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More of the same. Despite dropping off here, I continued with middling success through the end of the last challenge, but don't yet feel like I'm making real progress. The goals aren't much different this time 'round, I'm still making my way along this long road. Goal 1 ~ Run 3x/week. 2.4k route at least 1x/week and 4.1k route at least 1x/week, with an eye to increasing distance. Bonus goal: map out and run a route of at least 5k. Goal 2 ~ Physio and Stretching Simply do it daily. I'm going to finally have some more space to do this in, hopefully by the end of week 1. Bonus goal: Try out the first week of GMB Elements, with the intention to fully integrate this into my routine at some point Goal 3 ~ FitPin Test Components Pushups and back extensions, at least 3x/week. Testing the actual FitPin counts towards both of these (though I do need to do multiple sets of pushups to really be able to call it training). I'm not sure I'll be able to make the back extensions work, I don't currently have the space to do them in, I'm hoping I'll be able to make something work once I have more space in the basement. If I can't, I'll need to figure out an alternative for this. Goal 4 ~ Bedtime Different times on different nights, depending on how early a day I have the next day. Before an early morning: 10pm; before a normal morning: 11pm; before a day off: 12am. Goal 5 ~ Meal Prep At least twice a week. I still need to do a better job of planning ahead on this, but I definitely do a good job of eating what I've prepare instead of takeout, for example, when it's there for me to eat. Goal 6 ~ FitPin Test I've decided that I'll do the other components of the FitPin Test every time I run my 2.4k route, since I have to test it at least weekly for the OPP's fitness logs. They don't actually take very long to do, so there's no reason not to, and more is better than less on this. Other Things I've got my journal set up, it needs a little tweaking for next time but it'll do for now. I'm hoping having a hard copy right there in front of me will help me keep on track (and help me when I report on here, since I often don't remember how things went after a couple of days). I'll post pics once I figure out how to do so. I also want to figure out how to be more active here, I dropped off because I barely had time to update my own thread, let alone keep caught up on others' threads. I've come to realize that I have to sacrifice bedtime in order to keep properly caught up around here, which is obviously less than ideal. I need to pull some extra time out of a hat somewhere, I think.... Some other one-off's I'd like to get done in the near future (for some of them, not necessarily before the end of the challenge, but I should get them done sooner rather than later): ~ Request an ROE from the government ~ Sign up for a course on CPKN (and actually do it) ~ Clean my room (this needs to be done soonish, ideally by the end of Week 1) ~ Purge books etc (they're in a box, I just need to get them out the door) ~ Purge papers etc (it's really a whole bunch of accumulated detritus from nearly 38 years of life, and a serious purge is long over due)

So, it's been a minute. I've been trying to re-find my momentum for a while. It hasn't happened. There are a myriad of reasons and excuses, but the bottom line is that I need to protect my long-term health, and a sedentery lifestyle is what I've been successfully trying to avoid for the past six years, but it's what I've been pulled back to over the past few months. It's my Dark Side. A re-introduction, since I've been absent for a while: I grew up a skinny teenager but got fat in college through beer and bad habits. I stayed that way until my mid-Forties, tipping the scales at around 260lbs at 5ft10in. In 2012 I joined a gym and lost a whole bunch of that weight and began to gain some strength and regained some athleticism. I enjoyed working out but had few goals and was just kind of coasting along, gaining and losing the same five pounds and not really adding strength or endurance. And then, in 2014, I started Obstacle Racing, doing my first Spartan Race in September. I was hooked. In 2015 I completed two Spartan Trifectas, falling short of my third Trifecta on the last weekend of the year due to illness. I was irritated at not reaching that goal and completed 5x Trifecta in 2016 while completing a number of other events and some road races. In 2017, I realized I was getting good at this for an old man and qualified for OCR World Championships as an age group competitor in the Over-50 Men's group. It was by far my most successful year as a "competitive" racer and I was as fast as I have ever been, mostly due to consistency and work ethic. I traveled to Toronto, Ontario and competed with my peers for 9 miles up and down a ski hill in the rain. This was the height of my Jedi powers. I remained active for the first part of 2018, but gained weight, lost a little speed, and even though I qualified again for OCR World Championships this past year, could not attend. The combination of pain, injury and disappointment de-railed me. I let my scheduling issues get the best of me. I've lost a significant amount of muscle mass and nearly all of my cardio fitness. I've allowed some of my mental health issues - depression, anxiety - to re-surface and get the better of me. It's time to take the long road back. Main Goal During the last weekend of October and the first weekend of November I will be competing in Spartan Races on back-to-back weekends on different continents. That's a LOT of miles to rack up in an eight-day period for someone who has not run anywhere of any distance since December, and before that September. Thankfully, I have a tried-and-true training and nutrition plan. Also, for the first time in three years, I am going to be focusing on treating myself with kindness and not just "allowing" for goals that include self-care, but making it a priority. Nutrition Usually I put this as my "third" goal, but I'm putting this in the first slot because without proper nutrition, everything else may as well just go by the wayside. I know how to eat right - plenty of quality, lean protein (chicken, pork, fish) with real fruit and vegetables and quality carbohydrates. I normally have a training macro goal. For this challenge I'm going to start by logging my food - every bit that goes in my mouth - and start dialing in my nutritional goals based on my real activity. I'll add specific training macros as I go along, but only after this goes well. Goal: Track my food intake every day and report it here. Track total calories, protein, fiber and sodium as these are the biggest macro issues for me. Full-Body Strength When I started working out, I was going to the gym two to four times a week and mostly doing Boot Camp workouts. I eventually fell in love with free weights and enjoy strength training, but I also have arthritis and chronic tendinitis and my joints tend to fight against me because I'm a heavy guy for my size and they take a lot of pounding. I have a gym that I have belonged to for six years and I need to start getting my money's worth out of the membership. I will start slowly and ease back into what I know I'm capable of as not to injure myself and be done before I get started. Goal: Full-body strength workouts two to three times per week. Running I actually enjoy trail running, but there's not going to be any of that in Minnesota for me for a while as I just do not enjoy outdoor winter running. If I'm going to complete the Spartan Ultra in Glen Rose Texas in October, I'm going to have to be able to make specific time hacks or I will be removed from the course. I've never received a DNF in an Obstacle Course race. I'm not going to start now. I'm going to ease back in as I stated above with my strength goal. Goal: Start my distance running plan at the novice level: 3x per week, no more than 3 miles per day. Self-Care I'm socially awkward at best and struggle with social anxiety daily. I also have lived with depression and anxiety and in the past have been treated (medicated) for symptoms. I haven't needed that level of help in the past few years as I have successfully self-treated with nutrition, exercise and a healthy dose of service to others. However, the scales are waaaaay out of whack right now and I am dangerously close to some bad places. Fortunately, I also spent a lot of years paying a lot of professionals to help me develop healthy coping habits. It's time to exercise some of those, daily, to regain my equilibrium, and if I can't, it's time to seek out professionals to help. Goal: Practice one tanglble act of self-care daily and report on it. Challenge Obstacles I will be leaving Wednesday afternoon of Week 1 on a 1,500 mile road trip to Florida, to delivery my partner/GF and her vehicle to her month-long break from our Minnesota winter. She works remotely and this will be the second year in a row that we are doing this and I suspect it will become an annual tradition. I will fly back Saturday night, but there will be a couple long days in the car during the trip. I need to roll with this and not get anxiety over the fact that for two days at the beginning of this challenge I will not be able to meet my goals. Events I try to always have something on the docket to keep me focused. I will be attending the Central Florida Terrain Race on Saturday morning, partly because its' five minutes from where we are staying on our trip to Florida. I am in no way trained for this event. I am going to show up, run, get a gauge of what goes well and what doesn't, I'm going to be kind to myself if things go as badly as they could, and enjoy the experience regardless of how I perform. I'm going to be kind to myself above all else during this challenge, but I need this to get myself jump-started and back to being the best me that I have been as an adult. I know it's possible as I've done it, and recently. I'll likely need some accountability to keep my focus on my long-term goals. Above all, it's good to be home.

