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Hello Rangers, I come to you( a week late) from an unintended hiatus. I started a warrior, with my training goals to become as strong as my favorite viking, Hafthor Bjornsson, aka The Mountain Now, my course has taken a drastic change, I have signed up to take on the Spartan Ultra Beast, for those who dont know its a 26 mile obstacle race, and I have chosen to do one in colorado, at a ski resort. So technically I am still training to fight the mountain. This will prove to be the most physically difficult thing I will have ever undertaken. And I am training hard to get ready for it, and it is the reason I have come to the rangers, as this seems more like a ranger style event than a warrior one. Naturally most of my goals for this challenge revolve around defeating the ultra beast (All bolded ones are the goals for this challenge) Training to fight the mountain and the ultra beast: 1) Strength train 3x a week 2) run 3+ miles 3x a week 3) walk 3 + miles a day (pretty easy seeing as how my walk to and from work is 1 mile each) 4) keep a thorough log of workouts/progress 5)WARM UP AND STRETCH PROPERLY TO PREVENT INJURY (I'm really bad at this, and I have definitely ached unnecessarily) obviously besides training right, I need to eat right, which also ties in well with my desire to budget better, and thus came this category Eating greens while saving green 1a) leave the card at home, only use the $20 cash pulled out at the beginning of each week (AKA stop buying food and coffee)* special dinners coming up are exception this is mainly for during working hours* 1b) bring snacks and a large thermos full of coffee or bring coffee grounds to make coffee at work ( i really like coffee) 2) plan trips to the grocery store only allow for 1 misc. item on the list, to avoid buying unhealthy and over spending( new ingredients are like shiny things to me) 3) review budget at least once a week Recently I traveled out of the country for the first time, to the Dominican Republic and caught the travel bug Exploring new worlds (kind of) 1) save 5% to 10% of pay check for travel( this kind of helps give motivation to stop eating out) 2)pick a country and start to plan a trip Lastly, I have been inspired recently to tap into my creative side, and I would like to try to launch a youtube series and an associated blog, the reason being, is that I have not found any very good series that explains aerospace engineering, and I get a lot of value from video tutorials. At the same time as making a video tutorial, it should help me review, reinforce, and maybe learn new things, by teaching it to an audience(even if it is only one person). At the same time I have ideas for other topics as well, but I figure one at a time. I have some ideas, but I really need a name for the channel if anyone has any suggestions Building and Online presence 1) pick a name for video series/blog 2) film one "episode" i know this seems like alot, but I feel they are very doable, many of which I have started doing already( been training for a while now), but the supporting quests are not there for example. I have been bad about logging my workouts, and have to rely on memory for reps/weights etc. Other quests here are simpler, and may only take a day if that, yet are quests all the same. I know i was late to the party(again), but hopefully not too late. Let me know what yall think of my goals. Sorry for wall of text.

Hi everyone Early start to my challenge thread as I would love some help and advice! There is going to be an obstacle course race in my town I only found out about it a week ago when they started selling the tickets for it... And it's on in ONE MONTH. I know, so little time to prepare! I have wanted to do one at some point, but since it usually would require a whole weekend an 800km round trip, I just stuck it in my epic quest and didn't think I'd have the opportunity anytime soon. So to anyone who has done obstacle races, any resources you can point me to or advice on what to expect would be great. I did my first sprint triathlon a few months ago, but my aerobic capacity has no doubt dropped dramatically since then. I'm not sure how little running I can get away with over the next couple of weeks. I have been running only a couple of times a month, 5min/1km to muay thai class as a warm up... I think I should focus on grip strength, core strength and yoga. I have been hesitent to reduce lifting...I have been doing it twice a week, alternating so each lift gets done once a week. I might drop the super heavy weights and go lighter until after the race...? (I recently bought rings and made some parallettes so I can focus on them + yoga more this challenge) My questions are: How did you prepare for your 1st ocr? What helped the most (to make it easier/more fun)? Should I try to run more regularly in the lead up? Footwear: i have barefoot style trail runners i use for hiking, i guess i will wear these. So I'll probably have to get used to running in them too little time for that? It was useful even just writing that out, but hopefully some of you have a good perspective on this. TIA

Continuing from Chapter 1, my quests going forward are the following: Nutrition: Batch cook some time during the weekend. Use the Zone Diet guidelines for quantity and ingredients. Prepare my own breakfast and lunch for the five days of the working week. Dinner and weekend food is not tracked, so I get to enjoy something with the SRLF and maintain my social life. Coffee: It's summer so I can't go with hot tea only. Coffee is allowed, but breaking the habit of a morning coffee at work earns me money in savings, as described below. Workouts: Nothing new here, 3 Crossfit workouts during the week. Things will however get highly competitive due to my new reward system, outlined below. Life Goals Continue Bullet Journalling. It works Spend at least one hour every day working on my thesis and nothing else. I know there's no room for variance, life events etc because I'm leaving none. If I can't do it, I'll mark it a fail. Zero flexibility means I can't relax and take this easy. Purge. I need to clean up my living space. First step is CDs and clothes. Besides purging, I'm looking to sell these in hopes of aiding my financial situation. Thanks to @Teros for the inspiration here. Plumber. Find a damn one that will show up, manage to have enough money and get the damn toilet fixed Tires. Inspired by @Rurik Harrgath, change the ancient tires of my dreadful car before I die in a fiery car crash explosion. The wrestling narrative will continue as well. For those who haven't been following this, I’m playing Total Extreme Wrestling 2016 and doing the Road to Glory challenge, essentially creating a newbie 18 year old alter ego in some backyard wrestling promotion as I try to headline the Main Event of a big promotion’s Pay Per View event. Technical details and rules can be found here. I am using the game’s database of characters, but set in 1997. Considering the first TEW was set in 2005, it's pretty early in that universe and if played well, I should have the chance to rise together with the game's most famous characters. This challenge will run from April 3rd until my return from Ireland on July 10th. My aim is to maintain good habits and train for the Ireland Tough Mudder on July 5th, which I'll be running with fellow nerds @Jarric and @Miw_Sher. Other than that, I'll be looking to compete in any events or crossfit competitions that come up, namely Compete Live Athens if it happens during that time. Just like the last few challenges, to add extra motivation and work towards a major life goal, I will be setting money aside according to my progress in order to buy a motorcycle. - Batch cooking for the coming week earns me 1 Euro - Not having a coffee at work earns me 1 Euro in savings instead of said coffee - Every day of Bullet Journalling earns me 1 Euro in savings - For every day where I spend at least an hour working on my thesis, I get to save 1 Euro - Managing to sell my CDs or clothes earns me the equivalent amount in savings - Workout earnings are calculated as the difference between male athletes below me from male athletes above me on the day's Whiteboard. For example, ranking 12th out of 30 earns me (30-12)-11=7 Euros. Even a single workout can mean massive savings, so I better not skip those. Also, I gotta be super competitive and not merely make it through the WOD. Time to kick performance up a notch. Tracking spreadsheet

It's still largely the same things remixed, but that's what I still need to work on. The Titan Challenge approaches! Prepare for it: Run 1/week at least Strength train 2/week at least Plan what to take Running sneakers what clothes? gloves cell phone case?? Would love to take it for pictures - but water obstacles? Sun block bug spray And the big one: the Period Problem. I will probably be mulling over this one a fair bit this challenge as I am due to be on the worst day of it during the race. Because of course. So if anyone is bothered by this sort of talk, be warned. I will not be spoiler tagging it. Sleep FFS Have food and everything ready at least an hour before time to sleep - except Wednesday Game night, try and have done in advance in bed by midnight, pref earlier Try to be active enough that I'm tired. I've been pacing a lot at night recently. Take inhalers at 9 pm, at least until the allergen levels settle down Have fun, run Alternity At least 3 days/week do something fun. Be it reading, video games, guitar, working on my Alternity game, watching something, whatever. So long as I enjoy it and it's not something I have to do, it counts. Still figuring out the mechanics for new Alternity, but I'm fairly happy with them so far. Ran a first session last Wednesday. It is nice to be back to GMing, even if it's pre-fab stuff right now. Just started re-reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I haven't read it in at least 15 years. Needs to be fixed. Dragon Age: Inquistion and Mass Effect now work on my PC, FFXIV: Stormblood Expansion is due out in a few weeks. Remember that I'm moving soon Declutter or clean a thing 1/week Please enjoy a Lego verison of When The World Breaks Down.

