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Placeholder for this next cycle. I have impending vacation/fml it's monday brain and can't think of much else right now. TBC. Probable goals: 1. my usual fitness + focusing more on specific skills. I think I need to re-evaluate the skills toolbox I wanted to build a few challenges ago and work on some of those specifics. Plus work on lowering my 5k time, and get ready for /compete in this season's mud runs. And I should probably address my damn hip flexor that keeps getting super-pissed after 5ks. 2. Metrics per usual - nothing is changing here. 3. Probably a continuation of my catchall 'get shit done' goal - creative projects/minimalism/digitization 4. I should really keep my 'get out of my comfort zone' goal -- and I should look at upping the pushes.

Good morning to all. My next goal is to complete the Spartan Aloha Stadium Sprint in under 80 minutes. I ran the one at Kuala Ranch in a little under 2 hours, so looking to improve. I noticed that endurance was my biggest weakness while running, or walking most of it to be more accurate. Side quests- 30 Burpees a day, as few sets as possible to achieve PT 5 times a week, with a focus on cardio endurance Lose 5 pounds That's it for my goal this time. See you around! Josh

It's inevitable. Zombies are coming. Between running with zombie moans and podcasts about rabies and conspiracy theories on my headphones I'm 100% sure of this now. So I better get down to it and start preparing. And to fully prepare, I'm enlisting in the AZAM - the Anti Zombie Army of Madness aka my very own bootcamp. I'm getting help from my friends and other sources and it's going to be epic. My next challenge will have a lot of things happening in my life that may help or hinder me and I'll have to find a way to work with and around that. For one, stud muffin is leaving May 2nd. He has a tremendous impact on my life in terms of motivation, adventure and accountability and I'm going to miss him like crazy. Remember how I first told you guys about him like... 2 or 3 challenges ago? Who would have thought it would ever come to this, huh? As I am writing this, I've got almost a full month left with him before he leaves for 9-10 weeks. He'll be back for a short while after that but it'll be rough. As of this moment, we've done an awesome 5k mud run together, have signed up for the Spartan Race in Munich that's on April 18th (so just after the start of the challenge!) and he's forced and helped me through many, many workout related but also emotional things. I'm incredibly grateful that he's part of my life and will be even after he's gone. There's also school & work. I'll have some exams coming up and while I'm currently at the start of a 2 week vacation, that's gonna be over when the challenge starts. I definitely do have to do some studying while I'm at it. Social life of course also mixes into it, but I've found many great people that I can spend time with WHILE working out so I don't foresee that many obstacles there So let's get down to it! MAIN GOAL: Survive basic training/get ready for the zombie apocalypse When you train to survive, there's a few things factoring in. Goal 1: Zombies, Run! Running is obviously one of the most important skills you need for the apocalypse. If you can't run away from them, they're going to eat your brains and I do very much enjoy my brains. So the running continues. Be it with the 5k trainer or the normal Zombies, Run app or with the help of the awesome races I'll be running doesn't matter. So long as I can be out there with the wind on my face and my heart beating fast and sweat running down my skin, I'm happy, and the zombies will be sad. This is all that counts. As for races, here's the current schedule: April 18th: Spartan Race Munich (5k mud run) May 17th: Urbanian Run Frankfurt (5k city obstacle run) May 24th: Viking Heroes Challenge (5k mud run) I'm concentrating on 5ks this year and I hope to add a few more over the course of the year but I think for this challenge I'm good. As a bonus I'm going to try and make a reward wall in my room. To hang my medals, race bibs and other paraphernalia to always remind me of how awesome I am and what I've managed to survive - also to scare off the zombies. They're not even gonna want to chase me when they lay eyes on that wall! Ha! Goal 2: Zombies, Work it! Sometimes running fails. And even if it doesn't, living in a post-apocalyptic world is going to be rough both mentally and physically. The mental things I don't need to worry about right this moment, but the physical things could definitely use some training. So this is where I'll build my workout. It's a work in progress as of right now and hopefully I'll have rewritten this part by the start of the challenge. I'm planning to find short workouts as well as longer workouts that I can just do without having to make up my mind before working out and thus losing precious time just bumming around on Youtube. So stay tuned for adventures in zombie strength training! Zombie sit-ups FTW! Goal 3: Zombies, Die! This one I'm super freaking excited about. I was talking to my friend Shred (the guy who ran the beer obstacle run with me) the other day about survival training and combatives and he actually sat down with me and made a plan for a bootcamp of sorts. I'll be learning lots of awesome stuff from him, he's gonna chase me across fields, up and down hills and through my house and it shall be epic and exhausting and so much fun. Quick overview: Kill zombies inside my house: - identifying and avoiding danger areas - clearing a room - clearing a corner Kill zombies in the wilderness: - proper use of cover and concealment - movement under direct fire Avoid being killed by zombies with mortars: - move under indirect fire Avoid being killed by zombies in hand to hand combat: - foot trap - attacking the eyes - pushing the core - throat stomp Keep yourself and your friends alive (medical): - stop the bleeding - transport a casualty - breathing - hypothermia prevention It will be both knowledge and actual physical stuff and I'm super super excited for it. I'm going to run around forests and fields making a fool of myself and getting workout, what could be better?! Diet/Life Goals: There will be none for this challenge. As pointed out above, there's going to be some difficulties in my life over the course of the challenge. Apart from that I really love my life the way it is right now. I'm doing alright with the diet and I don't want to overburden myself. There will also be no tracking. I'll wing it and get in as much as my life allows and be happy with that!

Hey all. Yesterday was my first day back at the Gym since July of 2014. I am proud that I picked back up. Its going to be a long road back but I'm starting the journey again. I had a very stressful several months, and fell deep into a depression. I didn't care about exercising or being healthy anymore. I figured it didn't matter anyway. The events that transpired, really damaged me, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I can honestly say, I'm still not 100%, but I'm digging myself out of the rut. Some good old fashioned boot strapping if you will. I could really use a training partner if anyone is near Morris, IL. if nothing else someone to help keep me accountable would be really good too. If someone is going to be my training partner, I'm looking to be pushed hard. I'm also going to push you hard (never in a negative way though). I'm training for the spartan race in Chicago in September. my first phase of training is Strength training, my second phase will be cardio. I'm looking to work out 3-5 times a week. for at least an hour. I guess wish me luck. Strength and Honor to all of you!

Never has this graphic been more true to me. I’ve been all lost and turned around somewhere in that clusterfuck of squiggles. I’m sure the vast majority of people here, and in the world in general can relate to the frustrations of plateaus and setbacks. I’ve let them get me down for far too long, and have fallen back into the old habits of trying to crash diet to get back to my lowest weight so I can go from there. The results have been exactly as you would expect. I’ve gained 14 pounds in 4 months from my lowest weight. However frustrating it is, it’s a good reminder not to let myself slip back into old habits. So what if my shorts are fitting a bit tighter. So if I haven’t run a ten minute mile in months. So what I’m the only person in my Exercise Science club at school who can’t do a pushup or a proper box jump. I’ll get there. It’s not going to happen today. I am where I am now, and I’m not going to be able to snap my fingers and put myself back where I used to be. It’s going to take some time. It’s a journey, an adventure. Not a race. I’m a freaking superhero when I let myself be. My name is Jess. I'm 22, and I'm on a quest to lose 100 pounds and get strong, fast, agile and healthy. As of this morning, I am 22.5 pounds down from my highest weight. And for this challenge (and for the rest of my life), I want to focus on my health first and weight second. Goals Eat Paleo (+3 CON, +1 WIS) I have a problem with sugar. I’d actually call it an abusive relationship with carbs. When I’m stressed, I can’t be bothered to cook, and end up eating terribly most nights of the week. I don’t particularly want to delve into it, but these last few months have been stressful. Now that things are starting to take a small, but noticeable upturn, I need to get my diet back under control. I’m going to go back to eating paleo, specifically minimizing my grain and refined sugar intake. I'm applying the two in a row rule to this one. Never miss two good meals, never miss two workouts in a row. So... Don't miss two Paleo meals in a row to earn an A in this category. Bodyweight Training (+3 DEX, +2 STR) I’ve been doing group fitness at my school Monday-Thursday before my classes, (Zumba twice a week and Body Sculpting twice a week) and I’ve come to learn a few things about my body. My balance is embarrassingly abhorrent. My legs are a powerhouse. My triceps have been horribly neglected my entire life. My coordination actually isn’t as bad as I thought it was. I have no upper body strength. My cardio stamina is rather impressive given the approximate extra 50-70 pounds of body fat I’m carrying. My spirit is far stronger than my body. I did a Spartan Sprint in February and absolutely fell in love with obstacle course racing. I’ve decided that in 2016 I want to try for the trifecta, and to do that, I need to train and train consistently. So here is my Level 4 Training: 1 Sun Salutation 30 ft Bear Crawl 4-10 Pyramid Pushups 20 Kettlebell Swings 20 Russian Twists 10 Burpees MAX Plank MAX Pull-Up Hang Do this three times per week to earn an A in this category. Increase Flexibility (+2 STA, +1 CHA) One of the things I mentioned is that my core stability, balance and flexibility are all terrible. I am so bad about not stretching after working out, and I pay the price for it every single time. The morning after is always hell. I want to make it a good point to stretch after every workout, and do some deep meditative stretching before I go to sleep. Hopefully this will alleviate the problem. Take some time out of everyday, even if it's only 5 minutes, to stretch, practice basic yoga, or meditate to earn an A in this category. Spend some more time outside (+1 WIS +2 CHA) I like being outside. Actually, I love being outside. And somewhere between being stuck between school and work and the gym and the library, I forgot how much I love it. I sat out on the lawn under a tree to do my homework yesterday instead of sitting in the library and it put me in such a great mood. I don’t want to forget how therapeutic the clean air and sunshine is. It’s good for my soul to be outside. Spend a cumulative hour outdoors every day to earn an A in this category. Motivation- (Same list from my very first challenge. I'm crossing things off as I complete them, and adding new ones as I come up with them) I'm tired of being fat. I've been obese since childhood and it sucks. I really love doing sports and outdoor activities, but my weight makes it really friggin hard. I want to be strong, energetic and healthy and active.I no longer want to be the obese chick in the Exercise Science department at my school.I want to be able to do recreational sports Complete Aug 8, 2014I want to be able to shop at normal clothing stores, wear shirts without sleeves and dresses without tights. Complete September 29, 2014I want to buy a swimsuit for the first time since the 8th grade. Complete July 5, 2014I want to learn how to dance without running out of breath halfway through a song. Complete April 9, 2015I want to be strong enough to do a cartwheel. It's a little silly, but when I was a kid, I got made fun of for not being able to do one. I want to run an entire 5k without stopping, and run a marathon one day.Join the ranks of the Spartan Trifecta Warriors I’m really excited that I got to cross off ‘learning to dance’ off my checklist this month. I’ve been taking a zumba class twice a week since mid-January. I wanted to quit after the first class I was so embarrassed of how bad my dancing was. But I paid $84 for it and was too stubborn to not get my money’s worth, so I stuck with it. Now, three months later, I can make it through the entire one hour class with only the 15 second breaks between songs for a breather. I can’t believe how naturally it comes to me now in comparison to three months ago. I look forward to it, and want to look into taking another Zumba class over the summer at another establishment since they don’t offer it at the college. Wow this was a lot to type. I want to note too that this is my one year anniversary from my very first six week challenge. It seemed like a great day to respawn. Go get 'em rebels.

