World Championship Spartan Beast this coming Saturday. After that, I've got about a week of easy training. And, then I'll be ramping it up once again with a new training plan. But, I don't feel that the confines of the challenge make sense for what I am doing right now. So, screw it. Here's a battle log.

OK…first something I’m doing this 6-week period that’s not exactly part of the challenge… Run 2 marathons ("double down" ). I’m running a marathon at the end of week 1 and another at the end of week 6. I’m really out of shape now, so the second marathon should be much better than the first. Recovering, building back up, and tapering will be tricky. I have a lot of experience and I know what I need to do. This is my most important fitness goal right now, but I’m still thinking about how to work it into a specific challenge Why am I doing this to myself? Reasonable question. I’m on a quest for 50 states (these would be #17 and #18). I’m doing the first because it was planned with friends a while back, before I knew my training would be interrupted by travel. I’m doing the second because it’s a good opportunity to knock out a state with a friend. Actual challenge goals Run 160 miles (including an attempt at 2 marathons). This goal is a little light, but it will force me to keep running. 500 pushups! These are scaled. Negatives count as 1 point, full pushups count as 3. Cross train – Goal is at least 10 times at the gym, typically alternating push and pull workouts. My normal plan would be to go twice a week, but I wanted a little flexibility with the marathon travel. Also I’m allowing full (1 hr+) vinyasa yoga classes to substitute. I think all this stuff is valuable, but I can’t do all of it at once. Swab the deck! This is a sort of “adulting challenge†based on two types of chores: “House elf†This is a list of 5 simple chores to do each morning. One point per day. “Dreaded tasks†I have a list of 30 things of all sorts (some aren’t particularly dreaded). One point per task. In theory 72 possible points, but I’ll be traveling for some of this. Going to set 50 points as the goal.

TALVI's ELEVENTH CHALLENGE: "I accidentally did that on purpose" This challenge, I’m taking a break from our regularly scheduled DOTA quotes and themes to journey to the dark side... I swear I can! In the conversion from DOTA2 to LoL, I was practically a god-like smurf through the similarities in gameplay, and then it is much more interesting to play with new characters and items, and then the championships happened and my friends started playing a lot… in any case, I’ve bought a porro hat and I LoL now! In any case, back to the last challenge of 2015! 1) Run three times a week and start marathon training Training for the Paris Marathon will start mid-November and I’ll be following Hal Higdon’s 18 week Novice 1 programme except I’ll be running three times a week instead of four times a week (because that seems to be a more realistic goal for me and other programmes get by on three times a week). Last challenge, I set some foundations by running twice a week and so my challenge this time is to up the training to run three times a week and set on the training program. Consistency is the key! 2) Make a collection of running photos The thing I enjoy most about distance running is exploring new places, and so in order to aid my enthusiasm and motivation I’m also going to do a little side-project that focuses on exploration. I’m going to make an Instagram/photo website account and make a collection of photos that I shall take on my runs. I want at least one photo per run and it should look really cool as a finished project over autumn, winter and spring to document my marathon training. Then I will be able to share the best ones with you guys too. This will also help to encourage me to plot out new routes. 3) Crosstrain once a week I want to do at least one crosstraining activity a week to diversify my training, reduce the risk of injury from repetitive movements and also just for fun. I’ll most likely do a 30 minute yoga session for runners, but there is a fair chance that I’ll do bouldering, hiking and bodyweight during the challenge too. 4) No more procrastination Fitness-aside, I started using Habitica during my last challenge and it has been really effective as a universal to-do list and at getting me to floss. I’ve recently been wondering about what my life would be like if I never procrastinated on my tasks… I would like to find out so during this challenge, I want to continue putting all my to-dos onto Habitica and by December I don’t want to have anything outstanding still on my to-do list. I shall grade this on guilt remaining. 5) Do all the things! Finally, I need to work weekly towards 2015’s epic quests. I haven’t got much time left, and whilst I have been doing well for the most part. I need an extra push to: Create a game using PythonComplete 5 pull-upsPractice drawingLearn about three subjects (Religion/Politics/History)Make some infographics about my PhDOutline the introduction to my thesis By Kannovaku on DeviantArt My biggest worry about this challenge is getting used to exercising 4 out of 7 days a week. It is going to take some attitude adjustment and I’m going to have to be proactive to reduce/eliminate excuses to stay inside in the warm. Any suggestions welcome! I plan to make two exercise kits and to keep one at work and one at home. Ideal stat allocation: 1. Running three times every week: + 4 STA & + 1 STR 2. Photograph collection: + 1 CHA 3. Crosstrain every week: + 1 STR & +2 DEX 4. Finish my to-do lists: + 3 CHA 5. Complete three out of six epic quests: + 3 WIS Thanks for reading and good luck with your challenges!