Hi. I want and need to lose weight (while at least maintaining, if not improving, fitness). I was kicking ass the first few months of 2018 and then started traveling and everything fell apart for the rest of the year (although at least I largely maintained rather than gaining significantly). January 2019 was also a bit messy. I don't have any travel planned for February or March, though, so I'm ready to dig back in. I've got a lot of goals, small and large, but right now and right here, I'd like to focus on four daily S's that seem somewhat small and simple but will combine into a healthier lifestyle: Sugar. As in, minimal added sugar. I can have something small (a square or two of chocolate, for example) after dinner each day, but nothing during the day. Exceptions allowed for special occasions (dates with my partner, birthday parties, etc.), but I can't get too loosey-goosey about what constitutes a special occasion. Snacks. No snacks between meals. I'm often a hardcore grazer, especially when I'm working from home, and that needs to stop. Sleep. In bed by 11 pm each night. I have so much I want to get done at night once my daughter is in bed, but sleep is important, too. I've been running low on sleep for far too long. It'd be nice to remember what "well rested" feels like. Sweat. Some kind of workout at least five days a week. Right now I'm focusing on running and Street Parking SHIFT workouts. These are very flexible things that I can easily fit into my day even when I don't have a lot of time. Going to try to check in here once a day. Okay. That's all. Let's do this.

Road to Oblivion - Part 1 So I've just written up my 2019 road map, and the first 4 challenges of this year will be working towards my first big and scary goal - running 4 laps of Nuclear Oblivion in May. I'm going to need to be able to gain some serious endurance to keep doing that, both in running and in general fitness for the obstacles, so my physical goals will be based around that. Nutrition - 20XP This goal is split into three parts (hence the high XP). The first one is straight eating better - my Crossfit box posted a list of weekly nutrition habits a couple of years ago which I've unearthed on Facebook, so I'll be running through those. By coincidence (or just because they start with sensible things) I already do their first 3 weekly habits, but if you want to play along at home they are: Drink 1 pint of plain water daily Eat a healthy fat with breakfast Eat cooked vegetables in the evening So I'll be starting straight at habit 4, which is: Eat a raw vegetable at lunch I'll be tackling that in week 1 of the challenge, and then adding an additional habit from their list on each subsequent week. The second part of nutrition is alcohol. Leading up to Christmas I was really stressed and not feeling great, and I attributed that to a lot of year end work stress and general Christmas/ohmyGodIhaven'tboughtanything stress. I started thinking the other week however that maybe the amount I was drinking had its part to play in this too. Well, there's only one way to find out if that is the case, and that's to stop drinking for a bit and see how I feel. The goal for this challenge will be to drink no alcohol at all. That'll start from Week 0 day 2 (because day 1 was New Year's Eve, come on!). The final part of this is to track my mood - just a short sentence each day in my bujo is fine, but I'll only know if the above is working at all if I track it. Obviously there's lots of other factors to consider, and conclusions may be hard to draw, but I want to give it a go. Running - 15XP The goal here is simple (thought not necessarily easy) - run 140 miles this challenge. That includes week zero, and is the exact amount of mileage I should hit if I get all of my runs in. The plan is to run 4 times per week - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday - with the long run either on Saturday or Sunday depending on when I'm climbing or doing other things. Whilst the goal is simply the mileage, I'll put the full running plan in a spoiler for info: Climbing - 10XP I want to work on my climbing and my pullups in general, as these have massive transference to OCR, and I've got two parts to this plan in order to do it: a) Continue with GTG pullups - basically I have my pullup bar in my kitchen door and do one pullup every time I want to enter the kitchen. Minimum 10 per day. This starts week 0. b) Hangboarding - I have bought a hang board with some Christmas money, which will allow me to train hanging off very small edges instead of just a bar. The plan is to do hanging sessions MWF, but never on a day adjacent to a climbing day. As I usually climb every weekend this should mean that I usually do 2 sessions per week, but it could be 1 or 3 depending on how the climbing sessions work out. This starts when the hang board arrives. Budget - 5XP This is a difficult one this month as money and spending are a bit strange after Christmas. I probably wouldn't have a goal at all except that reducing debt and saving money is one of my main goals for the year. The goal here is to simply spend mindfully for the month, and write any comments about my spending in my bujo. This starts week 0. Study - 5XP This is something I have been neglecting, but I really need to continue my qualifications for work. There is a time limit on these, and having missed the initial deadline it's going to be tricky to catch up so I need to put in the work. The goal here is to do 2 pomodoros of study (or 4 hours, if you prefer) per week. Bonus 5XP if I get my next assignment submitted before the end of the challenge. This starts week 0. Forum Cardio - Mobile Edition™ - 5XP I don't spend enough time on here and I miss catching up with people and knowing what's going on. A big reason I don't get on is that I usually only sit in front of a computer at work, and so my lunch break is the only time I have to be here. I don't always get a lunch break, and I use the time to catch up on other things as well when I do so that gives me minimal forum time. The goal therefore is to use my phone to visit the forums every day. Even if I don't post anything just being here and catching up is a start. Well I think that's everything. It's loads of XP so i could do realll well out of this challenge if I ace it. I have to dash, so anything I've missed I'm sure will come up later!

Turning back time is a nice thought...I turned 20 the year this song was released, Cher, on the other hand, was 43, I remember thinking then and several times since that I would love to look half as good as she did when I was XX years old... Yeah, that didn't happen...course I also don't make the money she does to be able to afford chefs, trainers, and surgeons to keep her looking like that, so I guess it balances out But I digress, this year is the year I turn 50, I'm not going to say these years have all been a walk in the park, RA, nerve damage and spinal stenosis as the result of a car accident, and not exactly taking the best care of myself for 44 of them didn't help. Wednesday will mark five (5! ) years since I found NF...yes I was one of those "New Year, New You" people but I stuck around, learned some things that worked, and a whole lot of things that DON'T! I've been rather lacking in my goals lately, it shows in my health and the way my clothes are fitting...so without further ado, I give you my first challenge of the new year For those that follow my battle log you know my big goal this year is to lose 50 lbs by the time I turn 50 in 10 months, which is 5 lbs a month (and Saturday the 12th is my first 5k of the year ) Steps to get to this goal are not changing much from prior challenges, I just need to make sure and improve consistency! 1. Get to the gym three times a week, with flexibility for work/extenuating circumstances. In those cases I will go as many times as possible. Either taking walking breaks or walking on the treadmill to get to at least 8,000 steps a day, every day, with running intervals every other day will be part of this and separate from gym time, that time will be used for weights and stuff I'm unable to do at home. 2. Continue to listen to my hunger, not my appetite! Eat real food, plan menus ahead of time to make life easier. Continue to prep breakfast/lunch/snacks for the week and during season 3. Live life, don't stress over it. Continue working towards the three year plan. 4. Drink water, get sleep, reduce cortisol production (I stress a LOT over bullshit I can't control) Just as important but not an actual 'goal' is making sure I check in here Hardcore? Maybe, but half ass-ing it is not working...time to full ass it!

