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Due to family commitments, I didn't work on my last challenge at all. I did manage to keep up with the ranger minis but that was it. I have gained about three kilos and I am back up to 115kg. Not really happy, about that. So it is time to get back on track with this challenge and do what I need to do.Because of my absence, sailing the skies with the crew of the pirate airship Queen Lizzy's Cutlass, the troll has regained its full strength and hitpoints. I too am at full health. Now a couple of things are happening which I want to include here in my NF goals. I have recently started studying a Diploma of Nutrition, this is important to me for my family's health and also a possible new career direction. I also recently joined an Aussie support group on fb called SuperDads. The founder of the group is a personal trainer based in Queensland, He has just created an eight-week course designed to help Dads improve their lives across a broad range of areas, I am lucky enough to have gained a place as one of his test subjects for the course. So over the next 8 weeks [well seven and a half, we started Monday] I am participating in a course that will help [hopefully] boost my parenting skills, life skills, health skills, and become a better version of myself. In other words to become a Super Dad. I somehow want to be able to combine my heathenry, the Broadsword training, Nutrition course into a health and fitness programme/school/academy in some way, I am not sure quite how yet. But the idea is there. This is the start of that journey. Now to my goals. Goal One: Highland Broadsword This is still my focus for my fitness. I will also be adding the monthly SCA combat training to this goal. Attending that is equivalent to three training sessions at home. I want to do 2-4 cateran sessions plus 1-2 SCA combat training drills per week. I have found a youtube clip showing the basics of the SCA heavy combat training that I was shown last month and I will use that as my basis for the SCA drills. I need to become a qualified Broadswordsman in order to teach broadsword, That means regular dedicated training and updates on my Cateran training blog. The SCA is still my primary place to train with other people and a possible source of future students. Goal Two: Runic Meditation It is time to continue with the next four runes; Ing, Daeg, Oethel, Ac. I still need to bring this back up to five times per week to be benefiting the most from this practice. If I perform a monthly Blessing that counts as a critical hit for the week. I have noticed the difference in not doing these meditations over the past few weeks and I do not like the difference. I also plan to move to a meditation upon the Nine Noble Virtues and its derivatives/variations after I have finished with the runes. I think these virtues could be the part of Heathenry that could most easily be adapted to my idea, Goal Three: Workouts I really need to increase my strength to deal with fighting in heavy combat. Not to mention my endurance. I am also having lower back pain from tight muscles and poor posture, so I need to start stretching regularly as well. I plan to stretch as part of warming up/down before any strength workout. Thanks to the last challenge I have started doing push ups every day again, only one set of five but that is much better than none. I want to keep this up and add some stuff to do as a simple daily routine, that will gradually increase my fitness. I can see the old BBWW routine coming back into play again. Goal Four: Becoming a SuperDad I am changing this from a general doing stuff to becoming a SuperDad, as a tip of the hat to the programme I have started. I am going to list the various tasks that I want to be working on over the next few weeks and beyond. Build training shields and swords for the kids to play with and for me to actually train with. Work more on the Garden/House maintenance. Studying my nutrition course. Doing stuff with/for Bec, date nights are still an automatic critical hit. Doing her hair, watching a movie together, a coffee downtown, any shared activity that builds our relationship (excluding shopping and housework). Participating in the Superdad programme Spending more time crafting. Scoring It has dawned on me that the troll could actually wound me four times per week if I stuff up. So I am adapting the scoring and life points to allow for this. I now have 17 life points to allow me to survive if I lose every week of combat with the troll. I am doubling the points the trol has as well to compensate. I am also altering the amount of damage that I can do to the troll in order to be able to kill it in one challenge. 5+ sessions per week is a Critical Hit on the troll and is worth four points. 4 sessions per week is a Hit on the troll and is worth two points. 3 sessions per week is a weak hit on the troll as is worth one point. 2 sessions per week is a block/dodge or miss as the troll evades my attack and is worth no points. 1 session per week is a block/dodge or miss as I evade the troll's attack and is worth no points. 0 sessions per week is a hit by the troll on me and I lose one point.