Hi guys, I'm looking for some advice! I've signed up to a marathon in April 2016, and I've already started training for it. However, I've had a bit of a focus change; I want to lose body fat and build some muscle. I know that everything I've read on NF and beyond has said that the best way to lose body fat is to run a calorie deficit, and the best way to gain muscle is to eat more and lift heavier. Everything I've read has said that long distance running hampers muscle growth. Great. Basically, I know I've got a set of incompatible targets. So my question is: given my goals, what is the best way to realistically strive for all three? I know it's going to be inefficient, but I want to start now and then once the marathon is over reassess my bf%/muscle target. Is it a good idea to pin my hopes on n00b gains? I'm aiming more for the Barry Allen/Flash look than the Oliver Queen/Green Arrow look - I know I won't be getting hench anytime soon! My current plan has been to marathon train and run a slight calorie deficit (about 1/2lb a week) whilst going to the gym, in the hope that I lose fat but keep the muscle I have. Current week is: 2/3 gym sessions and 3 runs (1 5k race, 1 LSR (currently at 16 miles, adding a mile a week) and 1 tempo run). Here's a bit about me: 23 y/o male, 160lb, 5ft10, est. BF of about 17-20%. I don't really want to lose weight per se, but I do want to get my BF% down to 12% in the long term. I'm a decent runner, having done a half marathon in 1h27 and a marathon in 3h19. tl;dr? How do I marathon train, lose body fat, and build muscle together (even if inefficiently)?

Talvi: I’m learning the old way Thankfully I haven’t run out of DOTA enchantress quotes for my tenth challenge. Sorry for joining late, but I’ve only just decided that my summer chillout is over. It is time to be productive! As Salivanth would put it, I’m a cross-guild Shadow Runner with both Assassin (bouldering and bodyweight) and Scout (running) tendencies. I picked up running almost two years ago thanks to NF and ran my last race (15km) at the start of the summer. Again thanks to Salivanth’s thread, I read about Hal Higdon’s training programmes and realised that I was already running distances in the training plan of half-marathons (d’uh), but also full-marathons! It got me thinking, and months later I signed up the next Paris Marathon in April! ARGH!!! Twenty weeks targeted training before the marathon seems to be normal, and that means that training gets tough in November. Until then, I need to dust off my running gear and get used to moving my body again. Awesome quest unlocked: Run the Paris marathon Current main goal: By November, be running twice a week and cross-training once a week It has been a good but lazy summer, but in November I’ll start running thrice a week with longer and longer distances. So my overarching goal is to get used to regular runs and workouts by amping it up over this challenge. This is going to be hard because in the past, my training has not been so structured. I’ve ran whenever I’ve fancied it aka once a week. Also in all my previous challenges, I’m guilty of strong starts and weak finishes, but here I need to do the opposite. Cross-training can be anything run-unrelated and I hope to play around with speed training, short runs and long runs. Side quest 1: Run with a running group I need to make running interesting since I'm going to be doing so much of it. There is a friendly looking running group nearby who I've got my eye on, but I've been putting off meeting them until I can run regularly and comfortably again. Side quest 2: Work on 2015’s epic quest list I made an epic quest list for 2015 back in January. I've done some of it, but I need to put in the effort if I want to cross off the rest. Some things are not even that hard (e.g. perfect mojito) so I plan to work on some part of the list each week. Stats available: + 7 STA, + 2 STR, + 3 CON & + 3 CHA, Thanks for reading and good luck with your challenges!