The timeline for this challenge coincides directly with me preparing for my first Spartan Race of this year: This is my first Super, and I've been gearing up for this one since last I completed the Miller Park Stadium Sprint last November. Everything I do in this challenge will an attempt to mitigate the number of burpees incurred. In Hell, you do burpees - in the snow - for eternity. I got bit by the Spartan bug late last summer, inspired to finally do something outside my comfort zone by my friend Teros. I knew it would be tough, but didn't know how tough. I found the nearest event, convinced one of my brothers to go with me, and headed to Illinois on September 27. There I found out that nearly two years of Boot Camp and attempting 5k runs had prepared me for some of what I would do there that day. I also learned exactly how much I needed to work on my grip strength when I failed both the traverse wall and the rope climb. By the time I hit Milwaukee a little over a month later, I had improved my grip strength enough that I came within about 4 feet of finishing the traverse wall, which I would have finished had I not cramped up so hard that my legs were literally locked in place and could not move, and 4 feet of finishing the rope climb when I ran out of knots on the rope. I was frustrated by my inability to complete, but encouraged by my progress. This year they've removed the knots in the rope, because Eff You, EricMN, progress is a moving target. And I'll be doing distances I've never run before and run into some obstacles that weren't present in the Sprints that will test me as well. Main Quest: I said "first Spartan Race of this year". I've got a busy calendar. This is what I'm training for over the next two challenges: I sweat for swag. Completing a Sprint (4+ miles), a Super (about 8+ miles), and a Beast (13+ miles), all in one calendar year, earns you a Spartan Trifecta. I'm going to knock out my first of at least two Trifectas this year in about 45 days over the first two challenges: - Las Vegas Super (8+ miles in the desert) on April 18 - Montana Beast (13+ miles in the mountains) on May 9 - Miler Park Stadium Sprint in Milwaukee on May 31 So far I am running the Vegas Super solo. I would welcome anyone who wants to join in the awesomeness and run with me. I shall be training specifically for this between now and then. Challenge Goals: Quest 1: Unlearn what you have learned. Spartan Race promises you nothing except the unknown. They don't promise the exact distance of a given race, or specific obstacles. Their unofficial motto is "Prepare for the unexpected." This year, they removed the knots from the rope climb in the first few events, which was unexpected for those first poor suckers. I would have been pissed had I not known and I will need to learn to climb a rope, proper, to conquer this one. Goal: Learn to do a proper J-technique rope climb and ring the bell in Vegas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpbN8V4uxG0 Quest 2: Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose For the last eight months, I have been doing dedicated hypertrophy training. This meant I was running on my own and doing heavy (for me) lifting. I was able to double both my squat and deadlift and recently surpassed my current body weight. I was able increase my bench press by about 50%. This also meant I needed to adjust my eating accordingly so that I would feed those growing muscles. I no longer look like a slug. My trainer, Jon, and I decided about two weeks ago that now is the time to change my program and cut weight while trying not to lose my new strength. This will allow me to be dragging less unwanted baggage up and over walls and up the rope. (Rope climb fixation.) We will also be ending my formal Focus Group membership for the first time in 22 months. This is huge... Focus Group is what got me where I am. Small group training, food journaling and critique, personal workouts assigned online. I'm moving to a new "Fit Dads" group that is starting in March. It will be similar, but instead of food journaling, Jon will be assigning meal plans tailored to the individual. This is both frightening and exciting. I am about 13 pounds higher than my lowest weight from a year and a half ago, and 20 pounds above what I believe is my ideal weight. I lost 35 in three months two years ago by eating clean, being strict with my meal planning and training five times a week. I'm now training much harder and before hypertrophy was simply maintaining. This is a reasonable goal and is easily attainable based on my current levels of exercise. I've already lost 6lbs since we made the change. Goal: Lose 15 pounds by the end of this challenge. Quest 3: Yoda spouted all that BS and never said anything about distance or endurance. Guru fail. I've never run more than five miles at a time. This is problematic when you are signed up to run several events of 8 to 13 miles. Time to ramp it up. I've got a specific training plan that will help me with this - I'm running the Get Lucky 7k on March 14th (about 4.3m) and Goldy's Run 10m on April 11, which is the weekend before Vegas. I've never done this before, but I can do this. Goal: Be able to run 10 miles in one session by the end of the challenge. To make this a SMART goal that can be graded weekly, here are my measurables: Week 1: Run 1 hour 2x/week (this should be about 4.7 miles per session based on my current ability) Week 2: Run 5 miles 2x/week Week 3: Run 6 miles 1x/1 hour regardless of distance 1 other time Week 4: Run 7.5 miles 1x/1 hour regardless of distance 1 other time Week 5: Run 8.5 miles 1x/1.5 hour same as above 1 other time Week 6: Run 10 miles 1x/1.5 hour same as above 1 other time This might suck. It's definitely going to require me to dedicate the time to get it done. Life Quest: I am an over-scheduled mess. I haven't had a vacation - a non-working, non-spending-all-week-volunteering-as-a-home-repair-project-manager vacation - since 2008. I am going to take an extra two days prior to the Vegas Spartan and not only be on vacation, but drive to Anaheim and attend Star Wars Celebration, because this makes me happy. I am going to spend a full day doing nothing but geeking out. And I mean, total geek-out. Probably in costume. Total. Geek. Out. Goal Grading: Quest 1 Goal: Learn to do a proper J-technique rope climb and ring the bell in Vegas. A: Climbed the rope, rang the bell, celebrated like a boss afterward. C: Was able to climb, too slippery or too tapped to make it all the way, 30 Burpees in the mud, boo freaking hoo. F: Didn't learn, didn't climb, just... didn't. Quest 2 Goal: Drop 15 pounds by Vegas Super A: Lost 15 (or more) pounds B: Lost 10 pounds C: Lost 5 pounds F: Didn't lose any weight Quest 3 Goal: Run 10 miles in one session A: Met all weekly goals and ran Goldy's Run 10m B: Ran 10 miles at least once, regardless of the other days, and ran Goldy's Run 10m C: Never got in 10 miles, but ran Goldy's Run 10m D: Never got in 10 miles, ran the Goldy's Run 5k instead F: Didn't do 10 miles, didn't register Life Quest: Attend Star Wars Celebration Pass/Fail. Either I'm there or I'm not. I'll assign attribute points at the end, depending on my results.

DON'T BE CALM! BE RELENTLESS! This will be my third challenge. I am really excited that I stuck the last two out. They went pretty well but I feel I could have done better on both. This challenge I am aiming for 100%. I am wondering over to the Rangers Guild for a bit of training this time around. Don't mind the Assassin in your midst, only here for training.... swear... Keeping up with the strength training and flexibility but also adding some endurance training. I have come from being severely obese to within 25lb of my goal weight when I let myself slide into bad habits, a nasty injury and gained back about 50lb. Last year was not pretty and I am bound and determined to get the weight back off and then some. So...... I signed up for a Spartan Race in June. My first ever.... And its a Super... I'm more than a little intimidated by this. BUT I have some time and have been getting amazing advise from Veteran Spartans and am eating up all the info they can give me. I feel I really needed this DEADLINE. This impending date looming over my head to get me to really buckle down and do it. I keep saying to myself “Yea I'll do that... but whats the rush I can start tomorrow.†Well I can't do that now. Not if I want to finish this race. And I don't just want to finish it I want to rock it. Even if it takes me 6 hours and I'm broken and bleeding by the end I want to do it all and feel I gave it my all and then some. I have 124 days and a few Challenges to get to where I want to be so today is the day to get started! MAIN GOAL: Recover lost upgrades (skills, strength, flexibility, endurance) to loose 15lb in this challenge! Battle 1: Prep My Food Weekly and Follow Through Daily! (WIS +4) I am rocking my workouts and really feel good about my progress there but my nutrition has been spotty at best. I am giving myself too much leeway and not planning ahead well. Battle plan: I will need to do regular planning weekly. Shopping, preparing and sticking to a regular regiment. I am going to try to tighten up on what I eat. Really stick to the same thing to get my brain to click into the fact that junk food is NOT going to help me reach my goals. Shopping and food prep on Sundays for all meals and snacks. And sticking to said plan for this challenge and beyond. I feel like I should have some ability to stray a few times but that always seems to set off a trigger to make it a full cheat day and I just cant afford that right now. Battle 2: Burpees........ (DEX +4) Spartan Races have tons of insane obstacles and if you can't complete one you have to do 30 burpees. Now me and burpees have a love/hate thing going... I know they are an incredible full body workout that is beneficial to add to any workout BUT I really HATE doing them! Going to have to suck it up if I want to finish this race. I know I won't be able to complete all the obstacles so I better be prepared to do a lot of burpees. Battle plan: Complete a 30 day Burpee challenge. I found a great progression for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days I think I will push farther for the remainder of the challenge. Adding a few more each day and see where I end up. My goal is to be able to do 150 by the end of the 30 days and 175 by the end of the challenge. Battle 3: Running/Jogging/Sprinting (STA +3) Running is another love/hate. I really hate knowing I have a run today but once I do it I feel amazing. I want to gain back the progress I had made and enjoying doing runs again. Battle plan: Finish the 5K challenge and start 10K Challenge. I will be finishing up the last 4 weeks of the C25K program and start the 10K. This will be every other day. MUST stick with it! Life Quest: Life Battle 1: Giving Back to NF Forums (CHA +4) I came to NF to meet like minded people that can help me reach my goals and I have met a ton! TY! BUT It is my turn to give back. I am posting on my challenges but rarely post on others and that hardly seems fair. Going to check in more often and try to keep up with the threads. Battle plan: Post at least 3 responses a day. I love to help others and love to share what I have learned with anyone who needs it. I will reach out more often to engage with others. Scoring: Scoring will be on the following grading system. I will be using the Daily Success app ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dancingdroid.dailysuccess&hl=en)on my phone to track daily progress. Battle 2 36 days of Burpee Challenge. 6 days a week for 6 weeks A= 36-29 days B= 28-22 days C= 21-15 days D= 14-8 days F = 7-0 days Battle 1 and Life Battle 42 days of following Daily Food Prep and Daily NF Posts A= 42-37 B= 36-29 C= 28-21 D= 20-11 F= 10-0 Battle 3 18 days of Running/Jogging/Sprints three days a week A= 18-15 B= 14-11 C= 10-7 D= 6-3 F= 2-0 I'm really excited! I just need to keep the run going and not burn myself out. I think this is a good battle plan to get where I want to be. Don't be calm! Be RELENTLESS!