Joining late and fist week is not as good as I would like but here it is. My Goal = Improve fitness, reduce % body fat and get stronger Each day has tasks worth points each week I give myself a score out of a possible total of daily points. Week days = Early AM workouts; Nutrition tracking; 10,000 steps; martial arts training; Drink water Weekends = Nutrition tracking; drink water; 10,000 steps; Long distance run; cleaning Just to make life easier for me I am counting Sunday to Saturday as a week.

Happy 2019! So this is it, the year of doing even crazier things than 2018. I didn't think that was possible, but here we are! I've set out my goals for this year: tl/dr - I'm trying to qualify for the OCR world champs in October. My qualifying race is in May and it's a minimum of 3 laps of a 12km course in a 8.5hr time cap. Technically I've started training for this already, but I'm a little behind where I was hoping to be at this point, mostly in regards to running. And my training has been a little....scattered. I have a weekly training plan but because I'm still in the early stages of this training block, everything feels a bit disjointed. To add to this, in early December I decided that the bootcamp classes I was attending once a week weren't really working for me so I dropped them and I made the jump to CrossFit. Because of the holidays, I've only attended one WOD since I completed to foundation classes. Piece by Piece The meaning behind this came to me while I was running this morning (I can't be the only one that plans their challenges while running, right?). My training for this goal is like a thousand piece jigsaw. Right now, all I've done is empty all the pieces of the puzzle out onto the table and assembled the edges. There is a bit of structure, but it's messy and impossible to see the full picture. But every bit of training I do adds another piece and slowly the picture begins to form. So this challenge is simple, every activity I do is an extra piece added to the puzzle. But that doesn't mean the puzzle will be finished by the end of this challenge, there is still a long way to go for that to happen. Running: 3 times a week Must do the following sessions Easy run Speed or Tempo session Long run Strength: 2 times a week Any of the following Lifting CrossFit WOD bouldering Mobility and Stretching: Stretch every day & PT exercises That's it, nice and simple. The main goal here is consistency.

And so begins the hero's journey. Starting January 1st, for 60 days I will be participating in the Darebee Hero's Journey fitness program, a role-playing program that presents challenges, opportunities, and threats accompanied by exercises that must be completed in order to continue on the journey. This will serve as a prequel to an even greater challenge, Age of Pandora, an immersive post-apocalyptic fitness quest. In addition, I have set some short-term and long-term goals. Short-Term Goals: * complete Roadwork 30 Day running program * complete a Darebee daily dare every morning (goal: at least 50 in a row), as well as an Epic Five workout * be able to complete 50 push-ups in one go * complete the Hero's Journey followed by Age of Pandora * continue Wim Hof breathing, exercises, and cold showers * continue daily prayer/meditation * post to Nerd Fitness and Darebee regularly (at least three days/week) * work on Duolingo daily Long-Term Goals: * finish Educational Leadership Masters degree * train in a martial art * learn how to properly shoot a gun (possibly concealed carry training) * run a Spartan race and/or a long trail race (at least 25k)

I'm trying to look at these challenges as parts of a larger journey, rather than discrete units of success or failure, so despite falling off the wagon a bit in my last challenge, I'm still moving along the same long road heading towards the same distant goal. I've climbed out of the ditch where I lazed about for a while, and am moseying along once again. The Long Road continues, and so will I. Goal #1 ~ Running Run 3x/week. At least one run per week should be 2.4k, and be part of a FitPin test (more on that later). Bonus goal: map out a few routes that won't suck too much in the hill department but will allow me to increase distance. Pick one route of 5k or longer and run it at least once during the challenge. Goal #2 ~ Pushups and Other Things So, the OPP has changed their fitness requirements. I no longer have to do the PREP test (though I still need to if I want to apply anywhere other than the OPP), but I do have to pass the FitPin test within 1 week of being hired, so I want to know I can pass it relatively easily before I even apply (and, if I can pass the FitPin easily, I should have the fitness to pass the PREP with just a bit of practice, so it helps if I decide I want to branch out at all). There are 4 components: pushups, a forward fold stretch, a 2.4k run, and a weird posterior chain/core thing that I can't adequately describe. The running is being taken care of in Goal #1, and the stretch in Goal #4. That means this goal is about the pushups and the Other Thing (which is what I'm calling it now, I think the OPP call it the trunk extension). So I will work on pushups every other day. One session of pushups will be a single max set, and will be part of a FitPin test (more on that later). Bonus goal: figure out some way to practice the Other Thing on the regular....... it's an awkward thing to do (I mean, the exercise itself is awkward to perform), but I may have to summon up my 20 seconds of courage and ask the coaches at the gym, they were all more than happy to help with the shuttle run, so... Goal #3 ~ Meal Prep This is an on again/off again thing with me. Partly it's because I don't think ahead quite as much as I should, and run out of food with no real plan to make more, and partly because I get tired and/or lazy and put it off to the next day, and then the next day I get tired and/or lazy and put it off to the next day, and on and on until I have nothing in my fridge but 30g of moldy cheese, a couple wrinkly apples, and a single stale tortilla. This isn't the most concrete of goals, at least not at the moment. I think for now I'm going to tackle this by making a plan for my next meal prep as soon as the current one is done (eg. if I cook on a Sunday, once the cooking is done, I'll sit down and think about what I want to make next, make a grocery list, estimate how long my food will last, and then pick a day to shop that will give me some overlap, but not lead to spoiled food). Obviously the shopping day is flexible, if I badly over- or underestimate how long my current batch of meals will last me, I'll have to shop sooner or later, but I'd like to have an idea in my head of when I next need to head to the store. I think having a plan about what I want to make and what I need to get to make it will go a long way by itself, so that's my main focus for now. Bonus goal: simple crockpot recipes will be helpful here, I think, since I can just chop some things, throw it in the pot, and then go to bed/to the gym/to work/to whatever, and come back to a tasty meal. Even if I don't have time/energy to do a full meal prep, at least I'll have a crockpot full of food for the next day to give me some wiggle room. So I will find some new crock pot recipes, and try at least one during the challenge (suggestions welcome). Goal #4 ~ Stretching and Other Things My perpetual goal of physio and stretching. Daily, because if I give myself an inch and say 5/7 days per week or something, I'll take a mile and do it once and never again. Bare minimum: 4x physio exercises (3 for my posterior chain, 1 for my thoracic spine), plus quad stretch and calf stretch. In a perfect world it will also include butt/hips, hip flexors, extra hamstrings, feet and pecs. Bonus goal: find a way to work GMB's Elements program into things. It's not logistically possible at the moment, and getting this done during the challenge is a very long shot due to things out of my control, but I want to work towards this (more on this later). Goal #5 ~ Bedtime I often watch TV to wind down before bed, and occasionally play video games, and often come on here. This won't change, when I say bedtime I mean TV/computer off and I start reading a magazine. Usually I'm off to sleep within less than a page. So, on nights when I have to get up early, I'll do this by 10pm. On nights when I have to work but not until later, it'll be 11pm, and on nights when I have the day off, it'll be midnight. Most often this will mean Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday will be 10pm; Sunday and Wednesday will be 11pm; and Saturday will be midnight. Goal #6 ~ The FitPin Test As part of the new fitness requirements, I should be practicing the entire FitPin Test at least once per week. I asked the recruiters if I could practice each element separately (an ideal situation), but alas, they told me I should not (they didn't say 'cannot', but I want to try my best to do as they suggest). So, I need to figure out how to do this. Three of the elements are easy enough to do, I go for a run, then do a stretch, then do some pushups. It's the Other Thing that will be the difficult thing to fit in. I have an idea of for how to do it (ie. I have worked out the theoretical logistics), but it requires a helper, and I will not always have access to a helper on the day I will be doing this test. The most logical day to do this test would be my full day off, which is almost always a Sunday, but Tuesday afternoon would work as well, depending on appointments/other commitments, so we'll see how this one goes... No bonus goal for this one, just doing it is going to be hard enough. Other Things ~ Move forward with preparing the basement for my Imminent Arrival (my mom wants to make my current room a spare room for her to go to when she has a bad night, and I want to move to the basement so I have more room to contain me and my life). If I can get this done it's a win/win, but I might have to be the motivator on this one, which means I may have to learn how to paint a wall, since I don't think my parents will pay for that but want it done before I move down there, as well as the carpet being redone, but I think that one is beyond me. Being in the basement will also give me the space to practice the Elements program whenever I want and in privacy, which will make the bonus part of Goal #4 a lot easier to achieve. ~ Explore options for courses to take to help make my resume look better than it does. This could be in person or online. One resource is CPKN, which is a site that offers police-related online courses (sadly, none are free), but another thing to look at is improving my mental health intervention skills, or conflict resolution, or something like that. ~ Clean my g-d room! I've stopped making this a goal, obviously, but it'll need to be done if I'm going to move to the basement, so a head start on that wouldn't be a bad idea. At the very least, I can try to purge some old magazines and other junk that's accumulated here and there.