On runs going for multiple hours, one needs to carry a few items: house key, iPoodle, a little money, and importantly, a snack bar or goo packet. Without getting too graphic (oh go ahead, imagine it), I found out on my half marathon that tucking sharp-edged foil goo packets into one's bra can lead to injury. Unfortunately, most of my running clothes contain no pockets, so perhaps it's time I got a belt. suggestions? Got one you're happy with, or did you find another clever solution to the luggage problem? My mother's expensive bike jerseys always seem to have pockets in them, but I can't afford those, and anyway I need something suitable for running, not biking.

I have never really run before. I did at school some 30+ years ago when we had to but nothing organised or even really for fun. I have been on here for a couple of years now and been using irregular exercise along with a much better diet to help me lose weight. I'm at a point now where I have lost 15 kg and when I started I was lucky to be able to walk 1km usually stopping when crippling back pain kicked in. A few months ago based on some sort of challenge in scouts on here I decided to try to run 1km and ended up doing 2km without stopping and once I recovered enough to catch my breath I was pretty chuffed with myself. After that I didn't really do anything. Just got on with life and dealt with some work stuff and didn't really think to much about exercise. Then at the start of June I just decided to try running again. My goal was 5km and I got there but there was lots of run, walk, run, walk moments and it took me 40 minutes. I ran a 5km parkrun for the first time last week and enjoyed/tolerated it. It took me 31 minutes. I have been mainly running on a treadmill at the gym and have managed a 29 minute 5km. I am entered into a 5km run at the end of July and it got me thinking about other goals. In the middle of October we have the Melbourne Marathon. While I think the full would be well beyond me I am starting to believe that I might be capable of the half. After all of that my question is do I need rigid program to work to for a half? Can you just use broad guidelines to build a base that will get you through? Are there many free, quality resources available? Thanks, Matt

So a few months back, I decided to run a marathon for my 30th birthday, which is in late September. I think the longest I've run in the past is 10k or 12k (8 or 10 miles ... not really sure), and not frequently. I can walk all day, and often do, but when you crank up the pace, I have trouble. My day hike record is 12 miles with serious elevation, so I'm confident I could walk 26 miles on rolling hills if I really had to. But I'm not walking this whole thing. It'll take forever and I'll be shamed for life. So to prepare, I've gone for runs a few times a week, as well as jumping rope and climbing stairs. I'm definitely seeing minor improvements in my endurance and strength, but ... the problem there is "minor." (upper body progress is also aggravatingly slow. Despite months of patience I can still only manage a few pushups before hitting my knees, and the pullup continues to elude me. Granted, my efforts could be more consistent, but I should've seen SOMETHING by now.) I took a test "long" run yesterday and lasted 40 minutes (with a few walk breaks) before the run muscles gave out. I could keep walking for another couple hours no problem, but I couldn't run any more. And that's not nearly enough. It's 4:45 or bust. what'll I do? The race is in 7 weeks.

I will clean this post up as the days go on, but I am squeezing it in at lunch, and wanted to get in on the fun before this 6-week challenge got to far along! I was a Scout at the beginning of last year, trained all summer long and left the 6-week challenge Nerd-Crew due to time and changes in my training focus... Ran my first half-marathon in September and it was solid! SUCCESS!! Then I took a break, recovered and relaxed... Winter started up and disaster struck! I tore the ligaments in my big toe on my left foot while running in the ice and snow... Everything has been reset to zero, I was on crutches for 2 weeks over the Holidays and haven't ran since that fateful December evening. SO... Here I am... I've returned to my Nerd-fitness 6-Week roots to get back on track. Main Quest: Half-Marathon in September 2015 (I would be in heaven if I can do this again!) Goals: Run 32 miles, over 3 runs, adhering to a plan that will put me at half-marathon ready by September 23rd. -Grading based on final percentage of miles completed on the scheduled days. Dumb-bells & bench: 2 times a week. -Grading based on final percentage missed workouts. Drop to 177 lbs making smart eating choices and portion control. -Grading based on delta weight to final pounds. Life Quest: [WIS +1] Work & Home: Get in on time everyday to work M-F & Work on one project at home S/U. - Grading 6wks * 6 days = 36 days, percentage of days achieved. Motivation: Getting myself back from the injured battered runner and get back to where I was in September. Starting Stats: 38 - Male 5'10" ~187.8 lbs

