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Reintroduction I've been terribly scarce around these parts for a LONG time. Every challenge I've started over the last... what... year? has been an abandoned failure. So, for those who don't know or who have forgotten, this is who I am: I'm 53, I'm twice divorced and now engaged again. I have three grown children who are 30 or older. I have two children in high school (The Small Monsties). From 1992 to 2012, I was mostly sedentary, I ate a LOT of crap, and I got really fat, topping out at about 260lbs at about 5 feet 10 inches height. In 2013 I got my butt to a Boot Camp regularly, got a personal trainer, and lost a bunch of weight, dropping down to about 193. Over the next several years I added a bunch of functional muscle mass, added running to the strength and nutrition training, and got into Obstacle Course Racing. In 2017 I qualified for the OCR World Championships in the Grand Masters division. I finished in the bottom 10 in my age group in that competition, but I slogged up and down that wet, rainy, rutted mountain and finished. I was at the height of my powers. In 2018, everything began to fall apart: psoriatic arthritis had set in during the second half of 2017, and in 2018, when I had my sights set on returning to OCRWC, we bought a house instead. Then, in 2019, while training for 60 miles of Spartan Race on back-to-back weekends, my younger kids' mom passed away at the tender age of 48 and I've been basically been adrift since. I've tried to run a few challenges this year to kick-start myself, but between Covid-19 social distancing, single parenting, watching my childhood neighborhood in Minneapolis burn and then volunteering to ferry supplies in from the suburbs multiple times per week, and other general stress, frankly, I'm nearly back to Square One. But this is NOT a reboot. This is not a re-start from a save point. Everything that happened to me since 2012 happened. I was fat, I got healthy, I became an athlete again at 50, and I got fat again. I'm a man of Christian faith and I serve regularly with my church as a Youth Ministry leader and a community service volunteer and an elder. I'm also a Star Wars person. I identify strongly with the Jedi and the Rebellion and I see a strong correlation between this and my faith. I have made Star Wars a strong part of my family's lexicon, and now, with my youngest daughter (the Pink Princess) doing full Distance Learning as a high school Sophomore and her older brother starting his Senior Year in Hybrid learning, there's going to be quite a bit of my life consumed with re-earning my title of Jedi Master while training up my two Padawans. Main Goal Like I said, I've been down this road before. I know the way I need to go. This time, I'm bringing my two kids along, partly because I want to and partly because they need the PE credits. I used to be qualified for this, as I spent about a year and a half working as a personal trainer, and I'll lean on that, plus every other resource I have at my disposal, like online classes from my gym. Last spring during Shelter in Place, I built a few home gym items that have, frankly, been gathering sawdust out in my garage. We have some equipment: About 150lb of free weights Two 20lb kettlebells A pull-up bar A plyo box Four gymnastics rings A 12-lb sledgehammer A tire for beating with a hammer or pulling around the block with a harness They're not excited about it, but I am, and we're going to make it work. They won't have to do everything I do, just their part, but here's what it will look like for me: Goal: Nutrition This is the bottom line for me: every time I let this go, my middle expands like a blowfish. Right now I'm bloated and gross and a lot of my clothes don't fit right. Macro tracking works for me. When I'm on and keeping to a fitness regimen, I will start worrying more about targets. Right now I just want to track what I'm eating. Goal: Use my food tracker and track my intake. Goal: Strength Training I asked The Boy, who totally buys into the whole Jedi Padawan thing, what he wants to work on. Last spring he got winded mowing part of the front lawn. He's been voluntarily quarantined since last March, meaning he rarely leaves the couch except to come down to the office for gaming. He also was born with low muscle tone, so he's super skinny and he is self-conscious about his lack of upper-body strength. We'll work on strength training together while slowly building up his endurance. The Pink Princess just wants her gym credit. She will have to deal with whatever is on the agenda. I let them pick the days and we will be doing Wednesdays for sure, and I'm going to add 1-2 other days to get them to 2 hours per week. Goal: Body-weight or light equipment workouts 2x/week Goal: Cardio Training The Pink Princess enjoys long walks (seriously) with her friends. The Boy enjoys hiking with his classmates at the School of Environmental Studies, but he's in for a rude awakening. I cannot run a mile right now. The bonus to this is that the assigned PE credit for The Pink Princess is Cardio Fitness. She doesn't have to become a runner, but she does have to put in some cardio work. The Boy could easily be a runner with his build and long legs. I am a grinder at best. Between the three of us, it's not going to start fast, but hopefully it will get better over time. Goal: Run 2x/week It's kind of exciting for me to be doing this with my kids. My entire family is pretty unhealthy and when I was doing 12-plus mile OCR races regularly, I was the unicorn. I'd like to get back there, but this time, I'd like to be part of a herd instead, by dragging my kids with me, by whatever means necessary.