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Luke Skywalker: Oh, come on! How could you know my father? You don't even know who I am. Oh, I don't even know what I'm doing here! We're wasting our time!Yoda: [sighs, looks upward] I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience.Obi-Wan Kenobi: [voice emanates from nowhere] He will learn patience.Yoda: Much anger in him, like his father.Obi-Wan Kenobi: Was I any different when you taught me?Yoda: He is not ready!Luke Skywalker: Yoda? I am ready! I— Ben, I can be a Jedi! Ben tell him I'm rea— [bangs his head on the low ceiling] Ow!Yoda: [to Luke] Ready are you? What know you of ready? For 800 years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained! A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one, a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away to the future, the horizon. Never his mind on where he was [pokes Luke]. Hmm? What he was doing. [paces around] Adventure. Heh! Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things. [turns to Luke and points with his walking stick] You are reckless!Obi-Wan Kenobi: So was I, if you remember.Yoda: [still looking at Luke] He is too old. Yes. Too old to begin the training.Luke Skywalker: But I've learned so much.Yoda: [looking toward the sky] Will he finish what he begins?Luke Skywalker: I won't fail you! I'm not afraid.Yoda: [grimly] Oh! You will be. You will be. Main Goal I'm planning to to to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. I could register right now as a Journeyman as I have completed the requisite three or more qualifying events since the last Championships. I don't want to just show up as an enthusiastic course-filler, though. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor by earning my spot through competition. The black one on the left is what I'm after. How realistic is this goal? On July 30, 2016, I finished 24 minutes behind the OCRWC qualifier time for the 50-54 age group at Savage Race Chicago.This past February 25, I ran the Spartan Sprint in Arizona while sick as hell and finished 15 minutes behind the final OCRWC qualifier time. I am working with a running coach who has given me a plan to increase my speed over distance. I know I'm getting better, but I believe I still have time to make up. I've used my 10k time as my guideline for improvement, since it's the same distance or longer than my two A races for this year; over the past year and a half, I've knocked about 10 minutes off my PR for 10k and am working to trim even more off by the end of July, when my two "A" Races are held: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 What will it take for me to get there? I now have 10 weeks to close the gap on my competition. I'm still slow enough over distance that some solid dedication will trim off large chunks of time, though. As I identified before the last challenge, it's going to take me, getting out of my head, casting off my own perceived limitations, and pushing beyond my comfort zone. What I want is still on the other side of comfortable. I'm not going to let the two races in this challenge cycle - the Chicago Spartan Super and Sprint on June 10-11, and the Minnesota Spartan Sprint at the end of this cycle on June 24 - alter my training toward my goal. I'm going to be doing a boatload of hills between now and June 24, because if I don't, I will die on the ski hill here at home, but that won't replace anything in my schedule, and it will make me a better runner overall anyway. The Chicago and Minnesota Spartans are B (Chicago Sprint) and C races on my calendar, and will be run accordingly. I will not be risking injury or fighting my way off-trail (like the hard-core "ON YOUR LEFT" people who expect others to yield during a section of a bushwhacked single-track and then leap through the brush when you can't, while cursing loudly) during either one of these events. I aim to enjoy all three, and if an OCRWC qualifier occurs at any, well, that's great, too. I've got ten weeks. Goal: Faster I've become faster than I was - three of my last four road races were all personal bests, and the fourth met a goal time - but if I want to be faster, I've got to run, consistently. Two challenges ago I put on more consistent miles and started getting the hoped-for results. Last challenge I got a new running plan from my coach, Josh, and I just set a PR in a 5k in terrible conditions at the end of the last challenge, even though I missed my own personal goal time. Now it's time to put on some significant mileage and be able to sustain those paces for longer, in order to achieve my goals. This will be the schedule for this challenge: Week Zero: 3 miles VO2 Max Monday, Hills Tuesday, 4 miles Lactate Threshold Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday for consistency, Hills Friday, 10 miles Saturday, Incline Trainer Sunday Week One: 3 miles VO2 Max Monday, Hills Tuesday, 4 miles Lactate Threshold Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday for consistency, Hills Friday, Badass Dash followed by 4 mile trail run Saturday, Incline Trainer Sunday Week Two: 3 miles VO2 Max Monday, Hills Tuesday, 4 miles Lactate Threshold Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday for consistency, Hills Friday, Chicago Spartan Super Saturday, Chicago Spartan Sprint Sunday Week Three: 3 miles VO2 Max Monday, Hills Tuesday, 4 miles Lactate Threshold Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday for consistency, Hills Friday, 10 miles Saturday, Hills Sunday Week Four: 3 miles Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 3 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Minnesota Spartan Sprint Saturday (this is also my annual Youth Group Mission Trip week, hoo boy), trail run Sunday Yes, I'm planning on either running or climbing hills almost every day for the next 10 weeks. This is what it's going to take. Goal: Stronger This has been working, but they moved one of my lift days at the gym. I'm replacing it with Boot Camp due to convenience. I need to be more consistent with my own body-weight workouts. Part 1: Week Zero: Lift Day Tuesday, Boot Camp Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week One: Lift Day Tuesday, Boot Camp Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, Badass Dash Saturday Week Two: Lift Day Tuesday, Boot Camp Thursday, Chicago Spartan Super/Sprint Weekend Week Three: Lift Day Tuesday, Boot Camp Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week Four: Youth Group Mission Trip where I'll be doing manual labor all week, MN Spartan Sprint Saturday Part 2: Continuing the Grease the Groove pull-up training method I stole gratuitously from @Big_Show. I'll be recording the total number of pull-ups completed every day, not just full dead-hang strict pull-ups. I wanted to average at least 20 per day over the last challenge, but it was more like 12-15. I'm aiming for 15 to 20 per day this time around. Part 3: Also during the last challenge, I tried to accumulate 200 push-ups per day; this wound up being more like 60 to 120 per day. I'm going to try again, shooting for 120 to 200 per day. Not hard if I get in a few sets of 20 during my workday at my desk. Challenge Plan Summary I can do this. Goal: Smaller I know my macros work. I'm still trying to refine so that I meet goals based on my daily needs; I'll be sticking with what I set the last time around, because actually meeting these targets daily was not so much "hit and miss" as "stormtrooper-level miss". 10 weeks of dedication to attempt to meet a goal I set before the first of the year. That's only two challenge cycles; not quite the home stretch right now, but I can see it from here, and I need to be ready. Here we go. We all know what Yoda would say here.

that is how i prefer to enjoy a spartan sprint OCR. with naked friends. i took about 5 days off everything and am ready to jump headfirst into zero week in order to start preparing for the spartan on june 17th. 24 days. totally enough time to prep. GOAL 1: need to maintain (or perchance lose some?!) weight to be able to handle the BW work. stay within 2000cals per day or 14,000 cals per week GOAL 2: i love lifting. lifting is the best. lift 2x per week GOAL 3: going to be doing spartan workouts 5x per week from the couch to spartan sprint program GOAL 4: get that conditioning burning. burpees 3x per week: start at 15 per session for the first 2 weeks. 20 per session last two weeks GOAL 5: don't get twisted. yoga 60m per week similar stuff as before. i think my summer challenges get repetitive because i have so many short vacas that throw a wrench into things like calorie counting. so i keep needing to have the same goals, which is fine! just repetitive. don't give up on me yet, folks! life things to keep in mind 5/28 & 5/29 – Boston Calling and Memorial Day 6/4 – Mom’s bday 6/10 – Vag Mons performance 6/17 – Spartan 6/24 thru 6/26 – Provincetown vaca

SPARTAN RISING So cast off whatever fears arise at the armoured legions they’ll muster before you, hedge yourselves round with hollow shields, and learn to love death’s ink black shadow as much as you love the light of dawn. Arete - Tyrtaeus of Sparta (sometime between 650-37BC) “This is not a disaster, this is an origin story.” - a surprisingly reassuring thing to tell the mirror every day Adversity builds character, or so the cliche goes, and right now I’m facing a mountain of it. Living below the poverty line has never been particularly fun, but I’ve always managed to scrape by and wriggle my out of whatever bad situations come my way. This current one, though, this is a little different. This is projected to be the coldest winter in five years and I can’t afford heating. I can’t afford anywhere near enough food. I can barely afford my rent and bills. And my income is not stable. At all. I’m living in constant anxiety and I don’t know how things are going to turn out in the end. But you know the great thing about rock bottom? I’ve got solid ground below my feet and from down here I can see every route that leads right on up. Each of these routes will be a long, hard climb, and I may well slip and fall at any point, but ultimately it is possible to escape from this place of misery and self-pity. The question: How will I do this? The answer: Go full Spartan. The idea is in no small way inspired by the fact that I’m running a Spartan Sprint in July 2017. That said, I think I could benefit from developing some of that incredible mental fortitude necessary to stand on the battlefield, armed and ready to fight, and be at peace with the prospect of imminent death. A Spartan body wouldn’t be half bad either. Usually this would be the part where I would say the only thing standing in the way of this is myself, but for once that isn’t strictly true. Yes, there are external factors, and yes, those have the potential to get seriously ugly, but when it comes down to it, I can only do so much to sway those factors in my favour. I can do so much more to build myself up and prepare for whatever comes. That’s why I’ve switched over to a battle log and will be staying here exclusively for at least a month rather than stressing myself out with challenges. Don’t get me wrong, I love the challenge format, and it has worked well for me in the past, but right now it isn’t what I need. Right now what I need is to drag my sorry ass back on track and drill in good habits, because I am a mess, and being a mess is not conducive to moving forward with my goals in any respect. Most of what will be in here to begin with will be simple check-ins to confirm my dailies and weekly boss fights and summaries. Sometimes I may go off tangent depending on just how badly I need to get something out there and not have it bottled up. Most importantly it will be accountability, no matter who does or does not read it. I do the thing, I post about the thing. I don’t do the thing and I have to explain why. Baby steps, so many tiny little baby steps, because when it comes down to it, a mountain of adversity isn’t so bad. After all, I climb mountains for fun The story so far… i / ii / iii / iv / v / vi / vii / vii / ix / x / xi / xii / xiii / xiv / xv / xvi / xvii

Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. I could register right now as a Journeyman as I have completed the requisite three or more qualifying events since the last Championships. I don't want to just show up, though. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor by earning my spot through competition. The black Finisher medals are things of beauty. I want one. I'm going to earn one. How realistic is this goal? On July 30, 2016, I finished 24 minutes behind the OCRWC qualifier time for the 50-54 age group, and before this challenge is over, I will have moved into that age bracket. I am combining a Half Marathon training plan with personal run coaching to increase my speed over distance. This past February 25, I ran the Spartan Sprint in Arizona while sick as hell and finished 15 minutes off the OCRWC Qualifier time for the 50-54 age group. I'm using my 10k time as my guideline for improvement, since it's the same distance or longer than my two A races for this year. Over the past year, I've knocked 7 minutes off my PR for 10k and am working to shave off another 12 minutes by the end of July, when my two most likely qualifying events are held: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 Both have obstacles that are unique compared to other obstacle race series and while I've been training for them, they will be fun no matter what happens. I'd love to qualify before then, but these are the most likely based on skill and expected competition. What will it take for me to get there? I'm going to need to be transformed. Transmogrified. But there's no magic machine that will get me there, no magic pill. It's going to take me, getting out of my head, casting off my own perceived limitations, and pushing beyond my comfort zone. Because what I want is on the other side of comfortable. Fortunately for me, there's a big "Not Comfortable" looming on my horizon - I am participating in the Montana Spartan Beast on May 6. That gives me just under three weeks (including Week Zero of this challenge) to get my climbing legs under me. I'm not starting from zero, but I am not where I need to be to finish this race and walk afterward. Goal: Faster Much like my Spartan Beast finisher times. If I want to be faster, I've got to run, consistently. During the last challenge, I put on more consistent miles and started getting the hoped-for results. I also did a 2-mile speed test and found out I am capable of much faster than I thought - about an eight-minute pace for one mile and significantly faster than that over a half-mile. Now it's time to learn to go even faster and to sustain pace for as long as I can. I'm going to stick with the following schedule until my coach, Josh, tells me he wants me to switch it up: Week Zero: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Incline Trainer Friday, 5 miles Weekend Week One: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Incline Trainer Friday, 6 miles Saturday, Incline Trainer Sunday Week Two: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 2 miles Thursday, Rest Day Friday, Montana Spartan Beast Saturday Week Three: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Incline Trainer Friday, 8 miles Weekend Week Four: Incline Trainer Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, Incline Trainer Friday, 5k Saturday (Autism 5k), 11 miles Sunday Yes, that's six days per week where there is a "move forward with purpose" goal. This is what it's going to take for me to meet my goal. I'm either going to commit, or not. It's acceptable for me to do hill training instead of incline training as long as I do it with the same heart-rate based goal of 125-150bpm. Goal: Stronger My plan here has been working. I'm physically more capable of doing the functional things I need to do to complete a course. I don't have to be the size of the Chrysler building to flip a 400-pound tire or beast the Spartan Herc Hoist or whatever; mostly, I just need to be able to move my own body weight, and then some for good measure. Part 1: Week Zero: Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week One: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week Two: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Montana Spartan Beast Saturday Week Three: Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Week Four: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday, OCR WOW Weekend Part 2: Continuing the Grease the Groove training method I stole gratuitously from @Big_Show. I'll be recording the total number of pull-ups completed every day, not just full dead-hang strict pull-ups. During the last challenge I averaged 11 pull-ups per day, and I was able to see a noticeable difference when doing body-weight work at Obstacle Academy. Now it's time to push that to the next level. I want to average at least 20 per day over this challenge. Part 3: Yes, Part 3. Because I'm backing away from Boot Camp at my gym, it's time for me to make sure I am getting regular strength endurance work in my everyday life. In the spirit of the Grease the Groove pull-up accumulation, I am aiming to accumulate 200 push-ups per day. Challenge Plan Summary Goal: Smaller Smaller me is easier to hoist over a wall me and easier to move forward me. I'm seeing the expected positive results with my food logging and nutritional planning, and I'm going to continue my plan from last challenge with the tweaks Traci would like me to make. The end of this challenge will put me about ten weeks out from my July 29 Savage Race target; more than enough time for a transmogrification.

Despite dropping off the face of the planet the last several months, things have been going really well! I'm weight stable thanks to Eat To Perform, lifting regularly, and seeing some body recomp that makes me preen just a little bit... However, I'd like to be more present in the NF world again, and as I'm counting down to my Spartan Sprint I think the accountability will do me in good stead! My entire Spartan team that I've been training with since January or so has bailed on me for the Spartan Sprint in Idaho on June 24th. All 5 of them! Lame. However, Mr. Honeybunches heard of my predicament, and since he was planning to come for a visit anyway in July, said he'd come the last week of June and run it with me! Because he's the absolute freaking best future husband ever! So, even though he can only come for a quick 8 days, it's gonna be the bestest and I can't wait!! Onto the goals! HIIT the gym 4x a week! (see what I did there?) I was floundering a couple weeks ago: Do I want to go for muscle mass? Should I focus more on straight lifts? Then I remembered my goals: I want to CRUSH those obstacle course races and enjoy myself, and not necessarily feel like dying halfway through (though that may or may not happen anyway, let's be real). In order to CRUSH THE OCR, I need muscle and cardio for days. HIIT it is, 4x a week, with a portion of each session dedicated to straight lifting because Gains Train. Run 1 to 2 times a week I did NOT learn to love running last challenge...I learned that I do NOT love running, and so I will not be doing Ragnar, the relay race from hell, after all. However, as I approach my racing season (hehe), I will be faced with running a 5k, an 8-10 miler, and a 12-14 miler plus obstacles, so I gotta get my butt in gear anyway. 1-2 times a week is all I am willing to commit at the moment, we'll see how it works for me with this Sprint, and I'll up my game for the Super and Beast if needs be, and I reckon I will need to...hills, anyone?? Drink 100 oz water/day Self Explanatory =) LISS-en More Low Intensity Steady State (AKA: getting my steps in/going for fun, easy bike rides/doing CIZE videos with mom/ walking in place while watching Kubo and The Two Strings for 3k steps like I did last night....). I walk all day at work, but on the weekends I workout on Saturday and do not much else. I want at least 8k steps on Friday and Saturday, or an equivalent activity conversion (like riding my bike or whatnot), because not all movement has to kick your ass to be worthwhile! Extra Credit: any extra gym sessions/classes/hikes/long bike rides, whatever extra activity it may be, I get to tick the EC box, just for funsies! =) Extra, Extra Credit: Check in on my thread and others' threads at least three times a week!

Hiya! I am doing the Spartan Trifecta this year and want to get a good hydration pack that will stay out of the way of barbed wire while also keeping my dehydration-prone self nice and fueled for rope climbs and bucket carries. Anyone have a good recommendation for me?