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300 More This challenge cycle is all about building on the momentum I recovered during last challenge to prep for this year’s race season. On the calendar so far: March US Road Running Pirate Virtual 5kLadies First 5kApril Spaceballs Virtual 5kECU Color Run 5kMay North Face Endurance Race 5kSpartan SprintJune Savage RaceJuly Rugged ManiacAugust NoneSeptember NoneOctober NoneNovember Tough MudderDecember NoneThere are quite a few races I’m keeping an eye on for official date announcements, and I want to find 1 more OCR to do. The goal is to do 5 OCRs + at least 1 5k per month. Maybe a 10k if the Oakley Women’s Only happens again this year. On months with no OCRs, I need to up my strength training and complete more races. Goal 1: Fitness I feel like I need to continue with strength training/maybe focus on it more, but I really like bodyweight work. So, I think I’ll continue on with the HIIT/tabata style workouts I did last challenge through my PopSugar challenge + continue to work in cardio sessions on the treadmill. Those hill days are killer, but I know they’re doing me some good. I also need to buckle down and focus on getting that damn pull-up before my 1st OCR of the year. Goal 2: Metrics Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended 64 ounces. I track food with My Fitness Pal and need to find a good balance with apps to track sleep/water/exercise. Last year I had a Fitbit - since it decided to jump off my wrist, I’ve replaced it with a Misfit Flash, but am currently having issues getting the new majigger to play nice with all the apps it needs to be able to talk to. Weight and BF are still being tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. I also use a combo of FitBit + Zombies, Run! To track my quickly moving through space workouts if they're in the wide world. If I venture into the wide world, that is. Goal 3: Get Stuff Done I have so many little tasks I want to complete. On the top of the list: finish getting my old family pictures, etc. boxed up and sent off for digitization, finishing my ombre scarf knitting project, continue to weed out possessions I really don’t care about but feel pressured to keep. Also, I need to work to plug all my clothing into the Stylebook app, so I can get some good metrics/help realize my minimalist goals. Goal 4: Get Out Of My Comfort Zone I’ve been doing really well with this over the past few challenges, and I need to be mindful of continuing down this track. The goal is to do 1 thing that forces me out of my schedule/hermit lifestyle a week. Meetups, book clubs, Facebook group meets, workout classes, or sportsy outings in places that aren’t my house are good, as is going out and exploring things on my own when the hubbs isn’t home on weekends. Lunch by myself out - very uncomfortable, especially when not submerged in my phone, but good for me.

I’ve been enjoying the amount of graphic designs I have made lately for my blog and want to continue on in that vein. To that end, the “theme†of this challenge is playing with texture and font by making my own versions of those uber popular Instagram and Pinterest click bait quote images. As for challenge, I’m keeping things on the simpler side this go round. Last challenge I got really lackadaisical and really didn’t post much. I continued on (mostly, minus some completely off the rails time), but really didn’t feel like posting. NF seemed like a ghost town - most everyone on my friends list either bailed on the last challenge (last *few* challenges) or didn’t really update. I *know* these things shouldn’t deter me, but dammit, NF had been slacking for 3 challenges in a row and it’s hard to keep going when you feel like you’re screaming into the void. /rant I know myself and without the support of this community, I totally wouldn't be where I am today - and wouldn't have the stamina to shoot for my big goals this year. This year, my goals continue on from last year - I want to continue to improve my body; I have a bunch of OCRs & quick moving for bling things going on; and I still feel like I need to minimize the crap I have lying around. I also still have that GD SCARF to finish. I’m tired of that damn scarf. Oh, and to make things more interesting, I’ll be doing a Whole30 this January. So, there’s that. Goal 1: Fitness I think I want to go back to bodyweight workouts. I like barbells in theory, but I really miss my jumping all around and working on the fundamentals workouts when I'm not doing them. I plan on either grabbing a Neila Rey program or trying the January program from PopSugar's new app - and I'm starting late (on the 5th) because I'm battling some hefty thigh DOMs from last week. Goal 2: Metrics Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended by FitBit 64 ounces, and on the weekends I like my step count to be over FitBit’s recommended 10,000. I track food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water with the FitBit app. Last month, my FitBit Flex fell off my wrist sometime between here and the grocery store and I have yet to decide what I want to replace it with (ok, so I'm waiting to see if I want the Apple watch - shocker). Weight and BF are tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. I also use a combo of FitBit + Zombies, Run! To track my quickly moving through space workouts if they're in the wide world. Goal 3: Get My Shit Digitized I bought a Groupon waaaaayyyy back last winter to get another chunk of my mother’s pictures digitized, and just purchased another to get some of the other things scanned/duped as well. Maybe those VHSs of my tiny little blonde self singing in the church choir as a kid (BWAHAHA) won’t disintegrate after all. Goal 4: Get Out Of My Comfort Zone I’ve been doing really well at getting out of my comfort zone over the past few months, but I want to do more. I plan on going to exercise classes outside my bubble, socializing with new people, and creating new things. I’m not putting a time crunch on myself so I don’t burn my little introverted brain out, but I will continually look for new and different things to do. So far, I have at least 1 yoga class and 1 dance(!) class that I may go to in my building’s new gym + 1 yoga class out in the wild at of all places - Urban Outfitter’s flagship store. I did this class last month, and it was fantastic. And I didn’t die of exposure. Win.

I have been doing challenges with the Adventurers, but it's time I embrace my true nature and continue my training there. A little background: I am not who I used to be. I used to be this guy: That guy sucks, and I sort of despise him. He was a weak, lazy bastard who could barely run to the end of the driveway without gasping for breath, and even when doing something as low-impact as mowing the lawn, would sweat like it was raining. In late 2011, I finally grabbed at an opportunity to change and started doing group fitness twice a week at work. That was a decent start, but I was still fat, and then in August 2012 I left the company and stopped working out. And I went nearly back to being that guy up there, who like I said I sort of despise. Just look at him with that smarmy food-coma, glazed-eye smile. I bet that's ranch dressing on that plate. In January of 2013, I joined a Boot Camp class and quickly started doing 2 classes per week.Since I was nearly back to where I had started, I wound up puking in the garbage can in the corner of the gym during my first class. But then, in a massive middle finger to that guy, I jumped right back into the class and finished it out. That was the beginning. Over the last two years, I consistently increased my activity, my strength, my stamina, and my moments of intermittent badassery, and am currently this guy: This guy, I like. First of all, this guy's beard is infinitely more awesome than that other guy, plus if I'm going to sweat like it's raining, I better at least be doing something awesome to earn it. Along the way, I learned some things about myself: I like working out with other people. Boot camp, small group workouts, even just running with a friend - all awesome, and having someone else to push you to keep working or to not blow off a workout is the best. I like lifting weights. Alone in the garage, in front of others at Boot Camp, in the living room with the kids; hell, I'm even not freaked out anymore to lift with the bros in the free weight section at the gym. I heart hypertrophy. Someone should make that into a tee shirt. I like running. I'm slow, and I'm still working my way up to a full 5k without stopping, but I run. I ran a bunch of 5k races this year and I enjoy pushing myself to try and hit my personal bests. Right now I'm working toward a personal best of under 34 minutes while still working on that whole run-without-walking part. I like eating clean. I've been logging my food while working with Jon, my trainer at the gym who started a Small Group thing (he calls it Focus Group). In 2013 I lost 35 pounds in three months between April and June letting him teach me to eat clean and eat whole, and when I am focused and actually am consistent with logging, I can shred off almost 2 inches around my middle in just over a month. I like me some Spartan Race. I did my first one (that money shot up there) in September of 2014 in Illinois. I am kicking myself for all the times I told myself "I can't" or "Not yet" or whatever the hell else all my excuses were. I loved that one race so much, I signed up for the Stadium Sprint in Milwaukee a month later, dragged my youngest kids out to do the Spartan Kids' Race, signed up for the Minneapolis Sprint for June of 2015 the day it was announced, and am already trying to figure where to fit a Beast into my schedule so I can complete at least one Trifecta this year. I'm going to quit talking about it now before I start going "Aroo!"Lifting and running. It's not just a Spartan thing; this sounds like a certain NF Class, and it's time to embrace this thing. Challenge Goals: I have been measuring myself in Burpees since the last weekend in September at the Illinois Spartan. That number was 90 - 30 each for the three obstacles I failed to successfully complete, the Spear Throw, the Traverse Wall and the Rope Climb. In November it dropped to 60 when that damned spear sagged but did not drop. Sadly enough, I was less than six feet total away from a Burpee-free run in Milwaukee, but cramped up badly on the Traverse Wall and fell off two steps from the bell, and couldn't make it up the last few feet of the rope climb. Close enough to taste it, but far enough that I was in Burpee purgatory. Suck. I am planning to do the Las Vegas Super Spartan in April, and it's time to get serious about training for it, because otherwise I'm going to be the king of Burpees at the end of that weekend. Quest 1: Grip it and Rip It. I know I can beat the Traverse. I've been working on my grip strength ever since, to make sure that the damn rope does not beat me again. Jon has me working on pull-ups and chin-ups to increase my grip strength and my pull-force. Right now I can do two pull-ups in a row consistently and sometimes three. I need to keep at it to build up. Goal: Do fifteen chin-ups or pull-ups every day. Grading: A: 100+ per week B: 85-99 per week C: 70-84 per week Anything less is a fail. Quest 2: You Go Long. If I'm actually serious about this whole Trifecta thing, it's time to push up my miles when I run. 5k isn't going to cut it if I'm really going to tackle the Super in April. Right now I am doing interval training on the treadmill and can do 4.5 miles in an hour. It's time to push it some more. I'm currently only doing one extended cardio session. Doing it more often will help me increase my long-term stamina and my distance. Goal: Run for at least one hour twice per week. Grading: A: Two days or more, one hour each. B: Two days or more, 90 minutes total C: One day, one hour Anything less is a fail. Quest 3: You Have Logs? For the most part, I am consistent about staying away from processed foods and eating clean, whole foods, but the last couple months, I've been pretty lax. It's time to get back on track. Goal: Log all my food, every day. Grading: A: Logged all food intake every day B: Logged every day but missed some entries C: At least four days per week logged Anything less is a fail. Life Quest: Do It The Write Way. I am happiest when I spend some time writing. During one challenge in 2014, I had writing as a goal, and while the challenge overall didn't quite go great, I did do some decent writing. I aim to get back to that. Goal: Produce one piece per week - fiction, non-fiction, or essay. Grading: A: Six total pieces. B: Four pieces total C: Three pieces total Anything less is an incomplete. Motivation: My kids. All five of them. They rock. And I want to still be going over the eight-foot wall when they're old enough to run it with me... and their kids, too. I want to be the 85-year-old man doing wall-sits and making the kids climb up my knee and onto my shoulder as I hoist them over the wall.