I know there are quite a few people on Nerd Fitness that enjoy Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) / mud runs and some that want to give one a try. There’s been some discussion on my challenge about some of us meeting up next year to do an OCR somewhere in Europe. At the moment, there is a bit of interest in meeting up in Amsterdam in April next year to do Toughest, an 8 kilometer OCR. So I thought I’d open this up and see if anyone else was interested in meeting up for some muddy obstacle fun! Toughest Amsterdam is taking place on the Saturday 15th April, so there’s a possibility of making this a weekend Nerd Fitness meetup. If some people don't want to do the race and just want to meet up (spectators / cheerleaders welcome), we can arrange an evening get together after the race or for the following day. All ideas welcome as I know nothing about Amsterdam (other than the obvious!) Please don’t be put off by the name if the event! It will be something that newbies will be able to complete, and we'll be an awesome team of unstoppable nerds! No one will get left behind. Of course, I’d love to get as many of us as possible together, so if there are any other obstacle races or interesting running events around Europe or in the UK that people would like to look at meeting up for instead, post them here and maybe we can do something that suits the majority. Though, if we could avoid anything around May, that would be really helpful for me! I really hope we can get a big group of us together for some muddy shenanigans!

Hi everybody! It's been a long time since I really logged in here. The last Challenges only existed by name anyway and I already have enough plates to handle anyway but truth be told I have been missing you people a whole damn lot. So I comitted myself to use the next two weeks by easing back into things around here. I did put up annual and intermediate goals in the past but will get back into that some time in the future. But a quick recap about me: I'm Casbin, a 29 year old lad from Germany. I am struggling to gain weight as habits are still way out of whack. Fitness, that is still working fine thanks to my workout buddy @Katrin the Morag who has shown me nothing but kindness, patience and became kind of a rolemodel about how much of a gamechanger commitment and perseverance can be on this Journey (though we got different startingpoints). Challenge Goals: Nutrition: Keep up with the foodlogging - I am on a 25+ day streak and only had a small fit of madness about it Gradually, patiently move your daily intake towards 3400 kcal rather then unconciously alternating between 3k/4k kcal a day Fitness: This is where I might have botched a couple of things... I will start the Darebee Abs-Challenge by Monday morning (this has to be finished by July 31st (never miss 2 in a row) Fitnessclass on Tue/Thr (45 min. of a Strength, Mobility, Coordination and Cardio mix; 45 min. of playing games (Volleyball, indoor hockey with 4 goals, full court basketball)) Running with my Aunt on Wednesdays (she isn't so fit, this is supposed to be active recovery and prep. for the MudMaster 6k Obstaclerun in Septembre) Giving Bouldering a try on Fridays Level up your Life: Get back to Bullet Journal - I have a beautiful Calendar but it's completely impractical as I'm back at my workbench Fix your Biorythm - I managed to build up a 10 hour sleepdeficit over the last 2 weeks Gratitude-Journal to build some momentum Daily updates in here; use your smartphone for hard facts and stop being scared of autocorrect screwing with you. I will try to stop by every now and then for some details and communication. Well, time to get to it, I hope you are all doing well PS: Gratitude - Diversity of our modern world, a day of to regroup and relax, running hot water

Luke Skywalker: Oh, come on! How could you know my father? You don't even know who I am. Oh, I don't even know what I'm doing here! We're wasting our time!Yoda: [sighs, looks upward] I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience.Obi-Wan Kenobi: [voice emanates from nowhere] He will learn patience.Yoda: Much anger in him, like his father.Obi-Wan Kenobi: Was I any different when you taught me?Yoda: He is not ready!Luke Skywalker: Yoda? I am ready! I— Ben, I can be a Jedi! Ben tell him I'm rea— [bangs his head on the low ceiling] Ow!Yoda: [to Luke] Ready are you? What know you of ready? For 800 years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained! A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one, a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away to the future, the horizon. Never his mind on where he was [pokes Luke]. Hmm? What he was doing. [paces around] Adventure. Heh! Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things. [turns to Luke and points with his walking stick] You are reckless!Obi-Wan Kenobi: So was I, if you remember.Yoda: [still looking at Luke] He is too old. Yes. Too old to begin the training.Luke Skywalker: But I've learned so much.Yoda: [looking toward the sky] Will he finish what he begins?Luke Skywalker: I won't fail you! I'm not afraid.Yoda: [grimly] Oh! You will be. You will be. Main Goal I'm planning to to to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. I could register right now as a Journeyman as I have completed the requisite three or more qualifying events since the last Championships. I don't want to just show up as an enthusiastic course-filler, though. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor by earning my spot through competition. The black one on the left is what I'm after. How realistic is this goal? On July 30, 2016, I finished 24 minutes behind the OCRWC qualifier time for the 50-54 age group at Savage Race Chicago.This past February 25, I ran the Spartan Sprint in Arizona while sick as hell and finished 15 minutes behind the final OCRWC qualifier time. I am working with a running coach who has given me a plan to increase my speed over distance. I know I'm getting better, but I believe I still have time to make up. I've used my 10k time as my guideline for improvement, since it's the same distance or longer than my two A races for this year; over the past year and a half, I've knocked about 10 minutes off my PR for 10k and am working to trim even more off by the end of July, when my two "A" Races are held: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 What will it take for me to get there? I now have 10 weeks to close the gap on my competition. I'm still slow enough over distance that some solid dedication will trim off large chunks of time, though. As I identified before the last challenge, it's going to take me, getting out of my head, casting off my own perceived limitations, and pushing beyond my comfort zone. What I want is still on the other side of comfortable. I'm not going to let the two races in this challenge cycle - the Chicago Spartan Super and Sprint on June 10-11, and the Minnesota Spartan Sprint at the end of this cycle on June 24 - alter my training toward my goal. I'm going to be doing a boatload of hills between now and June 24, because if I don't, I will die on the ski hill here at home, but that won't replace anything in my schedule, and it will make me a better runner overall anyway. The Chicago and Minnesota Spartans are B (Chicago Sprint) and C races on my calendar, and will be run accordingly. I will not be risking injury or fighting my way off-trail (like the hard-core "ON YOUR LEFT" people who expect others to yield during a section of a bushwhacked single-track and then leap through the brush when you can't, while cursing loudly) during either one of these events. I aim to enjoy all three, and if an OCRWC qualifier occurs at any, well, that's great, too. I've got ten weeks. Goal: Faster I've become faster than I was - three of my last four road races were all personal bests, and the fourth met a goal time - but if I want to be faster, I've got to run, consistently. Two challenges ago I put on more consistent miles and started getting the hoped-for results. Last challenge I got a new running plan from my coach, Josh, and I just set a PR in a 5k in terrible conditions at the end of the last challenge, even though I missed my own personal goal time. Now it's time to put on some significant mileage and be able to sustain those paces for longer, in order to achieve my goals. This will be the schedule for this challenge: Week Zero: 3 miles VO2 Max Monday, Hills Tuesday, 4 miles Lactate Threshold Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday for consistency, Hills Friday, 10 miles Saturday, Incline Trainer Sunday Week One: 3 miles VO2 Max Monday, Hills Tuesday, 4 miles Lactate Threshold Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday for consistency, Hills Friday, Badass Dash followed by 4 mile trail run Saturday, Incline Trainer Sunday Week Two: 3 miles VO2 Max Monday, Hills Tuesday, 4 miles Lactate Threshold Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday for consistency, Hills Friday, Chicago Spartan Super Saturday, Chicago Spartan Sprint Sunday Week Three: 3 miles VO2 Max Monday, Hills Tuesday, 4 miles Lactate Threshold Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday for consistency, Hills Friday, 10 miles Saturday, Hills Sunday Week Four: 3 miles Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 3 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Minnesota Spartan Sprint Saturday (this is also my annual Youth Group Mission Trip week, hoo boy), trail run Sunday Yes, I'm planning on either running or climbing hills almost every day for the next 10 weeks. This is what it's going to take. Goal: Stronger This has been working, but they moved one of my lift days at the gym. I'm replacing it with Boot Camp due to convenience. I need to be more consistent with my own body-weight workouts. Part 1: Week Zero: Lift Day Tuesday, Boot Camp Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week One: Lift Day Tuesday, Boot Camp Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, Badass Dash Saturday Week Two: Lift Day Tuesday, Boot Camp Thursday, Chicago Spartan Super/Sprint Weekend Week Three: Lift Day Tuesday, Boot Camp Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week Four: Youth Group Mission Trip where I'll be doing manual labor all week, MN Spartan Sprint Saturday Part 2: Continuing the Grease the Groove pull-up training method I stole gratuitously from @Big_Show. I'll be recording the total number of pull-ups completed every day, not just full dead-hang strict pull-ups. I wanted to average at least 20 per day over the last challenge, but it was more like 12-15. I'm aiming for 15 to 20 per day this time around. Part 3: Also during the last challenge, I tried to accumulate 200 push-ups per day; this wound up being more like 60 to 120 per day. I'm going to try again, shooting for 120 to 200 per day. Not hard if I get in a few sets of 20 during my workday at my desk. Challenge Plan Summary I can do this. Goal: Smaller I know my macros work. I'm still trying to refine so that I meet goals based on my daily needs; I'll be sticking with what I set the last time around, because actually meeting these targets daily was not so much "hit and miss" as "stormtrooper-level miss". 10 weeks of dedication to attempt to meet a goal I set before the first of the year. That's only two challenge cycles; not quite the home stretch right now, but I can see it from here, and I need to be ready. Here we go. We all know what Yoda would say here.

