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So last challenge was awesome right up to my Tough Mudder and then..... life happened all over the place. Long story not so long I had health issues run head first into life issues and my challenge fell to the way side. But I'm still standing. So brace yourself for glory. Because I'm coming through the looking glass Wonderland.

Because maths and me don’t really get along, and time slips. I did the research, and this is actually my 20th challenge. Name also spelled correctly in title? Check. — Challenge Theme: Wommens. I’m too scattered to coalesce all my disparate goals into just one theme. Plus, from the title & teaser alone, I’ve already got 2 fandoms representing. So: let’s just roll with Badass Women and see how far I can carry that loose thread. — Google image search for badass elf: While I picture my handle with a bow or a blade and somewhere up high, this is probably much more of an accurate depiction of my personality elf-ified. Fire. Combat boots. Urban. I’d go for purple hair over pink. Vaguely gothy. Tatts. Plus, this elf doesn’t have gigundous boobs, and her outfit at least looks comfortable. -- As summer wanes and race season slides into its slow decline, I can’t help but look forward to Winter and what the next chapter in my story may bring. I feel like all of 2015’s big hurdles are behind me (except TM; but I’m not focusing on TM, lest I freak myself out re: possible hypothermia and tear gas) and I’m trying not to languish in the post-race-season doldrums. What I Have Left 2 virtual 10ks in September Tough Mudder in November Probably the Turkey Trot 4-miler on Thanksgiving Maybe one of the hot chocolate runs in December Whatever other virtual runs or rucks I have to do to beat the DH’s number of medals for the year For the remainder of this season (I’m calling either my last official road race of the year or December 31 the end of season - it remains to be seen when this will actually be), I want to continue doing things that bring me joy and keep me engaged, while forcing myself out of my comfort zone so I’ll actually accomplish the things I want to accomplish instead of frolicking in easy mode all willy-nilly like, as I am wont to do. What I Like Real life rucking badasses Rucking. Who knew? I’m still shocked. Since I’m liking rucking so much, I plan on continuing to do that while the weather holds out. I’ll be stuck inside all winter with only the treadmill for comfort, why miss out on prime fun time when I don’t have to? Plus: Ranger street cred. Who doesn’t want more of that? Will this help with my overall goals? I don’t know, but weight + distance can’t be a bad thing. So, On Mondays, We Ruck. I can only dream of being this badass when I’m her age Yoga. Yoga is fun, and my body needs it in order to accomplish the things it wants to achieve. Without yoga, I’m a hot mess of injuries and hobbles. Yoga is definitely staying, and I’ll still continue to try adding cool new poses to my arsenal, while working on building rock solid fundamentals. And, because I have not yet used her and she’s the OG woman badass (at least to me - this is the first identifiably physically strong woman in a move or on TV I looked at as a kid and went ‘I want that!’) Bodyweight exercises. My body and I both prefer bodyweight exercises over lifting weights. I need to remember this, stick with this, and go back to HIIT workouts with a video so I actually HI of the IT. I love me some Darebee workouts, but I have a tendency to do them at *my* pace, which is not the pace I should actually be going at. I say I should switch back to videos, but Darebee has released a cool new semi-immersive semi-game thing - Age Of Pandora - which I've started and am totally digging. I can do these workouts, plus make upgrades to my Avatar on top of doing other things. Maybe if I choose shorter-length HasFit videos and combo them with AoP chapters. Not sure how this is going to look yet. What I Really Need To Be Doing A goddamn pull-up. I know, I know, I was so gung-ho about getting a pull-up this summer … but then I chose not to work very hard for it. And I found other things I loved. And I have exercise ADHD. Plus, I’m not overly fond of doing hard things until they’re no longer that hard. I need to STFU and f-o-c-u-s. This needs to happen. If it takes keeping the pull-up bar out 24/7, it takes keeping the pull-up bar out. I need to do this, as my ruck schedule allows. Enough Said Working On Specific Skills That Will Help In OCRs - like rope climbing, monkey bars, wall climbs, and bucket carries. Monkey bars I can do and I can practice - I need to work on grip strength and other types of bar crossings (like skipping a bar, or jumping from bar to bar)Rope climbs are going to be tricky, since I don’t have access to a rope. What I do have access to is the Internet, with many suggestions on other things to do to ensure I at least build the right muscles (Onnit has a good video for this)It’s likely that I will always need help over walls, but I can