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Jarric: As Yet Untitled So for those of you who may not have seen this, there's a show on British TV called Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (Wikipedia link) in which Alan Davies sits at a round table with 4 guests (mostly comedians) and shares stories and talks nonsense for an hour, with no agenda, no plan, just having a chat. At the end of the hour they pick a title for the show based on what they've talked about. I've only just discovered the show and love it, so in the interest of sharing stories and talking lots of nonsense for this challenge I want to do the same - at the end of the challenge we'll pick a name for the challenge based on what's happened this month. Format! Last challenge (which I will go back and wrap up soon, promise!) fizzled out a bit at the end, so I'm jumping straight back in and making this one a 5 week challenge. Building on my 2017 road map and my last challenge the goals will be similar to last month, with a few minor tweaks... Goals! Move! - 15XP What? Exercise every single day. Why? Working towards my OCRs this year, and I find I work better working every day than trying to have rest days. How? Follow Juggernaut lifting plan MWF and Runkeeper sub-55 minute 10k plan TTSS. I'm rolling the 4 days of lifting over three days (until I become ruler of the world and make standard weeks 8 days long), so if one week is Monday Bench, Wednesday Squat, Friday OHP, then the next week will be Monday Deadlift, Wednesday Bench, Friday Squat. Make sense? The running program is a faster version of the 10k plan I ran last year (and briefly injured my hips on), and I rather enjoyed it so I'm trying it again. Snooze! - 10XP What? Don't hit snooze! Why? Because I set that time for a reason, and I need to remember that! And I don't like rushing (more than usual) in the morning. How? On weekdays, when my alarm goes off at 05:30, get up without hitting snooze. Track! - 10XP What? Track calories every day Why? Because I've lost sight of quite how much I should be eating, and I want to find that again. And it wouldn't hurt to lose the barrel I'm carrying around my waist at the moment either! How? Track calories using Fitbit (and best guesses where necessary) every day. No target amount until I work out how generous Fitbit is being with the calorie burn. Budget! - 15XP What? Stick to my weekly budget Why? Because getting out of debt and saving is one of my main goals for the year, and ultimately because I want to own my own house before I reach retirement age! How? Every week I have a weekly budget of £80 for random sundry expenses (this feels like far too much, but whatever). This doesn't include groceries, work travel or exercise expenses, or bills/rent which come directly out of my account. Basically it's food and drink out and random stuff. And to get us going on the random chat, and icebreaker (I may do a few of these): Icebreaker: Have you ever won a trophy or medal? So for me, I won a couple of trophies when I was about 14 in a pool competition. Run by a caravan park in Wales. I think as a way to shift off-season tickets. But it was the start of something and I've had a string of pool and snooker trophies since, so I have fond memories of it .

Welcome back to a Galaxy Far, Far Away. While this is a new challenge cycle, the goals are pretty much the same, because consistency builds habits, which leads to progress, which leads to success. Consistency will take focus, and this man told this annoying kid something really important about that: And, unlike much of what was scripted for his little green Master, he's not patently wrong. 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. Sweet Baby Jesus, look at those things. I hope they are just as awesome again this year. I have my sights set on two possible qualifying races this year: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 Every road race I am signed up for leading up to these events is a training run and I will be disappointed if I don't set a PR every time out. I don't have any timed road races during this cycle. I do have my first two Spartan Races of the year: I did this venue last year and it was awesome. It was also just as hot and cactus-y as it looks in this picture and yes, cactus spines are a pain in the wherever. Last year, when I earned a 5x Spartan Trifecta, I had my sights set on three mountain races that kicked my butt, and I considered all the other races training runs for those three. Not this year. In 2017, every Obstacle Course Race I am signed up for leading up to Savage and Conquer are going to be run at red-line. That means I am running back-to-back days in potential 85 degree heat as hard as I can and taking as few breathers as possible. We'll see how that works out. In my favor is the fact that the course is hilly but not mountainous, but that also works in the favor of actual runners, so there's that. Whether I wind up qualifying or not, this will be a good early indication of whether anything I've been doing - accumulating miles, weight training, obstacle training at Obstacle Academy - have helped at all, and it will help identify existing weaknesses. I'm more than just fairly obstacle-proficient; at any given race, I expect to complete nearly every obstacle. But right now, at my best, I am a middle-of-the-pack runner. This year I am focusing on Becoming Faster while Staying Strong and Improving My Endurance. And I am doing this by continuing What I Know Works. Goal: Road Training The plan for this challenge: Week 1: 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 8 miles weekend. Week 2: 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday. Weekend run will be replaced by Spartan Race. Week 3: 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 9 miles weekend. Week 4: 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 10 miles weekend. This is the schedule. Period. If I think I will have issues sticking to the schedule, I should probably find a way to get ahead of the schedule on any given week. Goal: Strength Training Part 1: Week 1: Boot camp Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Obstacle Academy Saturday Week 2: Boot Camp Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Light Body Weight Workout Friday, Spartan Race Saturday/Sunday Week 3: Boot Camp Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Boot Camp Saturday Week 4: Boot Camp Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Boot Camp Saturday Part 2: I will be working on my pull-up proficiency to get back what I had two years ago (and surpass it). I have a pull-up bar at home. Every time I pass through the door, I need to do a couple. Not to failure, I'm stealing the Grease the Groove training method 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 More of What I Know Works, but I'm refining this, because I work with smart people. This will take more discipline but account for variation in my activity levels. This means I'm going to have to do full, weekly meal planning and pre-preparation. This is a ramp-up of what I've been doing. I know it works. And I know that given the proper amount of focus, I can achieve my goals. Pictured: goals.

