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This is the story of me and my roleplaying character leveling up together and building up some STR, STA, DEX and CON on the way. Luciana Valerosa von Culming is my character in P&P, but you can call me Kate. She is an herold from Almada and like the rapier. I'm my a broad sword person. You can see my training sword in the picture. Hallo, I'm Kate and this is my first challenge. I like to go for a long walk and cycling. I would like to be able to run for ten minutes, but I'm not a good runner. I also enjoy fire spinning and fencing. Sometimes it's hard to get myself motivated for these hobbies, because I don't have anybody to train with. Currently I'm a student and have semester break. The lessons will start again in April. So I use daylight for outside activities and work at night. Oh, and I'm from Germany. So I'm not in the same time zone as you and English isn't my mother tongue… as you may have already noticed. I already created some healthier eating habits and introduced fitness into my daily life. But I have a hard time sticking to the plan. Especially with keeping myself away from junk food. My boyfriend is writing is master thesis until the end of March and we have a lot of chocolate, chips and other stuff in the house to keep him motivated. At least I enjoy drinking tea and don't have to keep myself from soda, because I think it's much too sweet. You can read more about my hobbies and activities in my introduction. Or you could ask me. My Main Quest: I would like to stick to a regular workout routine for this month and create a workout plan I can follow through during study time. I'm exercising, because I want to get my stamina and strength. I would like to improve my fencing skills until August for our meet up. Quest 1: I want to train for fencing at least once a week. It will be hard to train alone, but I want to pick up my sword at least once a week to get a feeling for it. My sword is a little heavier than my boyfriends, because I enjoy shorter and heavier swords. If I'm not as tired at the end of a session next moth, I'll know I reached this goal. Measurement: A = 6h in 30 days, B = 4h in 30 days, C = 2h in 30 days (I'll alter this a little if the challenge works better than I thought) Reward: A = +2 STA, +2 STR, B = +2 STA, +1 STR, C = +1 STA Quest 2: Eat less junk food and eat more vegetables and fruit. My boyfriend really hates vegetables. My eating habits changed since we moved together and I want to reintroduce them into my daily diet. So I'll try to eat one salad for dinner or some vegetables. And I want to substitute chocolate and crisps with fruits or raw vegetables. Measurement: A = 3 vegetables or fruit a day, unhealthy snacks only once a week; B = 2 vegetables or fruit a day, unhealthy snacks only twice a week; C = 1 vegetable or fruit a day, unhealthy snacks only thrice a week; Reward: A = +2 CON, B = + 1 CON, C = + 0,5 CON Quest 3: Get moving six days a week. As I said, I want to built some workout habits. I don't feel like doing the same things again every day. But I want to do something fitness related once a day. Walking for more then 30 minutes, cycling for 30 minutes, hitting the stationary bike for an episode of "Lie to me", doing my bodyweight exercises, ... Measurement: A = 6 workouts a week; B = 4 workouts a week; C = 2 workouts a week; Reward: A = +2 STR, +1 STA, +1 DEX, B = +1 STR, +1 STA, +1 DEX, C = +1 DEX Life Quests: I want to get leaner and drop some weight until I reach 58 kg. At the moment I weight 64 kg and I'm 1,57 cm tall. On the other hand I want to gain some muscle, agility and endurance. I want to have enough energy to run back home from the train station regulary. I want to be able to do push-ups and pull-ups. At the moment I can only do kneeling push-ups and never did a pull-up. I want to feel better and respect myself. I want to like my own body and feel more sexy. And I would like to accomplish healthy eating habits without counting calories. Motivation: I want to get fit for our next community meeting in August. I couldn't train sword fighting with the others, because I was so tired from cooking for everybody. Also this was my excuse, because I still have trouble with the basics. I really want to train my stamina and my endurance to keep up with the others next summer. I don't want to miss the fun this time! Mini Quest 1: Update goals to fit within the SMART goal standards-set self up for success= +1 Wis Mini Quest 2: Make some friends= +1 Cha Mini Quest 3: The Library= +1Wis Mini Quest 4: Checking your Starting Credits Mini Quest 5: The Cafeteria= +1Con Summary: Finished about 90% of my challenge this time. Eating: I meet my eating goals almos the whole challenge. 5.5/6 points ~ 91% Exercise: Five out of six weeks I followed my workout plans. ~ 83% Fencing (5 hours 40 minutes of 6 hours) 94%94%