practice hoisting myself up over lower walls so maybe I don’t need a boost for every single damn one. Parkour fundamentals would help hereBucket carries are the worst thing ever. But, I can buy a bucket, the garden in my building has rocks in it, and I could practice carrying them around the garden area. Don’t wannaBurpees. Everyone hates burpees, but I need to be able to do more in a row without absolutely killing my hip flexors Ummmm. Yeah. Building Endurance. Also boo. This winter, I need to do some targeted speed building on the treadmill and work on inclines to tackle hills. Pouting. —— Goal 1: Continue Working Out 4-5 days a week + Bonus Monday Ruck Day Yoga 2x Dedicated cardio or endurance work 1x Wildcard 1x - maybe get that OCR game Eric reminded me of? Or, HasFit HIIT videos In September, this is going to pan out as follows: Mondays: Ruck Day (+AoP, +squat challenge) Tuesdays: Yoga or bodyweight videos or cardio class (+AoP, +squat challenge) Wednesdays: Yoga or bodyweight videos (+AoP, +squat challenge) Thursdays: Yoga (+AoP, +squat challenge) Fridays: AoP, squat challenge (+ try to do something else active one weekend day) Saturdays: AoP, squat challenge (+ try to do something else active one weekend day) Sundays: AoP, squat challenge (+ try to do something else active one weekend day) Goal 2: Metrics Metrics. Matrix. They both start with M. I haven’t really deviated from this metric plan in over a year, and don’t see any reason to start. For those of you that are new to me, my metrics are based on those outlined in the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. My metrics are as follows: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, 100 grams or under of fat and around 1,500 calories. This plan seems to work for me, and if I stick to it, my weight stays where I want it and my body stays fueled without being sluggish. That said, I have recently begun carb loading for races and eat whatever my body is screaming at me it wants post races (generally a bigass steak and/or a face full of carbs). This seems to be working well, and I’ll be sticking with it. I also shoot for 64 ounces or so of water (2 refills of my water bottle + a coffee), and track my general activity and sleep with a Misfit Flash. I’m on My Fitness Pal and Fitbit. Goal 3: Biohacking This would be awesome, but I'm starting on a much smaller scale. I’ve already started my sleep biohacking - started September 1st. Gathered 1 week baseline readings: Check Week 1: Introduced white noise - Check Week 2: Introduced sleep mask - In Process Week 3: Add nightly meditation to the mix Week 4: Add melatonin 1 - 2 nights Week 5: Add daily magnesium supplements Week 6: Add fats right before bed (collagen or raw honey + krill oil + brain octane) Goal 4: The Minimalist Life It stands to reason that waking up in Raccoon City for the umpteenth time means you don't have a lot of crap you're worried about hauling around. I'm doubting Alice has a storage container somewhere. I have my wardrobe pretty dialed down for the summer season; I may need to do a little cold weather whittling here, and I may add a few pieces meant to replace less durable items. What I really need to focus on here is stuff in the ‘other shit’ category. I need to actually address the other shit taking up room on my shelves and in my closets. I need to reduce something (a closet or a shelving unit) by at least 20% per week here). To accomplish this goal, I’m taking part in a 30 Day Minimalist Game. Starting September 14, I will be getting rid of +1 item per day (Day 1: 1 item, Day 2: 2 items, Day 30: 30 items) to see how far I can take it. I may supplement with bigger purges as my impulses drag me. Gotta strike while the iron is hot. Goal 5: Arts & Crafts When I did a search for badass women who craft, for some reason Ripley came up in the results. I’ll take it! Finish the shawl and secret cross-stitch project I’m working onStart the baby blanket for my sisterAnd … since last challenge we were talking about wanting badges for adulting or Ranger Tasks, I think I’ll flex my graphic design skills and make some. The goal is to complete 1 digital version a week based on my fellow Rangers’ goals and/or accomplishments. If this turns out well, these may assume corporeal form some time down the road. Mini Challenge Feats Endurance Feat - 10k ruck with 20lbs in my pack if this week falls within September - if not, some other type of rucking - maybe a mileage total to hit for the week. Match Wolf for a little PvP action?Strength Feat - For this week, concentrate daily on pull-ups or upping the strength in my ankles/calves to increase my effectiveness in balance poses (depending on which side of my body has DOMs).Speed Feat - 10k for time if this week falls within September - if not, something else for time. Something for time. Combat Feat - Go have a climbing or archery date with the hubbs.Healing Feat - Work on my little fascia daily this week - my jaw connectors and head connectors are always tense; work on loosening these babies.