The story until now... In my youthful days I loved martial arts and stayed in great shape. After losing my way and my twenties I was over 300 lbs and 40% body fat. I worked really hard at it and got down to 202 lbs and 18% body fat. I stopped doing martial arts and got into Power Lifting. I am currently 240 lbs and 20% Body Fat. My warrior days are behind me now. For the last two years I've really gone all in on Obstacle Course Racing. I completed my Spartan Trifecta last year and will be running ten races this year ending with the Spartan Beast (one of the hardest OCR races out there). However, in the Next Four Weeks The How 1) Keep on the new ketogenic diet 2) Crossfit 2 x a week 3) Running 1 X a week 4) MMA training 1 x a week 5) Meditate every night/yoga Challenges and Milestones 1) Get better at climbing a rope and monkey bars 2) Run a full marathon Mar 11 (No obstacles, just a race. Only done half marathons so far) Goals 1) Lose five Lbs 2) Lose 2% Body Fat 3) Complete the Marathon

My last challenge of 2016 really fizzled out. I got sick, I got overwhelmed with the holidays, and I feel like I am starting over from scratch. That's not true, though. I have actual metrics from where I was, and where I am now, and progress is undeniable. But I'm not where I want to be. Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. Anyone who does three or more races in a single year qualifies to race 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. Sweet Baby Jesus, look at those things. I hope they are just as awesome again this year. I have my sights set on three possible qualifying races this year: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 Every road race I am signed up for leading up to these are training runs. This year, I aim to take that training seriously. My first race of the year has been switched due to being over-committed. I didn't run on New Years Day, instead I'm running a 10k on Jan 28, so that will be my first event of the year. My goal is to shave 2 minutes off my finish from the Moustache Run at the end of November. Last year, when I earned a 5x Spartan Trifecta, I had my sights set on three mountain races that kicked my butt, and I considered all the other races training runs for those three. Not this year. In 2017, every Obstacle Course Race I am signed up for leading up to Savage and Conquer are going to be run at red-line. It would be great to qualify for OCRWC early and be able to build some confidence going into October. We'll see how that works out. I'm more than just fairly obstacle-proficient; at any given race, I expect to complete nearly every obstacle. But right now, at my best, I am a middle-of-the-pack runner. Now I have to Get Faster and Stay Strong. And in order to do these things, I have to Stick With What I Know Works. If you've ever followed me before, you know what's coming. Goal: Run Blah Blah Blah I believe the actual quote turned out to be "That's not how the Force works!" Not my favorite thing. I have a plan, however, and it was actually going well for the last half of November and, well, I feel like I'm back to Square One. Yeah, I know I'm not. But it feels that way. My plan says to run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and once during the weekend, with my longer runs coming on Wednesday and the weekend. I have a training plan and enough races on the schedule to keep me moving forward. Game on. Word up, Frink. Goal: A Jedi's Strength Flows Blah Blah Blah Luke Skywalker, elder abuser. I will bitch and moan about how little weight I can lift right up until I don't anymore. It's on me to make that happen. My lifting classes are every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, now that my XFit class has been removed from the schedule (sad man, sigh). That makes my weekly schedule look like this: Tuesday: Lift day Thursday: Lift day Friday: HIIT Saturday: Boot Camp You will see lots and lots of photos of whiteboards in the coming months. Goal: How Grow You So Big Blah Blah Blah Pictured: Me, the morning after Christmas, lounging next to a chick in Slave Leia garb and some dude in brown Every. Damn. Challenge. It is amazing how fast my body wants to revert to its previous state of not awesomeness. I'm back to tracking daily. Macros: 1750-2250 calories per day125-150 grams protein35+ grams fiber<2800 grams sodium 2017: The year I stopped calling myself "Old, Fat and Out Of Shape" and took myself seriously. You're going to get tired of seeing me post these things.

Hi All, I'm planning to run a winter OCR in March and I could really use some advice about winter running gear. I run in temperatures as low as ~30F but not much lower, and I've never run in the snow. I guess I'm looking for advice in two main areas...what kind of gear I might need to stay warm, and any specific recommendations for brands or items that you've had success with. I know I'll need gloves for sure, but also probably warmer leggings and socks? And I have no idea how many layers I should aim for on top, or what kind. I imagine there won't be MUCH in the way of water since it'll be winter, but I think it's possible I'll still encounter some. Any advice you guys have would be really helpful!

There is only one thing worse than respawning, and that is not respawning. Things sort of fell apart in the last half of my last challenge, so I am dusting myself off and re-lacing my boots for another round. I am sticking with Zer0 from Borderlands 2 as my inspiration, and, like last time, I will be pulling a quest from each of his skill trees. More focus on running and bodyweight training. But, most importantly, just more focus on a whole. First Quest: B0re - Not much to this one. If I want to get better at OCRs, I need to get better at running. The best way to do that is just to grind it out and do more of it. I want to start getting more acclimated to the cold and dark, so I am aiming for three morning runs before work each week. No excuses. Just get up, get out, and get after it. Second Quest: Tw0 Fang - I did a push-up quest last challenge, and I liked the idea of it, but I put them off too long and ended up doing most of them in the last week of the challenge. This time, I'm modifying the goal. I will do 30 push-ups and 30 burpees every day of the challenge. That way, if I do absolutely nothing else that day, I will still have that under my belt. Third Quest: Be Like Water - I started working on some yoga poses last time, and I found an article on various poses to work on to develop for OCR racers. I liked what I read, so I will practice these poses three times a week. There are six areas that the article focuses on: balance, core strength, upper body strength, breath control, endurance, and flexibility. I am looking forward to this challenge as a way to end this year strong and swing right into the new one. Striking from nowhere / Killing with accuracy / This is who I am.

Okay, so I wanted to say something about Rogue One, but, who needs to do that? I'm going on opening day. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Instead, because my challenge goals are revisiting and continuing What Works, I'm going back to something awesome. Work it. Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, for the 2017 OCR World Championships. Anyone who does three or more races in a single year qualifies to race Journeyman. I could register right now. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor, meaning I want to earn my spot in competition. Good Lord, the medal porn. I hope these things continue to look this awesome. To this end, I have to Get Faster and Stay Strong. And in order to do these things, I have to Stick With What I Know Works. Goal: Macros Never be Porkins. 1750-2250 calories per day 125-150 grams protein 35+ grams fiber <2800 grams sodium Ideally, it's going to be lightest on rest days and heaviest on days where I lift. This is a work in progress. As long as my averages are within my goal range, this is a success for this challenge. Everything gets tracked and reported here. Goal: Strength Training Dash Rendar, the double-breasted turkey of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Weekly Schedule: Crossfit-style class Monday Heavy lifting Tuesday, Thursday HIIT Friday Boot camp Saturday During Week 1 of this challenge because I'll be racing in Florida, and will be dropping my Thursday, Friday and Saturday sessions. Otherwise, everything gets tracked and reported here. Goal: Run, Dammit I wonder if having a puppet master would make me run more consistently. I have a half-marathon training plan that I paid for, and a running coach who has agreed to track my progress and keep me moving forward. Use these resources. Follow the plan. I am schedule to run four days per week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and one day per weekend. The Plan says Saturday but also says I can run Sunday instead. My GF and I have agreed to run every Sunday after I finish teaching class at the gym. We're going to keep each other accountable and start working toward our goals. My measurable goal: 10k in under an hour. Far more achievable than doing the Kessel Run in under 12 Parsecs. As I mentioned, I will be guiding my GF through the swamp in Florida at the end of Week 1 to complete the Jacksonville Spartan Super, which will complete my Fifth Spartan Trifecta for 2016. I don't want to downplay this as "no big thing", because if it weren't a "big thing" people like me wouldn't train for them and judge their fitness by them. It is a big deal. One Spartan Race is a Big Deal. One Trifecta is a huge deal. Five Trifectas is a huge deal. I'm proud of what I've done this year, and I understand what I need to do to get where I want to go. Specifically, standing in this picture. Finally, I will continue to preach Peace, Love and Understanding, until I feel that this world no longer needs it. I stay far too silent on far too many things in the name of not rocking boats. I won't speak politics or whatnot here in the Jedi Temple, but I will continue my mantra, because this world is an awesome place, and it gets better every time we remember to make it that way. Peace, Love and Understanding, friends.