that is how i prefer to enjoy a spartan sprint OCR. with naked friends. i took about 5 days off everything and am ready to jump headfirst into zero week in order to start preparing for the spartan on june 17th. 24 days. totally enough time to prep. GOAL 1: need to maintain (or perchance lose some?!) weight to be able to handle the BW work. stay within 2000cals per day or 14,000 cals per week GOAL 2: i love lifting. lifting is the best. lift 2x per week GOAL 3: going to be doing spartan workouts 5x per week from the couch to spartan sprint program GOAL 4: get that conditioning burning. burpees 3x per week: start at 15 per session for the first 2 weeks. 20 per session last two weeks GOAL 5: don't get twisted. yoga 60m per week similar stuff as before. i think my summer challenges get repetitive because i have so many short vacas that throw a wrench into things like calorie counting. so i keep needing to have the same goals, which is fine! just repetitive. don't give up on me yet, folks! life things to keep in mind 5/28 & 5/29 – Boston Calling and Memorial Day 6/4 – Mom’s bday 6/10 – Vag Mons performance 6/17 – Spartan 6/24 thru 6/26 – Provincetown vaca

For this challenge i am going back to my story with Myrik the Traveller. IF you need a refresher on the last part of the story it will be under the Spoiler tag The man leads Myrik down several alleyways to a large steel door with a small sliding steel window. The man beats on the door with a rhythmic knock. As the sliding window opens, Myrik is taken aback by the appearance of the guard behind it. One eye was human, but the other radiated red from the mechanical device grafted over it. "Welcome back Grinder, who's that with you?" asked the man behind the door. "Someone that was about to have his guts spilled by a Grunge," Grinder responds, leading Myrik into a well lit room with technology Myrik has never seen. Myrik took it all in; there was a weird floating object that Myrik assumed was some sort of vehicle even though he had never seen anything like it. Lost in the awe of the room, Myrik barely registered Grinder asking him, "So who the hell are you Chummer, never seen you in the city." "My name is Myrik, and to be honest I have no clue where I am. I woke up in a clearing about 10 miles west of the city, just made it before the sun fell. And why the hell do you keep calling me Chummer?" Myrik responds. Grinder chuckled, "Wow you really aren't from around here. Chummer is a street term for friend. You are a human, therefore you are a friend. Welcome to New Carson City, part of Pueblo Corporate Counsel. This is the hangout of The Rascals. Time to meet the rest of the crew. The man at the door, that's Ripper, our doorman and all around Muscle. The legs you see sticking out from under our hover tank, those belong to Drone, she is a wiz with anything that needs a pilot. Glitch and Havok you will meet later". A voice from behind makes Myrik jump and instinctively reach for Citipati. " I am Shade, and the one that saved your hide from that grunge." Myrik turns to see a small wiry female drop to the floor in front of him. "I didn't even sense her presence, I must get her to teach me some of her skills," Myrik thinks to himself. "Now that you know everyone why don't you tell us who you are?" says Grinder. "Well where do I start.." Myrik spends the next few hours telling his new companions the story of how he got here leaving out a few key pieces of information that they don't need to know. "Well," says Havok who quietly entered the room halfway through Myrik's tale, "this is why you never make a deal with a dragon! Is the ring still branded on your finger?" "No it disappeared after I gave that bastard what he wanted," Myrik states flatly. Now on to the challenge. Not to much change from last months challenge, at least at the start of the month. Myrik Human Street Samurai HP 400/400 Essence 4/10 Train with Ripper Any street Samurai worth their salt is strong but only the elite have the natural speed to go along with that strength. Most opt for Cyberware and Myrik is no different. But his unique situation has allowed his body to recover small portions of his Essence lost during the process. Myrik regains .12 of his essence for every week he maintains his routine but will lose portions of the regained essence for every missed workout at a rate of .06 per missed workout or additional exercise. Muscle Replacement: Alphaware cost 2.6 Continue my normal workout routine. Normal Exercises (Pull, Push, Core and Legs) on my normal rotation every other day Wired Reflexes: Moderate Alphaware cost 4 Add HIIT and Plyometric exercises HIIT twice a week including zero week = 10 days of HIIT exercises Plyometric work twice a week = 10 days of Plyometric work I ordered These Cards to use at work and for some variety once i get them I will modify my 2 goals in here to include them. Hunt with Shade Most small time runner rely on brute strength but the ones taking on the high paying jobs no stealth is how you live long enough to retire. Practice silent movements and exercises at least once a week. By this I mean practice landing from a jump squat with as little noise as possible. Not sure how I will test the noise level but at least I'll be trying Practise being sneaky, best way I can think to do this is to sneak up on my dog, granted she is getting older but I can very rarely sneak up on her. If this proves to hard sneak up on the kids. Cook with Havok Most runners just buy their food precooked from a restaurant to save the hassle of learning yet another skill. Those who know how to cook can save themselves and their friends a lot of money. Record Nutrition on MFP x7 per week = 34 times Stay within 200 calories of 2200 plus workout calories x5 per week = 25 times Prep Meals for watch I will try and prep meals for work for all my watches but my goal is 1/4 of the watches this challenge period: with 14 watches this period that would be 4 watches I must prep meals for. This entails 2 meals prepped per watch, might be Breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner depending on the watch. Burned the food: -10HP Bad choice, -25hp Bad Meal, -100hp bad day Build Survival Kit: +50 hp for each full week of matching goal Run the Matrix with Glitch All runner teams need a good decker running the matrix along side them. Everything is connected to the matrix, a good decker can get the alarms and security disabled for his team before the target knows someone is in their mainframe. Running the matrix is mentally exhausting and a lot of decker unwind with SIMFLICKS or VRG's. It is also Physically draining some deckers have gone into Cardiac arrest while running the matrix due to the heightened strain on the Heart, to combat this most deckers do some sort of Cardiovascular training. Finish 1 game in my backlog this challenge period Do something each week that will raise my heart heart and promote cardiovascular health; Run/Bike/Swim/Hike/Long Walk(greater than 30 minute) Caught by IC(Intrusion Countermeasures): Failed to do Cardio during the week: -50hp Caught by Black IC: Missed Cardio 2 weeks in a row -250hp Successful jackout: +5hp for each night I get 8 hours of sleep. Learn from Grinder: No runner can do a job by themselves they need a group of people they can trust or at least a few mercs they can pay to trust. Check in to Forums 5 times a week Check in with others 5 times a week Failed to vet a Merc: -10hp per day missed checking in Formed a solid team: +10hp per check in over goal BONUS: Finally make my damned throwing knife target (This will be done while my Parents are visiting middle part of the month.) Clean spare room (Must be done before the 7th) Going to try doing the extras like i did last month and hopefully track them better this month.