Well, the last challenge was mostly a flop. I got sick and stayed sick for the better part of three weeks. No bueno. Now I have a 10-mile road run the day before this challenge officially starts. I could whine, I could throw in the towel, I could complain about how quickly I lose my entire base of fitness and feel like I am starting over from Square One (which is not true, by the way; I have BEEN at Square One, and I'm never going back). OR: I could dig in my heels, remember what my real goal for this year is (hint: It's not to finish a 10-mile run), and re-focus. I know what the Rebellion would have me do, and my response is: As You Wish. Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. Anyone who finishes three or more qualifying races in a single year can register to race as a Journeyman. I could register right now. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor instead, meaning I have to earn my spot through competition. The black Finisher medals are things of beauty. I want one. I'm getting one. How realistic is this goal? On July 30, 2016, I finished 24 minutes out of an OCRWC qualifier time for the 50-54 age group, where I will be competing most of this year. This past February 25, I ran the Spartan Sprint in Arizona and finished 15 minutes off the OCRWC Qualifier time for the 50-54 age group. I am using a Half Marathon training plan to increase my speed over distance, and over the past year, I've knocked 7 minutes off my PR for 10k and am working to shave off another 12 minutes by the end of July, when my two most likely qualifying events are held: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 Both have obstacles that are unique compared to other obstacle race series and will be fun no matter what happens. I'd love to qualify before then, but these are the most likely based on skill and expected competition. What will it take for me to get there? It's time to call what I'm doing Dedication To My Craft. I have a running plan, an obstacle coach and a fantastic facility in which to train, and a great gym where I do my conventional training (lifting, boot camp). Josh, the coach at Obstacle Academy, elite competitor with my North Star Spartans team and Pro qualifier with 100% obstacle completion at last year's OCRWC, , is willing to help me get there. He's working with me on Conquer The Gauntlet's Stairway to Heaven and Pegatron obstacles and has offered to review my run training plan and modify as necessary. And I'm going to listen to every damn word he has to say. Goal: Road Training Whatever, Inigo, in the Star Wars universe, the right hand is the first thing to go. I have a metric boatload of road races during this challenge. At least that should keep me training. The plan for this challenge: Week Zero: 7 miles Monday, 3 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 10 miles Saturday (Hot Dash 10-miler). Week 1: 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 5 miles Saturday (O'Gara's Irish Run 8k). Week 2: 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 6 miles Saturday or Sunday. Week 3: 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 10 miles weekend (Goldy's Run). Week 4: 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 3 miles Saturday (Parkrun), 8 miles Sunday. This is the schedule. Stick to it, or stop searching for the Six Fingered Man. Goal: Strength Training It may not be sportsmanlike, but I suggest you let the Wookie win. Because of all the road races, I won't be able to make it consistently to Boot Camp on Saturday mornings. However, I'm creating a weekly Workout of the Week (WOW) for the Obstacle Course Racers Accountabilibuddies group. I'll incorporate those workouts into my training plan. This will replace Boot Camp on Mondays and potentially weekends if I ever have one where I am not running myself into the ground. The plan for this challenge: Part 1: Week Zero: Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday Week 1: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, Obstacle Academy Friday Week 2: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Boot Camp Saturday, Spartan Workout Tour Sunday Week 3: Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Obstacle Academy Friday Week 4: OCR WOW Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, OCR WOW Wednesday, Star Wars Celebration Thursday and Friday Part 2: Continuing the Grease the Groove training method I stole gratuitously from @Big_Show. I'll be recording the total number of pull-ups completed every day, not just full dead-hang strict pull-ups. This should be a double-digit number daily or I'm not trying. Goal: Plate Training Macros, refined by Traci, my trainer at C4: This is a plan that will allow me to achieve my goals, provided that I listen to my coach and trainer and put in the work. Pictured: goals.

Welcome back to a Galaxy Far, Far Away. While this is a new challenge cycle, the goals are pretty much the same, because consistency builds habits, which leads to progress, which leads to success. Consistency will take focus, and this man told this annoying kid something really important about that: And, unlike much of what was scripted for his little green Master, he's not patently wrong. Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. Anyone who finishes three or more qualifying races in a single year can register to race as a Journeyman. I could register right now. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor instead, meaning I have to earn my spot through competition. Sweet Baby Jesus, look at those things. I hope they are just as awesome again this year. I have my sights set on two possible qualifying races this year: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 Every road race I am signed up for leading up to these events is a training run and I will be disappointed if I don't set a PR every time out. I don't have any timed road races during this cycle. I do have my first two Spartan Races of the year: I did this venue last year and it was awesome. It was also just as hot and cactus-y as it looks in this picture and yes, cactus spines are a pain in the wherever. Last year, when I earned a 5x Spartan Trifecta, I had my sights set on three mountain races that kicked my butt, and I considered all the other races training runs for those three. Not this year. In 2017, every Obstacle Course Race I am signed up for leading up to Savage and Conquer are going to be run at red-line. That means I am running back-to-back days in potential 85 degree heat as hard as I can and taking as few breathers as possible. We'll see how that works out. In my favor is the fact that the course is hilly but not mountainous, but that also works in the favor of actual runners, so there's that. Whether I wind up qualifying or not, this will be a good early indication of whether anything I've been doing - accumulating miles, weight training, obstacle training at Obstacle Academy - have helped at all, and it will help identify existing weaknesses. I'm more than just fairly obstacle-proficient; at any given race, I expect to complete nearly every obstacle. But right now, at my best, I am a middle-of-the-pack runner. This year I am focusing on Becoming Faster while Staying Strong and Improving My Endurance. And I am doing this by continuing What I Know Works. Goal: Road Training The plan for this challenge: Week 1: 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 8 miles weekend. Week 2: 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday. Weekend run will be replaced by Spartan Race. Week 3: 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 9 miles weekend. Week 4: 3 miles Tuesday, 5 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday, 10 miles weekend. This is the schedule. Period. If I think I will have issues sticking to the schedule, I should probably find a way to get ahead of the schedule on any given week. Goal: Strength Training Part 1: Week 1: Boot camp Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Obstacle Academy Saturday Week 2: Boot Camp Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Light Body Weight Workout Friday, Spartan Race Saturday/Sunday Week 3: Boot Camp Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Boot Camp Saturday Week 4: Boot Camp Monday, Lift Day Tuesday, Lift Day Thursday, HIIT Friday, Boot Camp Saturday Part 2: I will be working on my pull-up proficiency to get back what I had two years ago (and surpass it). I have a pull-up bar at home. Every time I pass through the door, I need to do a couple. Not to failure, I'm stealing the Grease the Groove training method from @Big_Show. I'll be recording the total number of pull-ups completed every day, not just full dead-hang strict pull-ups. This should be a double-digit number daily or I'm not trying. Goal: Plate Training More of What I Know Works, but I'm refining this, because I work with smart people. This will take more discipline but account for variation in my activity levels. This means I'm going to have to do full, weekly meal planning and pre-preparation. This is a ramp-up of what I've been doing. I know it works. And I know that given the proper amount of focus, I can achieve my goals. Pictured: goals.

Nothing new or unusual to see here, but I have pretty clear motivation to keep my eating and working out on track this month. I completely dropped off the last challenge, *sigh*. Would like to document my efforts this month, despite joining three days late I've been working on these things this month. I may or may not continue adding Brooklyn 9-9 gifs despite lack of relevancy. Overarching Quest: 25% Body Fat Haven't made a lot of progress with this, my weight drifted upwards in Q4 of 2016. But doing the W30 is a good re-start. Mission #1: Complete the Whole30 Started this January 3rd, happily bf is doing it with me this round! So the surfeit of cooking labor is alleviated by his assistance, specifically with dishwashing. I'll put in another post on how it's going so far. The biggest challenge is going to be our trip to Cali for the Spartan sprint... Mission #2: Train for and complete Spartan Sprint After the marathon last year, November and December were spent recuperating and doing a lot of yoga. I'm getting back into the gym, in preparation for our race January 29th. I was dumb last week and overdid it, inducing a little tricep rhabdo -- and then Thursday I came down with a cold. Today I'm finally feeling better to start getting back at it. Since it's so close to the race I'm going to focus on burpees, grip/hang strength, and hills. We're doing the race with a team, and I don't know that anyone feels/is fully prepared -- so we're just aiming to finish together. Mission #3: Decrease TV watching This is back again. I started thinking about how I manage my time and rest on Monday, after a small group discussion about the importance and prioritization of rest. What I will allow is TV that actually contributes to feeling happier. Shows: Brooklyn 9-9 (because it makes me LOL) and Dr. Ken (because my cousin is in it) -- since I'm pretty current on those, it's only 1hr/week. No more Netflix/Hulu watching the bazillion hours of entire show seasons. Movies with bf are allowed -- it's not like we watch more than one at once anyhow. Let's do this.

