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The ice thawed, and me with it. I crawled out of my cave and everything was strange. No forest, no game, new people with straight backs and a new language. I grunted at them in a friendly sort of way. Some laughed. Some became angry. I ran off. When I stopped I ate some mushrooms and drank some old grape juice. I heard voices [NF members, not the other ones]. One, louder than the rest, cried out: "I tabulate, therefore I am!" I saw dancing badgers become lunch boxes. I swore off mushrooms and old grape juice. My people and our ways are gone. I must learn the new ways. I must stand up to walk. I must learn their speech. I will travel this land, its hills and valleys. I will hunt it. The voices guide, encourage and confuse me. (Spreadsheets? Flossing? "Man-scrape"?) I miss the ice. Translation: For this challenge I will get serious about training for my next ultra event and about getting into German culture. 1. Travel the land: -"No more mushrooms and old grape juice": Monthly fasts, smart food choices afterwards, limited alcohol. I'm in training for the Zugspitz Ultratrail in June. Minimize the dietary toxins and dial in on what my body needs for recovery. Starting with a 7 day water fast. Moving to the cleanest fruits, veggies, meats and fats that I can get. Continue to explore the merits of various complex carbs. -Walk like a man: Mobility and stretching. I need to expand on this, last challenge I started to tighten back up. -Run Forest, Run: Every day. Measured in hours, not miles. I have 60 days until the Zugspitz Ultratrail. Gotta get my body used to continuous running. I'll rest when I have to. -Hunt the land: Find and secure the necessary ultra gear for the Zugspitz. 2. German culture. This weekend a buddy hooked me up with the local British hunting club. Spent a couple of days with them at one of their ranges. They hosted a large number of German hunters who zeroed their rifles in preparation for hunting season. Good guys, great time. I think they like the idea of showing a Yank the ropes. They will provide the training I need to prepare for the Jagerbrief exam. I might be able to test before this challenge is over, but my focus is on the preparation for the purposes of this challenge. The oral portion of the test will involve a lot of specific language training. The interest here is less about killing Bambi and more about the people, the history and the traditions of the German Hunting culture. I'll still be doing the Rosetta Stone exercises. 3. -Bonus points: -Max APFT: This is easily measurable. The hard part will be running fast enough since all of my work will be long and slow. -Body Weight Exercises. This is purposefully vague. Going to see what's possible based off of how it works with the ultra stuff. -Vertical running. Gotta include "hill" work. Right now all I can think of is running up and down the six flights of stairs to my apartment. I hate running stairs. -Maintaining and expanding tight contact with my family stateside. -Giving Wolverine a hard time whenever I can. He's going to be feeling sad and will need a bit of cheer:o