I am so glad that this challenge is starting early! The COUNTDOWN: 25 days before the Tough Mudder. On the 26th day I run it. I will have a theme again this challenge because they tickle me pink. But nothing I'm admitting to just yet You'll see in a bit. Right now I just wanted to get this posted so I had it up and running.

Hey all, I'm in need of some motivational help. I've hit a pretty nasty slump and can't seem to shake it. I'll elaborate: In Feb this year, my wife and I signed up for Tough Mudder, because it looks like fun and it's a great goal to work towards. We started off strong, really pushing ourselves. Saw some decent gains in strength and endurance, feeling really good about how things were going. But now, I've plateaued pretty hard. I've been stuck at the same weight/reps on just about every exercise for the past 4 or 5 weeks. This has really started to dig into my motivation because, well, I really, really hate the gym. The only thing that kept me going was seeing progress, and knowing I was moving towards my goal. Now that I'm not seeing that, I'm questioning why I'm torturing myself. I've explored other avenues to try to break this trend: try different routines or activities, find training buddies, etc. Nothing has worked. I don't look forward to exercising anymore, I just think about all the things I could be doing instead. We've only got 2 months to go until the event, and I feel dreadfully under prepared. I'm starting to not even be excited for the event, since I'll most likely just flop on every obstacle. Any advice for breaking out of this? I need a respawn bad! THANKS!

I see people doing the theme for their challenges all the time and I really, really like the idea. So, for my next 6 week challenge I am planning on a theme of Labyrinth (my favourite movie ever) Through Dangers Untold, And Hardships Unnumbered à Lose Body FAT- go down in measurements for waist and hips, check weekly. PROGRESS PICS A= Measurements and progress pics every week 6/6 ( WIS +1) B= 5/6 (WIS 0.5) C= 4/6 (WIS 0) I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City à Workout 6 days a week- Erin Stern’s Elite weight routine, and MON/WED/FRI boot camp or Circuit, TUES/THURS/SAT COMBAT. 6 days a week= A (STR 2, STA 2, DEX 2) 5 days a week= B (STR 1.5, STA 1.5, DEX 1.5) 4 days a week= C (STR 1, STA 1, DEX 1) 3 days a week= D (STR 0.5, STA 0.5, DEX 0.5) >2= FAIL To take back the child that you have stolen à Get outside and enjoy the summer weather! Walk through Gatineau Park, or do a hill climb once a week. PASS/FAIL 6/6 PASS =A (CON 1) My Will is as Strong as Yours, and my Kingdom as Great à Language training- keep up with weekday practice, start trying to have conversations in French and Spanish. 5 days a week= A (CHA 1) 4 days a week=B (CHA 0.5) 3 days a week or less= FAIL (CHA 0) You Have no Power Over me à Healthy Eating- limit cheat meal to once a month, cut drinking to pre-determined dates: AGM, 1 year anniversary in June, birthday in July, Tough Mudder in August PASS/FAIL 4/4 CHEAT DAYS= PASS (CON 1) (less gets no more points but lots of bragging rights)

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.

It's here! The Tough Mudder challenge is here! 5 challenges have been and gone and now I'm feeling ready. On May 2nd I'll be lining up with my team mates and fellow Mudders to take the Mudder oath. I'm so excited about this. It's going to be so much fun! As TM is right in the middle of this challenge I'm going to split the challenge into different stages instead of quests. Stage 1 - Preparation Train Continue the same training plan I've had the last few challenges. Run, lift, body-weight and swim. Taper I've never really done a taper properly before a race before so I need to research this and decide how to go about it. Stage 2 - Race Prepare for race day: I'm really bad at getting myself organised before an event. I usually end up leaving everything to the day and run around like a crazy person the morning of the run. This time I'm going to make sure everything is done and ready the day before. Gear - Decide what I'm wearing on the day. Have a few outfits ready so I have options based on the weather. Write a list of what I need to take on the day so I don't forget anything. Pack my bag the night before the event!Snacks - Buy / Make some healthy snacks so I can keep my energy up while waiting around for our wave to start.Travel Arrangements - Most of this is arranged, just need to finalise the carpool arrangements with the others, times etcAnd the most important part of race day: Stage 3 - Recover The last few weeks of this challenge will be for recovery. This will probably involve lots of yoga, some light running or walking and some swimming. Anything that keeps me moving and stops the evil DOMS.