I wanted to start on date but as always, Monday came and went... and here I am, at least not a week late xD! First of all, hope you're having a great start of the year. South here we were having great summer, beach days until a polar front passed over. So we went from over 30ºC to almost 10ºC. Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own. – Bruce Lee My mantra this month. Losing weight. I can't count calories, I've tried... but I've failed. So I'm sticking with dish sizes, portion and not having seconds. No alcohol on week days and checking my cravings, having healthier alternatives for those late night sugar wishes. Run, run, run. Once a week I'll go sprinting. Most likely hill sprints to make it easier on my knees. (Having run two 10k I know long ones make me bored so, fast and hard). Preferably, on Wednesday. Lift KTB workouts thrice a week (Is that how it's called three times?). Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays. Yoga and mobility Having to deal with a pubalgia I'm having lots of mobility and strengthening exercises that I'll pair up with my personal yoga sessions. That will be every day. Write I want to write every day, and I've found many resources. I'm aiming high, I'm aiming big. I'll try journaling at night, to reflect on day. And writing 500-750 words during the day. The more the merrier. So... let's begin. This afternoon I'll make the first checking in.

Walk to Mordor and Back Again (2018) Whether you have been trekking to Mordor for years or just looking to get started, you are welcome to join us at anytime. All miles/kilometers count. You decide how you want to accumulate distance. This is your adventure! (ex. my journey has included walking/steps, hiking, running, biking (distance/3), and swimming (distance*3)) Begin Your Journey Now! SPREADSHEET Open the spreadsheet, click on the 'Sign Up' tab at the bottom of the page, fill in all fields labeled in yellow, and begin tracking and logging your distance in the appropriate monthly tab. “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - Bilbo Baggins

Alright NERDS Welcome to the NerdFitness (unofficial) Santa Sleigh 5K 2018! Now, I know like four of us in the Scout Guild but don't be a Grinch! Let's do a 5K... a lowly 3.1 mile run over the holiday! You non-Scouts can join in if you'd like So ... Rules! I mean ... I guess you could walk, job, run/walk too - heck you can do it outside You could do it inside 3 As long as you do it between Dec 24th and January 2nd Now if you'd like you can post a link to your 5K info or just post your time we'll believe you! Happy Running!

2018 marks the year that I came back. I came back to the NerdFitness challenges, and I came back to be a much healthier version of myself. My biggest failure, was to gain all my weight back so fast. October 7th, 2014 I was 257.3 lbs (my lightest). September 21st, 2015 I was 385.2 lbs. 127.9 lbs gained in less then a year's time. I floundered over the next 2 1/2 years or so, only getting to 367.6 lbs at the beginning of 2018. My Day 1 back at it. I wanted this to me my defining year. The year to help erase that horrible failure of a year. So far, I am doing it. I haven't dropped as much as I wanted so far this year, but I am almost to that 100 lbs barrier. I am damn proud of that. It hasn't been easy, and I have struggled with keeping up with my challenge goals. I've let things slip for one reason or another. I looked back at this last year of challenges. Most are very similar. I have tried building some up from a slow start. This challenge, I am going all out. I am bringing my mega challenge in with a bit of everything I have done this year. Only my to do list isn't making a spot on the list. Time management will be key for me here. I've already been mentally planning out the days/hours that I will need to accomplish everything. I really want this challenge to end up being my best of the year. With a little luck, maybe I can get to that lowest weight ever mark. At least by the end of year anyway. I plan on continuing this challenge the rest of the year. Goal #1 - Keto eating, with a deficit Yes, I am once again having a Keto goal. I will be doing IF as well. 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM is my eating window. Last challenge, I played around with hitting deficits. The goal was to hit >500 calories each day. Most days I did this, and a few I did get >1000. So this challenge, I am stepping up to >1000 Calorie deficit. My other goals will work into this. The more work I do, the more I can eat Keto + IF + 1000 calorie deficit = 5 points per day. 35 points per week Goal #2 - Read, and Sleep Yeah, this has been a constant in my threads all year as well. I have struggled, and still struggle to maintain a good balance here still. So this must remain in to help get me going. Computer off at 10:30-45 PM. Then I read. Reading done and off to bed by 11:30-45 PM. I give myself a few minutes for the transitions. Reading by 10:45 PM = 5 points In Bed by 11:45 PM = 5 points. 70 points per week. Goal #3 - Walking with a chance of running Last challenge I really was upping my step goals. The last week I was getting in 10k most days. So this last challenge, the goal is for me to hit 10,000 steps each day. Part two of the challenge is to start my C25k app again. The plan currently is to do runs on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. 10,000 steps each day (Sunday rest day) = 5 points per day. Running done Tue, Thur, Sat = 5 points per day. 45 points per week Goal #4 - Workout! This right here, has been a problem goal all year. Each time I have tried it, I have failed it. I need to try again though. I am going to keep it simple. Squats, Barbell Rows, incline push ups, and door jam negative pull ups. Workout days on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I might throw in some alternate workout at a park. Same basic exercises, just no dumbbell rows there. Next year, I want to be able to do a pull up. So working this in will help me move that direction. Workouts done Mon, Wed, Fri = 20 points per workout. (I really want this done) 60 points per week Goal #5 - Posting to Nerdfitness, and Blogging I have majorly slacked in this department, and I want to get doing it every day. My other times I had this in the life goals and didn't grade it. This time, it gets points. I plan on having some time each day, just so I can post here, and make a blog post each day. NF posts made = 5 points per day Blog posts made = 5 points per day 70 points per week Goal #6 - Take the Linux course Awhile back, I did a partial Linux course. It really sucked, and I didn't finish it. This time, I am doing the free course from edx.org. https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-linux It says 8 weeks to finish. So I don't expect to finish by the end of the challenge. I do however expect that I will work on it some each day. 1 hour per day at least = 5 points 35 points per week. This challenge is kinda nuts. It's against the rules, but I kinda like it. I feel like I really want to try to push this one. To add another wrinkle into this all, I started to apply for some work. Money is tight, so we could use extra income. One place is a 12 hour shift 3 days one week, 4 the next. Not sure what hours, but it will wreak it all haha. If I get a job, and it interferes, I will just have to rework the problem. Must continue forward! Measurements Start/Finish: Weight: 265.1 lbs / Points: Week 1 - (11/26 - 12/02) - 310/315 - 98% Week 2 - (12/03 - 12/09) - 250/315 - 79% Week 3 - (12/10 - 12/16) - 0/315 Week 4 - (12/17 - 12/23) - 0/315 Bonus round! Final week of the year - (12/24 - 12/31) - 0/355