http://www.dragonocr.com/race-.html Date: Saturday May 20, 2017 Distance & Obstacles: 3 miles & 20+ Obstacles Location: Sanford, NC Trying to see if anyone is interested in doing this OCR with me, I just got my ticket today and am pretty excited about this. It's a brand new race and the guy in charge looks like he is trying to come up with a lot of non-standard obstacles it says " 1/3 of the obstacles will be fun, 1/3 of them challenging, and 1/3 of them will be very difficult. If your interested I created a Team called "Riders of Brohan" and will be running at the 9:30am run time. Plus, if you use the discount code "mudrunguide10" you can get a discount too! Let me know if you're interested and we can try and meet up!

Starting up a battle log to keep track of all my workouts. Longer workouts really increase the size of my challenge thread posts so going to try this method out!

For my second challenge with the Assassins, I want to base my quests this turn on one of my favorite assassins - Zer0 from Borderlands 2. I've been playing this game a lot recently, and it's tough to find better inspiration than this badass. Each separate quest will be drawn from one skill per each of his skill trees. I'm placing a lot of emphasis on running and bodyweight training to keep me working towards my OCR goals for next year: a couple Tough Mudders and a Spartan Trifecta. So, let's get to it. First Quest: Vel0city - With autumn moving into winter, I need to keep my running up. However, I want to try to balance it with working with my wife (the ally) while still keeping my own mileage high. I want to push for at least 40 miles, which I know is lower than the last challenge, but I want to put some focus on working with her, as well. She can't quite yet run as far as I can on a single session, and I want to do something so that she doesn't feel completely excluded. So, I will run with her at least once per week. Second Quest: Innervate - This quest is a little different than normal, and longtime listeners will recognize the throwback. I used to play in a band quite frequently, but we dissolved about a year ago. However, the opportunity has arisen that I could be playing in a throw-together group for a fundraiser that is taking place on the last day of the challenge. I play the bass guitar fairly competently, but, for the event, I might also need to fill in on rhythm guitar, which I do fairly incompetently. My goal will be to passably play better by the event, so I will practice every day in some form to get better at the guitar. Third Quest: Ir0n Hand - I want to be doing more with bodyweight training this challenge, so I will keep it simple. I will do at least 500 push-ups in the next four weeks. Also, I want to start greasing the groove with my pull-ups, so I will do at least one rep each time I walk under my pull-up bar that is in the door to my bedroom. Finally, they've been pushing the handstands a lot on NF, and I'd like to do their progressions so that I can perform a decent one by the end of the challenge. I've enjoyed my time here with the Assassins, and I look forward to continuing my progression. I will leave you with a haiku that Zer0 gives during the game: The true world revealed / Weaknesses now known to me / Time to go to work.

So. October has been a complete washout for me. I've been sick (ugh), over-scheduled (not new) and generally behind on everything. I've been skipping workouts and except for this past weekend haven't run since September (sort of intentionally since I want my ankles to finally heal, but not really). Mostly I've just been isolating myself, which is a bad sign generally and in my case is like Step 1 to reverting to Old Eric, who exists, but only in flashbacks. Some of those flashbacks are kind of awesome, but mostly they just involve the not-so-mysterious whereabouts of entire bags of Tostitos. I don't want Current Eric, who has moments of badassery, to pull a Hermit Luke Skywalker and just up and disappear. Until last week I even needed a haircut just about this badly. One of us is not going to just sit around, boo-hooing, and fade into legend. It's taken me a couple (several) weeks to realize that this is where I am, and do something about it, but I've managed to realize it and begin to do something about it before someone had to create a clumsy plot device to find me. Pictured. Now what? Now we get back to what works. Also pictured. Back to Basics I've been trying to pinpoint when I felt like my best self, because THAT is who I want to be. I've been there twice recently: first, right before my first Spartan Super in Vegas in April of 2015, and again at the Spartan Super in Burnet, TX in April of 2016. Both times, I was rigorous in tracking my calories and my food macros, I was making nearly every workout, and I was running regularly. It's not a secret formula. It works. I am my best self when I am following my plan and setting myself up for success. My gym has changed, significantly, since then, but that doesn't mean that I can make excuses. Goal: Macros Here's the deal for the foreseeable future: 1850-2250 calories per day 125-150 grams protein 35+ grams fiber <2500 grams sodium Everything gets tracked and reported here. Goal: Strength Training Here's the deal for the next Crossfit-style class Monday Heavy lifting Tuesday, Thursday HIIT Friday Boot camp Saturday I can deviate on Saturday if I have a race or if the North Star Spartans are sponsoring a workout, but that's it. Everything gets tracked and reported here. Goal: Run, Dammit Here's the deal for November: Run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday. I have a half-marathon training plan that I paid for. Use it. Follow it. Each week's plan gets posted here for public viewing and public accountability on Sunday. Every day gets tracked and reported here. Oh, and I'm doing back-to-back days of the Spartan Beast in South Carolina this weekend (Day -1 and Day 0 of this challenge) to put me within one finish of my 5x trifecta for 2016. Yeah, I know, one Spartan Race at a time has frequently been my entire challenge goal in the past, and this weekend I'm doing two Beast races, but I've managed to evolve over the past couple years into something that Old Me wouldn't recognize, and this neither one of the toughest nor longest courses on Spartan's circuit. Also, due to my current level of training, it'll be more like a fun run on Saturday and then a nice long hike on Sunday when I guide my GF through the course to earn her first Spartan Beast finisher and Piece #2 of her first Trifecta. I'm back, Rebels.