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 know, there is like a week and a half left, right? Why not just wait until the next challenge starts? I have some specific goals and just wanted to get them officially out there in the universe. I will tweak what I have here and continue with it when the next challenge starts. I had successfully completed several challenges in the past, and then fell off the map. After a few months of reprioritizing my life and getting my mental health in order, I am back with a vengeance. I am doing my second Tough Mudder on May 2nd, and my second amateur Strongman Competition on June 6th. I am doing the Tough Mudder with my husband, and I’m really excited to share the experience with him again! In terms of training, I need to bring up my endurance. I don’t need to be able to run fast, just be able to run 1.5-2 miles… 5 or 6 times in a day. I am currently following the plan I did last year, which is continue with my normal strength training program with 2-3 mile run/walk intervals on recovery days, and a longer distance day once a weekend. The theme of this challenge is "Make your goal your goal." For a long time, I was spinning my wheels trying to lose weight and watch numbers on the scale go down while simultaneously training heavy for strength and hypertrophy. So from today until June 6th (competition day), I am no longer eating at a caloric deficit. I am going to eat at TDEE maintenance, scale be damned. My goal is to build muscle and push my strength, endurance, and overall athleticism to new personal bests. So I am going to train AND eat like it. My 3 Goals are Nutrition, Training, and Mindfulness 1. Nutrition I recently acquired a FitBit Charge HR, which is an amazing tool and has confirmed my suspicions that on more active days I burn about 2300-2600 calories. My goal each day is to burn at least 2400 calories a day. Input: Eat at least 2000 but no more than 2500 calories a day of nutritious food that will help make me stronger (at least 80% of the time) Macros: aim for close to 40% carbs (195 - 235g) 30% protein (146 – 176g) 30% fat (65 – 85g) I will record my calories eaten and burned daily, and post results at least weekly. 2. Training I have a detailed plan that is too long to post here, but the summary is 3 sets 5 reps of major lifts in linear progression (a la Starting Strength) and interval run/walks on non-lifting days to build endurance. I have already been following this for about a month (since my hiatus), and excited at how rebuilding my foundation with a focus on technique is making me more confident in each of my lifts. After the Tough Mudder on May 2nd, my training will switch by taking out the long distance run/walks and turning them into event training days. More on that as it gets closer! 3. Mindfulness One thing I have learned during my life "time-out" is that appreciating the little things goes a long way. So if at any point my goals start to interfere with my relationship with my husband, successful completion of my pharmacy program, or my own personal mental health, I need to step back and re-evaluate. My goal is to do one thing each day for my own personal well-being, whether that is 10 minutes of mediation, yoga, listening to my favorite music, talking to a friend, or playing piano to relax. I will also record my daily "mindfulness breaks," and post them at least weekly as well. I hope this will help in achieving a better balance in my life and ultimately move me closer to my goals.

This year will be my 4th Tough Mudder, and my third at the Toronto Venue. I'll be there with my husband and my brother for sure, but if anyone else is giving it a go and has questions, feel free to ask.

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.

Hey all, So this is my first challenge as a ranger and the first in a few months. As this is a new year and I've learned a lot about myself these last 6 months, I've decided to start anew with goals more suited to what I want out of my life. Main Quest: To lose 85 lbs this year and to compete in a local tough mudder in June. Goal 1: Work out for 45 minutes 3 days a week. In these work outs I want to do a C25K to help with the distance part of Tough Mudder. I also want to do SL 5x5 one day a week to help with the obstacle part of Tough Mudder. A: 15-18 workouts completed B: 12-15 C: 9-12 Fail: < 9 Goal 2: Drink 8 glasses of water each day. I really struggle with drinking anything at all most days and because of this I am always tired and have massive headaches. A: 37-42 days done B: 30-36 C: 21-30 Fail: < 21 Goal 3: Sleep 7-8 hours and no more every night. My sleep schedule is all over the place all the time and so most days I either get 2-4 hours or 9-11 hours of sleep and it screws up my body clock. Plus, when I sleep too much my body gets really sore so sticking to 7-8 hours a night will help with this. A: 37-42 days done B: 30-36 C: 21-3 Fail: < 21 Life Quest: Seeing as January 5th is both the start of the new challenge and the start of a new semester this goal is to keep on top of my homework. Last semester I really struggled with getting my homework done and studying for my exams. Hopefully with getting my health in order and sleeping more regularly, this part of my challenge is a little bit easier. Motivation: This is what I really struggled with last time I made an attempt to get m health in line. I did it more for other people and less for me and I'm pretty sure that is why I lost motivation half way through. So this time my motivation is me. I am tired of living my life behind my weight and allowing it to stop me from doing the things that I really want to do. My weight will no longer hold me back from the life that I have always imagined for myself. I want to go backpacking and hiking and I want to get to see all the beautiful country that is around me. So that is where I stand and I'm excited to get going on this new year.