My last challenge of 2016 really fizzled out. I got sick, I got overwhelmed with the holidays, and I feel like I am starting over from scratch. That's not true, though. I have actual metrics from where I was, and where I am now, and progress is undeniable. But I'm not where I want to be. Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, in October for the 2017 OCR World Championships. Anyone who does three or more races in a single year qualifies to race Journeyman. I could register right now. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor instead, meaning I have to earn my spot through competition. Sweet Baby Jesus, look at those things. I hope they are just as awesome again this year. I have my sights set on three possible qualifying races this year: Savage Race Chicago, July 30 Conquer the Gauntlet Des Moines, August 5 Every road race I am signed up for leading up to these are training runs. This year, I aim to take that training seriously. My first race of the year has been switched due to being over-committed. I didn't run on New Years Day, instead I'm running a 10k on Jan 28, so that will be my first event of the year. My goal is to shave 2 minutes off my finish from the Moustache Run at the end of November. Last year, when I earned a 5x Spartan Trifecta, I had my sights set on three mountain races that kicked my butt, and I considered all the other races training runs for those three. Not this year. In 2017, every Obstacle Course Race I am signed up for leading up to Savage and Conquer are going to be run at red-line. It would be great to qualify for OCRWC early and be able to build some confidence going into October. We'll see how that works out. I'm more than just fairly obstacle-proficient; at any given race, I expect to complete nearly every obstacle. But right now, at my best, I am a middle-of-the-pack runner. Now I have to Get Faster and Stay Strong. And in order to do these things, I have to Stick With What I Know Works. If you've ever followed me before, you know what's coming. Goal: Run Blah Blah Blah I believe the actual quote turned out to be "That's not how the Force works!" Not my favorite thing. I have a plan, however, and it was actually going well for the last half of November and, well, I feel like I'm back to Square One. Yeah, I know I'm not. But it feels that way. My plan says to run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and once during the weekend, with my longer runs coming on Wednesday and the weekend. I have a training plan and enough races on the schedule to keep me moving forward. Game on. Word up, Frink. Goal: A Jedi's Strength Flows Blah Blah Blah Luke Skywalker, elder abuser. I will bitch and moan about how little weight I can lift right up until I don't anymore. It's on me to make that happen. My lifting classes are every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, now that my XFit class has been removed from the schedule (sad man, sigh). That makes my weekly schedule look like this: Tuesday: Lift day Thursday: Lift day Friday: HIIT Saturday: Boot Camp You will see lots and lots of photos of whiteboards in the coming months. Goal: How Grow You So Big Blah Blah Blah Pictured: Me, the morning after Christmas, lounging next to a chick in Slave Leia garb and some dude in brown Every. Damn. Challenge. It is amazing how fast my body wants to revert to its previous state of not awesomeness. I'm back to tracking daily. Macros: 1750-2250 calories per day125-150 grams protein35+ grams fiber<2800 grams sodium 2017: The year I stopped calling myself "Old, Fat and Out Of Shape" and took myself seriously. You're going to get tired of seeing me post these things.

Hi All, I'm planning to run a winter OCR in March and I could really use some advice about winter running gear. I run in temperatures as low as ~30F but not much lower, and I've never run in the snow. I guess I'm looking for advice in two main areas...what kind of gear I might need to stay warm, and any specific recommendations for brands or items that you've had success with. I know I'll need gloves for sure, but also probably warmer leggings and socks? And I have no idea how many layers I should aim for on top, or what kind. I imagine there won't be MUCH in the way of water since it'll be winter, but I think it's possible I'll still encounter some. Any advice you guys have would be really helpful!

Hi all, I'm doing the Boise Idaho Spartan Sprint on June 24th, if anyone wants to team up for it! It's my first OCR and I'm so excited to do it! I'd love to share the experience with my fellow Rebels. If you're in that area, let's do it!

Okay, so I wanted to say something about Rogue One, but, who needs to do that? I'm going on opening day. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Instead, because my challenge goals are revisiting and continuing What Works, I'm going back to something awesome. Work it. Main Goal I'm going to Blue Mountain, Ontario, for the 2017 OCR World Championships. Anyone who does three or more races in a single year qualifies to race Journeyman. I could register right now. I want to qualify as an Age Group competitor, meaning I want to earn my spot in competition. Good Lord, the medal porn. I hope these things continue to look this awesome. To this end, I have to Get Faster and Stay Strong. And in order to do these things, I have to Stick With What I Know Works. Goal: Macros Never be Porkins. 1750-2250 calories per day 125-150 grams protein 35+ grams fiber <2800 grams sodium Ideally, it's going to be lightest on rest days and heaviest on days where I lift. This is a work in progress. As long as my averages are within my goal range, this is a success for this challenge. Everything gets tracked and reported here. Goal: Strength Training Dash Rendar, the double-breasted turkey of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Weekly Schedule: Crossfit-style class Monday Heavy lifting Tuesday, Thursday HIIT Friday Boot camp Saturday During Week 1 of this challenge because I'll be racing in Florida, and will be dropping my Thursday, Friday and Saturday sessions. Otherwise, everything gets tracked and reported here. Goal: Run, Dammit I wonder if having a puppet master would make me run more consistently. I have a half-marathon training plan that I paid for, and a running coach who has agreed to track my progress and keep me moving forward. Use these resources. Follow the plan. I am schedule to run four days per week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and one day per weekend. The Plan says Saturday but also says I can run Sunday instead. My GF and I have agreed to run every Sunday after I finish teaching class at the gym. We're going to keep each other accountable and start working toward our goals. My measurable goal: 10k in under an hour. Far more achievable than doing the Kessel Run in under 12 Parsecs. As I mentioned, I will be guiding my GF through the swamp in Florida at the end of Week 1 to complete the Jacksonville Spartan Super, which will complete my Fifth Spartan Trifecta for 2016. I don't want to downplay this as "no big thing", because if it weren't a "big thing" people like me wouldn't train for them and judge their fitness by them. It is a big deal. One Spartan Race is a Big Deal. One Trifecta is a huge deal. Five Trifectas is a huge deal. I'm proud of what I've done this year, and I understand what I need to do to get where I want to go. Specifically, standing in this picture. Finally, I will continue to preach Peace, Love and Understanding, until I feel that this world no longer needs it. I stay far too silent on far too many things in the name of not rocking boats. I won't speak politics or whatnot here in the Jedi Temple, but I will continue my mantra, because this world is an awesome place, and it gets better every time we remember to make it that way. Peace, Love and Understanding, friends.

In 2015 I went from a novice Obstacle Course racer to falling just short of earning three Spartan Race Trifectas when I came up sick on the morning of my final race in November. Eight months of work, all scuttled by a rogue stomach bug. Doing nine Spartan races in one year is not a failure, but I failed to reach a goal I set earlier in the year, and I finished out the year injured - recovering from a Grade 3 ankle sprain and chronic shoulder tendinitis - and feeling defeated. I could have used a stick to better express my bummed-outedness. During the last weekend of the last challenge, I completed my third Boss Battle of 2016 by outlasting the Killington Spartan Beast, arguably the hardest course in the circuit at more than 16 miles and 10,000 feet of elevation change, and I brought home that third Trifecta medal that had eluded me for ten months. A newfound understanding of my ability to endure hours of physical activity - made me set my sights higher this year, and in January I resolved not to earn three Spartan Trifectas this year, but to earn five. I've got two Beasts and one Super remaining on my calendar. I still have work to do. I am by no means an elite athlete. I am slow, I don't have a ton of upper-body strength, and I'm getting up there in years - in May I will graduate from the 45-49 age group to the 50 and over set. I'm also currently dealing with elbow tendinitis and the effects of two sprained ankles - one old and one recent. But none of that means I am not going to keep working to get better. I need to work smart, not just hard. And I need to get back to what made me successful. I need to rebuild the temple. My goals won't rehash the things I'll be doing daily - my established workouts or my planned running, which was actually going well last time around before I sprained my ankle, but I am healed to the point that I can do those consistently as long as I wear my ankle sleeves. Everything is Permissible, but Not Everything is Beneficial I've been pretty lax about my eating habits for the past couple months, and as a result, I'm softer around the middle and less-happy about it. It's time to get back to what I know works: meat, vegetables, specific healthy snacks, and tracking. Goal: Track my food daily and stick to my established metrics Physician, Heal Thyself In the last year I have sprained both ankles, the left, significantly, leading to time in a boot, and strained my left elbow to the point that carrying things can be occasionally painful. This is troublesome since running involves ankles, trail running involves running over uneven ground and requires ankles to work to provide stability. Carrying things or pulling my body weight up and over things is a major part of OCR. I need to heal, while still maintaining strength, and I need to be smart about it. This means intentional stretching, foam-rolling, lacrosse-ball rolling and yoga when I can get it. Goal: Strech or myofacial release, including feet, ankles, calves, traps and arms. 15 minutes total every day. Peace, Be Still It's a constant struggle for me. I am always either in front of a screen, sweating with a bandanna on my head, or doing... something. I am continuing my meditation and prayer goal from last challenge. I won't grade it, but I will try to be intentional, because being intentional helped reduce the sheer magnitude of all my stuff when I did. Goal: 30 minutes of prayer and meditation daily. My only scheduled race during this challenge is the Hammer Race on October 8, which I am wavering on depending on how my ankle is healing, but that I really want to be able to attend. May the Force be with us.