That's become my new mantra. I can keep going. I can keep growing as a person as long as I follow that one simple rule. Be a little braver today than I was yesterday. That's exactly what I'm going to do. My name is Jess. I'm 22 years old, class 1 obese and training to be an assassin. I did well in 2014. I made a great foundation with my health and fitness. I'm ready to graduate to an intermediate level. I know what to do now, I just have to do it, and stick with it. Train for Spartan Sprint The next two months are a little nuts for me. Next Sunday I am running my first ever half marathon. It’s a week away, there’s not really a whole lot more I can do about it, except finish the damn thing! I’m ready! However, when that’s done, on February 8th I am running my first spartan sprint. Yup. All 220 pounds of me. I’m ready to train like a spartan warrior! I have a list of things to work on: Specifically BURPEES. God I suck at burpees. I’ve tailored my level 4 training for my spartan race. Level 4 Training 30 Squats 15 Push-Ups 3 Assisted Pullups or 15 sec Hang 20 Burpees 20ft Army Crawl 20ft Bear Crawl 30+ sec Wall sit 30+ sec Plank Repeat. Do this 3x per week for an A in this category. + 2 DEX, + 2 STA Whole 30 I started my first Whole 30 on the first of the month, and I’ve already screwed up and had to start over twice. But you know what they say: third time’s the charm right? So I’m going to be finishing like a week or two later than the rest of my friends in my support group. It’s not a race. I’m just going to keep trying until I get 30 days in a row of clean eating, even if it takes me all year. Complete a Whole 30 in this challenge to earn an A in this category. + 2 CON, + 2 WIS Improve Flexibility There’s two aims to this goal, improve my flexibility, and just generally calm the fuck down. When I got back from camp, I was in a really good habit of stretching and meditating before bed and it made my sleep much better. I want to make this a permanent habit. Take some time each day, even if it’s only a few minutes, to stretch and meditate to earn an A in this category. +2 DEX, + 1 WIS Girl it up I’ve never had a ton of self confidence in my appearance. It makes me comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, with a ponytail and no makeup. I really want to start putting more effort into my appearance because I think it’ll help my self confidence. I’m going back to school a week from tomorrow and I want to make a good impression. I also have a list of girly things I want to do/learn how to do: Wear makeup every day Coordinate a nice outfit for school everyday Accessorize things Start wearing earrings again Lean to french braid my hair Master liquid eyeliner Learn to do a smokey eye Be okay with buying clothes. It’s important. Walk out of the house feeling gorgeous and presentable every day for an A in this category. + 4 CHA How I’m going to do it: Identifying personal triggers I’ve been doing a lot of self reflection in the last two weeks. I’ve been trying to identify what makes me fall into this endless pendulum swing between being on fire and wanting to hide in my bedroom and ignore the outside world. It’s not something I’ve really wanted to confront, but now that I have I can make a conscious effort to fix things. Peer pressure I’m a total sucker when it comes to peer pressure. Somewhere there is a happy medium between hanging out with my friends, or completely skipping an outing because *gasp* they might want to go to a restaurant or go to the bar. I’ve gotten completely college-girl plastered these past two weekends. I ruined my whole 30 challenge twice because of alcohol and peer pressure. I’m getting too old for this shit. I don’t want to drink anymore. I went almost a year without it and didn’t really miss it. I don’t like it. I don’t like the empty calories. I don’t like having a hangover. I don’t like spending roughly a half day’s income on booze. I just don’t want to do it anymore. Work is not my life I repeat. I am not my job. Work is not my life. My job is a job and nothing more. I am more important than my work. I like going for a short run on my lunch break, but I’ve gotten into the habit of skipping it in order to do my daily paperwork during that time. I work through my only break in my 9 hour shift. Kind of bullshit when you think about it. I’m only full time at my job for one more week until I go back to school, but I need to stop letting work run my life. Be okay with screwing up I gained some weight since thanksgiving. About 10 pounds to be specific. And I’ve been pissed off at myself for it. But when I think about it... this year, I didn’t gain ten pounds. I’ve lost 30. That’s awesome. I can’t let 10 stupid pounds ruin the other 30. Hopefully this time next year, I’ll have lost another 30. I have a great network of people supporting me, but I get into the mindset of every time I screw up, that I’m disappointing the people who are supporting me. I feel like I’m letting myself and everyone down, and rather than face that I shut out my support system, be it NF, my friends, my parents, whoever. I’m human. I’m allowed to make mistakes. It’s always going to be a struggle. Nothing in this world that is worth having ever comes easy. I’ve just gotta keep reminding myself that. And that's that. Bring it on, 2015!

So! this is going to be an action-packed challenge. Main Goal: Don't Die *HoD interjection "Not even a d4?"* During this challenge I will participate in my first CrossFit competition, do a marathon relay with my family (I'm only running 5k), and do my first Spartan (assuming I don't chicken out). Main goal is to make it through the Spartan without death or serious injury, so I can start my new job that next Monday. Goal 1: Upper Body Upper body strength is probably going to be my biggest weakness at the Spartan, especially pulling myself up on things. To work toward improving this, I will do at least 2 sets of 5 ring rows each time I'm at CrossFit. If ring rows are part of the WOD, that counts Grading: 90-100% of ring rows done = A; 80-89% done = B; 79% or fewer done = C Goal 2: Endurance My second biggest weakness will probably be my cardio endurance. I will attempt to improve this by going to CrossFit regularly, but also by doing what my coach calls a "Fasted Suck Fest". 2x per week I will do a Tabata in the morning as soon as I get up, and 2x per week I will do some slow pace cardio after the WOD. Grading: 21+ Suck Fests = A; 18-20 = B; 17 or fewer = C Goal 3: Fuel My coach suggested a temporary adjustment to my macros yesterday. He said he's had good luck in the past helping postpartum women get their hormones more regulated using a similar balance. I'm a little annoyed, because I had a nice little routine going, but I'm going to give it a shot. New macro split is 175g protein, 100g fat, 175g carbs. Goal is to track macros every day and try to get a plan going to get as close as possible to the goal numbers without going crazy. As an additional incentive, if I get an A grade, I can buy a new lunchbox. Grading: 37+ days tracked = A; 33-36 days = B; 32 or fewer days = C Life Side Quest: Get Ready to Go We're hoping to be able to sell our house relatively quickly so I don't have to do the hellish commute for too long. However, in order to do that, we first have to list the dang thing. We've been working on cleaning, etc., and I made a strong start this weekend at cleaning up and decluttering things, but we need to kick it into gear and set up a routine so we can clean up stuff quickly when the house is going to be shown. Get house ready to be listedContact a realtorList houseGet routine on autopilotI need to do something on this every day. If we can get the house listed by the beginning of May, and if I have at least 37 days of working toward this goal, I can buy two pairs of Sox Box socks.