So I've been gone from here for a while now. So long that I had to read the rules again. The bright side: I've been working out regularly for the past month and a half, and semi-regularly since October. My diet, however, is pretty much the worst it's been since...ever. So I figured it's time for a good old-fashioned "Hollywood reboot." Now, none of my goals from my first challenge are really things I want to work on right now, so I'm not just going to redo that challenge. And come on, when's the last time a series reboot stayed anywhere near to the original anyway? I was debating basing this on another book (Game of Thrones?) like my first few were based on The Hobbit, but I don't think I'm going to. MAIN GOAL: PREPARE FOR THE TOUGH MUDDER That's right, I signed up for a Tough Mudder! It's in May! However, the coworker who was going to do it with me moved 8 hours away and now can't do it. And two of my friends that were going to do it have a wedding that weekend. Also, with my life goal challenge, I may end up having to transfer to a different one. But regardless of all that, I want to be ready. That means running and strength training. Goal 1: Swift as a coursing river I hate running on treadmills. I get bored and it's too easy to quit. But I also got stranded the last time I ran outside (I went way too far and then the temperature dropped like 10 degrees and I wasn't ready for it), so I don't particularly like doing that, either. So I'm going to stick with the treadmill for now, though my distances won't be impressive. I'm planning on building up a tolerance for treadmills in the same way you build a tolerance for pain. Run twice per week Weeks 1 & 2: Min. 2 miles per run Weeks 3 & 4: Min. 2.5 miles per run Weeks 5 & 6: Min. 3 miles per run 3 DEX, 2 STA Goal 2: With all the force of a great typhoon I've been doing strength training at least twice a week since the beginning of December. The first 3 were 3x, but with the holidays and going out of town and my gym being closed, I only worked out twice the last two. I'm currently using Starting Strength. Strength train 3x per week 5 STR Goal 3: Once you find your center you are sure to win (Okay, now I'm stretching, but the first two worked and I felt like sticking with the random theme) My squats suck. I have zero hip mobility. I also have very poor mobility elsewhere, but the hips are what's really killing me right now. The plan is to use GMB's Focused Flexibility combined with just sitting in the bottom of a squat every day. This shouldn't take all six weeks, so when I get to the point that I can sit in a legit bottom squat for five minutes I'll move on. Focused flexibility as prescribed + Week 1: 10 min. in bottom squat throughout day Week 2: 15 min. in bottom squat throughout day Week 3: 20 min. in bottom squat throughout day, etc. until I finish 5 CON Life Goal So I've been speaking with my cousin's husband, who works for a company that I would love to work for. This job would involve moving across the country, away from everyone I know (although they're pretty much all 4-6 hours away right now), and starting new. That's semi-scary, but what's really scary is a) the amount of hours I'd be working (60+ per week), and the amount of responsibility I'd be taking on. My current job is rather easy, and has very little to do with my field (electrical engineering) except when I go out of my way to work on something that I, technically speaking, shouldn't be working on. So I'm mostly worried that I would fail miserably at the new job. A friend of mine told me that the fear of not knowing what you think you should know is actually called something, but I can't remember what it is (and I probably should. Oh no! There it is again!). Step 1. Write resume Step 2. Get resume reviewed Step 3. Apply Step 4. ??? Step 5. Profit TL;DR: Run twice a week, strength train thrice a week, work on mobility, and get a new job. I feel like I need more random photos/gifs in here, so here's one of the most adorable ones I've ever seen.

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.

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.

I just signed up for my first Tough Mudder - 2015 Tri State (specific date/location TBD). This is the 4th mud race I've signed up for (I did Mudderella in Spring of '14, a zombie run in July '14, and will do the Merrill Down N Dirty October '14), and plan to do a Spartan Sprint + 1 other mud run in 2015. Anyone out there with training tips or want to compare notes? Wanna set up a team?

I was going to be doing a Tough Mudder on the 19th but after doing a Warrior Dash on the 12th, I realized I was not even close to being ready for the Tough Mudder. So with that, I transferred my registration to an event in 2015 and need help getting ready. So far this is my workout that I am thinking of doing, but I know I need to do more. Any ideas? It has to be a home-based workout that doesn't involve anything other than body weight stuff. I will eventually - hopefully in the next month, get some sand and concrete to make additional milk jug weights, but that will be all that I have. I can NOT have a pull up bar in my apartment - no doors it would work going over nor a door frame for it to work on. Cardio - running(Zombies, Run and/or C25K) Abs - planks, straight leg leg raises, flutter kicks Arms - push-ups Legs - walking lunges I am not sure on the number of reps or sets or any of that as of right now either, so input on my idea's would be awesome: The running is a predetermined program so not worried about that. Planking I am thinking of 2 sets of 30 seconds each, Straight leg leg raises I am thinking of starting out with 2 sets of 20, Flutter kicks I am thinking of starting out with 2 sets of 20 each leg, Push-ups I am thinking of doing 1 set of 10 normal and 1 set of 15 kneeling, Walking lunges I am thinking of doing 2 sets of 10 each leg.