Jon Firestar Back to the Grind My creativity has taken a bit of a hiatus so not much of a theme this time round . I'm just ready to keep things simple and get down and dirty with my training! Coming off of my race at the weekend I've felt a surge of new motivation. I don't have anything in my calendar until the epic cross over event that is Barrel of Laps a couple of months away but that might change at any moment! Last challenge was pretty rough and full of ups and downs. I want to say that this coming challenge is just going to be back to the normal daily grind after running 3 races, getting sick and struggling with recovery last time round. Everything is back to normal for this challenge, except for one small detail. On week 4 this challenge, my job changes. My promotion finally goes through on June 19 which begins a big change and a new chapter in my professional life. So part of my challenge this time round will be rebuilding and maintaining consistency. Due to sickness and how closely packed together my races were I lost a lot of my consistency and my aim is to jump right back in the deep end with it. Reign in the Food If I’m honest. My food has gotten out a little out of control over the last couple of months. I want to reign this right in so that I can get back to cutting. The goals here are simple: Record my food in MFP. Actually keep it up to date and accurate The calorie target is 2600 - 2700 erring towards the high end. This should be enough to produce a modest calorie deficit but may be subject to review depending on the numbers. Go Faster, Go Further! Tough Mudder showed up some of my weaknesses. My sprint speed is pretty dire. I’ve not trained it at all so that is not really a surprise. So part of my plan going forward is to include some real speed work into my routine. I’m unsure of the best way to achieve this so I’m going to go back to my original plan that never happened and rotate the speed day with my hills day. Now that the weather is getting nicer I want to start exploring further afield for new and interesting trails to run. The countryside around me is full of hiking routes and big hills that I want to explore. This probably won’t happen every week just because of time but I’ll make it as an extra. Run 3 Days per week: Tuesday: easy 3.5-4 miles with 4xstride intervals at the end. Thursday: sprint intervals/hill repeats increasing the interval count with each week from 4x to 8x Saturday: Long run 6-12 miles. Additional Goals: run at least 50 miles and 1000 ft of climb over the challenge. Twice go further afield to find new trails. Sign up for the Maidenhead Half Marathon Get Strong, be Powerful High volume lifting woot! AKA Fear of the DOMS. Running through the 10s phase of the juggernaut program. Also increasing the volume on some of my assistance exercises. More pushups, more dips, more pull ups (hopefully). The aim is less variety and more focus on the things I want to work on. Moving my body weight around space is vital to my OCR goals so there is going to be an emphasis on some of the bodyweight movements. I’m also going to focus more on conditioning. My shoulder is still a tad bit tender from my run in with TM last month and I’m a little wary of adding impact this week but once I’m happy with it I’m going to start adding many, many burpees. Lifting 3 Days per week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 2x sessions of conditioning per week Additional Goal: work up to sets of 20 burpees by the end of the challenge -- That’s it. Keeping things simple this time round. I’m removing all the convoluted scoring from last session and returning to my previous health system. There are a total of 64 total points to to hit for the whole challenge. I want to aim to achieve at least 80% of that score this gives me a beginning HP of 50. Each missed item will result in the loss of 1 health. If I hit zero I fail. There is no healing during the challenge. Unlike the scoring with my last challenge this will eliminate the whole getting killed based just on two bad days. If I hit all of my additional goals. I will buy myself a new pair of road running shoes.

Heyo. Once again, life conspired to keep me from starting a challenge in timely fashion - first week was a travel time (I went to Philadelphia, and might be the only person to ever accidentally end up at the NFL Draft), and then promptly got sick. So I'm still trying to get my life back to normal whilst coughing my lungs out. But, y'know, can't let that keep me down. Thus, a half-challenge, loosely inspired by none other than one of the greatest gaming sagas of all time (you know it's true!): Half-Life! I've been pretty bad at doing complicated goals when my habits and life are off-kilter after my travel times, so this one will be a little less so in the hopes of actually doing the things I said I was planning to do. Goals for the half-challenge: - Exercise five days out of the week, even if it's just a short walk. I can work with a short walk, but being sick has made me more likely to just act like a slug. - Run at least two, preferably three days of those times. Again, still training (or trying to train) for my upcoming Virginia Tough Mudder, and this will be most key to my survival. Some bodyweight training wouldn't go amiss either. - Go to sleep before 11:00pm. I've been coughing myself awake multiple times the last few nights and it's wreaking havoc on my sleep schedule. Just setting a normal bedtime will hopefully help get things back to the usual as I recover. Otherwise, I'll just try not to let the headcrabs get me down. Bonus goal: Book reports! - I'm reading a lot of fun books these days (currently a mix of non-fiction and sci-fi). Just for the heck of it, I think I'll include some random thoughts on anything fun that I get into.

Just seeing if anyone is interested in join me for the June 10th Tough Mudder in Virginia. Course is 10-12 miles with 20+ Obstacles. Website Link: https://toughmudder.com/events/2017-virginia If you're interested I've created a group called the "Riders of Brohan" that anyone is welcome to join

Jon Firestar's Epic Boss Battles! The tiny fire burned dull in the oppressive room eating away at the oxygen in the room. The smoke rose in small whips disappearing upwards into the pitch black above their heads. The group huddled around the flame. Sweat beading on their heads. It was hot and dank this deep. Whoever had built these halls had taken no thought on how air would flow this far down in the earth. Four of them, two men and two women clad in rough leather garments. Pieces of armour, leather metal and mail strapped to their hard bodies. Weapons lay close at hand, swords axes and bows. They had made it. For weeks, they had dived this dungeon. Travelling ever deeper fighting their way through ever more fearsome and dangerous foes. The small stew pot hung over the flames bubbling away quietly. There was some risk to cooking here. Quite a big risk but they had talked it over and each of them had decided it was worth it. A shrill scream echoed in the distance and Tila grabbed her bow and moved to her knee. Her hood fell from around her head revealing her dark hair in stark contrast to her bright green eyes. Every muscle in her neck was tense. Alyce, hadn’t moved but her hand clasped over the hilt of her greatsword. “It’s too big to get in here.” She said. Her voice cutting the darkness like a knife. Tila relaxed a tiny bit and put her bow down. “It isn’t the only thing down here,” she said quietly. “We’ve not seen anything in days,” Erran said. The large man shifting quietly. His soft-spoken voice didn’t match his huge frame. “We keep hearing them though,” The final companion said. Dori a smaller man. Short and balding. Two curved swords and a crossbow all hung on his back. Alyce climbed to her feet her long flame red hair hung against her hard, muscular frame. “Erran’s right,” she said. “The trash is dead. We’ve slaughtered our way down here.” .”us“We’ve cornered them,” Dori continued. “They are hiding from “No,” Errin said. “They are waiting for us to come to them. They don’t fear us but, if we can take the small one down fast, they will know they’ve got something to fear.” Tila sighed. “Let’s eat and sleep while we can. We’ve still got to get down there and we are going to need to be as ready as we can be when we do.” As if on que the scream echoed out again. Full of rage and sorrow. ---- No rest for me. I could use some week 0 hype but I've a lot of stuff going on the next few weeks and need to start right now to achieve all my goals! What follows is sort of long and detailed because its not so much one thing I need to keep doing for 4 weeks but a strategy to get through the next 5 weeks. So I've hidden batches to keep it looking less intimidating! This challenge is marked by three epic boss battles, or two mini bosses and the main boss. The main boss is Tough Mudder May 7. #nervousexcited The two mini bosses, one which is 100% certain and the other I’m about 90% sure I’m gonna do are two separate 10k Races, the first one, which is already paid for is the Saturday of week 0 (22nd of April) and the second one is on Sunday 21st May (which is technically next challenge but the new boards won’t be up before I run it so I’m counting it in this one). So two weeks either side of Touch Mudder. Thoughts on my first 10K race : Tough Mudder is a different beast. It’s a long slog that will see me waiting in queues with intense pushes of energy to move through obstacles and a twelve-mile-long run (and I’m informed that it will involve some nasty hills). It is Tough Mudder and I don’t care how long it takes. I care that I make it so my plan is to take it slow and steady like I would with an easy training run. I’ve taken a couple of days off work after the event because I’m sure I’m going to want to spend at least one day sleeping it off! Again, I’ve not got a clue at how it is going to affect my body. This is where the big dramatic changed to my lifting and running schedule will come in both in the week prior and after to this Run. Finally, there is the Royal Berkshire 10k. Which is a fast-flat course at the end of May. If I miss my time in my first race, I am certain I can make it here. Outside of injury (or if I really am struggling to recover from Tough Mudder but it’s long enough after I’m sure it’ll be fine) I plan on running this race too and because of the kind of course it is I really want to PR my 10K while I’m at it By the time I get here I’ll already have a better idea of what I need to do leading into the race and what I need to do the week after the race so I’ve less thoughts on this than the other two… The Convoluted scoring system: The whole scope of this challenge is action vs recovery. For everything that costs fatigue I need to do something to recover. Using my HP system here is how I’ve worked it out for the next month. I have 10HP only and I need to keep the bar above 0 or I fail. Each of my recovery items will restore 1HP up to a maximum of 4 per day. The point of all of it is to encourage me strongly to actively work on recovery! If I miss any of the events in this challenge, even the one I’ve not confirmed yet, I lose 20HP and cannot recover so die right away. If I get injured the challenge is over anyway so it isn’t excused by injury. The two 10K races each cost 5HP. Tough Mudder instantly costs all my remaining HP. Reducing me to zero. That is to say, I’ve got to do something on Tough Mudder Day to encourage my recovery and two somethings if I want to be able to miss gym on Monday and survive. Being above or below my calorie goal by 100calories on any day will cost 2 HP, hitting it dead on will cost 0. Each workout I hit will cost 3HP, but if I miss one it’ll cost 5HP. On a good day I will be in surplus but the races will leave me with a deficit to make up. Run towards Danger! Short version: Run 3 days per week with an easy run, some hill repeats and some variation of the long run. Long long version for those interested (if anyone with more experience has anything to add/change/critique I'd appreciate it ): Strong Enough to Fight! Similarly, my lifting program is going to have some dramatic changes for the next few weeks: Week 0: Realization phase of the 3s wave of Juggernaut Week 1: Kind of a weird week where I don’t want to start a hypertrophy phase but also don’t want to spend several weeks deloading so I think I’m going to go ahead and test my 1 rep maxes because I’ve not done that properly yet. Week 2: Full deload protocol leading to Tough Mudder. Week 3: I uhh dunno. I’m either going to dive right in with the 10s Phase of Juggernaut or I’m going to spend a second week deloading. I think it is important that I get back into the gym asap after Tough Mudder. Whether that is the next day or a couple of days in I can’t say right now. Week 4: Week 1 or 2 of the 10s Phase of the Juggernaut Program. Provisions: For the duration of the challenge I aim to hit maintenance calories. I am going to need the fuel to drive my body to do the stuff I intend but I don’t want to start putting on weight. Even if some of that will be muscle. So I will keep track of my food and drink still. Health Potions! Rest and recovery are things I don’t do well enough. I want to be diligent this challenge because I’m going to need all the recovery I can get! Roll and Stretch: I’m actually really good at doing this stuff on days when I’m at the gym and I suck when I’m not at the gym (i.e. after a run). The goal is simple. Go through my foam rolling and stretching routine after every workout. Sleep: As many already know, I don’t sleep well but I don’t do myself any favours either. For the duration of the challenge bedtime is 9:45 and my shutdown is at 9:15. Misc Stiff: Anything else I can do to help recovery. Can restore a maximum of 2 HP per Day: includes ice baths, meditation, cold compress and icing, Epsom salt baths, naps, compression and anything else that seems right if I come across it (I'm open to suggestions!)

Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. I could register right now as a Journeyman as I have completed the requisite three or more qualifying events since the last Championships. I don't want to just show up, though. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor by earning my spot through competition. The black Finisher medals are things of beauty. I want one. I'm going to earn one. How realistic is this goal? On July 30, 2016, I finished 24 minutes behind the OCRWC qualifier time for the 50-54 age group, and before this challenge is over, I will have moved into that age bracket. I am combining a Half Marathon training plan with personal run coaching to increase my speed over distance. This past February 25, I ran the Spartan Sprint in Arizona while sick as hell and finished 15 minutes off the OCRWC Qualifier time for the 50-54 age group. I'm using my 10k time as my guideline for improvement, since it's the same distance or longer than my two A races for this year. Over the past year, I've knocked 7 minutes off my PR for 10k and am working to shave off another 12 minutes by the end of July, when my two most likely qualifying events are held: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 Both have obstacles that are unique compared to other obstacle race series and while I've been training for them, they will be fun no matter what happens. I'd love to qualify before then, but these are the most likely based on skill and expected competition. What will it take for me to get there? I'm going to need to be transformed. Transmogrified. But there's no magic machine that will get me there, no magic pill. It's going to take me, getting out of my head, casting off my own perceived limitations, and pushing beyond my comfort zone. Because what I want is on the other side of comfortable. Fortunately for me, there's a big "Not Comfortable" looming on my horizon - I am participating in the Montana Spartan Beast on May 6. That gives me just under three weeks (including Week Zero of this challenge) to get my climbing legs under me. I'm not starting from zero, but I am not where I need to be to finish this race and walk afterward. Goal: Faster Much like my Spartan Beast finisher times. If I want to be faster, I've got to run, consistently. During the last challenge, I put on more consistent miles and started getting the hoped-for results. I also did a 2-mile speed test and found out I am capable of much faster than I thought - about an eight-minute pace for one mile and significantly faster than that over a half-mile. Now it's time to learn to go even faster and to sustain pace for as long as I can. I'm going to stick with the following schedule until my coach, Josh, tells me he wants me to switch it up: Week Zero: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Incline Trainer Friday, 5 miles Weekend Week One: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Incline Trainer Friday, 6 miles Saturday, Incline Trainer Sunday Week Two: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 2 miles Thursday, Rest Day Friday, Montana Spartan Beast Saturday Week Three: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Incline Trainer Friday, 8 miles Weekend Week Four: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Incline Trainer Friday, 5k Saturday (Autism 5k), 11 miles Sunday Yes, that's six days per week where there is a "move forward with purpose" goal. This is what it's going to take for me to meet my goal. I'm either going to commit, or not. It's acceptable for me to do hill training instead of incline training as long as I do it with the same heart-rate based goal of 125-150bpm. Goal: Stronger My plan here has been working. I'm physically more capable of doing the functional things I need to do to complete a course. I don't have to be the size of the Chrysler building to flip a 400-pound tire or beast the Spartan Herc Hoist or whatever; mostly, I just need to be able to move my own body weight, and then some for good measure. Part 1: Week Zero: Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week One: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week Two: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Montana Spartan Beast Saturday Week Three: Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week Four: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Part 2: Continuing the Grease the Groove training method I stole gratuitously from @Big_Show. I'll be recording the total number of pull-ups completed every day, not just full dead-hang strict pull-ups. During the last challenge I averaged 11 pull-ups per day, and I was able to see a noticeable difference when doing body-weight work at Obstacle Academy. Now it's time to push that to the next level. I want to average at least 20 per day over this challenge. Part 3: Yes, Part 3. Because I'm backing away from Boot Camp at my gym, it's time for me to make sure I am getting regular strength endurance work in my everyday life. In the spirit of the Grease the Groove pull-up accumulation, I am aiming to accumulate 200 push-ups per day. Challenge Plan Summary Goal: Smaller Smaller me is easier to hoist over a wall me and easier to move forward me. I'm seeing the expected positive results with my food logging and nutritional planning, and I'm going to continue my plan from last challenge with the tweaks Traci would like me to make. The end of this challenge will put me about ten weeks out from my July 29 Savage Race target; more than enough time for a transmogrification.

Around a year ago, after a little persuasion from a few people on here, I signed up for Rat Race Dirty Weekend. A 20 mile obstacle course race with some of the biggest, craziest obstacles you can imagine. Worlds longest monkey bars, anyone? Or how about an obstacle four shipping containers high followed by a slip and slide? I can't believe that how quickly it's come around and that in less than 3 weeks I'll be attempting these nutty obstacles and so much more. Thankfully, I'm not running this race alone or competitively. I'll be doing a "fun" lap with the Mudstacle crew, who I'm certain will look after me and help me round this epic course. But because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'm not just doing Dirty Weekend in the next few weeks. This is my schedule for April and May: 22nd April - W.A.R (OCR) 1st May - 10k trail run 5th May - Dirty Weekend 14th May - Nuclear Race 12km 21st May - Tough Mudder So yeah, I've got events before and straight after the biggest run of my life. As @Maigahane has just said in her challenge, you don't have to be crazy to be a Ranger, but it certainly helps. Main Challenge Goal: Stay In One Piece, Don't Die After a normal 10-12km OCR, I'm usually recovered in two or three days but I'm not sure what 20 miles of running, obstacles and an after party is going to do to me. I've got 7 days between Dirty Weekend and Nuclear Race, and Nuclear Race and Tough Mudder, so my main focus is recovery. Foam Rolling: Minimum 10 minutes a day Stretching: Warm ups before every activity. At least 10 minutes after an activity & mini stretches during the day Recovery Runs: Go out for at least 2 miles at recovery pace within 2 days of an event Other Goals: To be decided weekly As I don't know how I'm going to feel after each event, I'm going to take each week in turn and set goals as needed each week. If I'm feeling capable, those goals might be running or strength training related. If I'm completely destroyed, they'll be additional recovery goals such as yoga. Bring on the Madness!