During this challenge I'll be continuing on my 2016 mission to earn five Spartan Trifectas. Each Trifecta comes from completing one of each of the three Spartan Race distances - Sprint, Super, Beast. I completed my first Trifecta back in May when I survived the Montana Spartan Beast. I've been nursing some minor injuries, training, and doing a few shorter or less-brutal races since that race in preparation for my two biggest challenges of this year: The Breckenridge Spartan Beast on 27 August The Killington Spartan Beast on 17 September There's a strong chance these are the two most brutal courses on the entire Spartan calendar: Breckenridge due to the altitude, and Killington due to the fact that last year, there were complaints that the course was not hard enough. I'm more than a little terrified of both. Being terrified isn't going to help me complete either event. Training will. I'll continue with my usual regimen at my gym, which is heavy weights on Tuesday and Thursday, except on race weeks, when I'll skip lifting on Thursday but do a body weight set instead. I'm consistent enough with this that it doesn't need to be a goal, it's just a thing that I do. Goal: Ascend the Spire This is Minnesota and there is no "Up" here, not like there is in Colorado and Vermont. We have a couple hills - and by "a couple" I mean, like, ten - but no mountains. I've been running hills all summer, and emphasizing significant change in climb when I've run trail, while being smart about this ankle problem I've had since I limped down the mountain in Montana. I tweaked it again in Illinois at the end of July when I ran the Chicago Savage Race (also a blast, btw), but it's healing and caused me less issues than my right last weekend at the MN Terrain Race. As long as I continue to wear my brace, I should be fine. Goal: Run 3x per week, 2x with significant elevation change. Goal: Hold Fast This thing will be back on the course at Killington. Holy crap. DO YOU SEE THIS? LOOK AT IT. This looks horrible. Beyond the fact that there's a swim in a lake in Vermont in September, I struggle with rope grips like this. If only there were somewhere that I could do grip-specific training... Oh yeah. They opened a gym five minutes from my office. Goal: 1x/week training session at Ninjas United Goal: Strength Flows from the Force I'm stressed out. All. The. Time. I have a senior-level software development job that has taken more time in the last year than it did in the first three, and that doesn't appear to be changing any time soon. I have a second job as a personal trainer that takes time. I am a single parent of five kids, including two in middle school, which starts back up in three weeks. I am a volunteer leader with my church youth group. This year I accepted a nomination to the church board because literally nobody else would do it. I've adjusted my race schedule for the remainder of the year to compensate, but I'm flat-out tired all the time. It's time to make sure I can feel the flow. And I suck at this part. Goal: Spend 30 minutes per day in meditation and prayer. I'm going to do my best to keep this thread current and active. Keep me accountable, Rangers.

Or maybe a Spartan king? I figured I’d continue with the pattern of animated movies about felines. I’m going to be travelling to Paris during Week 1, from 7/16 – 7/24. So, I’m going to treat this week (Week 0) as my Week 1 and Week 1 as my Week 0. (A Cat in Paris also tempted me as a theme topic. And Aristocats is set in Paris too. There are so many animated Paris movies.) My goals are pretty much the same as they have been the past two challenges. Goal 1: Maintain Fitness 3 workouts/week (usually 1 bootcamp and 2 at home bodyweight workouts) Run 1x/week + ankle alphabets before and after. I’m working on 3.7 miles right now, and trying to get up as close to 5 miles as I can before the Spartan next month. Walk 16 miles/week (64 over course of challenge) Goal 2: Movement Focus (Spartan Prep) I’m done with sets of burpees. The moment I was able to achieve 30 in a row, I lost interest in doing these. So, I’m switching to a grease the groove approach. I’ll do the remaining 350 burpees I owe from the past two challenges over the course of this one. Climb stuff – I dropped this completely last challenge, but I should at least try to practice climbing stuff in preparation for my fear of heights. Mainly the jungle gym at the park. I’ve thought about trying bouldering at a rock gym, but that might be pushing it. That’s the sort of thing I’d love to try, but I’d rather have a friend along for. While I’m at the park, I might as well use the monkey bars. Goal 3: Food Part A: Maintain What Works (23 points/week) Don’t eat after 8pm (or within 3 hours of bedtime) (-1 point for failure). Exceptions on Thursdays where workouts and Aikido coincide. Don’t eat more than 1 bad food/meal in a day. Desserts are counted separately from meals in most cases. (-1 point for failure) Eat primalish most of the time (19 meals / week allows for 2 variance meals) (-1 point per failure, +1 point for extra primal meal) Aim for primal snacks on 4 days/week and then non-primal snacks ok 3 days per week (out of 4 points/week) Aim for at least 1 primal meal and 1 50% meal per day when travelling or hosting (-1 point per failure, +1 per success) Plan/prep meals over the weekend and prep/freeze meals for weeks when this doesn’t happen (+1 point when done successfully) Write down bad reactions to food choices in an ongoing spreadsheet to dissuade myself from making that choice a second time. Not connected to any points. Doing this is slowly starting to help me make better choices. Slowly. Part B: Conscious Eating Think about what I’m about to do before eating something. Ideally, pause and take a few deep breaths. If I eat something unhealthy, recognize and acknowledge that I’m about to sell out my future self. (4 points per day – 3 meals and snacks) Part C: Cholesterol Management SomethingSomething The nature of this goal will depend on what the doctor says about the bloodwork I’m getting done on the 13th. I probably won’t be able to hear the results from her until I’m back from Paris. So for Week 0 (my Week 1) I’ll just keep aiming for 25g of fiber per day. Then I’ll evaluate and decide on this goal after I get back and hear what the doctor says. Goal 4: Be a Mighty King (life goal sort of) This is where I try to stretch things to somehow fit my theme. Kings need to see things from a variety from perspectives, so I’m going to do the same. I want to spend 4 hours/week standing when I would not have otherwise and 2 hours/week sitting on the ground instead of on furniture. There's a communal standing desk at work, so I should be able to get the standing done easily during the 3 days I'm in the office if I do about 1.5 hours each day. 2 hours of sitting on the ground will probably happen at home while reading or watching TV. I'll probably break this down into 30 minutes 4 days a week. I chose this goal because I have a lot of posture issues and muscle imbalances related to sitting, but I never had the same issues when I used to always sit on the floor because on the floor you naturally fidget a lot more. It's more natural. And the standing has some obvious benefits as well. Bonus Goals: These earn me extra points, but they cannot take priority over my main goals. Meditate daily (7 per week) Yoga 4 times per week, of any length Clean the sink before bed 4 times per week NEW Sleepy Sundays – try to get things done (grocery shopping, workouts, etc.) before Sunday, so I can spend Sunday resting instead of running around stressed. Be in bed by 10pm so I start the week off with enough rest. I really liked sleepy Sundays last challenge, so I’d like to try to make it a habit. Travel Protocols: While I’m in Paris, I’ll be anxious enough already with worrying about not speaking the language and whether the French people all hate me. So there's no need to worry about trying to eat a certain way, or I’d go crazy. So, my goals are simple. I'm not scoring them since it's my Week 0, but I would like to at least maintain the workout/meditation streaks I have going currently. 3 workouts. They can be short, but do something even if it’s just a 15 minute BBWW in the hotel room Meditate daily (hopefully I can maintain my headspace streak while using the WiFi at the hotel) MAYBE 1 run if there’s a treadmill at the hotel and I feel comfortable enough to use it. Try to stretch every morning/evening or maybe squeeze in a yoga video once or twice. I always forget to stretch on trips and then turn into Frankenstein, and I would like to avoid that this time.

Last challenge, my theme was “to be a cat, or to stop being a cat?” The answer was quite clearly to continue being a cat, so this seemed like a good follow-up theme. #scientificmethod Last challenge was not my best challenge. I continued my workout and meditation streaks, and learned some things, but my overall scores were kindasorta not very good. Near the end of my challenge, I found myself suddenly feeling very worn out and uneager to do anything. I suddenly felt like I was fighting with myself just to do basic things. But, y’know… I thought about cutting things out so I’d be less rangerbrainy about everything. But when I listed all of the things I’m working on, there was nothing I really felt like I could cut out. There was no one thing that was really causing me stress or exhaustion. I’m doing a bunch of different things, but I genuinely don’t think I’m doing TOO much when I put it all together. There are the 4 building blocks of physical health that I know work for me – walking, working out, yoga, and eating primalish. Those are my essentials. And then I’ve added some supplemental things more focused on mental wellbeing – meditation, dishes, and the like. None of those things are that strenuous. So, instead of trying to edit my goals, I’m going to try to edit the space around them. I’m going to start tinkering with how I spend my time when I’m not working on goal stuff, and see how that impacts my energy. I’m going to finish this fight. Goal 1: Maintain Fitness Workout 3x/week (usually 1 bootcamp class and 2 workouts on my own) 1 run per week – I’m working on increasing from 5K towards 5 miles. I also need to remember to do ankle alphabets before and after each run Walk 16 miles per week (64 over 4-week challenge) Goal 2: Spartan Prep Burpees I’m going to finish the burpee fight. Last challenge, my goal was to try to do 30 burpees in a row (with breaks as needed) every day. I only got about 12.5 days in. So, I want to get in 17.5 days over the course of this challenge to hit that nice symmetrical 30x30 number. That’s roughly every other day, so I can leave them out on days that are already packed with other physical activity. That might help them feel like less of a burden. Climbing I made great progress on the jungle gym at the park, but I did not actually conquer it. I’m going to keep working on this and try to conquer it this challenge. I won’t require a certain number of attempts. Either I make progress or I don’t, but I can do it at whatever pace that works. Goal 3: Food Food happens in 3 categories: things that work, conscious eating, and some sort of experiment or test I focus on for a month to try to learn more about my eating. Part 1: Maintain What Works (23 points / week) Don’t eat after 8pm (or within 3 hours of bedtime) (-1 point for failure). Exceptions on Thursdays where workouts and Aikido coincide. Don’t eat more than 1 bad food/meal in a day. Desserts are counted separately from meals in most cases. (-1 point for failure) Eat primalish most of the time (19 meals / week allows for 2 variance meals) (-1 point per failure, +1 point for extra primal meal) Aim for primal snacks on 4 days/week and then non-primal snacks ok 3 days per week (out of 4 points/week) Aim for at least 1 primal meal and 1 50% meal per day when travelling or hosting (-1 point per failure, +1 per success) Plan/prep meals over the weekend and prep/freeze meals for weeks when this doesn’t happen (+1 point when done successfully) Write down bad reactions to food choices in an ongoing spreadsheet to dissuade myself from making that choice a second time. Not connected to any points. Doing this is slowly starting to help me make better choices. Slowly. Part 2: Conscious Eating (28 points/week) Think about what I’m about to do before eating something. Ideally, pause and take a few deep breaths. If I eat something unhealthy, recognize and acknowledge that I’m about to sell out my future self. (4 points per day – 3 meals and snacks) Part 3: Experiment – Carbs (14 points/week) Fiber I decided to repeat the carb experiment this challenge, since I feel like there’s still more to learn from doing it. I don’t plan to count carbs permanently, but I want to continue to experiment with it for one more challenge. I hypothesize that I already instinctually know when I’m eating a good quantity of carbs – on the days that I ate well, my carbs were also good. But I want to confirm that through science. I’m aiming to stay under 100g/day. I won’t track during travel or hosting. 1 point for tracking and 1 point for hitting goal. ½ point if I don’t know the nutritional info for a thing, but I still write the thing down. In light of cholesterol issues, I'm changing this to fiber for the challenge. Aiming for 25g at least of fiber per day. Goal 4 (Life Goal): Sleep & Play Here’s where I try to manage my energy. I’ve known for a long time that I should work on my sleep habits, but I’ve also avoided doing so because the idea really intimidates me. I’ll try something small. Sleepy Sundays Get to bed at 10pm on Sundays so that I start the week off with enough sleep. This means I’ll have to wait to watch Game of Thrones until Mondays, since it airs at 9pm on Sundays. Try to clear Sundays so that I have a whole day where I can recuperate / prep meals. I should try to avoid letting workouts fall on Sundays. I should try to get groceries on Saturday so that I don’t have to worry about that on Sunday. I should try to get laundry done before Sunday. Play 1x per week physically – Roll around on the ground, try primal movements, dance, try cartwheels, splash in the pool. Whatever. Cat stuff. 1x per week mentally – doodle, color, whittle, solve a puzzle, etc. Bonus Goals These goals earn me bonus points that can balance out any other areas where I struggle, but these goals cannot happen at the expense of my main goals. Yoga 4x/week Meditate 7x/week Clean the sink before bed 4x/week