Day One Awoke early after a troubled nights sleep. Started the day with some damn fine coffee. As black as Bob's soul. No Cherry Pie in the fridge so made porridge with Blueberries and Raspberries. A good, honest breakfast. Followed the exercises in my standard issue field manual this morning: 20 x Wall Push Ups 15 x Kneeling Push Ups 6 x Full Push Ups 7 x Full Push Ups 5 x Shoulder Stand Squats 20 x Shoulder Stand Squats 20 x Knee Tucks 20 x Knee Tucks] 30 x Vertical Pulls 30 x Vertical Pulls A good workout but troubled by the presence of my old Sacroiliac injury from my last classified field mission. Dianne - The strangest thing happened whilst I was working out today. I was visited by two little people. One appeared to have not developed the use of his legs yet and may have been talking backwards. The other could only recite the words to the song "Let It Go" over and over. I suspect them of being interdimensional travellers from the Black Lodge. Perhaps a warning from Bob. To business. There have been reports of suspicious Owl activity at the local reservoir. Provided the wind conditions are favourable and my injury permits I will take my standard issue field bicycle to investigate. Signing off.

Hey Nerds, I'm running Tough Mudder in Lake Tahoe on 8/16/14. I'm wondering if any other nerds are running it as well. I'm running with group of friends (Team Name: Tutu Pirates), but it seems like none of them are taking it seriously, i.e., they haven't really been training and they're not really cognizant of what they're getting themselves into (distance, elevation, intensity of obstacles, etc). I'm pretty certain it's going to be slow going with them, but I've come to terms with it. I'm just going to go out and have fun with it. I'd love to meet up with other nerds if any are going. Tough Mudder Tahoe -roninspirit

Hello all! This is my first challenge (obviously), so please let me know if I'm doing something wrong... Main Quest: Run Tough Mudder in August Side Quests: - Cook/eat healthy meals at home Monday through Saturday - Workout 5 times a week - Run at least twice a week Motivation: My family will be running Tough Mudder with me as well! I need to be a good teammate

I have a habit of being very involved on this website for spurts, and then disappearing for months. It is the nature of surviving an intense pharmacy school program. When I’m absent from this site it doesn’t mean I’m absent from my goals. I have been focusing a lot on what I really want for myself. My two long-term goals are in this order: 1) develop strength and 2) drop to 25% body fat. I’m currently somewhere in the 30s, but for consistency I’ll be using my bioimpedence scale and davedraper.com BF calculator. More details under #4. Specific goals for this challenge are: 1. Actually document this challenge all the way to the finish. Finals week in May will be a challenge, and grades are my priority. This might prove to be the toughest of all my goals this go around. 2. Complete Tough Mudder with my husband on May 3rd So excited! During this challenge I’m continuing the training program I’ve been following since February: Workout A: Lifting things. It is not quite Strong Lifts but similar, my own unique blend. A result of experimenting with what works best for me. Workout B: CrossFit twice a week. I just started doing this, I really like the trainer and the other people, and I LOVE Turkish Get-Ups. But the training and WOD set ups are pretty haphazard. I don’t like that aspect, so I’m still struggling to decide if I like CF. Workout C: Cardio Running/Intervals/Elliptical 30-60 min twice a week. 3. Track and eat 1900 calories a day, 186g carbs, 74g fat, and 112g protein daily My current TDEE is around 2400, so this should put me at losing ~ 1lb a week. I track all of this quasi-daily on MyFitnessPal (Friend me! my username is Albeus51). 4. Measure body fat with bioimpedence and tape measure 1x a week I currently measure 38.1% on my bioimpedence scale and 33.7% using davedraper.com BF calculator, so I imagine the true average is somewhere in the middle. I have always been… an ample lady… I think that tends to throws measurements off a bit. Grading rubric: A = I do all these things B = I mostly do all these things C = I do some of these things D = I do one of these things F = I do none of these things Bonus Achievements: 1. Complete one unassisted pull-up by the end of the challenge 2. Walk 8,000 steps daily (about 3.4 miles for me, tracked with Argus app). I am also putting my wandering to good use by logging my miles in “One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor†3. Use my new foam roller every day!