The Countdown to Awesome 181 Days to Oblivion! There is no theme this time round. Just a plain look at my goals and what I am going to do to make them happen. My goal for 2019 is simple. Qualify for OCRWC as a 'Pro'. There are a number of ways to do this but there is one that I think I actually have a real shot at. That is Nuclear Oblivion. Nuclear Oblivion is a lapped OCR of around 14k per lap. It's very obstacle heavy but the course is largely flat and consists of ploughed fields and nicely wide forest paths. The qualification standards for OCRWC is 3 laps for an age group placing and 4 laps for a 'Pro' placing. I am aiming for 4 laps of this sucker. Based on last years course that would be 34 miles of muddy OCR goodness in 8.5 hours! That is not an easy goal but it's one I believe I can do, with the right preparation!. As of today, Monday 19th November 2018 we have 181 days until Nuclear Oblivion. I'm counting today as Week 1, Day 1 of my Oblivion training program! Thanks to illness last challenge was a little lacklustre in the end but I'm feeling well again and I'm ready to hit things hard. Eat to Help your Goals, not Harm them. I am obese. There is no real way to flowering that up What I am able to get my body to do is amazing but to reach the goals I want to reach being so overweight is not going to help. I've lost a lot of weight and I've broken through my weight loss plateau that has been haunting me this year. I am getting very close to losing the obese label. My bout of sickness caused me to overeat more than I'd like and drove my weight up a bit but I'm still lower than where I was stuck for most of the year and I've recently sized down! Removing the last X from my clothes labels. I am now simply a 'Large' and considering I started out this whole thing with at least 3 of those Xs I cannot say how happy I am to get rid of that last one! Even if it is costing me a fortune! This goal is simple. Eat between 2300-2400 calories per day. I don't want any 'cheat days' but I will allow this limit to go up to 3000 (which is around maintenance) on my Long Run day. Exact numbers may vary. Over Christmas itself I’m not going to track and I have a day out with some really, really awesome (if slightly crazy) Rangers mid december and I’m probably not going to track that meal! Track everything Eat 2300-2400 calories Record weight daily (this is going to be controversial I just like doing it this way because the data is better and it gives a much clearer picture of what is happening long term. If you cannot help but directly link that number to your self worth do not do this!). Run No surprises here 4 Runs per week. 2 Quality sessions, 1 long run. One Recovery run. Simple. Run 120 Miles. This goal is a little random. The time limit is December 31 and it should be something I knock out fairly easily. This goal is here simply because 120 miles is what I need to run in order to reach 1000 miles this calendar year! In theory my mileage is more than enough and so long as I can stay injury free it should just happen. Strength Work I happen to have more than enough time to run through an entire 16 week strength program without any breaks. My goal is to do that! Obviously that isn't happening this challenge but I can do the first mesocycle. It has been a long time since I've been able to look at 4 weeks of uninterrupted training, let alone 16! Lift heavy 3 days per week. Sounds easy enough. Conditioning workout 1 time per week OCR Type Stuff I need to get better at obstacles so the following needs to happen. Climb 1 time per week. Tentatively this is going to be Thursday night but I’m still unsure where to place it in my week. Arrange and execute a trip to an OCR Gym during the Challenge. I want to make this a regular 1x time per month thing. It is going to be important to practice and get better at obstacles. Mince Pie List I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from @Xena except rather than the relatively healthy Sushi reward my reward for completing the list will be to be allowed to cook a batch of mince pies. I like mince pies. Only 1 batch mind you and I’m not allowed to eat them all myself. Finish Registering for Climbing Gym (commit). Sort out closet and donate of any clothes that are too big Donate or chuck old running shoes. Clear out rest of closet (it’s a very atypically huge closet for the UK and we have 2 of them so this is my own mess). Buy secret Santa gifts. I’m participating in 2 secret Santa’s this year. One may or may not have something to do with certain Rangers. I haven’t got the foggiest idea of what to get but I’m probably not going to say what it is here

I started watching Adventure Time earlier a few months ago and fell in love with it. It’s sweet, moving and completely stupid! I’m only just getting to the end of season 5, so please no spoilers! During the middle of the last challenge I set out my plan for the next 6 months. I've stuck it in the spoiler here (cos it's loooong) tl/dr version I've signed up to the OCR World Champs in October next year in the Age group category. The plan is to qualify at Nuclear Oblivion in May Challenge Goals 1. Finn the Human Stick to My Training plan Running 3 runs per week: Easy / Interval or Tempo run / Long Run Strength & Conditioning 3 sessions per week: Lifting / BMF / Bouldering Any combination of the above S&C is allowed, so if I can't climb for whatever reason, I can do a lifting session instead. 2. Jake the Dog PT & Rehab As a lot of you know, I injured my hip/glute in July and it still causes me issues. If I don't stretch every day and keep up with my PT, I'm going to start having serious problems when my running mileage starts increasing. Stretch daily Do my PT exercises twice a week 3. Marceline the Vampire Queen Eat enough & Don’t eat like a dick! I regularly don't eat enough to fuel myself properly which then causes me to eat all the wrong things when the inevitable hungry pangs strike! This is a work in progress, so this goal is here to remind me to be mindful of what I'm eating. Prep lunches for office work days at the weekend I've got into the habit recently of making my work lunches on a Sunday so I have enough to eat during the week and don't end up snacking on the junk food that people buy for the office. The goal is just to keep this habit going!

