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These 4 Week Challenges are going to deplete my list of clever anime-related word play and puns! Unacceptable! I'll have to let the title slide this time, in favor of setting up an amazing challenge... That I will kick the ass of as if it were an angsty teen-Sasuke! STARPUCK'S FEB -er MARCH CHALLENGE; WHERE SHE GETS HER ACT TOGETHER BECAUSE SUMMER IS COMING AND SHE LOVES SUMMER AND ... SUMMER THINGS, AND SHE IS GOING TO BUY A NEW BIKE! AND THEN GO BIKE-CAMPING OR SOMETHING COOL AND ... ahem... right. Annnnnyway.... Many things will remain the same because I've only really started lightly poking at them again after the winter blues and hurdles. STEP #1 Strength and Rehab - I am still battling the pain and limitations of shoulder impingement and inflammation. I've been doing what I can, and working carefully around it with the prescribed exercises and such. It's been a very hard battle to let go of the 'What I used to be capable of' to adopt the 'What I can do now, and work to improve on' mentality. I still haven't truly mastered it. So I am borrowing inspiration on this one from Rock Lee. Who, countless times, took the card he was dealt or the setback he faced, and persevered through it. Terms: 3x / week I will do a strength and rehab workout. Focus on the shoulder rehab, with strength training as tolerated. Schedule for best success: Mon - Wed - Fri STEP #2 Run and Move and Sweat - This one should be simple. Because I (mostly) love doing these things. I'm aiming for 2 runs per week, because I really do notice some difference in hockey endurance when I am actively running. Also. It shaves my hips like nothing else does! But bike season soon, and I looooove bike riding like crazy. And in general summer movement stuff. So. To qualify for this goal - it need only be something that gets my heart rate up, but with an emphasis on making two runs per week. Inspiration? Move like a Ninja ... not like a Titan... Terms: 2x / run + 1x / week additional sweat, move, whatevers! Schedule for best success: Tue - Thu for runs. Extra day ideally on a weekend but can double up on strength days and still count. STEP #3 Eat Smart - Live Life - I am not in a place to track my food. I am borderline calorie-raging right now. So instead, we're going to just be SMART this challenge. 7FG helped me brainstorm up a way to track my progress versus hiccups, in a way that will help me keep this going. Basically, each meal and snack starts out being worth 5 points. Every time I add something to that meal that is not ideal, I lose a point. The catch here is that I am not aiming for 100% on the points. I am aiming for an 80/20 spread. I need to learn how to have my consistent days, and then MODERATE my treats and indulgences. Spreadsheet thingamabob to follow. Inspiration for this one ... well, Starpuck does not wield Dragon Slayer magic, so she should not eat like one! Eat more like Happy... one savored fish at a time. Terms: Track points daily per meal. 16+ points per day average will net me my 80/20 goal. Schedule for best success: Mon-Fri keep my at work meals and snacks consistent! This is typically where I can finish the strongest. Plot for weekends out. Limit them to 1 per day on Sat/Sun. STEP #4 Keep Arting! - I am making progress on this I think. I feel as if I can look at pics I did this past week, compared to three months ago, and see growth. This is awesome. Especially because it does not come easily for me, and I so easily fall victim to the 'I am not the best, therefore I suck, and should quit' demon. So yeah. This is exciting! Terms: 3x / week do some art stuff. Sketch book or digital counts. Schedule for best success: Mon, Tues, Wed after work has been ideal. Adding in a weekend day will help me learn and retain things better, so that might be an angle to try. ALRIGHT! I told you it was going to be an amazing challenge write up! Let's do this. March is going to be so great!

HOW I FELT TODAY WHEN 7FG POINTED OUT IT WAS THE NEW CHALLENGE! Hah. Took forever for this title to come to me, and when it did, it couldn't be more fitting! Overall Challenge Goal: Consistency! I must find consistency! I need to stop letting things sidetrack me beyond the reasonable amount of sidetracking... I am my own worst enemy in that regard. This challenge will be a lot of the same things as last challenge, with the focus being on seeing them through and not fading out in the middle. GOAL #1 Bulat - It takes a lot of strength and endurance to use Incursio! Details: Strength train 3x / week. Each session will include 3 of my rehab exercises, plus either workout A or B from a beginner strength workout, modifications done as necessary to keep shoulder happy. Tracking: Summaries here, also kept on my monthly calendar and workout logs have been printed. GOAL #2 Akame - But I'm hungry! Details: I've not really been in the track my food mood - so I'm not sure if I should force myself to anyway, or just be mindful of what I am putting in my mouth. One of the two will happen. Tracking: MFP and/or here based on a 'how close to clean' points allotment. GOAL #3 Leone - "Man nothing beats booze running in the middle of the day! Details: Run 2x/week on my lunch break. No reason this shouldn't be happening. And I have a Tri in June! Tracking: Zombies! Run app and here LIFE GOAL Lubbock - "I run a manga bookstore." Details: Art 3x/ week. Basically, moar draw. Keep practicing with the tablet. Start learning fundies stuff too. Tracking: Post crap here, because it's good for me to get over myself and the fact that some things have to be worked at and practiced before they get good. And... that's the challenge folks! Pretty simple, not too much brain-banter on this post. Just a plan of attack and the charge! Title Trivia So, inside story on why the title of the challenge is so perfect? Because I am currently watching Akame ga Kill and I freaking HATE this anime. Except, it might be that sort of love-hate relationship. I mean, and please be mindful of spoilers here folks -- but like, seriously, I watch some of these episodes and turn the tv off feeling anger, and rage and sadness and ... too many of the negative feels all at once. And yet I am somehow drawn to go back to it, time and again... as if to see if there is some light at the end of this brutally dark, and sad, tunnel. So I will see it through. And then, then I will make my next anime some delightfully fun and lighthearted romp.

I got injured, bad. The shoulder hurts. But I have to get back into it, the rest of my body misses those BBWW so much. Main Goal: It's still "Fit into the Hot Blue Pants by the en of July." Yep, that would be the end of this challenge. Specifically, it means: take care of the left shoulder, but keep it working, gently. That means not using it as an excuse to let all the other exercises slip by. Three times a week, BBWW. Yes, even if the push-ups are standing, pushing against the wall. Keep on track with Paleo. I have one cheat day per week (usually Sunday), I usually end up eating chocolate and sugar, but carbs? No love lost there. (Except beans. Oh, my dear beans.) Sleep. Good grief, how difficult is it for a gal to go to bed at 11pm?? Just do it. Track down what's causing trouble, health-wise. Pester those doctors and demand answers.(Luckily for me, I already fit in the HBP. I just can't wear them and sit down at the same time...) Life Quest: Apply for those two jobs. (June). Kick ass and then continue search and chats and interviews throughout July.