As I looked back at my life, I realized that I had never really put in effort. Not just toward fitness, but toward anything. I had spent 24 years coasting through life on my cleverness. But not anymore. Not after what happened yesterday. I was sitting in my comfortable home in the village when I saw smoke rising in the distance. There was way too much smoke to be just a campfire. I started running. Forest fires are terrible things if they get out of hand, and it was up to everyone to do their part to prevent them. Unfortunately, I was terribly out of shape and was panting and had to slow down to a walk before long. I swore at myself. "If this is bad, it's your fault. If you could run further you might have been able to stop it." I hadn't even seen what was going on yet and already I was blaming myself. So I forced myself on as fast as I could, jogging when possible and walking when I was too tired. Once I covered the ground I saw that there seemed to be some kind of fight going on. A group of all kinds were fighting against a dragon. Despite their numbers, they kept being driven back. But no matter how many times they fell down they kept getting up. Some of them had grievous wounds and I was amazed at their perseverance. After I stood and stared for a while one of them noticed me. "We could use a little help, you know," the stranger said, with the slightest smile on his face, as if this were just another day. At this point I realized that I knew nothing that could help them. Faced with a life or death situation, I realized that my quick wit had absolutely no value. Filled with embarrassment that I was of no use whatsoever, I hung my head. I think the stranger knew what that meant, because he went back to fighting the dragon. Shortly after this, the beast was slain. Knowing basic first aid I tried to help tend to the wounded. I was amazed that despite the fact that I had done nothing to help these people seemed to accept and encourage me. After a short time the stranger approached me. "I'm so--" I started, but the stranger cut me off. "There's no need to apologize. Everyone starts somewhere. Just promise me one thing." "What's that?" "The next time you find us, come prepared." I nodded, and he walked away. The people were all leaving, most of their own accord. The ones who were having trouble were being supported by others. I was a truly inspiring site. When I got back to my village I learned that those were the fabled guilds. I had always thought that they were separate and that there was great competition between them but I learned that when it was necessary they would work together flawlessly, putting any and all animosity aside for the greater good. So today when I woke up, I started to develop a plan. A plan to get into shape. A plan to be able to both cover distance quickly and have the strength to fight afterward. Eventually I would pick which guild I wanted to join, but for now I just had to get started. But I had learned from others' mistakes: I knew I had to start slowly. So here, written down, is my plan. MAIN GOAL: Run a Tough Mudder A friend of mine is trying to convince me to sign up for one in September. I'll decide at the end of this challenge if I want to sign up for that one or wait a while before trying one. I'd also like to lose fat and gain muscle, but that will come with the training. The first thing to do is to stop poisoning myself. Diet Goal: Drink Less Soda Week 1,2: <=4 sodas/week Week 3,4: <= 3 sodas/week Week 5,6: <= 2 sodas/week The second thing I need to do is learn how to cover any distance. Fitness Goal: Ride My Bike Week 1: Ride my bike one-way (to or from work) once Week 2: Ride round-trip once Week 3,4: Ride round-trip once, and one-way once Week 5,6: Ride round-trip twice The third thing I need to do is gain speed, so I can cover the distance quicker. Fitness Goal: Sprint Week 1: Beep test Week 2,3: Sprint workout once Week 4,5: Sprint workout twice Week 6: Sprint workout twice + beep test Grading for all goals is the same: A for all 6 weeks on target B for 5 weeks on target C for 4 weeks on target Starting Stats (as of 4/16/14) Height: 5'7" Weight: 156.6 lbs. Neck: 15.125" Chest: 39.875" Waist: 34.5" Bicep: 12" Thigh: 21.5" As I looked over my plan, it seemed like it could work. Next time, I'll be ready.

So, I'm going to do a Tough Mudder.... I really need to train for this! It seemed like a good idea at the time, signing up when I was a bit fitter than I am at the moment, I got injured, I put on weight....this story has probably been told a thousand times, Well, I still have this entry, the date is approaching and I need to train... I'm going to need to learn some parkour, I'm sure as heck going to need to get stronger, I need to be able to run...not least to escape the zombies THEREFORE! Main quest challenges: Decrease body fat percentage to 30% or below. Because it's really difficult to climb walls, hang on monkey bars or climb whilst carrying extra. I am at around 35% now, using body measurements so I feel this is quite a challenge but hey, if it was easy it wouldn't be a worthy main challenge. Maybe. WHO KNOWS!! It's worth giving it a go anyway. It probably won't happen this challenge but I need to be making more progress towards it. To do this my three goals are: Gym at least thrice a week. Workout will either be the dumbbell division workout from the Nerdfitness strength training handbook, or another high intensity workout, and I will continue this workout for the whole challenge. I will aim to increase weight lifted with each workout. In addition to the above. I will do some other form of exercise at least once a week. This could be Zombies, run! Could be hiking / kayaking or boxing...just some form of exercise. To eat well.. By this I mean aiming for 1900 healthy calories a day. Life Quest: To get my literature review done. I have a deadline on the 28th March. Managing not to leave it to the last minute would be a very good thing. I need to do about 5000 words in total. And perhaps the most important question of all: What's my motivation? Well, I feel that my weight is not effecting my health but I don't like what I see when I look in the mirror!