Last week I left work at 11:30pm. My daughter was closing at her job and would not be off until 2:00am. I was her ride. I had a few options. I could drive to the parking lot and take a nap until she got off work, or I could find some way to pass the time. I decided to put on my night running gear and go for a run. It was supposed to be a quick 5k, but at the halfway point at which I would turn around and come back, I was still feeling good, so I continued to follow the road, which led to a few uphills and downhills and then down a 400+ foot descent to the end of the road next to a lake. I paused at the end and realized I had run just over 3.1 miles and would (of course) need to return to my car on the other side of the mountain (which meant I would be climbing back up the 400+ foot hill that I just descended). I got my breath under control and started the ascent. My total distance when I returned was 6.31 miles. Below are the final results of this "accidental" 10k run.

Hey everyone! I'm having trouble with a conceptual thing, and I was hoping I could get a little advice. When I first started this journey in August, I just focused on running - "Get out there and run a mile!". I kept doing that for 3X per week and three weeks later I increased that to two miles! Basically ran 2 miles 3X per week through September. Zero weightloss, but I'm still getting my diet in line, and honestly, it's not a lot of effort - I didn't expect a huge drop. Halfway through October, I realize I'm bored. It's not that I'm not seeing progress - I finally get up to 3 miles, 3X per week! But I'm just bored, and I feel the gears grinding to a quit, even if physically I'm not stopping just yet. So I think about strength training! And I join Nerdfitness because I've seen them in the past and feel they've got a good beginner program to start. I also join a local nearby gym. I love the way strength training makes me feel powerful and strong. I immediately within 2 weeks drop 6 pounds. A month after starting strength (because I took pictures and measurements this time!) I see huge results. I actually LOOK different. I lose 2 inches off my waist and thighs. Sure my diets in line now, and that's 80% of the equation, but strength training has given me something running never has - this overwhelming powerful feeling in my gut. I feel my corded legs when I walk. My arms look different - sore shaped. This is silly, but I feel like a Greek God. I'm still running, but I feel like I'm "phoning in" the runs. Then it's like November - the time of the COLD has begun (for Seattle! It's like 50 degrees and I wanna die). So I restart Bikram Traditional Hot Yoga, more to supplement what I'm currently doing. Plus feeling warm is super great!!! The first time I actually feel nauseous but I hang in the class and I feel amazing afterwards. I go a second time, still sore from strength training, and I feel like amazing during and after. I want to do this like, through the entire season. It's AMAZING. But I haven't run this week. And I just want to go strength train. Sure I want to run a half marathon next year, but I've never got the results from running as I have from strength training. Even something as hard as Bikram isn't running. I'm just stuck because for me, I don't really see myself competing in strength lifting competitions. I don't see the "end goal" achievement with strength training. I just like it. It's super fun! I don't want to drop running. I do want to run a half in the August-October time frame next year. But how can I do that if I don't love running? I have to put in serious time/effort to keep increasing my speed and distance. It's just falling by the wayside of priority and I'm just a bit stuck. Finally, how would you balance rest days for Powerlifting (full body, lower body, and upper body) Running (mostly lower body) and Bikram (full body)?

This seems like something I should know by now and I just never asked. Maybe I don't know because I started running on mostly flat land so elevation gain/loss was like 5m. What do you use elevation gain/loss for? People track it as a factor and I get the vague logic that a positive number is uphill (difficult) and a negative number is downhill (easy), but is there some use in quantifying or qualifying your elevation in your training?

The Return of the Challenge of the Living Dead In honour of the Halloween challenge and as my part of my role as the official Zombie Apocalypse Preparation Coordinator of the Rebellion let’s talk about Zombies Of course there is only one movie that could be used to follow up on the ‘Challenge of the Living Dead’ and that is of course the classic Dawn of the Dead Return of the Living Dead (bear with me ) In 1984 at a Medical Warehouse foreman Frank is looking to show off to the companies newest employee. He takes the unsuspecting young man down into the basement and shows him a series of military barrels that had been routed to the facility by accident. Ever the clutz Frank accidentally releases the toxic gas, rendering the two men unconscious. When they awoke their industrious little town is forever changed! The thing about this particular movie is that, whilst it has had a profound impact zombie fiction and pop culture as a whole, I don’t think many people even know it exists. This was the original Zombie Comedy and without it you could argue that there would be no Zombieland, or Planet Terror or Shaun of the Dead. It introduced the idea of the fast zombie, the talking zombie and the indestructible zombie. Although the one thing that almost everyone would have come upon at some point of time is, of course: Brains! So to show some love for a piece of undervalued zombie fiction I present to you The Return of the Challenge of the Living Dead! Experimental Weapon! (this image is from Return of the Living Dead III, but that movie is part of the series and criminally underrated) So training this challenge is going to be a little different. I am still working out exactly what I want my training to look like towards the end of the year. I've got the outlines of a running and lifting program that'll run alongside each other. However a large proportion of this challenge will be devoted to tracking and measuring all of the things. To give myself a basis for my training going forwards. Lift 2 Days per week. Monday and Friday by default. I might swap this to Wednesday on week 0 and Week 2 because I'm racing. Run 4 Days Per week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Metcon, One day per week will be a metcon/functional type of training Day. Friday. If I skip a session in a week (because I'm racing) it'll be this one because the races I've got this challenge will fulfill this purpose. I'm going to test my 1RM on all 4 of the major lifts (hopefully done by week 1), if I can figure out a good time to do it I'll also test my current 5k time but that might not happen. Mobility. A little every day! PT. Keep up my PT work. 4 days per week. BRAAAAAAINNNSSS!!!! Zombie gotta eat and only the best quality brains are on the menu! 2300-2400 calories per day. Saturday will not be tracked. This'll change to Sunday This week because Race day. Maximum 4 Cups of Coffee Per Day. Nuff Said! Sleep Like the Dead Bed By 10:00pm Easy enough. Friday and Saturday have some leeway. Nuke them! It’s the only Way to be Sure! There are 2 races this Challenge! OCRWC: Mudstacle 7k fun lap Nuclear Fallout! 12K The goal for the races is simply to have fun with them. They are both big meetup events with a bunch of awesome nerds and I can’t think of a better way to end the race season. I'm looking forward to hanging out with @iatetheyeti, @Rhovaniel, @Charlie_Quinn and @Jarric!