So, I stumbled in the last challenge; I aimed too high and faced (minor) injury and didn't complete any of my fitness goals. However, I did complete a life goal: I got an entry-level IT position. Over the last challenge, I was unemployed and therefore actually had gobs of time with which to go to the gym and my sword play studio. Now, however, since I am working full time (on top of a single class of graduate school), I have considerably less time. Therefore, I must use the time I have better, which is what two of the three of my goals for this challenge are. Included in the new job comes with better mood, as I really like this job and I feel that my life is finally going somewhere, which have been major contributors to my poor mental health over the past year. I've decided to take three different aspects of my physical self for my goals: Fitness, Health, Art. Thus: 1. Develop habits of going to work out: My current schedule is a little crazy, and it's only going to get crazier. For work (in River North, if you know anything about Chicago) MW is 10–18 and TTW, 8.30–16.30. And then I have class Tuesday from 18:00 to 21:15 in Lincoln Park, at least for the first four weeks of the challenge. Week five is spring break and then on week six, I'll have class in the Loop, Mondays and Tuesdays from 17:45 to 21:00 (Office hours may have to change then too). Otherwise, sword (and grappling) classes are offered Monday, 19:30–20:30; Wednesday, 19:30–22:00 and Saturday, 11–13. I also am hoping to get to the gym Mondays and Wednesdays before I have to be in at the office, since I have a little extra time there. So, now for the goal: Work out several times a week (up to five): S Work out a total of 30 times (five times a week) A Work out at least 26 times B Work out at least 22 times C Work out at least 18 times (three times a week) 100%100% 2. Practice better sleep hygiene: Staying up too late and not having a regular sleep schedule is probably one of the contributors to the weakness in my mental health and the irregularity of my exercise schedule. So, I need to work at having screens off around 21:30 and to be in bed by 22:30. Doing so should give my sleep better regularity, which means that I should sleep more and better and therefore be able to manage my time better. My biggest enemies to this are my graduate school courses in the evening and those late Wednesday Armizare Foundations. Hopefully, if I get the rest of the week in line, those will follow. (I know I'm thwarting this tonight by staying up late to make this post, but the challenge doesn't start until tomorrow, so technicality.) S Screens off at 21:30 and in bed by 22:30 a total of 30 times A Screens off at 21:30 and in bed by 22:30 at least 26 times B Screens off at 21:30 and in bed by 22:30 at least 22 times C Screens off at 21:30 and in bed by 22:30 at least 18 times 11.11%11.11% 3. Develop better sparring confidence: Every first Friday, the Chicago Sword Play Guild has their fight night. I've participated with one match each of the previous two. However, all the skills that I practice in class fall out of my head as soon as I don the gambizon. I tense up and have a harder time reacting. So I need learn how to relax and how to keep a hold on at least the basics. My biggest foes here are internal, both directly and indirectly, and probably both stem from my ADHD. Firstly, I've never had good twitch skills: I am terrible at FPS type games as the number of things I have to maintain awareness of usually is overwhelming and then my instincts are horrid. Being tense also makes one jumpy, and the flow and grace that gives one control is lost.Secondly, I am on an amphetamine derived stimulant as a treatment for my ADHD; one of the side effects is a reduced reaction time, which is essential for combat. My dosage of this drug when up just before the last fight night and I think that it may have adversely effected my performance. Hopefully I will get used to this dosage and be able to perform better at the following fight nights. Also, if I get my sleep hygiene in check, I should be able to spar with greater skill. Pass: Fight in two spars at the April Fight Night, one against an instructor, and once against one of my novice peers. In the peer fight, win at least three exchanges. PASSED I still don't have a grasp on the ability points. If anyone wants to recommend some distributions, please go ahead. I also may need a lot of cheering, especially as the busyness increases, to keep me here and to keep me on track.