Hey all, I've signed up for the Spartan Sprint at Fenway Park in Boston on 11/13 but none of my friends who said they were going to signed up ended up signing up for the team so I'd like to open this up to other rebels who might be interested. Link to the race: http://www.spartan.com/en/race/detail/1641/overview I've signed up for the morning run on 11/13 and created a team. Here's the team information: Team Name: Scuderia 603 Password: bmrs2016 I'd love to get a group together for this event so I don't have to do it by myself. We can also change the team name if more rebels sign up. Questions? Just post them here or hit me up on Snapchat (golfcart34). Happy Running!

I've been running "EricMN's Jedi Training" challenge threads since... um... maybe all of them, and if not, it's pretty dang close. This means I've been modulating between making progress, treading water and backsliding for almost two years. I am pretty consistent with my workouts and my strength is measurably better right now than at any time since I was college-aged. I'm close to 2x my goal weight on my dead lift and almost 1x my goal weight on bench. My grip strength is not Ninja-level, but it's getting there. Nutritionally, I know what I need to do, and I'm able to dial in for weeks at a time. For this challenge, I'm determined to build a lasting habit that so far has not taken hold. During this challenge, I will participate in three weekends of events: The Greater Chicagoland Spartan Super and Sprint and Hurricane Heat, June 11-12 The Minnesota Spartan Sprint, June 25 The Indiana Spartan Sprint, July 9 And I'll likely run the Freedom Days 5 mile on July 4, because it's cheap and I can roll out of bed and stroll down the street to the park for that one. What do all those events have in common? They involve running, anywhere from 3 to 10 miles each. I've been doing Obstacle Races since September of 2014, because @Teros inspired me to take a step forward and use the fitness I had been building for two years and do something with it. I focused early on learning obstacle techniques and filling in the gaps in my upper-body strength. Last year, I also improved my running from "I can get through a 5k and mostly run" to "I can outlast a 15 mile Spartan Beast on a mountain and not die." But now, it's time to either stop saying "I'm not a runner" and use that as an excuse as to why I'm not becoming faster over distance. I have moved from "way down the bell curve" to "pretty close to the positive side of the bell curve" on flatter distances up to 9 miles. It's time to ditch the excuses and start running. I will only have two goals during this challenge. Goal One: Become a Runner This is it. I'm tired of showing up at training events for my OCR group and saying, "Hey, guys, meet you at the end." Plenty of people in our group are my age, and most are at least two to three minutes per mile faster than me over distance and many are even faster. Two of the guys who are in the group are 10 years older than I am. It doesn't matter that they have been runners for years (or decades), it's time to catch up. I'm more than capable. Step 1: Talk with one of the other trainers at my gym and get a freaking plan. April is a running coach. She's awesome. I have no doubt in my mind that if I asked, she would get me a stock plan and work with me to execute it. If she can't help me, there are plenty of other options, such as buying something like the Runners Connect Online Running Coach, or connecting with people in IL this weekend at the Spartan to get a plan. Step 2: Stick to the damn plan. I make excuses all the time as to why I am not running. Those days have to be over or I might as well just stop pretending this is what I want to do and start admitting that I am Mayor of the Back of the Pack. Week Zero Measurable: I will obtained my plan. Also, I will have done at least three days of cardio, whether it be trail running, hill running, or Matt Novakovich's Incline Treadmill workout. Week 1-4 Measurables: I will use the plan I have obtained and follow it to a tee. Goal Two: Finish my Personal Training Certification I have done enough procrastinating and made enough excuses. I am more than capable of passing this test. Get it sorted out and get it scheduled. Week Zero Measurable: I will have the test scheduled by the end of the week. Week 1-4 Measurables: I will spend no less than 4 hours per week studying, right up until test day. The Rangers guild has been instrumental in getting me where I am today; I'm going to need even more accountability to get where I want to go. No more excuses. It's time to suck it up and get it done. I may be a Jedi Master, but my own goal is to become the Grand Master of my family clan, something I cannot do when I do not have the discipline to meet my own goals. Today, this changes. Sometimes that tired saw he's known for is right on the mark.

2016 Boss Battle Number One I am a soon-to-be 49-year-old recovering fat guy. Short story: between my graduation from high school and early 2011, I pretty much doubled my body weight, topping out somewhere around 260 pounds, and I was pretty sick. In 2013 I started working with a personal trainer, got down to 190 while building strength and endurance for the first time in my life and entered my first 5k. I found that training toward a goal kept me more focused than just working out to be healthy. In 2014, I discovered Obstacle Course Racing after being inspired by @Teros to enter a Spartan Race. I was hooked. In 2015 I set out to earn a Spartan Trifecta, completed by finishing a Spartan Sprint, Super and Beast in the same calendar year. I managed to complete it in a four-week period in April and May. I did the Beast and Sprint on back-to-back days, celebrating my 48th birthday by earning my Trifecta on a mountain in Montana in what was the most grueling 30 hours of my life. I'm going back to the mountain on this weekend, the Saturday and Sunday right before this challenge begins. On Saturday, I'll complete my first of five scheduled Spartan Trifectas in 2016 by finishing the Spartan Beast - twelve-plus miles and 30 or more obstacles. On Sunday I'll head back up the mountain for a victory lap in the Spartan Sprint. Ready for this year's edition. That's all before the challenge officially begins. At the end of Week Two, I will be running my first BattleFrog series obstacle race... ... and because I don't go small, I am going to be doing the multiple-lap option, BattleFrog Xtreme. The regular course is 8k with 22 obstacles. I will be aiming for three laps of the course in one day. This will get me a cool freaking medal with one star per lap: It's all about the bling. Sweet Baby Jesus, this makes me tired just typing it out. Fortunately, my motto over the last year has been "Train Tired." Training leads us to goals for this challenge. I've been rolling my challenges forward this year because I was struggling to find consistency. I'm tweaking them a little this time, but they're going to be really similar. Goal: Obstacle Race Training Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) tests not just who is fast or who is strong, but who can stay fast and strong when they are tired. Two obstacles are my nemesis: the Rig - a contraption with pipes, rings and ropes - and the Tyrolean Traverse. Both will require me to continue to work on my upper-body strength. I have recovered most of what I lost due to injury and unwillingness to work last year because I have a plan that works. Goal 1a: Strength Training 4 days per week. I have a regular schedule that I love that has allowed me to make real strength gains this year. Unless I am traveling or decide to attend a different class that will emphasize specific OCR skills I want to work on, I will be doing the following, weekly: Monday: CrossFit. Traci emphasizes overhead work and squats here.Tuesday and Thursday: My "Plus" class. The emphasis is on lifting heavy - deadlifts, squats, bench press are the staples. Saturday: HIIT followed by Boot Camp at the gym for a total of 1.5 hours of total work with a 15-minute break, or OCR training at "the Hill" - a park where my Spartan group will be training regularly until next winter. Either option simulates the strength endurance I require to perform well at an Obstacle Course Race. Goal 1b: Cardio 5 days per week. I started incorporating Steady State Cardio into my training back in March and it's done wonders for my aerobic base. HIIT will count toward this goal as well. So does any time I decide to charge up and down a hill for at least 45 minutes. I need to make sure I incorporate one long run day so that I am building a sufficient tolerance to doing these things (see BattleFrog XTreme, above). Goal: Waistline Training I've successfully taken two inches back off my waistline since January. I'm not done. Goal 2a: Log My Food My macros are working really well when I stick to them. I have a solid range defined, and while I'm losing inches, I'm not losing weight, which means I'm not losing muscle mass despite the (sometimes massive) calorie deficit. I'll also post my daily macros here. Goal 2b: Avoid the Treats I do really well five out of seven days per week, when there are no temptations around. Unfortunately, two days per week I am in situations where Church Lady Hospitality is the norm and I am reguarly inundated with sugary treats. Saying no is hard enough and even moreso when the Nice Church Ladies insist that I should just have one or two. Goal: Personal Training This one has been an albatross around my neck for six months now. I am scheduled for my CPR/AED/First Aid course on May 23. I need to get my NASM certification test scheduled and commit to studying so I'm not wasting money having to re-test. This has been a major failure for me all year, regardless of other commitments and schedule conflicts and other excuses. It just needs to get done. Goal 3a: Schedule my NASM Certification Test. Quit stalling and do it. Goal 3b: Study three days per week. I won't pass the test otherwise. Here we go, folks...