I'm trying something different this time and having some fun with a themed challenge. I'm really excited about finally rolling this one out. Before we begin, though, a few things to get out of the way. You can skip straight to the challenge if you'd like: Without further ado, let's begin: While conducting research in the university library, Wolfen uncovered a letter, yellowed with age but pressed and preserved in the pages of Man Makes Himself by Gordon Childe. Wolfen's eyes widened as he read the header at the top: Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr. Barnette College Hamilton Hall Grove Avenue Fairfield, NY The letter was dated May 13, 1960 Surely this was a joke, or some fake letter forged by a creative university student. Regardless, Wolfen read on. To Whom it May Concern: If you're discovering this letter in the pages of the book in which I left it, your curiosities might be exactly what I need. With the help of some colleagues who will remain anonymous for reasons you may come to learn later, I have uncovered a secret war going on in our world of which only a few are aware. A group of scientists has discovered the existence of exotic matter (henceforth abbreviated XM). XM is a very powerful energy whose origin and potential are still in question, but it is believed it has existed for centuries. There are stories of Roman soothsayers who encouraged the construction of important buildings upon sites they claimed were "charmed" with mysterious energy. Indeed, mysterious and "magical" portals that channel XM from an unknown location have been discovered near iconic and influential locations whose history and origins are also shrouded in mystery, the types of places my colleagues and I frequent as researchers (temples, monuments, places of worship, etc.). Scientists are allegedly researching ways to capture and harness the energy of these portals. Unfortunately, because of an accident in which members of the research team were exposed to XM, the secret of XM has not remained a secret. I'm not certain how, but word of this mysterious and potentially dangerous powerful energy has reached people with greater influence than you or me, people whose names you would probably recognize but which I will not reprint here for security reasons. You may be wondering what this has to do with you. Because you are even aware of the existence of this book, it is clear you are an intelligent and open-minded person. Wolfen tightened his lips. He had just pulled the book of the shelf because the title caught his attention. He read on: In the time since word has spread of XM, two groups have formed with the goal of capturing and harnessing this energy. The first faction, known as The Enlightened, is an elite group of very powerful people who believe XM is the secret to the evolution and progress of mankind. The Enlightened wish to take control of XM and harness its powers to take humankind to the next level (whatever that means). The details of how and what that would entail are still shady, which is why it is so concerning. In addition, several known members of The Enlightened have a reputation for taking and abusing power and their intent may be the same for XM. The second faction is The Resistance. Their intent is to capture XM in order to keep it out of the hands of The Enlightened because they fear the power of XM would be used to manipulate and control all of humanity. Like many "resistance" movements, however, this faction doesn't seem to have as much influence as The Enlightened (both financially and culturally) but this may change over time. In addition, Resistance members tend to be wreckless in their endeavor to keep XM out of the hands of The Enlightened. As an archaeologist, I can attest to the presence of "energies" at many of the sites I have visited. This is why I have fought to obtain and protect treasures that are located at these sites. Unfortunately, at my age I may not be able to protect these sites much longer, unless I can recruit some new explorers willing to research portal locations in their area and travel to these "portals". I won't tell you which faction you should join (but anyone who knows my reputation could probably guess which I prefer) because you have a will of your own, and I don't have the resources to force you to choose. In fact, you might not have even finished this letter. If you're still reading, though, I am grateful. I encourage you to do a few things before you begin: Do some research: read up on everything you can about "Ingress," including the two factions I mentioned; there may be information about possible portals in your area. If you uncover the location of nearby portals, research these sites, as well and visit them. My hope is that by the time you find this letter, researchers have come up with a way to extract and store the XM quickly and efficiently. Research this, as well. You guessed it: I need you to explore these sites and extract as much XM as you can. But be cautious and aware of your surroundings. This could be dangerous since there are others who also want XM for their own purposes. See if you can ascertain why or how the places you visit are capable of drawing XM; is there some history behind the place or object that makes it "worthy" of such energy? I don't know what kind of shape you are in at the moment, but true explorers need to be fit for a lot of physically demanding activities: hiking, climbing, crawling, fighting, running, and lots of walking. So much walking. And you need to have a keen eye to both find what you're looking for and to make sure you aren't being followed. I will let you "work out" the details based on your own physical needs. If you're still with me, I know you are exactly what I need. Don't write back because I would rather not know who you are. Good Luck, Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. Wolfen immediately left the campus library and straight to a private place on campus to start his research. A search for "Ingress" uncovered an app designed by Niantic Labs, a "game" in which "players" join a faction, seek and capture portals and extract XM. It couldn't be a coincidence that this app seemed to match nearly everything the letter described. More research uncovered information about XM, the Niantic project, each faction, and much more. Wolfen also discovered that there were several portals nearby, some glowing white, some blue, and some green and fields of bright "energy" of either blue or green passing between portals. He couldn't resist. Wolfen downloaded the app to his phone. Based on what his heart and head were saying, he joined The Resistance. His adventure was just beginning. Goals: Explore: walk at least 12,000 steps/day M-F. Get Fit: continue the #100for100 challenge: at least 100 bodyweight movements per day 3 sets 3 days/week that includes the following: Avoid traps: 15 hi-steps Sword-fight: 15 side-to-side arm swings Duck-and-dive: 5 burpees Fist-fight: vary jabs, punches, hooks, and uppercuts (Boxtastic app?) Explore caves: low crawl for 10 "steps". Climb cliffs: 5 pullups Run: continue running schedule, but include 3x100 yard sprints at least 2 days/week Research: continue research for school (first priority) look up information on various portal locations before exploring them. The purpose of this challenge is to become more connected to "place" using an app that both encourages you to walk and explore more and calls your attention to places you might otherwise have just passed by or glanced at without thinking. Therefore, when you visit these "portals" really look at them, study them, all while being mindful of what you learned from your research. Document these findings. Read at least one article/week from National Geographic or similar publication Read at least one book-length work of history/archeology/anthropology (i.e. something Indiana Jones might read). Historical fiction is acceptable, as long as it is rooted in truth.

This might look familiar. I posted all of this last challenge but it never got off the ground because of a major real life event. However, I'm back. I'm committed. And, I'm ready to run, lift, and burpee my way back to a fit human being. This challenge is all about building the habits necessary to physically get back to where I want to be... So, let's start with the big goals. Be fit enough to jump into any race (up to a half marathon or Spartan Beast), or other ridiculous adventure, at a moment's notice. Run a Full tour in under 27 mins. 100 Burpees in 7 minutes. Run a sub 19 minute 5K. Run a sub 1:30 half marathon. Qualify for the Boston Marathon (aka run a 3:10 marathon). There are more. But, you get the idea. I was very close to a number of those a while ago. I was certainly at the level of being able to jump into any race or activity I wanted. I miss that. That's number one for a reason. Now, all of those goals feel like they are a million miles from here. Like it was someone else that was close to achieving all of those. So... here we are - taking the first steps back to those places. I'm starting small. The name of this game will be consistency. Challenge Goals 1. Be up at 5:30 am, 5 Days per week. I'm most successful when I workout in the morning. I've grown too accustomed to sleeping in and missing that window. No more. (Inner monologue: Get the fuck out of bed and get moving!) 2. Complete 666 pushups during the challenge. This represents a modest daily pushup challenge starting at 15 per day and working up to 30 per day. My total came up to 660 pushups when I mapped that out. But, 666 is just so much cooler. (Inner monologue: muwhahahahahah) 3. Run at least 4 days per week. I'm currently running approximately 0 days per week. The only way I can get back to where I need to be is by running. (Inner monologue: So, do it you lazy asshole!) 4. Post in this thread at least three days per week. Last challenge, I posted the goals and then never even came back to let peeps know that I had to abandon the goals to take care of ... life. I know that I need to keep myself honest by posting what I am and what I am not doing. So post, baby. Post. Old Life Goal: Utilize OmniFocus every work day. I love this software. But, like my fitness, I had fallen out of practice with it. The last week or so it's been integrated back to my life and things seem much clearer to me. Keep it up. Note: I have been utilizing this since the last challenge. I'm going to leave it here to further drive home the habit. New Life Goal :: Officially start the new business. Yuuuup. I've been heading down this path unofficially. Laying the groundwork, getting my first client/job. But, I need to become official and register the company, create a website, etc. So... I'll be doing that during this challenge. So, here we go, yo.