Was wondering if anyone else is doing the USAF Marathon on Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio on 19 Sept 2015. http://usafmarathon.com

Hey! My name is E. and I am a passionate dreamer. I'm a graduating HighSchool senior, making it trough my last month of exams. One of my most profound dreams is to compete in Ironman World Championship at Kona, Hawaii. I know there is a long road to get there, but I hope I can document my travels here with this marvelous community. I was going to start this challenge when the six weeks started but then just forgot about it. Better late than never. Here is my MiniChallenge: The superhero/Avengers hype is at its max right now, and as an avid and proud comic book reader, I decided to paint my Main Quest with Marvel and D.C lore. My superhero's name is Detrix. He will obtain his powers if I manage to complete this Main Quest, and then will proceed to venture on the road against Ultron (Ultra Distance). Detrix has run 5ks, 10ks, and 21ks. He is a pretty avid runner. He also did some Crossfit back in the day, but he slacked off a little and went astray in the path of Wellness. Now, a real challenge is posed before him. Defeating Ultron's right hand, Marathon Murdok, former SuperHero Daredevil (42k) He is a powerless man right now. He will need to first vanquish Tony's 30k to prove himself. He only has 20 days. To defeat Murdok he also need strength! A mixed strength training program will help him get there. Main Quest: Run 30k by May 25, in less than 3hrs 35 minutes. Log 10 gym strength training sessions. Side Quest: Read 1 book a week. Detrix has to grow intellectually too. Lez du diz -dtx

Since there is a two-week gap between challenges this time, how about something simple and fun to keep yourself active in the down time? Even though it looks like it's only a 1-week break, after all, do you want something to keep your motivation and activity level up between now and the next challenge? The League of Extraordinary NERDS (accountabilibuddy group) has a solution for you! Join our Walk-a-thon. It's like a marathon, except that it lasts two weeks, can be fit into nearly any schedule, and you don't have to run unless you want to. The goal: Between 12:01am Monday 4/6 and 11:59pm Sunday 4/19, walk, run, or jog 26 miles. That's less than 2 miles per day. Any foot-powered locomotion counts. Walking around at work? Counts. Jogging on a treadmill? Counts. Sprinting to catch the bus? Counts. Just use your feet to go a total of 26 miles in 2 weeks. This is obviously more of a challenge for generally sedentary people, or people who really only lift/swim/bike/do yoga/other non-foot-based activity for their usual exercise. Most Scouts probably won't need 2 weeks to get this done! But that's okay. If you prefer to set a longer goal than 26 miles for the two weeks, just be sure to mention that in your first post. I will be tracking the leaderboard by percent complete of your desired total, which makes it more fair for all. (If you feel that you are incapable of reaching 26 miles in 2 weeks, but would still like to particpate at your current fitness level, it is also possible to adjust your total goal distance down. However, I would encourage you to at least try for the 26 miles. 2 miles per day is actually not as hard as it sounds!) How to track: Although it is ideal to use a pedometer to track exactly how far you've gone, not everyone has a pedometer. Just do your best to accurately count how far you've gone. You could try using google maps to check up your loop around the neighborhood, for example, to find out how long it really is. If you must, just estimate your walking speed and multiply that by how long you walked. Use whatever tools you have. Leaderboard: Lightning: 26.7/26 100%100% Marvel (TheMarvelPrincess): 40.3/40 100%100% theholliesangel: 26/26 100%100% Presea: 72.38/70 100%100% Milo: 26.23/26 100%100% RDNottingham: 33.8/56 miles 60.3%60.3% Jenn (JMitch): 6.35/13 48.9%48.9%