The Holy Grail: I’m running my first ever Spartan and second ever OCR on April 23rd with @Slates in Italy. The concept: I have created a complicated set of rules that plays out much like a manager game. It is set in the Shadowrun world and due to its nature, it makes more sense to portray a Fixer rather than the runners themselves. [Fixer: A Shadowrun term for an intermediate between the shadows and other parts of the society. Most Mr. Johnsons, regardless of whom they represent, will contact a fixer to set up a meet with shadowrunners.Fixers often know many powerful secrets, like the real identities of Mr. Johnsons, the runners, and such. However, they will not easily part with this information, as secrecy (plausible deniability) is part of the services they provide.] Nutrition goal: No processed sugar, grains or dairy (with the exception of light yoghurt). Also no caffeine, as I've been converted to rooibos/redbush tea, green tea and a malt product that substitutes beautifully for instant coffee when I get the cravings. Workout goal: It's there, but non-specific and not tracked. I'll carry on with my usual crossfit workouts and some custom stuff to improve weak points in my OCR game. Summary: I have created runner characters for several members of the NF Rebellion. Every Monday, I get a new mission with certain parameters and a deadline for Sunday. Working out earns me money, which is spent to recruit runners for a mission. Once the recruited team’s attributes fulfill the mission parameters, it is successfully carried out and I'm allowed to take up another if I want to, with the deadline still being Sunday. Completion earns me part of the monetary reward and (usually) +1 Street Credit/Reputation. Mission failure and every Nutrition violation cost me 1 Street Credit. Runners also earn part of the reward, as well as 1 XP and 1 Heat. Obviously, XP is used to raise their Attributes but takes them out of action for a while. A high Heat score prevents them from undertaking certain missions, as they need to lay low for a while. It will all make more sense once you see it in action!

The story thus far: I am a 48-year-old recovering fat guy. In 1985 I graduated from high school at a scrawny 135lbs. By 1988 I had ballooned up to 190 and I inflated further until 2011, topping out somewhere around 260. I started working out in 2011 and in 2013, working with a personal trainer, got down to 190 while building strength and endurance for the first time in my life and entered my first 5k. And in 2014, I discovered Obstacle Course Racing after being inspired by @Teros to enter a Spartan Race. I was hooked. In 2015 I set out to earn a Spartan Trifecta, completed by finishing a Spartan Sprint, Super and Beast in the same calendar year. I managed to complete it in a four-week period in April and May. I did the Beast and Sprint on back-to-back days, celebrating my 48th birthday by earning my Trifecta on a mountain in Montana in what was the most grueling 30 hours of my life. So, so worth it. I wound up setting my sights higher, aiming for a multiple Trifecta. I claimed my Double Trifecta at the Dallas Beast with @Wild Wolf on Halloween, and just missed completing my third Trifecta two weeks later when I was too sick to start in Carolina. That missing piece at the bottom still annoys me. My failure to complete that third Trifecta really ticked me off, and I set a goal for 2016 of completing five Spartan Trifectas this year. My first Boss Battle this year will be the return to the mountain in Montana for my rematch with the Spartan Beast in Kalispell. It's my 2016 Battle of Endor. Better than the original, because no Teddy Bear Battle. My mantra so far this year has been "Everything is just training until I get to Montana." Montana is only six weeks away, and I want to continue my trend of finishing further to the left on the bell curve. I have identified a few weaknesses along the way, and it's time to address them. To that end, my goals will look pretty familiar to anyone who's checked out my previous challenges this year. What I'm doing is working as long as I am held accountable. Goal: Spartan Race Training Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) and Spartan Race in particular test not just who is fast or who is strong, but who can stay fast and strong when they are tired. I have identified two obstacles that I need to focus on the most: the Spartan Rig - a contraption with pipes, rings and ropes - and the Tyrolean Traverse. Both will require more upper-body and grip strength than I currently have. Fortunately, my current strength training regimen can get me there. Goal 1a: Strength Training 4 days per week. I have classes at my gym that focus primarily on strength training that I love. I am much more consistent and accountable in a group setting. My regular schedule, when I'm not travelling, will be as follows, until something changes:Monday: CrossFit. Traci emphasizes overhead work and squats here.Tuesday and Thursday: My "Plus" class. The emphasis is on lifting heavy - deadlifts, squats, bench press are the staples. Friday: HIIT is almost exclusively a cardio workout.Saturday: Either HIIT followed by Boot Camp at the gym for a total of 1.5 hours of total work with a 15-minute break, or OCR training at "the Hill" - a park where my Spartan group will be training regularly until next winter. Either option simulates the strength endurance I require to perform well at an Obstacle Course Race. Goal 1b: Cardio Training 6 days per week. During my last challenge, I began doing Steady-State Cardio on the treadmill: 60 minutes at max incline while maintaining my heart rate between 132 and 148 bpm. In the time that I did this, I was able to quickly improve my speed. I will be doing this every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I will also mix in a 5k trail run on Wednesday evenings. If I don't make it out to the hill on Saturday for OCR training, I will go for a one to two hour run on Saturday or Sunday. I will log and report my daily activity to keep me accountable, especially the cardio, which I don't particularly enjoy, but which is necessary for me to get better at the things I really do enjoy. Goal: Waistline Training I don't want to be carrying as much weight around a course. I've regained much of the upper-body strength I lost while injured last year, but it's easier to push 185lbs over a wall and up a rope than it is to push 195. I have discovered the following truth: 80% of weight loss is not tied to how much I lift on a bar, but how much I lift on a fork. I am successful when I track my macros, but I give myself too many passes on weekends and when I travel, and I need to tighten up those areas so I'm not sabotaging all my other progress. I have tweaked my macros with the other trainers at my gym and have come up with the following macros, that I will adhere to: 1600-2000 calories per day (low on rest days, high on all others)135+ grams protein 135- grams carbohydrates35+ grams fiber<2800 grams sodium (this is an increase from the 2000 from my last 2 challenges, based on my activity, for electrolyte balance) I will log and report my food every day. Goal: Personal Training This one has become flat-out embarrassing. I've listed this goal every challenge so far this year and I've failed every time, but it's time to buck up or quit altogether. I need to schedule my Personal Training certification test by the end of the month. The actual test can be in May, but I have to have it scheduled by the end of the month. Period. In the spirit of "It's all training until Montana," I have a couple races coming up this month: Mini Boss Battle 1: During the first weekend of this challenge, I will participating in Goldy's Run, a 10 mile run that finishes at the 50-yard line of the University of Minnesota football field. Last year I finished in 2:05 and even though "It's just another training run", I would love to improve on last year's finish. My goal is under 2 hours. My stretch goal is under 1:45. We'll see how any of this goes since I haven't been running consistently this year. Mini Boss Battle 2: During the third weekend of this challenge, I will compete in both the Spartan Super and the Spartan Sprint in Burnet, TX. So far this year I have completed the SoCal Super, the Arizona Sprint and the Las Vegas Super, and I've succeeded in improving my finish in each after ending last year slow and injured. This is evidently a pretty flat course - much like Phoenix and Vegas were, and like Seattle last fall - and I would like to continue my march leftward on the bell curve of finisher results. My goal is to finish the Super in under three hours. My stretch goal is 2:45. Six Weeks until the Montana Beast and my first 2016 Trifecta. Time to turn things up a notch.