Here we are again. This is my 16th challenge... can you believe it? Anyway... The other day I ate like a pig. Not ONE healthy thing all day. So yeahhhh... that will be on the list for a bit. The second thing I need to look at is rest, both as "rest days" and "me-time" as well as "night sleep". Life has been a hell of a busy time lately. But the end is in sight. The weekend of 0 week I'll finish my theoretic course to become a trainer, then I am just 5 course weekends of practical hands on training (in early '17) away from getting my licence. Similarly I have been training for my first obstacle course race. Okay, per definition it's a mud run, not a race, but I'll call it race, for simplicities sake. The race is on Oct 8th, and I am VERY MUCH excited about it. I have not gotten as strong as I would have liked to become by now, but there is a direct correlation between how much I put in and how little I got out. So that is only fair... if unfortunate. I am in the mood to DO ALL THE THINGS. But I know better. I'll do the ranger thing without the overload, this time, I hope... Plans for this challenge: write down food - might not be in-app everything measured and concrete calories and macros and all that hassle. Just write down what you ate, snacked on or otherwise stuffed in your face. Keep lists. stop eating like a dickhead - one veggie or fruit each day, no excuses, no processed substitutions. One. Each. Day. Also skip the salt and drink your goddamned water, for crying out loud! Keep training and resting and enjoy the ride. I mean what more is there? Soon my friends from Australia and the Netherlands will be here for a weekend, I will clean like a maniac (I'm human afterall). I will train, both running outside as well as fitness and belly dancing classes, peer pressure is my saviour! I will rest when I can, I will keep logging my sleep (not awesome atm) I just brushed off a minor cold, so I am taking the hint of taking things less serious and rest more. I am not sure how to measure this though. And enjoy the ride? When do you ever meet online friends in person for the first time, run your very first mud run / OCR? Enjoy it! Take lot's of mental pictures, real ones too. Live the life, be present in the moment. Anyway, I will post this up, since you nice folk are so very patient with me, let me tell you again how grateful I am for your companionship, support, insight. Morag. Gratitude Wasabi - yummy. FlyLady - even though I have to regularly start over again and again... difficult to find a third item here today... I think relationships. Both romantic as well as platonic. So many so-very-different people connect and interconnected in so many different ways, it's amazing, breath taking, awe inspiring. Wonderful. It makes you wonder.

My goals this challenge won't be much different from previous and I'm keeping them quite simple. So I'm picking a silly theme to keep it interesting. I got the idea from the person I do most of my obstacle and mud runs with. She nicknamed me "The Machine" a while back and whenever I complete a tough obstacle at a race she always shouts "You're a machine" at me. Possibly just to embarrass me. Race season is nearly over now and I want to make sure that next year I come back even stronger. Next May I have my first ever 20 mile OCR, and I've never even run close to 20 miles before! Remind me again why I'm doing this? So I've got to start increasing my mileage and getting myself prepared for whatever 20 miles of an obstacle course race looks like. Like this, apparently: Goal 1: Endurance Racer (running) Run a minimum 3 times a week. Must do 1 long run a week. Goal 2: Mini Submarine (swimming) Swim at minimum of once a week Goal 3: Tank (strength) Strength Train a minimum of twice a week. Do chin ups whenever possible. Go climbing when possible This challenge I'm going to try and do a better job of keeping track of each goal each week, as I tend to start off with a good plan for my goals, but it all gets ignored by about week 2! I'll aim to do proper write ups each week with analysis of each goal. For the Rebellion! Chaaarge! Weekly Trackers: Week 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

I am seriously busted up. I ran my first ever OCR just a few days ago: Savage Race in Atlanta. And I have to say this: I cannot wait to do another one. It might be some time before I get to do another one -- this shit is expensive! -- but it's on the list for sure. First things first: I finished, which was my only goal. Perhaps the low-hanging fruit, there, but for a first race, not knowing what to expect, it seemed silly to look for more. And I finished respectably: Within the top 50% of finishers, both overall and within my age group. Which I think is pretty awesome! The course itself was nasty even without the obstacles, some of the most ridiculous hills I've ever run (or walked) on; with the obstacles, it was absolutely brutal. I had hoped to finish the race in under two hours, and I missed that by a damn sight, coming in just at two and a half. But that's okay! There is always room for improvement, and seeing as I can't wait to sign up for another race, I might as well start the training now: and that's what this challenge is about. Out of 27 obstacles, I only failed to finish three of them, so that's where I'm focusing for this challenge. I failed on a climbing wall halfway across, I failed on some upsy-downsy monkey bars (Sawtooth, if you're familiar) just past halfway, and I failed on some ropes (think Ninja Warrior finals, stage 2) almost immediately. See what those obstacles have in common? I do! GRIP STRENGTH and DEAD HANGS. I've been working pull-ups for the past year or so, and I've gotten pretty solid at them, but it's one thing to practice pull-ups in the controlled environment of my garage or a lonely playground; it's another to count on that strength when you're suspended ten feet in the air on the fifteenth rung of a devilish set of monkey bars. My goal for the next OCR I tackle is completing EVERY obstacle, which means I need to shore up that grip strength. So: 1. Grip Strength. I've got some trainers (the clampy thingies) at my job, and I need to be practicing -- and improving! -- on those every day. Currently I can do about five reps on the 200lb grip, but I'd like to get that up to ten reps by the end of the challenge. That means working them a little bit every day, which is easy enough when I'm at work. I also need to work on some different grips, since it's not always about the lovely solid bar, so I'm going to try doing some rope work (the ROTC room at my school has some ropes, so maybe I'll go make some friends there). 5 days a week drilling grip strength. Let's grow some new calluses. 2. Dead Hangs. This is something I haven't even trained, and now, looking at where I came up short, it feels like a tremendous oversight. I'll be honest: I don't even know how long I can hold a dead hang in pull-up position. So -- first things first, get a max-duration dead hang, and then, build upon that. Arbitrarily I'd like to improve my dead hang duration by 20%. That seems reasonable, but who the hell knows? We'll adjust this goal as the challenge develops. 3. Just keep running. Running is the heart and soul of my training, and it's going well, but I'm also coming off the medication I've been on for three months for my plantar fasciitis. The most important thing is keeping the runs consistent and stretching regularly throughout the day so that I can continue running without pain. Four runs a week, with foot stretches and ankle mobility exercises every day. EVERY DAY, you lazy non-stretcher, you. (Body weight exercises and pull-ups and the paces and distances of my runs are incidental but baked into this challenge, so I'll be documenting those if not focusing on them.) So, yeah. I took a challenge off because things were so overwhelming at my new job, but the new routine is pretty much in place, so it's time to get back on the horse and get back to some NF challenges. Let's get down to business.

