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Hi! I'm writing a novel this month. For those of you just tuning in, this is not new. I've done this most years around this time, but I think this is the... 2nd ever time that I walked in with a really concrete idea of what I wanted to do and where I wanted it to go. (the first time was a sci-fi riff on Ragnarok meets A Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I would definitely not write it the same way this time, but I should probably go back to it someday since it's the story that taught me the most). As you might imagine, though, that's my only official goal. As if the other stuff is going to be put on hold; it won't be. But keeping all the plates spinning with this new wrinkle going on is going to be challenge enough, I think. Goal is 50,000 words. I will provide my word count here as my goal for the challenge. I do note that the challenge cuts off on 11/26. I might carry past it. I might not. I don't know if I'm going to finish the draft before I get to 50K, so if I do, I'll consider the challenge a success. Had tournament this past weekend! Best showing yet - got to medal contention and went the distance on that match, even winning points, which is the first time that's ever happened. I still didn't win. It was fine. I showed growth, and when I went to class yesterday I was recognized along with a bunch of other people for having gone out and done stuff. Yesterday was also our last day in the old building. They're going to the new building tonight; they're still capping class sizes, and I thought I'd have an errand tonight that it turns out I don't, so I reserved a spot on the waitlist. Might not make tonight. That's okay if it happens. Also, last night was Halloween! Went to hang with my friend for Sci Fi night; the Halloween tradition when that happens is for us to sit outside with Adult Beverages and pass out candy along with treats for the adults. This year, the entire cul de sac got in on it and it wound up being more of a block party than anything, especially since there weren't that many kids on account of inclement weather. Today is the first day. I will update with my word count later.

This year's Tough Mudder event in Edinburgh was in June. So, it being early July, I have just shy of a year until the next one, and I want to sign up. Reason: I want to get the hell out of this office job and become a field ecologist. I will settle for general adventurer. If I can complete a Tough Mudder, I can handle pretty much anything field ecology can throw at me. Except perhaps angry squirrels, I don't think they have them at events. You can be a great field ecologist without crawling about under live wires and scrambling up greased halfpipes, but I hate doing things half-arsed. Problems: I can't run for shit. Can just about catch buses. 10-12km? NO. Don't think I've even hiked that before.I'm not that weak, but I can't do pull ups, let alone swing across monkey bars.I am fat as fuck. I am perfectly fine with being fat as fuck as long as I also get healthy, but I do not plan on getting stuck in any underwater pipes, and it would be so much easier to lift my bodyweight if my bodyweight was less than 229lbs. So, sorting that out, but the priority is strength and endurance, not deflating. That said, if I incidentally get small enough to fit into clothes from Primark, score.I have a broken handbone at the moment. Technically a problem. Practically, as long as I don't go around punching things and crawling about on my knuckles until it's healed, should be fine. Training Plan: This'll be broken down across several six-week challenges, and will consist of following the prescribed workouts available on the Tough Mudder website, from Mudderling to Tough Mudder, as well as getting my running endurance up - from Running At All to 12km and beyond. Will throw in some hiking as well. Meanwhile, I'll be following the diet that's served me well whenever I've stuck to it - put in all the protein and vegetables, watch portion sizes (keep intake around 1500-1800kcal), try to avoid nutritionally crap food. I won't include processed food in general in "nutritionally crap" because my main source of protein is Quorn and I NEED MY SAUSAGES. Sod those veggie sausages that are basically just cheese and potato. That is not proper sausages. Not proper sausages at all. Draft Timeline: Now: Stop procrastinating, get back to work. Weeks until next 6-week challenge: Start Couch to 5k. Work on the strength training program you've been working on this challenge. Do not re-break hand. Try out new exercises from Mudderling program so you can start it with good form. Eat clean. Hike on weekends. 1st 6 week TM-related challenge: Mudderling training program. Continue running program; aim to do 5km by end of challenge. Eat clean, hike on weekends. 2nd 6 week TM-related challenge: See above. (Aim to run 7.5km by end of challenge.) 3rd 6 week TM-related challenge: See above; move on to Maybe Mudder; aim to run 10km by end of challenge. 4th 6 week TM-related challenge: Same as above, but aim for 12.5km. 5th 6 week TM-related challenge: Blah blah, Tough Mudder program, 15km 6th blahblahblah: Blah. As far as you possibly can. Blah. Odd object training to toughen up skin on hands. Between challenge breaks - focus on maintenance and troubleshooting. So let's say that's 36 challenge weeks, 1.5 weeks between each one, and about three weeks till next challenge. That's 46.5 weeks. Beyond 6th Challenge: See 6th challenge. I am expecting things will not go completely smoothly, but there are a couple of weeks' leeway between the end of the 6th challenge and when the event might roughly be, so there will be catch-up time. On the other hand, if by some miracle I progress really rapidly, then there are always ways to make it harder. Overaiming regarding running, but if I aim high I might just scrape a pass for what I probably should be aiming for. This is going to be shit, isn't it? Yay.