Right now I have killed the first troll his mate has come to take revenge. The plan is simple: do stuff, meet my goals, kill the next troll. But what is the stuff I am going to do? Goal One: Highland Broadsword I want more consistency here, pure and simple, if I get 3 sessions per week I will be happy. Goal Two: Runic Meditation I was consistently meditating 5 times per week at the start of the year, back to that is the goal, minimum of three is acceptable Goal Three: Workouts I have three options for workouts: HIIT on the exercise bike, Kettlebell [Pavel's Simple and Sinister], Bodyweight workout [Darebee/Neila Rey Ithilien Ranger workout]. the aim is to fo one of each workout per week. Goal Four: Doing Stuff This continues the stuff that killed the troll last challenge, each week I need to do at least one of each of the areas on this list. House and garden maintenance/improvements Kids activities and appreciating them Bec time, doing stuff especially with her [dates are an automatic critical hit] My self-improvement other areas, markets, crafting stuff, reading, studies, stretching/yoga, job search. Scoring will be a bit different here, I actually need a scoring system so I can better track my consistency. However as I am fighting a troll I think my scoring needs to reflect this battle in some way, so I will adapt my previous scoring system to better reflect a fight with the troll. All the goals will be scored the same, The troll has 16 hit points, so I need to score four hits per week each week to kill the troll. The troll can wound me and I have 6 hit points, whilst I can not be 'killed' by the troll it can seriously wound me which would reflect my lack of progress in improving my health. If the troll survives this challenge it will regenerate half of the hit points that it has lost to show that it is injured going into the next challenge. I start the next challenge with 5 points if wounded by the troll, six if I am unscathed or kill the troll. 5+ sessions per week is a Critical Hit on the troll and is worth two points. 3-4 sessions per week is a Hit on the troll and is worth one point 2 sessions per week is a block/dodge or miss as the troll evades my attack and is worth no points 1 session per week is a block/dodge or miss as I evade the troll's attack and is worth no points 0 sessions per week is a hit by the troll on me and I lose one point. Let the battle commence.

At the end of last challenge the troll was left with five life points. As I said in my last challlenge the troll will regenerate half of its lost life points, the troll lost 11 points so it will regenerate 6 points during zero week. Bringing the troll up to a total of 11 life points. My week zero has been pretty poor with lack of sleep and dealing with my still unwell family. I have done bugger all in reality. Not a good place to be starting from, but I have been worse. I am still on five life points as I stated in my previous challenge to show my weakened state, after being injured by the troll. Now to my goals. Goal One: Highland Broadsword This is still my focus for my fitness. I will also be adding the monthly SCA combat training to this goal. Attending that is equivalent to three training sessions at home. I want to do 2-4 cateran sessions plus 1-2 SCA combat training drills per week. I have found a youtube clip showing the basics of the SCA heavy combat training that I was shown last month and I will use that as my basis for the SCA drills. Goal Two: Runic Meditation It is time to continue with the next four runes; Ing, Daeg, Oethel, Ac. I still need to bring this back up to five times per week to be benefiting the most from this practice. If I perform a monthly Blessing that counts as a critical hit for the week. It is time I stepped up my religous ritual practices. Goal Three: Workouts I really need to increase my strength to deal with fighting in heavy combat. Not to mention my endurance. I am also having lower back pain from tight muscles and poor posture, so I need to start stretching regularly as well. I plan to stretch as part of warming up/down before any strength workout. The Ithilien Ranger workout stays, even one set is better than none here. It may be short but it is intense. Goal Four: Doing Stuff This has been great for my relationship with my Bec. It has also reminded me to enjoy my kids. Now I need to use it to help me become more crafty, after all I have training shields to build, and training swords for the kids. I also have some ideas for products for my market stall that I need to buckle down and work on. My Bec has started playing around making armour (yes she loves all forms of crafting, this is just a new way to test her skills). However it left me feeling somewhat inadequate, incompetent and useless. Now I am non of these things, I need to put my skills to work to make stuff to show me that I can, and do, use my skills to make some cool things. Garden/House maintenance I need to put in more of an effort here. Appreciating the kids, including making stuff for them (like the aforementioned swords and shields). Doing stuff with/for Bec, date nights are still an automatic critical hit. Doing her hair, watching a movie together, a coffee downtown, any shared activity that builds our relationship (excluding shopping and housework). My crafting time. I want to be spending between 2-10 hours being crafty, whether it is stuff for the SCA, for the kids, or stuff for the markets, I want to soend more time doing this than random computer crap. The scoring will be the same as last challenge; 5+ sessions per week is a Critical Hit on the troll and is worth two points. 3-4 sessions per week is a Hit on the troll and is worth one point 2 sessions per week is a block/dodge or miss as the troll evades my attack and is worth no points 1 session per week is a block/dodge or miss as I evade the troll's attack and is worth no points 0 sessions per week is a hit by the troll on me and I lose one point.