In 2015 I went from a novice Obstacle Course racer to falling just short of earning three Spartan Race Trifectas when I came up sick on the morning of my final race in November. Eight months of work, all scuttled by a rogue stomach bug. Doing nine Spartan races in one year is not a failure, but I failed to reach a goal I set earlier in the year, and I finished out the year injured - recovering from a Grade 3 ankle sprain and chronic shoulder tendinitis - and feeling defeated. I could have used a stick to better express my bummed-outedness. During the last weekend of the last challenge, I completed my third Boss Battle of 2016 by outlasting the Killington Spartan Beast, arguably the hardest course in the circuit at more than 16 miles and 10,000 feet of elevation change, and I brought home that third Trifecta medal that had eluded me for ten months. A newfound understanding of my ability to endure hours of physical activity - made me set my sights higher this year, and in January I resolved not to earn three Spartan Trifectas this year, but to earn five. I've got two Beasts and one Super remaining on my calendar. I still have work to do. I am by no means an elite athlete. I am slow, I don't have a ton of upper-body strength, and I'm getting up there in years - in May I will graduate from the 45-49 age group to the 50 and over set. I'm also currently dealing with elbow tendinitis and the effects of two sprained ankles - one old and one recent. But none of that means I am not going to keep working to get better. I need to work smart, not just hard. And I need to get back to what made me successful. I need to rebuild the temple. My goals won't rehash the things I'll be doing daily - my established workouts or my planned running, which was actually going well last time around before I sprained my ankle, but I am healed to the point that I can do those consistently as long as I wear my ankle sleeves. Everything is Permissible, but Not Everything is Beneficial I've been pretty lax about my eating habits for the past couple months, and as a result, I'm softer around the middle and less-happy about it. It's time to get back to what I know works: meat, vegetables, specific healthy snacks, and tracking. Goal: Track my food daily and stick to my established metrics Physician, Heal Thyself In the last year I have sprained both ankles, the left, significantly, leading to time in a boot, and strained my left elbow to the point that carrying things can be occasionally painful. This is troublesome since running involves ankles, trail running involves running over uneven ground and requires ankles to work to provide stability. Carrying things or pulling my body weight up and over things is a major part of OCR. I need to heal, while still maintaining strength, and I need to be smart about it. This means intentional stretching, foam-rolling, lacrosse-ball rolling and yoga when I can get it. Goal: Strech or myofacial release, including feet, ankles, calves, traps and arms. 15 minutes total every day. Peace, Be Still It's a constant struggle for me. I am always either in front of a screen, sweating with a bandanna on my head, or doing... something. I am continuing my meditation and prayer goal from last challenge. I won't grade it, but I will try to be intentional, because being intentional helped reduce the sheer magnitude of all my stuff when I did. Goal: 30 minutes of prayer and meditation daily. My only scheduled race during this challenge is the Hammer Race on October 8, which I am wavering on depending on how my ankle is healing, but that I really want to be able to attend. May the Force be with us.

Attached is my updated Epic List. I will break it down for why I chose these if asked My Epic Quests https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/86599

During this challenge I'll be continuing on my 2016 mission to earn five Spartan Trifectas. Each Trifecta comes from completing one of each of the three Spartan Race distances - Sprint, Super, Beast. I completed my first Trifecta back in May when I survived the Montana Spartan Beast. I've been nursing some minor injuries, training, and doing a few shorter or less-brutal races since that race in preparation for my two biggest challenges of this year: The Breckenridge Spartan Beast on 27 August The Killington Spartan Beast on 17 September There's a strong chance these are the two most brutal courses on the entire Spartan calendar: Breckenridge due to the altitude, and Killington due to the fact that last year, there were complaints that the course was not hard enough. I'm more than a little terrified of both. Being terrified isn't going to help me complete either event. Training will. I'll continue with my usual regimen at my gym, which is heavy weights on Tuesday and Thursday, except on race weeks, when I'll skip lifting on Thursday but do a body weight set instead. I'm consistent enough with this that it doesn't need to be a goal, it's just a thing that I do. Goal: Ascend the Spire This is Minnesota and there is no "Up" here, not like there is in Colorado and Vermont. We have a couple hills - and by "a couple" I mean, like, ten - but no mountains. I've been running hills all summer, and emphasizing significant change in climb when I've run trail, while being smart about this ankle problem I've had since I limped down the mountain in Montana. I tweaked it again in Illinois at the end of July when I ran the Chicago Savage Race (also a blast, btw), but it's healing and caused me less issues than my right last weekend at the MN Terrain Race. As long as I continue to wear my brace, I should be fine. Goal: Run 3x per week, 2x with significant elevation change. Goal: Hold Fast This thing will be back on the course at Killington. Holy crap. DO YOU SEE THIS? LOOK AT IT. This looks horrible. Beyond the fact that there's a swim in a lake in Vermont in September, I struggle with rope grips like this. If only there were somewhere that I could do grip-specific training... Oh yeah. They opened a gym five minutes from my office. Goal: 1x/week training session at Ninjas United Goal: Strength Flows from the Force I'm stressed out. All. The. Time. I have a senior-level software development job that has taken more time in the last year than it did in the first three, and that doesn't appear to be changing any time soon. I have a second job as a personal trainer that takes time. I am a single parent of five kids, including two in middle school, which starts back up in three weeks. I am a volunteer leader with my church youth group. This year I accepted a nomination to the church board because literally nobody else would do it. I've adjusted my race schedule for the remainder of the year to compensate, but I'm flat-out tired all the time. It's time to make sure I can feel the flow. And I suck at this part. Goal: Spend 30 minutes per day in meditation and prayer. I'm going to do my best to keep this thread current and active. Keep me accountable, Rangers.