Hello everyone! This is my daily journal on my way to become a Spartan King. By day I am an IT/Communication's Soldier for the U.S Army and have been in the service for 7 years. I reside in central Texas and I am a proud member of the Field House Gym in Harker Heights TX. ( I will not be logging my morning army Physical Training in this log) I have been training in power lifting for about a year and a half. I'm currently working on PowerBuilding at the moment and attempting to build my aesthetics up in an effort to try something new. My goal is to log my workouts and daily accomplishments pertaining to becoming a King. My vision to becoming this king is filled with many training sessions of body and mind! I love to read so i'll be stating my reading progress as well as anything I've completed for college. Training maxes (What I base my %s off for programs) 305 Bench (Touch and go) 375 Squat 525 Deadlift (Conventional) 505 (Sumo) (Current Physique will be in my IG) My Instagram (Current Objectives) -stay below 220 lbs (PL and BB) -Bench 315+ (Paused) (PL) -Squat 405+ (PL) -Deadlift 545+ (PL) -Focus on delts and lats for development. -Read a book a week. (post will be edited whenever I reach objectives or change something)

The story thus far: I am a 48-year-old recovering fat guy. In 1985, I weighed 135lbs. By 1988 I was at 190 and I spent all the years between 1990 and 2012 over 200 pounds, topping out somewhere around 260 in 2011. I started working out in 2011 and in 2013, working with a personal trainer, got down to 190 while building strength and endurance, and entered my first 5k. And in 2014, I discovered Obstacle Course Racing after being inspired by Teros to enter a Spartan Race. I was hooked. I will always remember my first. I'm a Jedi Master. You can tell because of the grey in the beard. All the cool Jedi Masters rock that gray. I said "the cool ones." I thought Qui-Gon was a self-serving jackass. At the end of Week 3, I will be participating in the Las Vegas Spartan Super, my second Super of the year as part of my 2016 quest to complete five Spartan Trifectas. My goal here is to finish in under 3:15 after completing the SoCal Super in 3:44 and after completing the Arizona Sprint while missing only the spear throw. This will be my third checkpoint test for my initial Boss Level Battle, where I will attempt to out-perform my 2015 finish at the Spartan Beast in Kalispell, MT in May, where I will receive my first Trifecta of 2016. My first ever Spartan Trifecta from 2015. My goals build on what I have laid out in each of my 2016 challenges so far. They've helped me get off to a solid start this year. Now, I want to ramp it up. Goal: Spartan Race Training Pictured: love at 82 degrees. Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) and Spartan Race in particular test not just who is fast or who is strong, but who can stay fast and strong when they are tired. I know what it takes to get where I want to be. Goal 1a: Strength Training 4 days per week. I have classes at my gym that focus primarily on strength training that I love. I am much more consistent and accountable in a group setting. Goal 1b: Run three days per week. I prefer trail running but I also hate running outdoors during the winter. Treadmill is acceptable, but Spring is evidently coming early again this year and I should be outside. I started to run at lunch the past couple weeks, now I need to stay consistent and start getting in a long (six miles-plus) run on Saturday or Sunday. My regular schedule, when I'm not travelling, will be as follows, until something changes: Monday: CrossFit. Traci emphasizes overhead work and squats here. Tuesday and Thursday: My "Plus" class. The emphasis is on lifting heavy - deadlifts, squats, bench press are the staples. Friday: HIIT is almost exclusively a cardio workout. Saturday: HIIT followed by Boot Camp for a total of 1.5 hours of total work with a 15-minute break. This simulates the strength endurance I require to perform well at an Obstacle Course Race. Sunday: Every other Sunday I can do SkySculpt Plus before I get going with my church activities and my kids. On the weeks where I have other obligations, I will need to program a workout and get it done. I have the keys to the gym, there's no reason I can't do this. Variances: I have the Get Lucky 7k on Saturday, March 12, and this will preclude me getting to HIIT/Boot Camp on Saturday. However, I also have the Spartan Workout Tour on Sunday, March 13. This is a two-hour workout and will substitute nicely for my normal Saturday work. I will log and report my daily progress. Goal: Waistline Training Honestly, I just want to look better in my jersey. I don't want to be carrying as much weight around a course. While I am regaining my upper-body strength - which is coming back quickly - it's easier to push 185lbs over a wall and up a rope than it is to push 200. I have discovered the following truth: 80% of weight loss is not tied to how much I lift on a bar, but how much I lift on a fork. I am most successful when I track my macros. During my last challenge, I re-evaluated my goals with one of the other trainers at my gym and changed my program for the first time in over a year to the following: 1650-2000 calories per day 135+ grams protein 35+ grams fiber <2000 grams sodium I will log and report my food every day. Goal: Personal Training If Luke hadn't become impatient, he could have been so jacked. Han was destined for carbonite either way. I have really struggled with this. I need to complete my Personal Training certification. I have resigned myself to having to dump more money into this, which sucks, but it will suck more if I don't become certified and I lose my current training gig. Goal: CPR/AED certification by the end of the month Goal: 30 minutes daily study and prep The sun is staying out longer, which means it's easier to keep my energy levels up. Time to ramp up the efforts and actually completing some of these quest goals.

Intros for those of you who may not be familiar: I am a 48-year-old recovering fat guy. In 1985, I weighed 135lbs. By 1988 I was at 190 and I spent all the years between 1990 and 2012 over 200 pounds, topping out somewhere around 260 in 2011. By 2012 I was down to about 230 and in 2013 I started working with a personal trainer and got down to 190 while building strength and endurance that I hadn't ever had. And then, in 2014, I discovered Obstacle Course Racing after being inspired by Teros to enter a Spartan Race. And that got me hooked. And I'm a Jedi Master. You can tell because of the grey in the beard. All the cool Jedi Masters rock that gray. And we spout stuff that sounds wise but may or may not actually be helpful at the time. "You will go to the Dagobah system", immediately followed by "Obi-wan is OUT. Peace!" Not really helpful at the time. Also, we are typically never around when you need us. I'm looking at YOU, Skywalker. At the end of this challenge, I will be participating in the Arizona Spartan Sprint, the second piece to my first of five planned Spartan Trifectas of 2016. I aim to improve on my performance this past weekend in Temecula, where I failed only the Spear Throw, the Tyrolean Traverse and the Multi-Rig - and I came close to completing the Rig before my grip failed. This will be my second checkpoint test for my initial Boss Level Battle, attempting to out-perform my 2015 finish at the Spartan Beast in Kalispell, MT in May. There are many like it. This one is mine. The following goals are cut-and-paste from my last challenge as they were a good foundation for a really good start to 2016 at my first Spartan Race of the year, but the details are a little more detailed. Goal: Spartan Race Training Awesome form. Hit? Not saying. Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) and Spartan Race in particular test not just who is fast or who is strong, but who can stay fast and strong when they are tired. I know what it takes to get where I want to be. Goal 1a: Strength Training 5 days per week. I have several classes I enjoy that focus primarily on strength training. Two are new for me and will replace prior solo workouts, which I am fine with as I am much more consistent and accountable in a group setting. Goal 1b: Run three days per week. I prefer trail running but I also hate running outdoors during the winter. Treadmill is acceptable, but any time the windchill temps are above 25 degrees, I should be outside. My preference is to run 5k after CrossFit and after Plus on Thursday, and get in a long (six miles-plus) run on Saturday or Sunday. My regular schedule, when I'm not travelling, will be as follows, until something changes: Monday: CrossFit. Traci emphasizes overhead work and squats here. Tuesday and Thursday: The emphasis is on lifting heavy - deadlifts, squats, bench press are the staples. Friday: HIIT is almost exclusively a cardio workout. Saturday: HIIT followed by Boot Camp for a total of 1.5 hours of total work with a 15-minute break. This simulates the strength endurance I require to perform well at an Obstacle Course Race. Sunday: Every other Sunday I can do SkySculpt Plus before I get going with my church activities and my kids. On the weeks where I have other obligations, I will need to program a workout and get it done. I have the keys to the gym, there's no reason I can't do this. I will log and report my daily progress. Goal: Waistline Training Hey, you, in the green! It's easier to drag 185lbs up a rope than 200! I want my 35-inch waist back (for starters). Also, I don't want to be carrying as much weight around a course. While I am regaining my upper-body strength - which is coming back quickly - it's easier to push 185lbs over a wall and up a rope than it is to push 200. I have discovered the following truth: 80% of weight loss is not tied to how much I lift on a bar, but how much I lift on a fork. I am most successful when I stick to the following macros: 1850-2250 calories per day 180+ grams protein 35+ grams fiber <2000 grams sodium I will log and report my food every day. Goal: Personal Training It is my dream to jaw at my clients and make them sweat. Being carried on someone's back is optional. Certification is going to get more expensive if I don't get my test done by the end of March. I need to really buckle down and get my study time in. Also, I am going to need to be CPR/AED certified before my cert is effective, so let's get it done. I will get my certification test scheduled by the end of February. Rebels, I have... goals. It's going to get loud in here.