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So many challenge threads already! I've finally, at long last, officially, reached level 9. More soon. UPDATE ONE: So here's what I'm thinking. A lot during the last challenge I was looking at Gold Medal Bodies (GMB's) stuff. I decided that I would pull the trigger with the Parallettes One program on the next challenge (this one). They have a bundle with their Focused Flexibility program, and flexibility has been on my to-do list for a while. So why not both! The tricky part is that I'm on vacation, away from home, away from my computer, and I haven't looked at how the programs are structured, so I'm uncertain of how it'll fit into a six-week challenge, with goal setting etc. Can I do both FF and Parallettes with a reasonable schedule? I will have to wait to find out. So my goals may have to be fleshed out and/or adjusted as time goes by. Presently here's where my goals stand: 1. GMB's Parallettes One Program (x times weekly...to be determined) 2. GMB's Focused Flexibility Program (x times weekly...to be determined) (1a-2a) Swing dancing warm-ups. Post playlists. 3. Eat well: cook two healthy meals at home per week. 4. Post (follow-up) on five Assassins' threads weekly.

My last challenge was a mixed bag, but a mixed bag that actually saw me moving in the right direction. So this challenge will see me trying to keep working on developing these habits. I will also be pushing out into 2 new areas, one where I don't know much and I will be investigating and another where I know what I should be doing but there is a lot of baggage holding me back. Goal 1: Exercise - 3x week Parallettes, 2x week getting moving and having fun. I really enjoyed getting into parallette training in the last challenge and was well on my way to forming a 3x a week habit. I also need to get myself out and doing something active. I started to take ice skating lessons last challenge and I want to keep up with this, either expanding it to twice a week or adding something else fun. Goal 2: Maintain habits - Sleep 8 hours a night and get up to my alarm everyday in the morning. It is maybe going a bit far to call this one 'maintain habits' as these aren't habits yet, but I want to continue building on what I started in the last challenge. As with last time the rules are easy: sleep for 8 hours and then get up when my alarm goes = 1 point. Goal 3: Food - Maintain a food log, assess log, decide what I want to do, implement strategy. This goal is a bit vague and probably needs tidying up. In principle I don't really have a clue what I want to do with my diet. I don't really have a grasp of what I eat, or what this equates to it calories or general macro composition. I also don't really know what I would do if I had this information. Therefore my strategy is as follows: 1. For the first 2 weeks of the challenge I will keep a daily food log. I am not sure what is useful data to record, but hopefully this will become clearer over these 2 weeks. 2. In week 3 I will assess the food log and make a decision whether anything needs to be changed and if so, then what and how. 3. For the last 3 weeks I will start to implement the food decision made in week 3. Goal 4: Life Goal (overcoming inertia) - Finish the data analysis for my project so that I can send it off for the next step. Daily small steps. I have a project I worked on for a long time that has never been finished due to overwhelming inertia that arises from it being connected to a bad period of my life, a terrible working environment surrounded by people who basically pschologically abused me. It wasn't nice and I didn't know how to deal with it. I have now escaped the environment but find myself unable to tackle the project as it is still connected to all of these feelings. On the other hand not completing the project is one of the things that keeps me up at night. I want to be a finisher and I want to complete the project for myself regardless of what comes out of it at the end. I just need to get it off my back so I can stop thinking about it. I know what I need to do, but I need to get myself back into it (it is a year since I have touched it), do some data analysis and then send it on to someone who can do the next step. It makes me sad and uncomfortable just thinking about this goal, so I really do need to get it done so that I can get back on with my life.