Holding to see if something witty comes to me this weekend... Edit: When in doubt, Internet cats. Overarching Goal Hasn't changed - still trying to get my body comp where I want it through tight-ish metrics + building strength to be able to do all the OCR-related things I want to do. I realize I *could* accomplish this goal faster by adhering to stricter weekend metrics and incorporating more intense workouts, but I'm lazy at heart - let's just stick to doing what I can do and to upping the baseline intensity level, rather than attacking a heavy-duty something all at once and fizzling out because no one's watching/my program has ended/I lose interest. Goal 1: Fitness Like always. Since I'm trying to claw my way out of a little motivation slump at the beginning of this challenge, I think I'll focus on building the toolkit of cool shit I want to be able to do. And I have a 5-miler to train-ish for on Thanksgiving. Cool Shit Toolkit Pistol Squats Real (not wall) handstands (knowing me, I'll be working on back walkovers right after) Yoga headstand Better/longer/more consistent crow + variations (like flying pigeon)Pull-up (unassisted)Chin-up (unassisted)Bow pose (better - knees up farther)Finally sitting on my damn toesFlat-heeled down dogMaybe someday finally getting into a full splitBetter, longer planksHigher quantity of push-upsMore realized dancer pose for more than a few seconds without falling Goal 2: Metrics Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended by FitBit 64 ounces, and on the weekends I like my step count to be over FitBit’s recommended 10,000. I track food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water with the FitBit Flex. Weight and BF are tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. FitBit. I also use a combo of FitBit + Runkeeper + Zombies, Run! To track my workouts, though I'm thinking of dropping Runkeeper and who knows what will happen when iOS8 and the new Apple Health comes out. I'm sure I'll be jumping at least some of these ships in favor of that, if it's as awesome as advertised. Goal 3: Other Shit This 'other shit' goal worked well for me last challenge. While I didn't get anything actually crossed off my list, I *did* make progress toward most of these goals. I need to continue on that track. Whittle more things out of the house - I'd like to clear enough off of a bookcase to get rid of it. Continue the leaving my house on weekdays (maybe even sometimes without my hubby) and being at least somewhat social. Work on the damn scarf I've been knitting for 2 years now. Finish before Spring? Continue streamlining my wardrobe/getting rid of shit I don't need/getting things that are too big for me altered so they're not wasting space/get the shoes I need cobbled cobbled.Drag the clothes I'm donating out of the closets they came out of out the door and to the donation place.

So, I figured at first that I'd do the Spartan and die valiantly and not have to worry about the rest of the challenge, until I started reading about places doing up their Christmas decorations and their Praline Spice Pumpkin Mocha Frappucinos (that's what Starbucks does, right? I'm bad at coffee) and radio stations starting to hit the Christmas music already, all in the name of that all important Q4. And I thought about how fortunate I was to work for a sane, decent company that doesn't indulge in those shenanigans, that takes its mission seriously and lets the product speak for itself- Until today. When I went looking for coffee cups to restock with. And found them. Colored red. With PEPPERMINT. SWIRL. PATTERN. I think we all know what this means. RIGHTEOUS SANTA JUSTICE Clearly the opening track of the anime that they will make of this war. Yes. I can't die at the Spartan knowing that this bloated, commercialized claptrap of a holiday will survive me. I can't stand it. I won't stand it. Bunch of bloody, soulless companies trying to latch on to our feelings of good will and cheer to trade those things for petty material possessions! FFS! We haven't even had Thanksgiving yet, you bastards! INTO THE TRENCHES * All right. The work is before us. NaNoWriMo is trying to knock me off my dietary track at every turn, and if it's not that, it's the delicious things we're making at Panera. They're rolling out a new cinnamon roll that makes the old one look... well, really bad. Which isn't even getting into the part where they're bustin' out with the Holiday Bread, which is like a cinnamon roll if cinnamon rolls came in loaves. Stop that! We got work to do! Goal 1: Ab Training 5 Days/Week Yeah, I know what you're thinking. This is fairly unnecessary. Why would I ever want to do that? Don't I know that teh abz can only show with teh P4L30? Hah! Let me explain. The core is an incredibly difficult set of muscles to overwork. It's the stabilizer. Everything you do, every challenge that requires you to hold steady has to be won here, and it can do the work.With the absence of weights, the core is able to quickly regenerate itself and be ready to work again in no time at all.The horror story of making your stomach bigger is... exaggerated. Rectus abdominis and the surrounding pieces just don't have enough tissue to expand that way, to that kind of size.Meanwhile, there is a long and celebrated history of boxers working their abs to death. When was the last time you saw a genuinely fat boxer?Goal 2: Finish NaNoWriMo Strong I'm actually having some trouble with the novel this time. I'm going slower, having to struggle for my words. I think that's because I mean to publish this damn thing. So I can't just bumrush it like I used to... I mean, I could, but so much of it would just have to go. So, I'm making it official: finish the month out. Come hell or hot chocolate. Yeah, look at this bullcrap. This warm, chocolatey... maybe some marshmallows... NOOOOOO Goal 3: Keep the Cheats Under Control So, I seem to have found my magic number that gets me both satisfaction and results. That number is 2: two cheat meals per week. Not days. Meals. 'cuz one just isn't enough, but two somehow manages to get to me to that place where I'm satisfied and wanting to stop. The thing is, though, lately I've been struggling to keep to that. With all the delicious things coming out and with all these occasions to get together with friends, it just seems like it's awful heavy all of a sudden. And if I can make them fit my macros for the day, then... well, surely it's not a cheat... right? ... right? I don't know, man. I just don't know. Goal 4: Put the money together for a car payment So, long story short, my dad heard that I had the race coming up, and he was not happy. He thought I was trying to welch on the car payment and that if I could put money away for a silly race that I could do important things like take care of the car and such like that. I get to figure that one out now too on top of everything else. We'll get it, though. We'll get it. Logs and such to follow. Let's end it strong, monks.

A couple years ago I was biking with my kids... it was our FIRST long ride (about 50 miles)... we were on our way back to the car but still about 10 miles from the car... we were tired.... we were hot... Zombie (my youngest he was about 10 then??) got VERY frustrated and threw down his bike... he wanted us to go get the car and come back for him (wasn't an option because we were miles from the nearest access point)... I told him whenever I get frustrated I think of my favorite verse and my favorite childhood book and he was like HUH? and I said... I can do all things (through Christ who strengthens me) and the little engine that could... I just say over and over I can do all things I can do all things I can do all things... like the little engine and he was like... ok mom and started riding... then like 1/2 mile later he started to slow down... so I asked him "what does ALL mean"... and he was like HUH?!... does all mean some? does all mean just a few? does all mean only the easy things?... and he was like DUH mom all means ALL and he kept riding.... about 1/2 mile more he started slowing down... and I was like... hey chris is this one of those things? he says no mom and I am thinking that he totally missed the point... and then he says... mom we already done 32 miles and we only got 8 more till we get to the car... this isn't a thing... this is HALF a thing... and we made it to the car with no more arguments so now when we got hard stuffs.... we tell each other... this isn't a thing... and we kinda know what it means so this challenge.... It isn't a thing... it's half a thing here's a little backstory here's a little motivation here's a couple (or three) goals gym 2xweek run/walk Ezra daily (I don't have any pics of ME running... so you get my constant companion/running partner) don't die/cross the finish line at the spartan Shakespeare and I will be flying to Boston on le 14th of november to race ... we will be meeting with a bunch of other nerds... nerdsgiving is going to happen... we are flying back on that sunday... TL:DR - here's the goalsgym 2xweekrun/walk Ezra dailydon't die/cross the finish line at the spartan ------------------------------------------------disclaimers: you might notice I don't do stat points... I decided long ago that they are detrimental to my mental health... although I do say grading will be based on effort and not achievement – achievement will come with sufficient effort also... if you've been around here a while you know that I do a LOT of hiking... because of my health issues I HAVE to draw a fine line on how much I do... I reserve the right to substitute a hike for a run/gym day

It's time for me to get out of this funk. The two weeks off made me lose an insane amount of motivation, paired with starting to backslide with eating. Granted, what I had over the course of 2 weeks that is considered 'bad' would normally be eaten in 1 day just 2 years ago. It's about perspective, huh? Anyway, for those of you that don't know me, my name is Teros and I'm the Guild Leader here for the Adventurers. To date, I've lost almost 70 pounds, made my own homegym, and tried a Spartan Race. Tried. This challenge though, I get my redemption. In just a few short days I will be attempting another Spartan Race with my extended family: my NF family. I'm more scared this time than I was at my last Spartan. I know what to expect though, but I'm going to be brave and face it anyway. As a side note for those that are new here: Never hesitate to ask questions or send me a PM. I always have time to help people. However, there are a LOT of people here on NF, so don't feel guilty for taking any of my time. Seriously. I've had a few people say they didn't want to 'bother' me, and that's foolish. This is a community of people that care and if there's a way I can help you out- whether it be through giving advice or just being someone to vent about your problems- I'm here for you. NF has been here for me and I fully intend to return the favor. Let's get on with the challenge now, shall we? 1) Eating Right - Last challenge I stuck with 95% whole 30. In fact, I went 54 days without feeling like I was deprived and I got close to dropping almost 15 pounds. I need to get back to this mentality. I had a slip up the weekend before the challenge ended and with the 2 week break; I've been sliding back. No more. I make another stand and with the exception of NerdsGiving; I hope to beat my 54 day streak. Today it starts. Day 1. I'm starting early. I can't postpone this. What I basically eat is meat and vegetables, with 1 serving of fruit and some healthy fats if I'm hungry. No sugars. No processed crap. It's whole 30, but with the exception of protein powder so I can make protein pancakes (protein powder, egg, banana mashed together). 2) Working out - Again, last challenge I was going solid with this. A few ladies come over twice a week to do strength training and I show them different exercises and spot them; while also getting my own workout in consisting of using a sledgehammer, kettelbells, dumbbells, sandbags, and some bodyweight stuff too. I also like going for long walks on non-workday mornings to keep some endurance/cardio as well. Jack of all trades. 3) Major List - This one is a bit fuzzy, but basically there's a list of about 10 things that I need to get done... like NOW. So I'm not writing it down, but I will note when one of the things on my Major List gets crossed off. 4) NF Basics - Last challenge I had a bit of depression. Also, consulting some people pre-challenge put a really bad taste in my mouth with dealing with certain....aspects... of this site. Don't get me wrong, I love all the people that are trying to better themselves, but the wind was taken out of my sails (and some Ambassadors) because of a big dispute. This challenge I go back to basics. I want to do a sweep of the Adventurers to make sure everyone feels welcome. I also hope to get the minis and RPG story that I write done sooner in the week. Lastly, I hope to be more active with the level 1s and make sure they feel welcome as well. Doing this is what made me feel like a better person. People on NF have inspired me to be the best person I can be. They gave me my life back, when all I wanted was to burn down the world with my bitterness, depression, and fury. I've been paying this back since day 1 of being on this site, and I continue to do so this challenge, despite some haters. I have decided to not bother with assigning points this time. What I always do anyway is try to even out my points so that I have easily divisible #s, so it's pointless. I'll grade on a whole. If I do everything and get an A+, I earn 15 points to distribute however I want.