Introduction: As a full-time government analyst, full-time graduate student, and father of two young boys, my scheduled has all but sidelined health and fitness. I am now a shadow of my former half-marathon-running self. It's time to get it back and up the ante. Main Quest: Run a marathon in January 2016 Quest 1 Run 4x per week. No set distance, no set pace, just get out there. Quest 2 No buying breakfast or lunch out. With long hours and long commutes, it's easier to opt for the greasy, processed food around the office than plan ahead to eat well. Quest 3 Limit weekday beverages to water and black coffee. If I'm going to drink calories, it's going to be beer and only on the weekends. Life Quest Read my Bible every day. Gotta be spiritually healthy too! Motivation Be a good example of health and discipline for my boys, and cultivate these disciplines ahead of our upcoming cross-country move.

I'm looking for some help on programming. I've looked online at different programs, but I'm really not sure where to head to for a good schedule to increase my distance. Currently I can run about 5.5 miles in an hour, not sure on how far my limit is, but I would like to do a 31 mile ultra in october. I know this is a HUGE difference in distances. I am really pumped to try this though. I am fairly new to running as something I do in training, I have mostly been just running about once a month to see if my times and ability to run distances has changed. The biggest constraint I have right now is I only have probably 3 days a week that I know I can consistently train, as I work usually 4 days a week, 645am - 915pm.

Hello Scouts! I come humbly and ask if I can join your ranks. I'm dedicating 2015 to something I've wanted to do since I started running in earnest in college: ultra marathons! So far I've only planned out my 50k (30ish miles race) in early May, but I'm also working on setting up a Ragnar run with some fellow NF rebels in early April, a backpacking trip in Colorado over the summer Jul/Aug, and a 50 mile ultra sometime in the late fall. All of these mean I need endurance and time on my feet. Without further ado, the goals! 1) Run faster by training slower: Follow Matt Fitzgerald's "80/20" running book. I'm working off of the Level 2 marathon 16 week training plan with adjustments to fit my needs and incorporating some of Brian McKenzie's training suggestions from him "Unbreakable Runner" book. 2) Cross train, cross train, cross train! Full body strength training 2x a week. Non weight bearing cross training (stationary bike or elliptical) 2x a week (start at 1x a week and work up to 2x a week by end of challenge) Short core session as well as hip/mobility work 3x a week. Most of these can be easily fit in after work on easier days and done at home, and I'm looking into buying a bike trainer so I can get my riding in at home. That's it! I'm going to be adding in mini-challenges on a weekly basis as I figure out what is working and what isn't. Week 1 Mini-Challenge: a) Perform max heart rate test and map out heart rate zones for training. Find and buy a bike trainer for indoor use

Thought you all would enjoy this: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running

This sub-forum couldn't have come at a better time for me. I had planned to be doing the Manchester Marathon in April 2015, and the London Triathlon in May 2015. I'd been seriously lacking motivation recently, and this had resulted in poor training runs, eating too much, and putting off the day when I'd 'seriously start' further and further back. So I made a promise to myself - I had one week where I would be home for the first half and then visiting a friend for a massive food-fest for the second half - after that, I swore I would eat healthy and get back into my exercise regime. I did my week of gluttony, and I think it was what I needed. I realised that I felt so bad by the end of it, so greasy and slow, with headaches and a general bad mood - it opened my eyes to how powerful a factor food is on how we operate and how we feel. I've basically shocked myself into getting back into the rhythm of making the right choices. Another thing that has really helped is the decision to not do the Manchester Marathon - I did one this year and all through my training I was excited and I wanted to get out there and get the miles in. That was /not/ how I felt this time, so I decided that my heart wasn't in it, and I'll just do the triathlon - the first one I've ever done too, so it's pretty exciting. I know I've got a long way to go before I'm back to automatically living a healthy life - in particular, I need to - identity when and why I overeat a lot. ATM I think it's down to food being there/forgetting my goals, drinking calories (esp. wine...), and not planning my meals effectively. - use my time wisely - I ain't getting fitter lying in bed checking twitter for half an hour each morning. I want to get up at 7 and get into bed at 11, and plan my training well. So, new start. Thanks NF for this chance to Respawn. Triathlon, COME AT ME BRO.