Last challenge went really well, and since I am still training for my "Port City Battleship Half-Marathon" on Nov 2 (Sunday following the conclusion of the challenge), I have decided, "If it's not Baroque, don't fix it". So, with a few minor adaptations, I present the second verse of my half-marathon training song. Main Quest: Be Extraordinary I am on a quest to be more extraordinary, starting with (finally) conquering an item that has been on my bucket list for a while now: the Half Marathon. I have 7 weeks remaining to whip myself into shape. Step One: Run (duh) In the next six weeks, I need to increase my long run from the current 9.5 miles accomplished last challenge to 14 miles. Why am I running 14 miles when a half marathon is only 13.1? Because I'm nuts. And because if I have already run 14, 13.1 will seem easy. At least that's my logic. Step Two: "Come with me if you want to not die." I don't want to forget my Assassin roots, and I'm not all legs, so I want to spend at least an hour a week on upper body/core stuff. I just bought a set of parallettes, and I would like to try out the free Beginner Parallettes program from GMB. However, since the Half-Marathon is priority, if the program is too intense, I will sub other activities like swimming, yoga, etc with no loss of points. There is always next challenge (post-race) to pursue parallettes in a more focused manner. Step Three: Forget what others are doing. Embrace what is special about you. - Vitruvius The mobility sitting idea from last challenge was a good one, I just need to get back on track with it. So, back on 20 minutes a day in any combination of these positions: I got really lazy about this one, and in week 3, it became obvious that doing some leg strengthening to reduce knee pain is higher priority. So, for weeks 4-6 the goal is MovNat MOD 2/week. Stepping Over x 8: Perform in a slow and controlled manner. Switch sides.Stepping Under x 8: Perform in a slow and controlled manner. Switch sides.Lateral Figure Four Sitting Reverse x 16: Alternating sidesSquat x 16: Hold at the bottom and bounce softly a few times before standing up.Split Squat x 8: Switch SidesDeep Knee Bend x 8Deep Knee Bend Stances x 8: 10 second holdDeep Kneeling to Tall Kneeling x 8: Shift bodyweight backward as your knees go to the ground.Deep Knee Bend to Deep Half-Kneeling x 8: Switch sides. Side Quest: Weight Loss PvP with Grizzy I still have 3 weeks left of the Weight Loss PvP, so I will be sticking with that. I'm on quite a roll right now, so hopefully it will go well. In Conclusion 1. Increase long run mileage to 14 miles 2. Upper body/core workouts 1 hour/week 3. Mobility sitting 20 minutes/day MovNat MOD 2/week 4. Weight Loss PvP Woohoo! Everything is awesome....

Main Quest: Honor the Vessel. Develop a new appreciation for the body I have and start listening to it. A sort of quest to increase my intuition for what is good and healthy for my whole being as well as accepting where I am right now. I have struggled my whole life with comparing myself to others and its not fun for me to admit it. I realize I will always have goals and will overcome many things in the future, but I want to really appreciate what I've been given. Realize that it's a blessing. Sorry if this all seems sappy. I am coming back from almost 4 years of personal neglect where my biggest downfall has been consistency. I have overcome a lot lately and am noticing a renewal in self that is encouraging. I want to take advantage of this challenge to pay close attention to the things that will bring me balance: Nutrition. Put an end to needless snacking. I have no problem eating healthy but then come the pointless snacks out of pure boredom. Terrible, I know. Clean eating, whole foods, limit grains and dairy. Drink water, and lots of it. No alcohol except moderately at holidays. (Uuuu-huh...riiiight.) I'd really like to loose my last 5 pounds. Kill the media. Limit of ten minutes a day on the computer aside from the business stuff. TV will be tough since my between my husband and son it's on every night, but I can engage in something while it's on. Basically no idleness in front of the boob tube. This will allow me to: Read and journal more. I have so much to read and I love reading but I haven't done much lately. Also journaling frees my creativity, encourages self dialogue, and stimulates me mentally. Wakes me up. Early mornings at least during the weekdays. Sets my day so nice. Forces me to get to bed early throughout the week. Just helps me a lot. I want to mention that I'm not going to worry about the holidays. Dinners with family is just going to be too fun and good times to worry about it. (Thanksgiving and Christmas day only. I'm not talking other days even if I'm visiting.) I wait all year for this stuff Fitness Goal: I'm going to climb no matter what, so my focus this time is my parallette training. I will practice my routine on non climbing days. It's a quick routine so I should be able to manage. knee tuck: 10 secs x's 3 L-sit: max hold time x's 3 (I can't do the 10 secs yet..) straddle hold max time x's 3 p-bar push ups. Killer. I'm going to keep up with stretching but nothing specific. I also want to start walking outside just to try to get as much fresh air this season as possible. Side Quest: Handstands Assassin style. You know what I'm talkin about I'm going to keep that quest going past December 31st with the 5 minutes training.. Let the games begin.