I am posting this about a week late but have been working this week while I get this out of my head and onto a page. I started my adventure in 2012 and went from 270+lb (I say plus because I never had the guts to weigh myself until I had been watching what I eat for over a month) to 170lb and loving the body that was shaping up. My workouts where mostly based on body weight like the Assassins and Martial arts like the Monks. 100lb whoot. ...... yea until I thought that I could start letting little things slip because I had done so well and I deserved it right?? Nope! Fell into some really bad habits again and have now gained 20lb back. Let stress from work, home, money, kids, workouts, nutrition stress me out. THEN when I do decide to get my ass back in gear I pull a muscle in my back/hip (gluteus medius) OUCH! It is taking so long to heal! At first I could barely walk. I have started to do Tai Chi but am letting myself get stressed out over not being able to workout. I keep pushing myself and I know I shouldn't. I need to let it heal but I am finding that I am a huge stress and pain eater. I am now over 200lb again.... Damn that was hard to type! and I need community to get me back in gear. I know what I have to do but this mindless eating and lack of workouts has me in a bad cycle. I have been reading the Nerd Fitness blog for awhile now but one of the articles that spoke to me the most was How to Live and Train Like a Spartan Warrier. I love the sense of family and fellow soldiers in arms. I also love the do or die attitude. I need to take on that attitude again to get myself through this hard time. I am making excuses and loosing myself and my goals. Time To SPARTAN UP!! MAIN GOAL: To recover from injury while still eating well and exercise to loose 50lb Battle 1: Fight whenever, wherever, just fight! I am really struggling with not being able to do my regular workouts while I recover.... I need to realize that gainz and loosing weight are not the only fights I have in store. This will be a long uphill battle to recover enough to be back to where I was. Battle plan: To do Tai Chi 6 days a week to help heal my back/hip. I have been doing heavier workouts and because of my injury have been stressing out that I can't do them. I feel Tai Chi will be a good, low impact, healing way to help me get back to working order. Battle 2: Giving up is not an option. I have let myself give in to pain/stress eating. Mindless and empty to the point that I don't even realize I just ate a whole bag of chips or the 3rd enchilada. I can not give up on myself or my goals. I need to learn to control both the pain and stress to get my body back. Battle plan: Focus on cutting out Fatty/Sugary snacking. I have tried to really limit my intake by having particular macros and cal intake and that has stressed me out and made my pain eating and stress eating really bad. I have found that limiting myself to much (at least for now) is making me stress. I want to focus on finding the triggers that are causing the stress/pain eating and snip it in the bud. I need to go back to the basics while I heal and pay attention to what I am consuming, really paying attention rather then the mindless stress/pain eating I have allowed myself to go into. Battle 3: As I heal up over the next 6 weeks I may be adding more Battles. I am hoping it will not take the full 6 weeks to heal.... Scoring will be on the following grading system 36 full days of Tai Chi (Sundays off for family time ;}) A= 36-29 days B= 28-22 days C= 21-15 days D= 14-8 days F = 7-0 days Eating and Battle 3 A= 42-37 B= 36-29 C= 28-21 D= 20-11 F= 10-0 Life Quest: Look out for you fellow soldiers. I am here to share what I have learned with my fellow rebellions to overcome obstacle and find a battle plan that works for them. I will also remember that my family is in this with me and are also my fellow soldiers whom I need to lookout for. Spend more time with my family. As my kids are getting older I find us all going in a million directions. We all have our individual things that we do apart from the family and spend little time together. Volleyball practice, Key club and “The Boy†for my oldest. Karate and hanging with friends for my youngest, Airsoft, our farm and Battle Field for my hubby and my life is just getting them to all of those events, work and a personal business ;} Even on days that I keep everyone home one is on the computer, one is playing games in their room, ones watching TV and one is on a Tablet. I would like to start doing things together. Even if it just going for a walk, watching a movie together or even a board game. We all have the things we love and I would never take that from them. I would like in the 6 weeks to have a game plan together for family time and ultimately a planned vacation that all of us have helped plan. Scoring on this will be an pass or fail. Its done or not. I will update with little things we have done to get together and plan but over all we have the vacation planned or we do not. Most important Come back with your shield, or on it! I will not let a silly pulled/torn muscle get me down. I will battle hard or come back licking my wounds and ready for another round We all have our battles. Some of them we have to fight alone but these. These I have fellow soldiers. Others to help me on my journey. I have a family and I have duty’s as a spartan to live up to. Duty to my family to be a good remodel. Duty to my friends to be proof that anyone can do it. Duty to myself to be the healthiest person I can be to be alive and healthy for as long as possible. I am ready to Spartan Up. Are you ready to go to battle with me?

Ahem. "Yes, it's true. I may not be a Master Builder. I may not have a lot of experience fighting or leading or coming up with plans. Or having ideas in general. In fact, I'm not all that smart. And I'm not what you'd call a creative type. Plus, generally unskilled. Also, scared and cowardly. I know what you're thinking. he is the least qualified person in the world to lead us. And you are right." - Emmett, The LEGO Movie (also how I feel almost all the time) Alright, guys. I know I'm late. Like, really late. I get it. The realization that the Spartan was coming up immediately after this challenged may have kicked my ass. That, and nerd withdrawal from Chicago made this a bad week. Was I posting on all of the nerds' threads whom I missed from Chicago? Was I doing that to avoid dealing with my own training? Maaaaybeeee.... So let's fix that. Together. Because everything is awesome. I feel more awesome than an awesome possum When I lift weights, when I get under the barbell and crank out a full set, I feel amazing. I feel like a fucking monster. Like I could just tear down walls with my hands. When I was in Chicago, I got to lift with bigm141414 and emcee. These two radically sized people were just absurd. I got tips from biggums to help me with my lifts and things felt amazing. I watched Rob_ and Flex_Luthor benching me and a half like it was nothing. I got to watch and learn from these incredible, strong people. When I got back to the gym, despite my weights being way back down, I felt like I had levelled up a bunch of times. Things just felt better. And I want to keep feeling like that. I can be better than an awesome possum. Lift 3 times / week. Everything is cool when you're part of a team The summer threw off my schedule of hapkido classes. Though I've been focusing very heavily on my strength training, it all comes back to wanting to be a better martial artist. I stuck with my Mondays for my black belt class, but I need to get back to at least twice a week. My wife is no longer on call on Thursdays (which used to be my go-to day) so I can take the car and make that happen. I want to spend more time with my cool team. Go to hapkido 2x / week. Everything is better when we stick together Know what I hate more than anything? Running. Running sucks balls. It is the worst thing there ever was. But, there's this thing in Boston. It's called the Spartan Sprint. Stupid running. I hate you, RP. I really do. This is your fault. So, I guess I'm going to be running? But I won't have to do it alone. I blackmailed convinced my wife to do the Sprint with me, so we are going to run together. And we're going to do it on my terms. See, behind our house there's this great sodding hill with a walking path going right over it. We're going to get up early three times a week together and run up that bastard five times. Is that the equivalent of doing the November Project some unholy number of times? No, it's not. But from a not-running lifestyle to one where one can sprint up sharp inclines (or, I don't know, stadium stairs) this feels like good training. Run the hills 3x / week. A Nobel prize, a piece of string. You know what's awesome? EVERYTHING! And now, tacos! Wait, hold on. Food is always my nemesis. Too many times, I end up cobbling together a sort-of-meal from whatever I can scrounge in the house. Grocery shopping? Fah! Meal planning? A pox upon it! I can do better than that. Breakfast is covered. I've ground that into myself that I need a good meal to start the day. I don't do cereal, so I've got to prepare food that I can actually eat (yay, celiac!). But my lunches are usually a collection of snacks or, more usually, a tiny snack that just leaves me weary and cranky. And my dinners are what I pick up at the grocery store that night probably 5 days of the week. That's gotta stop. In light of leftovers being a thing, my goal is to plan 4 dinners and make sure I have a plan for my lunches during the work week. 4 planned dinners and 5 lunches / week And that's it, nerds. Super late, but trying to get myself back on track.