October 8th, 2016 All these people are sooooo young and fit and wow.... scary obstacles too.... but I have the ticket hanging on the fridge. I'm going. Fear be damned. So better get the training on track, summer lull is over. It's time to move! Details will follow. love you folks.

Yo, I'm back. So I'm literally back from the wilderness. I just spent a month living in Guatemala, with a few weeks on both ends that got swallowed up in exams, preparations for the trip, and working at a couple summer camp things. Guatemala was kinda crazy, partly because I was living in a different country with crazy food and madhouse traffic, and partly because I was there to learn Spanish in four weeks (?), with absolutely zero background in the language. It actually went really well; I had tutoring five hours a day with a teacher who spoke no English whatsoever, so I had to learn fast if I wanted to have any sort of conversation. Anyway, now I'm back (yay for American plumbing!) and looking forward to getting back into regular workouts, cooking, all that good stuff. I'm interning in central VA for the year, so I have to adjust to a new speed of life, and not having university classes for the first time in ever. I also have to drive to a gym now, as opposed to having it right next to where I live - yes, I was spoiled - so this challenge will mostly be me trying to get into a new sort of weekly routine. One of the great things about my life and location now is that I can return with a vengeance to one of my favorite athletic pursuits: obstacle racing! This challenge will be focused on rebuilding my base and conditioning. Then, in late September, the fun really begins... Ze Goals: "It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise." - Make it out to the gym at least two, preferably three times per week. Actively joining a gym is actually a new thing for me. I've always been part of some kind of university community with an athletic center, so finding, signing up for, and attending a proper gym is a slightly different experience. Right now, I just need to actually show up to the place and get used to the new environment. My runs are a normal enough part of my daily routine that they should hopefully happen naturally. "They always grow louder when they're about to feed..." - Cook at least two new recipes per week. This shouldn't be too hard. I'm happily working through a couple of my cookbooks, and the results have been excellent; I just need to keep consistently working on expanding my repertoire. Since this is already a big hobby, I expect good results. I may even post photos for bonus points. "Why won't my arms move?" "You've been mostly dead all day." - Stretch, at least for a couple minutes, daily. I've been feeling a bit creaky lately, probably from the weird mix of sitting around and rare high-intensity exercise that's been thrown at me this summer. I want to try to build in a stretching routine into my mornings to deal with some of this. "And yet he gains!" - Run a race. Any race. Don't die. This will probably be a 5k in the neighborhood or something. I think I need to psychologically adjust to the idea of races and runs with other people again, after not doing anything of the sort since March. Oh, and it's great to see y'all again. It's good to be back. "That doesn't leave much time for dilly-dallying..."

Continuing on from my previous challenge with similar goals and Deadpool goodness Goals 1. Stick with Half Marathon Training Plan I've got 8 weeks till my next half marathon and training is going well so far. I just need to stick to my training plan to run 3-4 times a week. The plan is to a long run on Sunday (unless it's OCR week), a recovery run Tues, speed or hill session Thurs and Parkrun on Saturday (again, unless it clashes with an OCR). 2. Strength train when not running incl GtG chin ups. Pretty self explanatory, do a strength training routine - whether that's lifting or body-weight based - 2-3 times a week (climbing is included in this too). Also keep working on chin ups whenever I can to try and do more than one. 3. Stretch properly and foam roll my ass regularly. I've started to let this slide again and my body is starting to suffer because of it. I need to make sure I warm up before running, stretch afterwards, and try to foam roll whenever I can, particularly my ass! I did a 10k run yesterday and my left glute seized up so badly I struggled to walk back to the car! If i'm going to increase my running distance and intensity, I've got to look after my butt! I'm also going to experiment with some BCAAs to see if these help with recovery. Bonus goal - Don't eat like a dick on weekdays. Keep a food log Mon-Fri. I'm allowed to eat what I like at weekends but that doesn't mean I can go crazy. I started tracking what I ate in the middle of the last challenge and found it helpful to just keep me mindful of what I was eating. I'm not monitoring calories or trying to lose or gain weight, I just want to make my diet healthier to try and keep my energy levels up and hopefully stop me catching every bug that goes around!

KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid! Ok, so I was planning on a ludicrously complicated challenge this time round (which may be on the cards still in the future), but I realised a lot of my problems may have been caused by getting overwhelmed and trying to do to much, So this challenge I'm going to KISS. Stick to Workout Plan - 30XP What? Stick to my current workout plan Why? I'm training for an OCR. Warrior Run 2nd October. And I'm mildly terrified. How? Follow this weekly plan: M: Circuit training T: Run W: Legs/Shoulders T: Run F: Back/Chest S: Short Run and [circuit training or bouldering] S: Long Run and [circuit training or bouldering] All runs are as per a Runkeeper plan I'm doing (erroneously titled sub-65 minute 10k), but I might switch out the Saturdays for Parkrun as that's generally the same length and it's nice to run with other people. Sometimes life will get in the way, and that's fine. But try to plan ahead for this to miss as little as possible. And sometimes I may get hurt or need a rest and that's fine too. But in that case I still need to do as much as I can safely, and if I can't do that focus on recovery through stretching/yoga/foam rolling. Get Free of Smoking - 10XP What? Set myself up to get free of smoking. Why? Not because it might kill me long term, oddly enough, although that clearly should be a concern. But because I know I can run faster, hike further, and feel better if I give it up. How? Read "Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking" minimum 3 hours per week (I'm a very slow reader). This book was recommended by @deftona and @mr_willes, and I've since found out that it was also the book both of my parents read when they gave up, which is encouraging. Once I've read the book I will formulate a Plan* *Plan should not merely be a plan, but should be sufficient to warrant the capital P. Weights and Measures - 10XP What? Track weight, measurements and body fat percentage. Why? Because I'm not calorie counting or on any kind of diet plan, and I need to see if I can keep getting away with just intuitive eating. How? Weight and measure myself, before bed, minimum 4 times per week. Then calculate body fat % using this handy spreadsheet. Report figures on here. Sleep - 10XP What? Get to bed at a decent time, and get up at a decent time too. Why? Because I like working out in the morning before work, for how much time it frees up and how quiet the gym is. And weekends are busy and I don't want to waste the days. How? This one's in two parts: To Bed: In bed by 11pm or within an hour of getting home, whichever later. 1 point for on time, a bonus point for every 10 minutes early, -1 point for every 5 minutes late. Goal is 7 points per week. To Rise: Up at 7am on weekdays. As punishment 1 burpee for every 5 minutes late getting up. Goal is to not do any burpees. Don't Mow the Lawn - 15XP What? Tidy up the damn house! And generally be an adult. Why? Because, whether I like it or not, I am in fact an adult and I don't want to live in a shithole. How? We have a list at home of chores to be done. Mrs and I are running our own private PvP of who can tick off the most each week, and the loser each week has to mow the lawn (which we both hate). The goal is simple, never mow the lawn! Clean your Teeth - 5XP What? Clean my teeth. Why? Because I would quite like what's left of them to remain inside my head. How? With a brush! Joking. Clean teeth minimum twice per day, minimum once with sonic brush. Floss minimum once per day. Yes, this one's back. I thought I could manage this without it being a goal, but apparently I'm a terrible human being. Other KISS rules: Follow less fewer people: I hate this rule, but truth is I've been a pretty shitty friend on here for the last couple of challenges. In my effort to do all the things and keep up with everyone else, I've actually not kept up with anyone. So I'm going to try and follow fewer people, and instead focus on actually keeping up with them. If I'm not following you this time around please don't take it personally, it probably means that I think you already have a great support structure on here and you just don't need me. Handily the people with the best support structure tend to be the ones with threads that run to dozens of pages! I've also changed my notification settings so I can now keep up with them. So if you do need me, you can tag me and there's now a fair chance I'll see it. No extra work: No PvPs, no Ranger Mini, no random push-up challenges (I seems to have done some sort of push-up challenge every month since I started here). With my plan, and a bit of badminton with a mate, I'm going to be exercising about 10 times per week. That is more than enough! Housekeeping: Measurements may be in metric or imperial, because I want to make damn sure no-one's happy all the time! As always, the challenge starts on the Monday (22/08) and runs to Sunday (18/09) For those of you wondering, yes I am doing a festival again this month. The theme's gone though as it's Purbeck Valley Folk Festival, and I don't know enough of the acts to put a theme together.

So I'm finally posting my new challenge! I've already started today, but finishing the last one yesterday buggered up the preparation side somewhat. So without further ado.... Why have one festival themed challenge when you can have two? At the end of week 1 I'm off to Ramblin' Man Fair: Not a camping weekend this time, just two day tickets, so shouldn't be quite such a pause in my goals for this. I love a bit of classic rock and prog, so this should be a great weekend out with my Dad. To Goals! The Final Countdown - 25XP What? Finally counting down my smoking, to be virtually smoke free by the time the next challenge rolls around. Why? I'm sick of not being able to keep up with people, be it walking, swimming or manual work, because I've spent the past 11 years deliberately destroying my lung capacity. I'm also training for an OCR at the start of October, and running training and smoking do not mix. How? Follow these rules: No smoking at work At last challenge, no smoking at home, at the gym (or climbing gym) or in the car Count how many cigarettes I have and track on here This should mean that I have several completely smoke free days throughout the month, and only really smoke socially. I have however set the XP really high as I'm expecting to fail a fair bit whilst I adjust. Still of the Night - 10XP What? Get to bed at a sensible time, and get up at a sensible time too Why? Because I need sleep to recover from workouts and get stronger, not to mention to keep me sane and awake at work. And I hate sleeping in and rushing or feeling like I've wasted half a day. How? Every night I will be in bed by 11pm, or within 1 hour of getting home, whichever later. No more "up to bed at..." though, must be in bed, lights off, by that time. Workday mornings I will be out of bed by 7am. Punishment: I will do 1 burpee for every 5 minutes late I get to bed, 1 burpee for every 5 minutes late getting up, 5 burpees for every time I hit snooze and 20 burpees if I turn my alarm off and go back to sleep. Seen this work for a couple of people, so hopefully it'll work for me too. Runnin' Wild - 15XP I forgot Lemmy drives the truck in that video... What? Get in some running training in preparation for the OCR. Why? In preparation for the OCR, I just told you! It's 14km, I want to make sure I complete it, and hopefully complete it without too much injury. And the futhest I've run in one go is 5 miles, so definitely going to need a lot of training. How? Stick to the Runkeeper plan I'm currently working on - usually means running 4 times per week on days beginning with T and S. Blind Man - 5XP What? Track weight and body fat % weekly. Why? I'm not currently calorie/diet tracking, or sticking to any sort of plan. I'm just trying to eat sensibly intuitively. So if I'm not tracking what's going in, I at least need to keep an eye on the result, otherwise I'm blind to it (see, the song totally fits). How? Sunday nights, before bed, weigh self and then measure self and input into this handy spreadsheet. (Not my work, all credit to @Geek On Fire for making this). Killer on the Loose - 10XP What? Keep up strength training the the gym and bouldering. Why? Because I want a level of functional strength that I'm never held back from enjoying myself by my body. Plus the aforementioned OCR, the bouldering particularly will help with that. And because it's fun. And of course to look good naked . How? 2 sessions minimum in the gym or bouldering per week. Bonus: +5XP for 12 sessions in the challenge. A Better Man - 15XP What? Sort myself out to sort my house out (or vice versa?). Why? Because tidy house tidy mind, and also it would be nice to be able to have friends round without worrying about the state of the place. And hopefully if I keep on top of the simple things it will make my life easier. How? Do the following every week: Clean kitchen or clean bathroom Hoover either downstairs or upstairs At least 20 minutes tidying a room Run a load of washing at the weekend, and put out to dry Prep breakfasts on a Sunday (preferably for the whole week) Housekeeping: I expect to find some loopholes in my challenges as I work through - I will enjoy them for the week and then all known loopholes to be closed on Mondays. Expect profanity, long rambling stories and a lot of Pokémon GO! in this thread. Please feel free to join in with any of these. All units may be in metric or imperial, SI or non-SI, Gregorian, Julian or Aramaeic, Lunar, Solar or Nebular, or just plain made up. So that's pretty much all from me, lets rock on with this one!