Alright, so last challenge died with the whole “foot injury in week 3, then when that was better I was sick for the rest of the challenge and, well, I need to be able to breathe†thing. Between that and the chaos of the holidays, until yesterday I had done nothing more than walking around since November. This is no good. I need a jump start. I think I’ve been officially convinced to go for a Tough Mudder in Austin at the beginning of May, so there will be much training toward this. Winter League has started up with the Houston Ultimate Community, so I’ll have that keeping me busy on Saturdays. And as always there is the whole “my house is a mess†thing and the “I want to be more awesome†thing. So here goes: GOALS Long-Term Goal: Operation Tackle a Tough Mudder. May the Fourth Tough Mudder - training needs to happen so I can be strong enough and have sufficient endurance to power through this. I’ve got 5 months to make it happen. And I have to make it happen so I can ring in 30 with a bang! Fitness Goal 1: Operation Tough Mudder Training. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings I will get up early and do a Tough Mudder Bootcamp workout before work. I will try the mid-level workout to kick off the challenge, but using that as an assessment of whether that level is appropriate for now, I need something lighter, or (highly unlikely) I am ready for the top level. Fitness Goal 2: Handstand Challenge. Handstand challenge has been re-initiated. The whole inability to breathe right side up thanks to a cold and a cough made the whole “let’s try breathing upside down†thing be not on my to do list. Time to start over because I still want to accomplish this. Fitness Goal 3: Operation Endurance and Speed Demon. It will beneficial to both my Tough Mudder training and my ultimate playing if I work on both endurance (since Tough Mudder is long) and speed. So I will do speed work Tuesday and Thursday mornings before work and I will go for a run (increasing in distance) on Sundays. Life Goal: Clean and Purge. I recently realized that I part of my getting down on myself (stupid self-esteem issues) is a matter of having a lot of not just stuff that I don’t need of use or like, but also a lot of clothes that are in the same bracket. I have lots of things from years ago and as much as they have served me well, they are older, they are worn and they don’t fit the same anymore. I need to go through these things even if getting rid of/donating them will leave me with areas of my wardrobe that are lacking. I can always go out and buy new pieces that I like and that fit me well. It is not a matter of finances that has had me holding on and it’s time to just let it go and freshen things up. Jump start the self-esteem along with the confidence, because when I’m wearing the right things, I know I look good SCHEDULE Note: Not everything listed here is challenge related. This is everything I’ve got going on weekly this challenge. MONDAY: am: Bootcamp TUESDAY: am: Speed Work WEDNESDAY: am: Bootcamp pm: pickup ultimate attendance/work permitting THURSDAY: am: Speed Work FRIDAY: am: Bootcamp pm: occasional pickup ultimate SATURDAY: am: Winter League ultimate SUNDAY: am: Run pm: pickup ultimate attendance permitting TL;DR Fitness Goal 1: Tough Mudder Bootcamp 3x/week Fitness Goal 2: Work on handstands daily Fitness Goal 3: Run (speed/distance) 3x/week Life Goal 1: Purge unnecessary crap

So, I'm going to do a Tough Mudder.... It seemed like a good idea at the time, signing up when I was a bit fitter than I am at the moment, I got injured, I put on weight....this story has probably been told a thousand times, Well, I still have this entry - I am going to do it but I do need to train... I'm going to need to learn some parkour, I'm sure as heck going to need to get stronger, I need to be able to run...not least to escape the zombies THEREFORE! Main quest challenges: Decrease bodyfat percentage to 30% or below. Because it's really difficult to climb walls, hang on monkey bars or climb whilst carrying extra. I am at around 36% now, using body measurements so I feel this is quite a challenge but hey, if it was easy it wouldn't be a worthy main challenge. Maybe. WHO KNOWS!! It's worth giving it a go anyway. To do this my three goals are: Gym at least thrice a week. Workout will be the dumbbell division workout from the Nerdfitness strength training handbook, and I will continue this workout for the whole challenge. I will aim to increase the weights of the dumbbells with each workout. In addition to the above. I will do some other form of exercise at least twice a week. This could be Zombies, run! Could be hiking / kayaking or digging...just some form of exercise. To eat well.. By this I mean aiming for 1700 healthy calories a day. Life Quest: To sort out my stuff. I have boxes of things that have not been unpacked in at least two moves! I will aim to sort or tidy for at least 15 minutes a day, or to sort through at least two boxes a week. And perhaps the most important question of all: What's my motivation? Well, I feel that my weight is not effecting my health but I don't like what I see when I look in the mirror!