OK, this is the new challenge and right now my main goal is .... waiting. In 13 hours, I'll be running the Spartan Beast. After that, I'll be resting, recovering and having fun with my family and offline for a while. When I get back, then I'll set new goals based on how I did at the Beast because I'm running the Beast at the Spartan World Championships in 2 months. I'm basically bookmarking this challenge by a Beast on either side. The challenge this time through will be to figure out what to do to hopefully make the next Beast better. It will likely include lots of running, burpees and PLP for starters. We'll see where it goes from there. Not much of a thread so far, huh? Well, hopefully I'll have enough energy tomorrow to give a race report after the Beast. Or you know, I'd like to survive it, too. Yeah, surviving would be good. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ... and now I'm back from vacation and ready to actually do a challenge. I need to take what I learnt from the Beast and get ready for the Vermont Beast. What did I learn from the Beast? There was lots of running and LOTS of hills. Running, especially hills, is a priority. My legs hurt for 4 days after the Beast, all in the quads. Hill runs should help that. But leg strength is also a priority so that I can still use my legs when I'm done. During the race, I failed one obstacle which was all upper body. The second hardest obstacle was also upper body. I'd love to conquer all the obstacles sometime. Now could be that sometime, right? 1. You thought you ran before ... Run a minimum of 50K each week.Long run each week is at least 25K and can't be more than 50% of my weekly total.At least one run each week where the hills kick my ass. (hill sprints, long runs on hills, etc.)The only exception is the last week of the challenge, where I'll start tapering. 2. Legs like tree trunks. Daily burpees. You can't be a spartan and not do it. The goal is a set of 30 burpees everyday, but I might mix it up to do intervals or sprints of them just to keep it fresh.Another round of PLP. Starting this round at 10 reps. (on day 5 so far) I'm going to increase the lunge portion by doing jumping lunges instead of normal lunges.Starting Body Weight Progressions for squats. 2x per week as I still want to get to the gym at least once a week and lift heavy stuff. 3. Arms like boulders. Daily burpees. Love them or hate them, they work.PLP is here, too. Pull ups are the same, but I'll try to use fewer sets. Push ups are going to be elbows-in push ups to make them harder.Starting Body Weight Progressions for pull ups. 2x per week. OK, so far this is looking just like the legs goal. We can throw a little twist in there.Practice climbing a rope using only arms 1/week. I did it up a playground pole on vacation. This seems like the next logical progression. And it would be cool. 4. Spartan tech I'm going to simplify the data streams into the house. At the end of the day, I don't know if it will make it so we watch less TV, but it should make it much cheaper to do so. I'm not looking to pirate or stream illegally. But even legally, there are a lot of options to cut down costs and still have a good setup. Cancel long distance plan (cell phone has unlimited long distance)Get a digital antennaeGet a laptop, desktop, smartbox, whatever to stream mediaSwitch internet to unlimited bandwidth.Subscribe to NetflixCut the cable 5. Learning Tricks I always like learning some new tricks for body control. The Starting Body Weight Progressions has some of these and a list of physical requirements you should have in place in order to try them out. When I work on my squats and pull ups, I'm going to throw these in, too- either work on the trick, or work on the prerequisite I need to learn the trick. First up, crow stand!

new to the forums, but was wondering if anyone else is racing So Cal Spartin in Janurary? I'll be doing the Beast on on Jan 17, the super on jan 24th, and the sprint on jan 25th! Same location in temecula as tough mudder normally is. Had lots of fun at the sprint last year, would love to meet up with others after the race. Also would be interested in creating a team for the super/sprint if anyone wanted to join!

Ok, so no theme this time. I thought about a Friday The 13th thing, but finding appropriate/fitnessy memes sounded exhausting. So: dragons. Dragons are always good. Plus, this way I get to search for dragons every morning before jumping into work. Booonus! Deviant Art, here I come! Overarching Goal Hasn't changed - still trying to get my body comp where I want it through tight-ish metrics + building strength to be able to do all the OCR-related things I want to do. I realize I *could* accomplish this goal faster by adhering to stricter weekend metrics and incorporating more intense workouts, but I'm lazy at heart - let's just stick to doing what I can do and to upping the baseline intensity level, rather than attacking a heavy-duty something all at once and fizzling out because no one's watching/my program has ended/I lose interest. Goal 1: Fitness I actually didn't do bad on my 'choose your own adventure' workout schedule last challenge, much to my shock. So … I'm going to go down that track a little further. I still want to work on doing an unassisted pull-up, I think the Spartan 30 challenges are kind of fun, the Spartan daily WODs are good for me (but intimidating), I love me some nerdy bodyweight routines, HasFit is fantastic, and I want to continue on with the mix of cardio/bodyweight/light weights/specific movements/yoga I'm already doing and see where that gets me. I'll be pulling from: Spartan WODs, HasFit, Neila Rey, and other places as I see them - my yoga class, for sure. Upcoming Races: Merrill Down N' Dirty OCR - October 5 Color Run 5k - October 18 Goal 2: Metrics Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended by FitBit 64 ounces, and on the weekends I like my step count to be over FitBit’s recommended 10,000. I track food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water with the FitBit Flex. Weight and BF are tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. FitBit. I also use a combo of FitBit + Runkeeper + Zombies, Run! To track my workouts, though I'm thinking of dropping Runkeeper and who knows what will happen when iOS8 and the new Apple Health comes out. I'm sure I'll be jumping at least some of these ships in favor of that, if it's as awesome as advertised. Goal 3: Get Your Shit Together I need to. I'm a grown-ass adult with responsibilities, short people that might notice if I no longer exist, and family members that totally don't want to deal with the headache of slogging through my shit should I croak unexpectedly. I should have a will made out. And know where all my important documents are located. To this end, the goal is to fill out the Get Your Shit Together stuff + enter all my other important crap into Evernote so I can actually find it (like my marriage license and the deed to my house - which may or may not be in a box at the bottom of one of my closets. Maybe I'll finally get that fireproof box my hubby has been wanting for years. UPDATE: GYST LIST Week 1: Will Week 2: Living Will Week 3: Life Insurance Week 4: Money Week 5: Details Week 6: Personal Items Other Goals Whittle more things out of the house - I'd like to clear enough off of a bookcase to get rid of it. This is going to take action, rather than planning. Continue the leaving my house on weekdays to at least think about being social trend.Work on the damn scarf I've been knitting for 2 years now. Finish before Spring? Continue streamlining my wardrobe/getting rid of shit I don't need/getting things that are too big for me altered so they're not wasting space/get the shoes I need cobbled cobbled.Drag the clothes I'm donating out of the closets they came out of out the door and to the donation place. Even if that means I have to backpack clothes out in batches every week on the way to the grocery store. Quit being lazy. This is a nebulous goal - more of a goalposts goal. I'll be reporting on progress, but won't be including this in my overall grading scheme. You know what? Screw that. This is a real goal. Worth up to 5 points. Internal dialogue edit: This is not a hard goal to accomplish in the grand scheme of life. Quit being lazy, dammit. Risk Internet failure less than a perfect grade. Now drop and give me burpees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGcIkqPTHo0 Two Months. In two months I, with a bunch of other Nerds, will be running the Fenway Spartan Sprint. Now, the Sprint I can finish. I have no qualms about that. I did fine last year. Except last year I held back on pushing myself, since I had teamed up with another Nerd who was just as petrified of dying during the race as I was. So we putz along. Not. Happening. This. Year. Last year I took a long, long time to finish the race, but over all I felt pretty solid about how I performed. The between-obstacle sections where I was forced to walk/very slowly jog with my team mate are what killed my time, not performing the obstacles themselves. And when all was said and done, I only failed only three obstacles: the Wall Traverse, Rope Climb, and the Spear Toss. Problem with these obstacles? Really hard to train for without access to specific equipment. Yea, I can join a club or something, but compared to a year ago, I am much, much more active, and scheduling is already a bit tight for me. Between lifting, November Project, and Aikido, my plate is full. So I need to try and do smaller things to add to my training, rather than flat out devout all my time to some new training. So really, I’m trying to deal with a less-is-more approach in some shape or form for all of my challenges this time around. 1) Spartan Gear I need new running shoes. Badly. I’ve used my current ones to death, and I really shouldn’t have. For a pair of $30, clearance rack running shoes, they dun good. But time to move on to big boy shoes. Unfortunately, I know nothing about getting a good pair of running shoes. So I need to go to a running store, get fitted properly, and then break the suckers in. They’ll at least get used weekly at NP, but I want a second use out of them. Maybe a short run, hell, even a walk, just something to get my feet comfortable in them. ~Get new running shoes ~Use them twice a week 2) Spartan Training, PLP edition So I want to try doing a PLP challenge to help prepare for the rope climb, and a bit of the wall traverse – mainly to gain some more upper body strength. I can’t do 10 pull-ups in a single set, so I’m going to be starting at the low run of ONE. That being said, I have two trips that are falling during this challenge. One this coming week will require some tricky maneuvering (read: I’m probably going to be doing pull-ups on my parent’s garage rafters), but should be doable. More difficult is when I go to New York Comic Con towards the middle of the challenge – where I’ll be mostly on the convention floor. My friend’s apartment complex may have a mini-gym I can use, but I have to ask. I’ll figure something out. I hope. ~Complete the PLP Challenge every day, barring unforeseen circumstances 3) Spartan Fridge What, a food challenge? But RP, I thought you said you were going to try and not worry about food any more. Why yes, Self, that was the initial plan. But bear with me. The Fridge is going to be Spartan because I’m going to be eating everything. Yup, kinda doing a bulk. Goal is to help increase my lift numbers, help build some muscle, and then next challenge (or one after it) I’ll try doing another cut again. It was pointed out to another member that sometimes if you plateau you should try eating more to boost your metabolism, and then attempt another cut. I’ve been eating more regularly, and been gaining some weight – but also gaining Strength. I want to try and keep that going, and then go back to trying a bit of weight loss. Trying to be somewhat conservative, but I’ve been just feeling really solid lately. May as well make it official, track it better, and then see what happens. In the process, I need to stop eating most of the junk at my office. I’m already considered “The Healthy Guy” there, but I can do so much better. I should not be gorging myself on chips, cookies, and cake, even if they are free. Free and tasty. (Cheesecake has fueled a few of my aikido classes, though, courtesy of work.) ~Eat between 2800-3,000 calories per day ~Minimal junk food (no more than 5 ‘junk’ foods per week, as defined by myself) 4) Spartan Aikido I think a lot about aikido. Which is probably a good thing. I still want to try and do more documentation of the techniques, but I think trying to force myself into a corner by demanding something solid and static for something as nebulous as aikido techniques might be the wrong way to target this. So I’m going to try something different. Marcus Aurelius had his Meditations written as little vignettes of thought. Small fragments of questions or ideas that popped into his head, his musings about life, the world, leadership, and philosophy. So I want to try and apply that to aikido. After every aikido class, write a sentence or three on something I learned/focused/reflected on in the class that day. Hopefully that will help me unlock some ways to write about aikido more efficiently. If not, it could provide just an interesting general insight. ~Grab a journal ~Write *immediately* after each class/day of aikido a lesson/thought/musing from that class I got this.