I get lost in adventure novels (no I haven't read this original work yet), but don't really lead an adventurous life. Like Trevor it would probably have to creep up on me and let me fall in to it. With me choosing to take part in a beginner's OCR - The Muddy Princess - I am making the effort to go out and find a bit of adventure. I want to be Hannah however. The Go-Get-It-Girl! So for this challenge Hannah does the training - no hesitation, push through it, she can do anything, and she always comes up with a plan. Trevor is good, but he doesn't always get all the things done. He will concentrate on water and sleep, the essentials. Shaun is a teenager and they (from what I've heard) are sometimes stubborn. I'm going to need him to help me with food. Together we'll face this adventure at the Centre of the Earth, and come out strong and daring to face the OCR, and any other adventures that might occur. TRAINING with Hannah BW Strength: OCR workout. 2x/week - 6x at least for 85% to pass. Cardio: Run/Walk 2x/week - 6x at least for 85% to pass. Mobility Stretches: - 6x at least for 85% to pass. ESSENTIALS with Trevor Water/Rooibos/Herbal tea: 5/7 days a week. Min. 20 days, 80% to pass. Sleep (at least 7hours a night) 5/7 days a week. Min. 20 days, 80% to pass. FOOD with Shaun <50g net carbs per day. 5/7 days a week. By end of challenge 25 days at least. Includes 4 variances for a chocolate or something (thinking shark week or just really want something). Banting approved snacks obviously doesn't count as a variance, but their carbs will count towards my daily carb limit. Knowingly eating gluten, I immediately loose the day even if my carbs were < 50g. A variance cannot be used to eat gluten. Gluten = flesh eating plants! INJURY PROTOCOLS I sprained my ankle while doing the first OCR workout for this challenge during Week 0. I've deleted the previous protocols as they don't really apply. I've decided not to count week 0 as part of the challenge. Will take the rest of the challenge as it comes.

Deep in the mountains of the north stands a castle known to all. Over it lords the most evil of humans and with his power, he seeks to control all. There is only one way to ensure his downfall. You must steal the gem that gives him his magic. If you should fail, we will all be doomed. - Nanurius The above is a message I found earlier today outside of my door. I'm guessing it was delivered by an owl because that is the only form of delivery that makes sense given the generic fantasy cheesiness of it. It was handwritten with what appears to be a quill (or at least a fountain pen) on a thick parchment-esque type paper. Honestly? I didn't even realize they still made that kind of stuff today. Do wizards (I mean really - what else could a guy called Nanurius be with a name like that?) not know about email, texting, WhatsApp? It also included a map with a handwritten message to follow the trail into the dark forest (seems safe) and to meet up with ROAR (lions? tigers? bears? Really Obviously Awesome Rorschachs?) for training. Idk man, seems legit (#sarcasm). But because something about this compels me to check it out and because I have zero sense of self preservation sometimes, I'm gonna see what its about. Worst case scenario? I run into a bunch of guys hunting Pokemon and looking like phone eating zombies. Best case scenario? Well, I guess I could save us "all" - that would look pretty good on a resume: "Saver of the world from a tyrannical demon overlord". I can see the hiring managers now. But really. I'm bored, looking for an adventure, and I could always use some time in nature. Let's go find ROAR.

This isn't really a Deadpool themed challenge - but all Deadpool gifs and pics are welcome - it's more inspired by his catchphrase in the movie. I’ve been coasting along for the last few challenges, which has been fine, sometimes it’s good to take a step back and relax. I’ve still seen a few improvements in my performance over the past weeks including beating obstacles at races that I've never done before. It got me thinking, if I put more effort in, how awesome could I make myself? So now it’s time to put that extra effort in. I know I can make some noticeable gains in my strength, speed and endurance if I put my head down and get on with it. I'll be running this challenge from week 0 and maybe stretch it over into the next challenge if all goes to plan. In the words of DP Get stronger Finish the Nia Shanks’ “Get Strong!” program This is an 8 week program, I’m in week 4 now and so far it’s been great. The plan is a circuit based bodyweight program involving a variation of a pull-up, push-up, single leg squat, glute bridge and walkout. The main reason I brought the program was to finally do bodyweight chin ups without assistance (and eventually move onto pull ups). The program calls for you to increase the difficulty of each exercise every 2 weeks and in week 1 of this challenge, I’m due to move down to the teeny tiny resistance band. The final resistance band! If all goes well with the x-small band, I should be able to move onto bodyweight chin ups and in theory, I should be able to perform multiple reps. In theory! The plan calls for 4 sets of 5 reps and I must admit, I’m a little skeptical that I’ll be able to complete 5 bodyweight chin ups, let alone 4 sets of them. If I can, great! If not, then I’ll break away from the plan slightly and do as many reps as I can unassisted and then finish up the workout with the resistance band - or possibly half reps or negatives. I haven’t decided yet. tl/dr version; if I can do more than 1 rep of a dead-hang chin up by the end of this challenge, I’ll be a happy bunny Get faster? Or go further? Pfft! I’m a Ranger. I'll do both! Weeks 0 + 1: Run, just run. Week 2 +: Half Marathon training plan I’ve let my running slip recently as I haven’t had any big distance races to train for. To get back into the swing of things, I’ve spent the last few weeks going out for “casual” runs without my running watch. I just wanted to enjoy the run without getting caught up in analyzing every little detail of my run. I’ll continue to do that till week 2 of this challenge but after that, I need to start training for the October half marathon. I wasn’t too happy with the plan I picked for the last half I did (I picked one based on time instead of distance and I think it was meant for people that run faster than I do). I’m switching to a different one that is a 4x a week plan so I’m not expecting this to be easy. All kicks up the ass to get me running will be appreciated “Having a healthy mind is just as important as having a healthy body” I’ve found myself getting quite stressed and anxious recently and I’ve been looking for ways to deal with this. The meditation part of last month’s Ranger mini was a real eye opener for me and since then I’ve tried to do some form of meditation whenever I’ve had the chance or if things start to overwhelm me. The aim will be for me to do some form of meditation or relaxing exercise at least twice a week. I don’t want to make this something that I make myself do daily as that feels counterproductive. If I’m stressing about not getting my meditation done one day that it defeats the purpose of it. The relaxation exercise isn’t limited to meditating. Yoga, colour therapy or sketching in my sketchbook will also count. I have an OCR mid-way through this challenge but it's only a 12k so while I can use it to test my strength gains, the real test will be on August 20th when I have an 18k OCR - which also happens to be my birthday! I'll be running with others who are slower than me but it will still be a test of my endurance and strength over a longer distance.