Last challenge, @Tanktimus the Encourager and @fleaball had an interesting discussion about rewiring your brain by picking an archetype that you want to emulate. It wasn't immediately obvious to me what kind of archetype I would pick if I followed the process, so I thought about it for a while and eventually realized that all of the archetypes I thought of had one thing in common: they were guardians. And when I had that realization, a lot of other things clicked into place: I scored "guardian" on the reebok be more human test a while back (I think) I keep coming back to the mantra "courage, honor, self restraint" I ALMOST NEVER get angry about anything and avoid conflict, except if someone is mean to my little sister or something So it works. The qualities of a guardian I admire and want to emulate include: A relentless, headstrong commitment to hard work and self improvement - to the point of stubborn refusal to compromise on any goal Faith that if they trust the process and do the work they will gain the skills they need Genuinely interested in and attentive to other people (as long as they're not trying to enter a forbidden realm) In their developmental years, they learn & grow alongside peers on the same journey, engaging actively in their training As they gain skill, they gladly guide & nurture others and think nothing of it Takes delight in the simple things in life. A happy day is just talking and being heard, and confirming our present happiness. Driven by the urge to help others Peaceful/zen except when defending others or facing obstacles Completely willing to fight with people when provoked Loyal to their people Honest Brave despite fears. Always. Focused outward - interested in other people and events around them and being in the world as their primary way of interacting with the world Physically balanced between strength/agility/endurance Examples of guardians: Pretty much every Tamora Pierce heroine ever, but especially Alanna from The Lioness Quartet and Kel from The Protector of the Small Dragons. Dragons protecting princesses and elder/mother dragons looking after their tribe/family The leader/seer/healer of a tribe who makes decisions based on how to protect their people Keepers of lore/wisdom/secrets/hidden places who do their jobs at all costs Monsters guarding the entrances to hidden realms Knights Priestesses Gargoyles? Background Every challenge this year, I am focusing on just one new habit. There are 10 challenges in the year, so by the end of the year I'll have TEN NEW HEALTHY HABITS. Challenge 1: Walk every day and/or aim for 16 miles per week Challenge 2: Morning routines Challenge 3: Eat a smoothie for breakfast and a salad for lunch every day Also, my theme for this year is honesty. That doesn't just mean honest in the sense of not lying. It means facing into things when I'm feeling the urge to withdraw because I'm self-conscious. It means being true to myself even when I want to act differently because I'm afraid people won't like me. It means showing up and doing the work even though I want to procrastinate or avoid it because something stresses me out. It means honestly making the effort. It means listening to my body and listening to my heart. It means feeling my feelings. I feel like 70% of my anxiety in life comes from situations in which I'm not being fully honest. And if I can learn to embrace that honesty, I can drastically improve my life. @Ensi made a comment a while back about how she just needs to be honest and brave, and I still think about that. Courage, honor, self restraint. Challenge Goal So in general this challenge is about getting into the habit of acting like a guardian. But obviously I need something more specific than that to work towards. So, two things: 1. Start every morning with a mantra/affirmation/whatever that I am a guardian, to help set the tone for the day 2. Work. I started working from home full time in April, and I've been struggling with switching to and from work mode. I'm also working on a very stressful project at the moment that has me really nervous and self-conscious. So, like a guardian, I want to face into the work. I want to relentlessly and uncompromisingly work hard every work day. I want to stop delaying the hardest things for last because of stress. I want to be driven by how I can help other people with my work. Honesty. Courage, honor, self restraint. And so on. Other Things So, they aren't goals, but I'll also talk about a million other fitness/health things that I work on, including: Aikido Running GMB Elements program Bodyweight strength workouts OCRs Yoga Food habits - eating primalish Reading Mediation Spending challenges Previous challenge habits: walking, morning routines, smoothie/salads Icebreaker I read a book a while back about a family that gave up sugar, including honey, fruit juice, and artificial sweeteners, for an entire year. Once per month, they would have a dessert that contained sugar. But that's it. Each family member could also pick a single thing with sugar in it to keep for the year. They chose things like wine, soda, and jelly. So I'm curious. If you had to do a challenge where you could only eat one thing with sugar for a WHOLE YEAR, what would you pick? I'm personally torn between ketchup and tea lattes.

Mission Log: Even the Odds So not going to lie, I took my first post from last challenge and made a couple slight adjustments. Don't fix what isn't broken right? Biggest change is that I'm signed up for my first OCR - NY Warrior Dash (5K) that falls on last day of this challenge. So that is what I'll be training for this time around. Form III: Soresu (Resilience Form) Create a schedule and achieve the following: Yoga - at least 45 minutes per week Cardio - at least 60 minutes per week Strength - at least 30 minutes per week Loot: Every 10 min of exercise provides $1 towards New Yoga Mat (From previous challenges: $68 of $75 earned) Form V: Shien / Djem So (Perseverance Form) Drink at least 2.0 L of water daily. Fill up and bring water bottles everywhere Eat at least 5 servings of Fruit / Vegetables daily. Fruit with breakfast Bring lunch salads to work In season produce guides Loot: Every successful "5 a day" fruit/veg adds $1 to the purchase of a succulent plant (still trying to decide which) https://www.etsy.com/listing/495911788/jameson-whiskey-succulent-planter-gift?ref=shop_home_active_13 https://www.dallavita.com/collections/garden/products/tiny-pastel-planter?variant=38790343495 In the meantime I am nursing our Christmas Cactus back to life... we kinda neglected to water it over the winter after a friend drunkenly knocked it over. It's a bit stressed but seems to be slowly recovering. Form VI: Niman (Moderation Form) Go to bed by 22:00 (weeknight) and 00:00 (weekend) by: Limit weeknight screen time to 1 hour per night. Limit weekend screen time to 4 hours per day. Acceptable alternatives include: Exercise, drawing, reading (from a real book), playing with the dog, spending time with the BF, board games, cooking dinner, cleaning, etc. Link: Tracking File

Welp last challenge I was supposed to do some things and, in short, I did not do those things so this challenge I am simply going to do the things. These things include one thing that has been a long time coming which is my first OCR upcoming on the last day of the challenge! So things for this challenge must be related to getting ready for that thing. Without further suspense, here are all the things to do for this challenge: Thing 1: Track the Things I started out tracking solidly during a previous cut that lasted 2 challenges but then last challenge I got sick and other things happened where I got away from tracking all my foods. I find that tracking everything, even on bad days, helps me keep better accountability over the longer course of the week or month. Ive had a two week break from the cut and I was starting to see results that I want to get back to. Track 7 days per week regardless of intake. Thing 2: Eat Better Things Goal as explained by the meme above is to not eat all the crappy things that I have been eating. I set my calories and macros a few challenges back and looking to get back to eating at those levels. Aiming to be within those calories and macros during the week days and within 400cal of them on weekends(bonus points for macros on weekend) . That should still lead to a solid cut level while allowing a little bit of leniency on weekends and hopefully no burn out Thing 3: Lift Things Need to try and get back into the gym at some point soon. I am battling an injured wrist so I have been absent for a week and a half now. Likely going to experiment this week and work around the injury if needed. Maybe ease back in with some safety bar squats. Anyways once that heals up looking at getting back to the minimum 2 times per week strength work. Thing 4: Condition Things I assure you I do not look as pleasant and happy as those things when I run...but none the less, this whole wrist injury thing has gotten me back into a bit of a running routine. I ran twice last week and it was a good setup. New trail on the way to work that is pretty challenging with 1.5 mile laps. If I get up 10min earlier and go run there on way to work, I still get to work on time so there is really no excuse. Looking to run 4 times per week on the weeks that I am injured and 2-3 times once I start strength training again. Thing 5: Mobilize Things Knees have been pretty tight lately. Not quite to the level of pain but certainly uncomfortable at points. I have noticed that over past challenges, doing a good deal of mobility helps alleviate that tightness. It does not take too long to roll out the calves or floss my knees to release that tension. Need to do mobility 3 times per week especially on days I run. This should be enough things for now... Raise your hand if you are sick of me using the word "things" yet

Hiya! I am doing the Spartan Trifecta this year and want to get a good hydration pack that will stay out of the way of barbed wire while also keeping my dehydration-prone self nice and fueled for rope climbs and bucket carries. Anyone have a good recommendation for me?