Greetings, Rangers! I am Thalianost, Knight Banaret of the Order of the Gules Oak. I have been training and feasting with the warriors for most of the winter but now that spring is just around the corner, as is swordplay season, it is time I start getting more active and putting my strength to use. This challenge my plan is to ease out of weight training mode and into combat mode. The Plan: Main Quest: Increase mobility while maintaining strength. Q1: Workouts Since I don't want to loose all my hard earned strength between now and next fall, I am going to keep lifting but only 2 days a week, rather than 4. The other two days I will be doing The Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD to try to get my endurance and mobility back. Also, as I have been neglecting my core, I will be adding a shorter Core workout on Friday's (the day I have the least amount of workout time). So It will look like this: Monday: Lift, chest and shoulders Tuesday: DVD workout Wednesday: Lift, arms and legs Thursday: DVD workout Friday: Core Q2: Diet I decided toward the end of the previous challenge not to get too caught up in the numbers on the scale for a while. I am planning to just put in the work and trust that the numbers will take care of themselves. On that note, even though I am flabbier than I would like to be (currently 29%BF). I am not going to be shooting for a caloric deficit this challenge, I am going to aim to maintain. My last challenge was a cut challenge in which I was aiming for less than 2700 calories and a minimum of 260g protein, not an easy task. I have noticed that this help teach me to eat leaner proteins and cut out a lot of carbs and junk, so I feel I might end up eating well under my goals anyway. This challenge I am shooting for less than 3500 calories a day while consuming a minimum of 255g protein. Q3: Stretching I have developed, over the past few years, a bad habit of not stretching after my workouts. This must stop. My goal will be to stretch after every work out. SQ1: Chainmaile In my spare time I am an amateur craftsman, making stuff out of chainmaile. I am considering doing a craft fair this summer and need to build up my stock. My goal for this challenge is to complete 20 bracelets and 5 Head Bands. SQ2: Swordsmanship This is more of a trial run for future challenges. As a knight I need to cultivate and maintain good swordsmanship. I don't have a good indoor practice space so training in the harsh northern Illinois winter is a bit of a challenge especially with a baby running around my feet. My goal for this challenge is to spend 5 minutes 5 days a week "shadow sparring" using either my sword or my waster. So for those of you who didn't want to read all that: Q1: Lift 2x per week, DVD 2x per week, Core 1X per week Q2: <3500 cal per day, >255g protein per day Q3: Stretch after every workout SQ1: Complete 20 bracelets and 5 headbands Complete 5 bracelets and 2 neck ties (Edited 3/16/15) SQ2: Sword training 5 min/day, 5 day/week Though I don't identify myself as a ranger, I am still very excited to be working with you all. Happy challenge everyone!

So I was checking out some new challenge threads and I came upon IslandGirl_Becks' thread "Becks goes There and Back Again with the Hobbit", which appears to be the first in a series of Hobbit/LotR themed challenges she is planning on doing. I am a big fan of LotR and the Hobbit, I have even read the Silmarillion (it is a hard read do not attempt unless you are a total nerd). I have seen several Middle Earth based challenges and workouts but most of them are walking/running based, something I have no interest in participating in. But as I read Becks' post it occurred to me, there is certainly a ton of walking in the books, but there is also a lot of epic battles. One of my hobbies being reenactment/swordplay, that is exactly the sort of thing I am interested in. So that leads me here, to plan a set of challenges, each based on a Battle of the Third Age. I haven't decided whether to do them chronologically or from easiest to hardest yet but the first step will be to make a list of the battles I want to cover. Then I will set up a basic template to follow before building unique challenges for each battle. I already have a challenge set up for this round so I am hoping to have this together for the next challenge. The first three I know I want to be more ranger themed but then I want to switch to warrior/bulking mode for the fall and winter. If I can't make that work, I may just take a break from my themed challenges until next spring. Anyway, I'm not just here to talk, I want your input! What kind of exercises belong in a battle workout? What equipment should I use? How many dwarves should I throw? If you like you can even play along and set up your own Battles of Middle Earth challenge. Lets have some fun together.....FOR FRODO!

I have been training with the warriors since September and I feel next challenge will be a time to switch gears a bit, now that I have built up some strength. I do Medieval Reenactment as a hobby and one of my motivations for getting in shape is to improve my swordsmanship. Now, I know that the best way to train for combat is to spar/fight but that is not the most viable option for me, as any sparring partners I know live at least 30 minutes away and actually meeting up with them is frustratingly difficult. Additionally, I don't have an indoor sparring space (winter in northern Illinois) nor do I have a pell, though that is on my list of things to do. Anyway, what I am looking for from you fine people are suggestions for exercises and workouts I might incorporate into my regimen that might help me get into fighting shape. Right now I have a lifting routine which I plan to adjust to suit my needs, adding more shoulder exercises and some core work. Thank you for your help!