So after meeting a few nerds IRL and not having a daily battle log, then finishing my six week challenge that I loved getting feedback on I've decided to create a battle log. I'm opening up with a long term goal: the Providence, RI marathon on May 1st (Link). It'll be my first marathon. I ran into a little trouble with my half marathon (Wicked half Marathon in Salem, MA) in October, but I said that if I ran it under one and a half hours I'd do a full marathon in the spring. I managed 1:25 even though I was walking/limping for about a mile. This tells me two things. One, holy crap I'm way faster over distance than I thought. Two, I've done something(s) horribly, stupidly wrong. My leg cramped up and my knee didn't feel right for weeks after. It would feel fine walking, but would hurt after I ran for about a mile of running or hitting a hill. I started running too soon after the half marathon (about a week) and lifting too soon (less than a week). I obviously out-paced myself (I was late getting there and couldn't help trying to "make up" time even though I was running my own timer). And I kind of, sort of, didn't warm up that well. Or possibly at all. Depending entirely on your definition. So, to try and avoid injury and to try and maintain a good pace I am if anything over-planning. Being an accountant my natural response to virtually all stimuli is to make a spreadsheet. So I did (link). One tab with my mileage (I track Km from working on 10 and 5k goals), and one tab with my lifting regiment. I've altered 2 things from my half marathon plan: I've stretched the mileage buildup more slowly (18 weeks) and I'm tapering a little more. I start training on the 28th so if anyone has suggestions, notes, criticism, encouragement, knitting patterns, tips, tricks, or knows a good bar in Providence near the race. If anyone's coming: I'm not registering until after Xmas, so we can team up. Also, I don't own a car so I'll pay for gas for a ride. There are those I suspect of coming.

Greetings, Rangers. My name is Wolfen. I usually kick it with the Adventurers, but for this particular challenge I felt I needed some motivation and advice from some Ranger friends. Plus, my goals this challenge seem perfect for this guild. If you want to know more about me, I'm sure @Tanktimus the Encourager can tell you everything you need to know since we've been NF buddies for a while. First, a quick bit of history. If you want to skip this part and go straight to my challenge goals, feel free: So there you have it. My mail goals will reflect the plan discussed above. In addition, I will be participating in Soulcon again, which kicks off September 17th, so there will be a spiritual aspect to this challenge, as well. So I have broken the challenge down into four parts: Body, Mind, Heart, and Spirit. Body: Daily: 0430-0445 wakeup 40 push-ups and 15 burpees barefoot time in the morning and stretches and movements (inspired by Primal body Reboot program by Jonathan Mead) cold shower at least 64oz of water at least 10,000 steps 2230-2300 bedtime Running Schedule: Monday: Distance run (at least 5k) on the trails Tuesday: Cross-training Endurance or Strength workout Wednesday: Tempo run (on road or track) Thursday: Recovery Day: only Mobility/Yoga workout and very light recovery run on the trails Friday: Interval run or hill run Saturday: Distance run (at least 5k) on the trails Sunday: Rest Day Nutrition -- eat whole foods as often as possible, whole grains, healthy carbs and fats, protein, lean meats, and vegetables Mind: WHM Breathing/Meditation in the morning Read at least 20 minutes per day; currently reading Endure by Alex Hutchinson (seems appropriate) listen to at least one podcast per week read at least one article about trail running, running, or endurance athletics take a brain break in the afternoon (20 minute binaural meditation) daily. Heart: listen to music that lifts my soul watch at least one motivational video or movie per week document at least three things I am grateful for daily make eye contact and greet people as I pass them on campus text or call at least one friend daily to see how his day went play with my younger princesses after homework is completed spend evenings with my queen Spirit: prayer and scripture study daily every morning, say a prayer of gratitude for the day read through the Soulcon devotionals post and visit the Soulcon Facebook page listen to or watch at least one sermon per week.

I've become WEAK, but how is it possible because I've born to WIN! In this video I'll explain in more details what's going to happen in next 10-weeks!

JonFirestar and 3.00 Spartans! I can't help it but i think this is going to be a bit of a boring challenge and very run of the mill. So I'm just going to focus on the fun part of it! This Challenge encomases a total of 3 Spartan Races. It was going to be 4, but I deferred the first beast (Which would have been this Saturday) and so I am running: Scottish Spartan Sprint on Sunday 16th Sept Windsor Spartan Beast on Saturday 6th October Windsor Spartan Sprint on Sunday 7th October I'm really excited for those races in October because I should be much fitter and, most importantly healthy, so I'm excited. Nothing in this list is going to be done hard or fast. I'm looking at 3 easy fun races with chances to meet up and run with @iatetheyeti and @Rhovaniel, All good fun So let's talk Sparta Scrounge to Survive When inducted to military training the Spartan boys would be given meagre rations and be expected to scrounge and steal for more food, but punished severely if caught. My basic intention here is to continue what I started last challenge with a couple of concessions: 2300-2400 calories per day with one variance/high day per week. At the end of week 0 I'm on vacation, Friday through Monday my intention here is not to track but not to use it as an excuse to go crazy either. I have a bit of a plan for the weekend and it's more accurate to say my goal is to stick to that as best as possible. Nevertheless I'm not too worried about my holiday time so long as I don't go completely insane and what comes before or after is on point. I'll probably also up my calories in general over my double spartan weekend. My invention would be to hit about maintenance (above that on Saturday itself) but what that means in numbers will be worked out closer to the date. That has got more to do with recovery than anything. Again it's not a license to go crazy but the reality is that the weekend is going to be demanding enough without being in deficit. Train For War The Spartans were known for unparalleled skill in battle. Running: 3 runs per week. Monday - Easy Wednesday - Tempo Saturday - Long I'm going to jostle with these sessions a bit so the individual workouts might be different but this is the basic format. The Saturday long run isn't really any longer than the other runs it's just formatted differently so that it takes a little longer and I've added it because doing the exact same run 3 days a week is annoying me. Next Challenge I'll be able to add dedicated speed sessions back in but I might add in some sets of strides towards the end of this one depending on how my injury is feeling. S&C Two Strength and Conditioning workouts per week in the same randomised 'workout of the day' format that I was using last challenge because that kept it fun and interesting. The two workouts will be about an hour long with some kind of cardio to bring up the time Tuesday: S&C WOD + cardio Thursday: S&C WOD + Cardio Recovery Monday and Friday are in all intents going to be recovery workouts. Monday will be a run and Friday something else, probably easy cycling. Active recovery is the name of the game. Continue to do my PT exercises on schedule. Mobility: It has come to my attention that my mobility might not be as good as i think it is. I take being flexible for granted but while my joints are generally loose and mobile my muscles might not be playing ball. My calves and hips are especially tight. Do at least 10 minutes of mobility work every single day. Now that I've written it it seems way more complicated than it is in my head so: TLDR Monday: Easy recovery run Tuesday: S&C wod + cardio (1hr approx total). Wednesday: Tempo Run Thursday: S&C wod + cardio (1hr approx total) Friday: Recovery workout Saturday: Long run Sunday: Rest Mobility every day at least 10 minutes. PT work to plan. I will be taking things a little easier this week and the week 3 I will be doing a full taper. Discipline: I'm not happy with this right now so I want to keep my goal of getting to bed by 10pm at the latest. That's basically that. Eat well, exercise, sleep. I was thinking about implementing a scoring system but I am not sure that I will.