I had so much fun with the Rebels during my respawn challenge - and my life is still weird enough - that I think I'll hang around here a little longer! Thinking about my last challenge, I was reminded more than anything of one of the big themes of the lovely Undertale - "Determination". If you haven't played the game, it's more than just gritting your teeth and carrying on; it's a force that lets the characters come back from the brink of death, and even rewrite their own stories and those of the other characters in their world. For those who weren't following along for the last one, I was basically respawning on the tail end of a nasty few months with depression. It went really well (thank goodness), and I'm doing better than I have in a while, maybe since around this time last year. I was working on rewriting my story, as it were. I wasn't sure whether or how to do this challenge, since I'll be leaving next week for my annual week-off-the-grid on retreat, which I expect to be a wonderful time. The tricky thing about those trips away is that they tend to mess with my routine when I get back, so I think that's going to be my focus for the challenge: staying determined (especially once I get back), and locking down the benefits that I'm starting to see from the new and renewed habits I built last month. Also, y'know, it gives me an excuse to post about Undertale. Thus, the goals: Cooking with Undyne I've been eating a lot of good food the last several weeks, but my cooking has been getting a bit repetitive. We can't have that; cooking is one of my favorite hobbies! This challenge, my goal is to try two new recipes per week (aside from the week I'm away) and post photos and instructions where applicable. Yum! Showtime with Mettaton One of my favorite parts about last challenge was getting into a solid routine of practicing my guitar, and seeing lots of progress. I even learned, recorded and posted a song (?!). In addition to keeping up with this habit, I'm going to make it a goal to complete three online technique lessons per week either in guitar or mandolin, which I'm hoping to start learning in the next few weeks. More bonus achievements like last time (and extra ratings for Mettaton) if I record another song for posterity. Training with Toriel It's important to be ready for when the monsters attack. I've been doing lots of crosstraining to get ready for a couple of upcoming races (a 10k on April 1, and a Tough Mudder in June), and I'm still in the process of getting comfortable with a more regular workout routine again. I don't want to set any particular goals yet for the mix of running vs. weights or outdoor adventures, since I had fun doing lots of each last challenge, but I want to aim for at least four workouts per week. Tea with Muffet Finally, I need to keep working on rebuilding some of the social connections that fell by the wayside when I was fighting my way out of my cave of misery. This goal is to do something social with at least two friends during each week, or at the minimum track them down for a proper phone/Skype conversation. (Thanks to everyone who keeps following along!)

Well, the last challenge was mostly a flop. I got sick and stayed sick for the better part of three weeks. No bueno. Now I have a 10-mile road run the day before this challenge officially starts. I could whine, I could throw in the towel, I could complain about how quickly I lose my entire base of fitness and feel like I am starting over from Square One (which is not true, by the way; I have BEEN at Square One, and I'm never going back). OR: I could dig in my heels, remember what my real goal for this year is (hint: It's not to finish a 10-mile run), and re-focus. I know what the Rebellion would have me do, and my response is: As You Wish. Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. Anyone who finishes three or more qualifying races in a single year can register to race as a Journeyman. I could register right now. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor instead, meaning I have to earn my spot through competition. The black Finisher medals are things of beauty. I want one. I'm getting one. How realistic is this goal? On July 30, 2016, I finished 24 minutes out of an OCRWC qualifier time for the 50-54 age group, where I will be competing most of this year. This past February 25, I ran the Spartan Sprint in Arizona and finished 15 minutes off the OCRWC Qualifier time for the 50-54 age group. I am using a Half Marathon training plan to increase my speed over distance, and over the past year, I've knocked 7 minutes off my PR for 10k and am working to shave off another 12 minutes by the end of July, when my two most likely qualifying events are held: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 Both have obstacles that are unique compared to other obstacle race series and will be fun no matter what happens. I'd love to qualify before then, but these are the most likely based on skill and expected competition. What will it take for me to get there? It's time to call what I'm doing Dedication To My Craft. I have a running plan, an obstacle coach and a fantastic facility in which to train, and a great gym where I do my conventional training (lifting, boot camp). Josh, the coach at Obstacle Academy, elite competitor with my North Star Spartans team and Pro qualifier with 100% obstacle completion at last year's OCRWC, , is willing to help me get there. He's working with me on Conquer The Gauntlet's Stairway to Heaven and Pegatron obstacles and has offered to review my run training plan and modify as necessary. And I'm going to listen to every damn word he has to say. Goal: Road Training Whatever, Inigo, in the Star Wars universe, the right hand is the first thing to go. I have a metric boatload of road races during this challenge. At least that should keep me training. The plan for this challenge: Week Zero: 7 miles Monday, 3 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 10 miles Saturday (Hot Dash 10-miler). Week 1: 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 5 miles Saturday (O'Gara's Irish Run 8k). Week 2: 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 6 miles Saturday or Sunday. Week 3: 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 10 miles weekend (Goldy's Run). Week 4: 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 3 miles Saturday (Parkrun), 8 miles Sunday. This is the schedule. Stick to it, or stop searching for the Six Fingered Man. Goal: Strength Training It may not be sportsmanlike, but I suggest you let the Wookie win. Because of all the road races, I won't be able to make it consistently to Boot Camp on Saturday mornings. However, I'm creating a weekly Workout of the Week (WOW) for the Obstacle Course Racers Accountabilibuddies group. I'll incorporate those workouts into my training plan. This will replace Boot Camp on Mondays and potentially weekends if I ever have one where I am not running myself into the ground. The plan for this challenge: Part 1: Week Zero: Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday Week 1: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday Week 2: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Boot Camp Saturday, Spartan Workout Tour Sunday Week 3: Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Obstacle Academy Friday Week 4: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, OCR WOW Wednesday, Star Wars Celebration Thursday and Friday Part 2: Continuing the Grease the Groove training method I stole gratuitously from @Big_Show. I'll be recording the total number of pull-ups completed every day, not just full dead-hang strict pull-ups. This should be a double-digit number daily or I'm not trying. Goal: Plate Training Macros, refined by Traci, my trainer at C4: This is a plan that will allow me to achieve my goals, provided that I listen to my coach and trainer and put in the work. Pictured: goals.

Most of my challenges have been very similar for the last few months and I've started to feel a little challenge fatigue. I still want to run a challenge, as I know if I don't, I'll get lazy (also, I love it here and love all you guys!) so this challenge is focusing on one thing. Running. Endless Running Christ, these video boxes are big I always have running on my challenge, as it's the thing I do the most, but I suck at keeping to a running schedule. I like running, but I struggle to make it a priority, which is why it's the sole priority this time around. Run 3 times a week - Pass Run more than 3 times a week - Biggus Pass Run less than 3 times a week - None Shall Pass Planned Running Schedule (depending on what races I have that week) Tues: Easy Run Thurs: Speed / Tempo Run Sat: Optional parkrun or Race Day Sun: Long Run or Race Day This challenge is also going to be a makeshift battle log, so I can keep logging my strength workouts and any other stuff I get up to.

