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I have been planning on making a battle log for a while now. I have been in and out of the challenges for 3 or 4 years now. I have enjoyed them but I think for now I am done with them. I used to be bigger into lifting and rucking and then shifted into the world of IRONMAN. In 2017/2018 I finished two full IRONMANs struggled through a couple of GORUCK challenges and generally was not too happy with my fitness. This past year(2018) I have kind of been lazy and not focused much on a goal, I did a few sprint triathlons and a GORUCK light. For 2019 my new game plan is to hit the triathlon disciplines pretty hard while maintaining rucking and beginning a new linear lifting progression. In general I want to become stronger, fast, quicker, and improve my flexibility. I want to achieve a WOD daily with stretching. I have always followed a mostly 80/20 healthy eating regiment. I find this is not really good for me, I like to eat healthy during the week and then I would do an 80-100 mile bike ride on Saturday which would be followed by binge eating then usually a night of binge drinking. Sunday would be a "refeed" day. In order to really achieve what I am hoping for I need to follow a 100% healthy eating rule and maybe see it slip into the 99/1 range. I have a large amount of goal distances and weights I am shooting for. I won't post them until I achieve them. Same goes for other(mental)aspects of my year. For now I have a GORUCK light scheduled in two weeks, a tough/light in may, and a heavy in September. Tri's are just some sprints and a tune up half IRONMAN in march. I do want to get my "A" race sometime in the late fall for the half distance. I have no intentions of doing a full this year, that is for sure. I will post some book reviews as I finish them since I have reading goals as well as any other aspects of my hobbies that I feel like(gardening, cars, fishing, etc).

I came back! Now that I've graduated, moved out on my own, and gotten a job, I should have a steady routine for the foreseeable future, so I should be around more regularly. Main Quest: Run Over 1000 Stairs I live near Harvard Stadium, which consists of around 30 rows of concrete seats (someone involved in November Project probably knows the exact number) broken up into 37 sections. It's a long-term goal, but I want to be able to run all 37 sections in one go. If I got the 30 rows right, that comes out to 1110 stairs. The first time I ran there I struggled through 3 sets broken up by like 2 minutes of rest, so I've got a long way to go. How I'm going to get there: Run at least 3 days per week. This one could be hard because it's summer in New England, so it's hot and humid almost all the time. If it's not, it's probably thundering. Run at Harvard at least 1 of those days. Ideally I can add one additional section per week, but we'll see how that goes. Run with the marathon team on Sunday mornings. This one could be hard because while I still live close to my college, it requires public transportation to get there, which involves getting up super early because the runs start at 8. (Also acceptable: Brunch Runners)I will allow 3 exceptions: working past 7:00 pm, outrageously bad weather (thunderstorms, pouring rain, or over 90°F), and illness/injury. Life Side Quest: Learn German I'm also back on the Duolingo horse after a long absence. After resetting my German progress, I've kept a consistent streak for 16 days. I want to keep that going until I complete the skill tree. I don't necessarily need to learn a new lesson, but I need to practice at least once a day. Fitness Side Quest: Do a chin-up I bought a pull-up bar for my new place, and I'd like to be able to use it for its intended purpose. I'm working on negatives right now, but hopefully I can do a chin-up by the end of the next 6 weeks.

Motivation: I need to love myself so I can let others love me. My over-arching Main Quest is to: Turn my body into something I'm proud of (work off excess fat, unleash my strength). My three missions: Use rest as a weapon. 3 CON Be in bed for 8 hours, which should allow me 7.5 hours of sleep nightly to re-fuel my body. Pump up the iron. 3 CON; 2 STA I learned last challenge that I need more in order to function. I hate keeping track of it, so I'm forcing myself to do so with this mission. Hopefully this will re-train my eating to keep my iron levels at optimum. May 5 edit: removed Move onwards and upwards. 2 DEX; 3 STA I want to be able to run up the outdoor stairs which pepper the hillsides around me, no stopping, by the end of this challenge. This will require that I start running regularly again, as well as strengthen my legs for the long, upward journey. I think the route I've selected around my new place has such varied terrain that I will get a lot out of it, and I'll try the stairs at least once a week. May 5 edit: added Re-introduce regular exercise 2 DEX; 3 STA I cut back a lot because I didn't have the energy. Now that I'm feeling better (just sleepy as I adjust to my longer days) I need to get workouts back into my life. My back will suffer if I don't, and I'm sure I'll start to gain weight again (fingers crossed that hasn't happened). I am going to do 3 days a week of cardio for 20 minutes minimum, as well as try to pepper some body-weight exercises into the week, hopefully every second day but at least twice a week. Life Side Quest: Dress to impress. 2 CHA Organize, purge, figure out what elements are missing or over-represented in my closet. I have items I love, hate, wear often, or wear never. A few fit nicely, the rest fit a bit too tightly (over the course of a few years, I've gained a smidgen too much weight). The madness will end! Suggestions for tackling this side quest are highly encouraged! Player Stats: Apr 9, 2014 (green sports bra) Total weight: 146.2 lbs Body fat: 30.3% Lean mass: 101.9 lbs Fat mass: 44.3 lbs Natural waist: 84.5 cm Lower abs: 97cm Hips: 98 cm Thighs: R 60.2 cm, L 59.6 cm Challenge History: pattycake118, Engage! current If you have any suggestions for the grading scale, please let me know! I'm considering whether I should add some points for WIS to my sleep mission, as it will help me to be more aware of my surroundings.