I ran my first Spartan Race in January of this year. Shortly after that I learned what the Ultra Beast was (26+ miles, 50+ obstacles in the mountains of Vermont), and shortly after that I registered for the race, knowing it would be the hardest physical thing I have ever done. One could argue I'm not good at moderation, or elevating up my race distances in a logical way. Now with the race less than two months out, I have no more room for half assing my training or nutrition. It's time to get serious, put on my big girl pants and put everything I've got towards finishing this race. This challenge comes at a perfect time, and ends just as my taper should start. For the next six weeks I will be focusing on only two things: 1) Training: - Complete all workouts as prescribed by coach. - Spend 15mins a day foam rolling, stretching or working on recovery. 30+ mins on rest days (can include epsom salt or ice baths). 2) Nutrition: - Paleo with some allowances - corn, white rice, high quality cheese used to meet macros and for carb refueling. - NO - Sugar, honey, sweetener of any kind, processed foods, desserts (even "paleo desserts"). - For the first three weeks I can have 1-2 drinks ONCE a week, after that no-alcohol until the race. For this challenge there will be no grades, it's only pass or fail. I know it will be incredibly challenging at times, but for only 6 weeks I know I can handle this. There are harder things in life than training and eating strictly. I admit that this is not a sustainable way to train or eat, and were I just aiming for general fitness my rules for myself would be much less strict. However, with only a few short weeks to put the finishing touches on my race prep, I'm willing to sacrifice normalcy for a finishers medal at the Ultra Beast. Bonus Quests: - Train with race day foods, and detail the items that I will carry with me on the first leg of the race as well as the items that will be included in my drop bin. - Plan out and train in race day clothing (including alternate options for inclement or extreme weather situations).

Challenge #9 is here! So in this challenge, I am heading back to Spartan Race. This time I am going to the San Francisco Spartan Sprint on August 9th. It is a part of their stadium series, so it takes place at AT&T Park. The San Francisco Giants play baseball there. Not a fan of the team, but it sounds like it will be awesome to run around in the stadium. So only 2 weeks to go till the race! Yikes! Last challenge I did successfully run my first 5k. So I am feeling much better with running. Since I ran one Spartan Sprint in Malibu last year though, I know it is no easy task. So that is part of my motivation this challenge. The other part, and next real goal is for me to hit that 250lb barrier. I've been going back and forth on my weight for awhile now. Hopefully, my goals this challenge really help me start getting there. It would be awesome to get there by the end of this challenge, but that is not a real goal. Goal #1: Exercise I am going to take on the 100 push up and 200 squats challenge, plus continue to to run on the off days. So Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will do the workouts. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday will be for running. For running, I will finish the last day of C25k in the first week. The plan for the rest of the running is to run timed runs on Tuesday and Thursday. Then my Saturday run will be a further distance. So maybe I run for 3 miles the first time. Then maybe increase the a .25 or ½ mile each week. My Spartan Race will hit at the end of Week 2, so that will count for my run that day. As a side bonus, I am adding in burpees. At least until the Spartan race. I need to get use to doing as many as I can. Who knows, I might keep this up after the race Goal #2: Sleep Making yet another return to my goals is sleep. Recently, I really have not been getting very good sleep. Maybe I am becoming more of a lighter sleeper, I am not sure. So this time I am going to have a couple of additions to the sleep goal. First, when I wake up in the morning, I am not to sit there checking my phone for an hour or two. I want to wake up, then get out of bed, and right into exercises. Second, I want to try to get more of a wind down period before heading to bed. I think jumping right off from the computer into bed isn’t always helping me to get to sleep quickly. So I’ll start off with 15 minutes before bed. Goal #3: Portion Control Eating seems like it will be the one place I will always need to keep a constant focus on. I know that eating healthier does make a difference in my mental and physical health. One thing I want to work on this challenge is limiting my portion sizes. To make sure this goal is the focus of my eating, I am not going to go and be strict paleo, or whole 30 etc. I will eat healthy, home made foods. I am going to give myself one meal or food a week that could be out of the bounds of what I might consider to be healthy foods. For instance pizza, or burger. Not just some average crappy food, but something quality. For the most part, I am going to avoid sugars as if I was on Whole 30 still. I am going with the portions based off the hand measurement. So meat will be like the palm of the hand. When I cook with an oil, I will use like the thumb tip. Veggies I am going to have as much as I want though. I figure its one area I can get away with having a larger portion if I like. I am also going to make an effort to eat slower. Give a little time for the signals from my stomach to hit the brain Goal #4: Food and exercise log I want to get better at tracking my food and exercise. To start, I want to keep it simple. For food, I want to track what I eat. I’m not worried about calorie numbers right now. I do want to try to keep track of the portions if I can. Exercise is easy enough to track. Just want to mark down each workout with numbers and times/distances for the running and walking. Goal #5: Draw a little Well, I was seeing KingLeeroy is getting back into her artwork. Since it seemed pretty cool, I thought I would give it a go too. I haven't done any serious artwork since I was in high school. So nothing serious here. I don't have to complete a certain number of drawings or anything. Just take some time each day to work on it. I'm thinking to start off, I will start getting off the computer and drawling a little before I head to bed. that might give me a little wind down from all the games on internet browsing Not long ago, I bought a small sketch pad and a couple of pencils. So now I just need to put them to use. Grading: 1 point each day for each goal. So a max of 5 points a day. I can average it out at the end of the week, then assign a grade based on the percentage. Measurements: 07/28/14 - Date - 09-08-14 15.35 in - L. Bicep - 15.47 in - R. Bicep - 12.20 in - L. Forearm - 12.28 in - R. Forearm - 48.11 in - Chest - 51.61 in - Waist - 17.71 in - Neck - 26.96 in - L. Thigh - 26.37 in - R. Thigh - 19.09 in - L. Calf - 18.11 in - R. Calf - 269 lbs - Weight - Height is 5 ft 9 in Week 1 summary - B Week 2 summary - B Week 3 summary - D CHALLENGE RECAP

"Sir, reporting as requested." "At ease, QuirkyDM. You're being activated. We have sensed an impending Kaiju breach. You're going to take care of it." Yes, sir. I'll deploy immed-" "Easy, son. This ain't no cakewalk. You gotta prepare first. Train hard, get ready. Then you go in." "OK, sir. But shouldn't I be out there now for when the Kaiju surfaces? Why are we waiting until it hits the cities?" "You'll be there right when it pops. It's not coming out until July 26th." "Wow, you can predict the date? And so far in advance!? That's great. Now we're in a 24 hour window." "Kaiju breach will be at 10am EST." "Fantastic, so we'll be on the lookout for where the breach occurs an-" "Here's the exact location you'll need to be at." "Alright, well, I'll be prepared for anything. Whether it's category 1 or 5-" "It's a category 3, the Beast." "OK, well fire breathing or flying, I'll be rea-." "Intelligence says it's going to resemble this Category 3, encountered a year ago. Here's videos of it and the likely challenges you'll face." "... With all this information, these Kaiju don't seem as scary as they used to.." "Son, we're not in the business of failing around here. We expect the same out of you. Don't take this lightly" "Yes, sir. Looks like all the hard work is already done." "Think again, soldier. Your hard work is just beginning." Kaiju isn't just a big monster- it's a BEAST! And that's what I'm getting ready for. Specifically: I'm signed up for two Spartan Beasts this year. And I want to kill them. Plus I signed up for the Elite heat in the Bad Ass Dash and I want to make a good enough showing so I feel like I belong with the Elites. I'm just starting my OCR season. I finished MudHero last week. The upcoming race schedule is: - June 29, Spartan Sprint - July 19, Bad Ass Dash - July 27, Spartan Beast - September 20, Spartan Beast in Vermont Strangely enough, my training is getting more specific, yet it feels more relaxed. I still plan to hit the gym 2x per week on top of all this, but it's more like normal exercise and not necessity for the race, so I'm not including it in the goals. Main Quest- Prepare for the BEAST In fact, with 2 beasts, I need to be double prepared! Goal 1: Run for the hills! - At least 3 runs per week. - At least one hill training run per week. - One long run per week. (exception is July long weekend when I'll be camping) My current long run distance of 25K is long enough distance wise. I'm going to lengthen it in time by making it more difficult. (add hills, carry heavy objects part way, do crawls, stop for a set of exercises or whatever else I feel like) (+3 STA, +1 STR) A: All runs done B: Missed 1 long run and/or 3 runs C: Missed 2 long runs and/or 6 runs D: Missed 3 long runs and/or 9 runs Goal 2: PLP I've started PLP. I'll need that upper body strength. I'm on 11 right now. (started at 1) My only time allowed to miss is 1-2 days before any race to ensure I'm rested up. I should be up to 50 by the end of the challenge. (+1 STA, +3 STR) A: 50 PLP B: 45 PLP C: 40 PLP D: 35 PLP Goal 3: Mad Skillz Time to do specific Spartan training. I am going to practice each of the following skills at least once each week. - rope climb - spear throw - weighted carries - atlas carry - crawl - traverse wall - wall climb - balance beam - log hop - monkey bars (+1 STR, +3 DEX, +1 STA) A: All skills practiced B: Missed 5 skill practices C: Missed 10 skill practices D: Missed 15 skill practices Life Quest: Take care of the outdoors. Specifically, taking care of the yard. We just had some new lawn put in last year and planted new seed this year to try and fill in the rest. Weather permitting, I'll be out 3x per week, even if for only 10 minutes. Weeding, (I hate weeds) killing ants, (I hate ants) watering, (I hate wat... wait) mowing, whipper snippering, fertilizing, setting up yard decorations, taking care of the camper, setting up our new hose reels, etc. And if there's nothing to do, I can spend time enjoying the yard, which is the ultimate goal. (+2 WIS, +1 CON) A: Amazing yard! B: Missed 3 days C: Missed 6 days D: Missed 9 days Sidequest: The Buck Furpees! Paradox I have no intention of doing any burpees during my races. Buck Furpees! The best way to make sure that happens is to be in good shape. The best way to get in good shape is ... lots of burpees! Crap. - set of 30 burpees per day - two sets on Saturday and Sunday - Like PLP, I'm allowed to skip this 1-2 days pre-race to make sure I'm fully rested. (+2 STR, +2 STA) A: Buck Furpees 100%! B: Missed 4 days C: Missed 8 days D: Missed 12 days Come on, Kaiju, let's see what you've got. Aroooo!!!