Leaves rustled in the wind and birds called in the canopy. The group of rangers crouched silently in the undergrowth watching the caravan creep forward along the road. The four wagons moved slowly, their wheels creaking under the combined burden. The empire guards marched in formation on either side. Ridged and upright their armour gleaming in the sunlight like so many diamonds. Not a sound passed between them except the occasional shouted command from the captain at the head of the group. The guards were a distraction as were three of the four wagons. They were laden with sweet treats and treasures. They would be missed the most in the empire markets but the thing that had the attention of the rangers was the fourth wagon. Unlike the others, it wasn’t destined for the markets. It was also the reason for the heavily armed escort. The wagon wasn’t brightly painted like it’s peers but instead a drab brown of scuffed wood. Any colour had long ago peeled away. There was the odd discoloured splotch that stained the old wood. Blood, vomit or some other bodily fluid, Jon reasoned. The wagon was a box of steel and wood. Completely encased but with no windows and a single door of thick wood and bound iron. It was locked tight. Inside were citizens of the empire selected for re-education. Some of those had been members of the rebellion. Some just dared voice their dissent. All got the same treatment. Jon cast his eyes around his companions. Women and men of the ranger’s guild. They were a varied bunch. Big, small, large and narrow. Some built for speed, some for strength some for endurance. Some, all of the above. A flash of red caught Jon’s attention. It was the man they had followed on this raid. The red was the signal. Around him came creeks as the group pulled the strings of their bows and then twangs as the arrows were loosed. The attack had begun. --- I really struggled on my last challenge. After about week 1, I completely lost all motivation to keep going. I’m still not sure what exactly caused the switch but I was able to keep going and maintain my momentum and got through with a success on my sheet. I gradually came out of the funk by week 4 and I’m overall happy with my progress during that time. So, the theme of this challenge is to strike out. To keep things moving along a little. To swap things up each week with my workouts and to keep myself accountable. I’m still trying to make sure I don’t overwhelm myself like I did at the beginning of the year (and that is probably a leading cause of my issues last challenge) but I do find that I do better with more specific and active goals. Food and Water If I am honest this is where I’ve really been struggling to maintain control. I think that in part because I’ve been in a calorie deficit for the best part of a year now and part because my workouts are so much more intense it is making it hard for me to maintain. I need a little more focus and a little more discipline to make it through. I use MFP but unlike most I tend to use it plan my meals rather than log what I’m eating. I plan a week in advance everything I intend on eating. I need to be much more disciplined in logging any extra calories so that I have an idea. Goals: Meal plan and stick to the plan 34 Don’t add extra calories without logging 34 Log my water intake and get at least 2 liters per day 34 Exercise As of writing I have just under 8 weeks until Tough Mudder!! And I want to incorporate a few more sport specific items into my workouts. Essentially, I want to add more conditioning into my strength days and some body weight stuff into my short runs. The additional stuff is going to be a little random to add a little bit of interest to my workouts. I’ve gotten into a routine of doing the same stuff over and over and I kind of don’t like doing that for long – Rangerbrain so mix it up. I’ve stalked the OCR badasses out there and read a whole bunch of stuff. I need to think on how to actually implement it. So I am going to experiment this week a little if I am able. Goals: Strength workout 3 days per week – conditioning circuit 1-2 times per week Running 3 days per week – added bodyweight training mid run 1-2 times per week. On both accounts I’m only going to score against 1 added activity each week. I may adjust Workout Plans: I’ve been using the Juggernaut program for my lifting. I really like the program for the main lifts because it offers steady progress without demanding too much. Monday: Squat and OHP Wednesday: Deadlift Friday: Benchpress Running: I’m currently aiming to hit 18 miles per week across three runs. I’ve come to the realisation that my long run on the weekend may sometimes need to take backseat to life and I’m not to beat myself up for not running 10 miles on Saturday if I have stuff to get done over the weekend because that run really takes it out of me. On those occasions I am going to aim for 10K instead because that is a run I can do without the rest demand that comes from 10 miles: Tuesday: Easy 4 miles Thursday: Speed/Hill work – I’m going to focus on actual speed work on these days with sprints and hill repeats rather than temp runs. A couple of easy miles as a warm up/cool down included. Saturday: Long steady run. Steady 10 miles or 10k depending on the circumstances. It should be noted that every 4th week in my program I go into deload and I drop back volume and intensity on both my running and my lifting for that week. Domestic Rangering I’m adding this here because I find that when I have it in my challenge I hit my list more often In short I have a short todo list in my journal for my domestic rangering and if I hit it I keep on top of all the things rather than playing catch up. Sunday: Laundry, Kitchen Monday: Landing Tuesday: Kitchen Wednesday: Laundry, trash and hall Thursday: Bathroom Friday: Kitchen and stairs Saturday: Bedroom and Laundry Scoring: I’m going to keep up with my health bar idea: I have a total of 195 points to hit. I want to be good at least 80% of the time. This means I can drop a total of 39 points. This represents my HP, the goal is simply to keep the bar above 0 for the challenge. Disclaimer: I am going to start this challenge right now but I need to point out that I have come down with a case of the plague It is a bit of a head cold right now and, if I don’t feel any worse, it shouldn’t stop me doing anything on my list. If it does get worse then I may need to make allowances for this week.

Kestrel leaned back against the trunk of the old pine tree and watched the rain continue to sheet down. In some parts of the world, Spring apparently arrived with a gentle sigh. In these mountains, it ROARED. She had come a long ways today and was so close to home that she could smell it, but she would prefer not to drown or freeze, so she hesitated. There is a bottle of mead in my pack, she thought, and a nip before going onwards might be just what is needed… Kestrel sighed and pushed away from the tree and out into the downpour. There would be time enough for the mead later, and this bottle was the Tavern’s finest. It deserved to be savoured. Welcome to Zero Week of the Kestrel – Choose Your Own Adventure – Story! There will be four challenges that need to be met each week for the success of the story segment, and any failures will impact the outcome of the story. I am also shaking up my exercise routine quite a bit and trying out P90X3 (the 30 minute version) for the next 90 days in place of my regular 3/week strength training. The Challenges Strength What: daily P90X3 session for the Classics rotation. OCR training classes can be substituted for any P90X session. Why: I am hoping this gives me a boost in my push-ups/chin-ups stats. ‘Cause they’re currently at zero. Flexibility What: daily yoga mini-session from NerdFitness Yoga Academy. Full sessions are also fine. Why: I am hindered on some of the OCR obstacles due to inflexibility Communication What: daily Spanish practise, any amount or type. Why: I would like to get through the rest of the course books that I have for Spanish and try to get through the Spanish TV drama series in preparation for starting Skype conversations again. Health What: follow a rough macro-tracking meal plan of 5 servings protein, 5 servings fat, and 10 servings carbs per day (all healthy) Why: I’ve noticed my weight creeping up a little recently and I would like to stop this while staying fueled for training. This rough-estimate way of tracking seems doable and effective.

Part Two: The Force Is With Me This is episode two of my Star Wars challenge A little background info: My goal for the year - similar to last year - is to do as many OCR's as possible, the only difference this year is that I want to do well in races and not just be a "fun runner". I'm nowhere near "elite OCR" material, but that's no reason I shouldn't push myself and see what I'm truly capable of. The OCR group that I'm a member of (Mudstacle) has a league where points are awarded for taking part in certain races. My aim is to do as well as I can in the qualifying events and get some decent points on the league table. To do this, I'm going to really need to up my game. I need to become a better, faster runner and more efficient on obstacle completion. This isn't going to be easy, but if I really want this, I'm going to need to become disciplined, I'm going to need dedication. I'm going to need to be a mother fucking Jedi. *NOW WITH ADDED DROIDS!* My goals are similar to the last challenge with a few adjustments. As much as I want to be a Jedi, right now, what I need to be is a Droid. I struggled with consistency near the end of the last challenge, so I'm thinking like a robot to make sure I get shit done. Goal 1: Run Run at least 3 times a week I had this as 4 times last challenge and I burnt out pretty quickly, probably due to everything else I'm trying to do alongside running. So I'm sticking with 3 runs a week, one mid-week run, parkrun on a Saturday and a long run on Sunday. Goal 2: Strength and Grip Strength Strength training 2-3 times a week Grip strength will be worked into these sessions. Climbing counts as both strength and grip work. My goal this challenge is to try to plan my strength training sessions a bit better so I don't miss out on the grip work and make sure all areas get a proper workout. Goal 3: Tracking Bullet Journal I started a bullet Journal last challenge but struggled to keep up with logging. I really want to be more organised so I'm going to keep this going. I'm also going to use it to keep a 'casual' food log. I'm not focusing on calories, I just want to be a bit more mindful of what I'm eating as I tend to eat crap and then have issues with my stomach. As this is an ongoing challenge, I'll be starting straight away.