Hello Adventurers! I intend to join you for this 6 week challenge, yay! Basecamp is where I gain the skills I will need to embark on more amazing adventures! Will I do handstands? Will I climb mountains? Basecamp is where I start with baby steps to build up to amazing feats. Goals: 1. Train for climbing: Don't take the elevators or stand on the escalators. I live on the 10th floor and tend to be lazy and take the elevator. On the rare occasion when I do take the stairs I am always panting and winded by my floor. No more elevator for me, and no standing on escalators in the city either. I want to be able to bound up those stairs with ease!Measure: Average score of 6 weeks. Take elevator 0 times - 100%, 1 time - 75%, 2 times - 50%, 3 times 25%, 4+ times - 0% fail.Worth: STA: 2 2. Limber up: Start a yoga practice. I have done yoga in the past, and have lots of video resources for an at home practice, but I need to actually practice for it to help me! The idea: start week one with the requirement of only one yoga session a week, each week add a session, so by the 6th week I should be doing yoga 6 days of the week.Measure: Average score of 6 weeks. Percentage of expected sessions completed. So if I only did 3/4 in week 4 that's 75% for the week.Worth: DEX: 4 3. Rest properly: Be in bed by 23:00 regularly. I don't sleep enough and am tired really often. More sleep might not solve everything, but it should help. I will aim for 4 out of 7 days of the week.Measure: Average score of 6 weeks. Percentage of expected nights in bed on time completed. No bonus marks.Worth: CON: 3 WIS: 2 4. Be supplied: Carry a water bottle with me. I have tried to force 2 liters of water into my body as a health goal before, and it just doesn't happen. Instead I will try carrying the water with me. Just having it around will guarantee that I drink SOMETHING (since usually I drink nothing). Maybe in the future I can up the water intake, but for now I just need to start drinking outright.Measure: Average score of 6 weeks. Percentage of days with a water bottle on hand. So if I forgot it one day of the week, I would score 6/7 or about 85.7%Worth: WIS: 1 STR: 1 CHA: 1 CON: 1 I'm going to update this thread once I figure out the classes and attribute points and such, but hope to have a good challenge! Best wishes! EDIT: I now have a spreadsheet to track everything here.

Hi everyone! If I go up two or three flights of stairs in a day (even if not all at once), I'm in pretty bad pain for several days afterwards. My doctor also explicitly told me that I am in "maintenance mode" and that I should never jog, run, or jump again for the rest of my life, despite being 28 years old when I was told that. And I want to fix that, so I'd appreciate any help you can give! So the goals of my workout routine are: 1) Build leg strength in general 2) Build hamstring and quad strength in particular 3) Stretch my legs and improve flexibility 4) The more typical goal of "Generally build muscle" My current workout is: For each exercise, a warm-up set then 3 or 4 sets Mondays and Wednesdays: Stick-ups (upper-back exercise, done hoping to improve my posture because potentially that can contribute to the knee issues) - currently ~60 per set Wall sits (quad exercise) - currently <=60 seconds per set Calf raises (calf exercise) - currently 60 per set, no weights Walk ~3.6 miles (no steep hills or stairs; one day a week I go 6.6 miles instead) Tuesdays: Stool scoots (hamstring exercise; http://www.mavenlive.com/physical-therapy-exercises/stool-scoots.html) - currently ~5 laps of my workplace per set Pushups - currently ~30-35 per set (I'm working on progressing these to one-handed pushups) Crunches - currently ~30-40 per set Glute bridges (back and hamstrings) - currently ~60 sec per set Walk ~0.6 miles (from car to work and back) Straight leg lifts, side leg lifts, and various other related exercises - currently 15 per set with 8 lb ankle weights Thursdays: REST Straight leg lifts, side leg lifts, and various other related exercises Walk ~0.6 miles Fridays: Walk ~3.6 miles Pushups Crunches Glute bridges Saturday: Straight leg lifts, side leg lifts, and various other related exercises Triceps extensions - Currently ~10 per set with a 10 lb dumbbell Front raises - Currently ~7 per set with 10 lb dumbbells Sunday (I'm thinking of adding these but haven't yet; currently this is a rest day): Bent-over rows Bicep curls Obviously my focus has been on my legs, but I want to start working on everything else. So, any advice on what I should add that WILL NOT hurt my knees? Or advice on what I should progress or change in my current routine? The following definitely hurt me: Step ups, step downs, lunges, squats, burpees, leg extensions, walking up steps, walking up steep hills, kneeling, sitting for long periods, jumping In terms of equipment I only have access to dumbbells and adjustable ankle weights. Thanks!