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Okay so, where to begin. Maybe start with the end of the previous challenge. I did 2 OCR's in a weekend. Due to Covid my 2 planned OCR's for 2020 were rescheduled into the same weekend last weekend. I made sure i kept running, and since May started to mix in some lifting, with a little more emphasize on arm and grip strength towards the end. (Which helped a lot!) The distance was not really a problem (13K on Saturday 19K on Sunday, so a total distance of 32K or 20 miles), even with the aggravated achilles, and a slight sprained ankle we never walked between obstacles, except for when we could already see the next obstacle. Even the dreaded cramps were not present. Which is a big win (cause i had a lot of trouble with that in previous OCRs, and a sign that the prep this time was better). But there were a lot of things that could improve too! So what did i learn this weekend and how does this relate to my challenge(s). The masterplan! Running: My stamina on running is on point. At the OCR running in between the obstacles at a moderate pace made me feel like i was restoring energy. So i just want to maintain that, which allows me to drop a little focus on it. I have been running on and off for a couple of years now, and i have had several times where i needed to rebuilt, which is not pleasant but it takes me little effort to get back to running over half marathon distances with relative ease. And i don't want to completely abandon it, just gonna run maintenance for a few weeks, just to see what it takes keep at my current level. Really hope i can make a better GIF after a couple of these challenges... Strength: Always been a stocky guy. Started out with Powerlifting. After that i really liked Strongman classes at the Crossfit. The most recent development is a "Protege™". It's a young (16 years old) nephew of my wife. He quit soccer (for reasons) and it basically came down to the fact that he wanted me to guide him in getting stronger. We are doing a mix of Powerlifting and random other stuff lately. He really likes to be challenged, so i am working at his weak points (and mine) at the same time. It's fun having someone around to clown around with weights. It comes in real handy i've built a pretty decent homegym, and it's still growing with new equipment. He's back at school now which leaves us with nice windows in the evening to plan workouts. That will be a focus, steering a bit away from dedicated powerlifting to a more upperbody/strongman kind of workouts. Lift weights on do fun stuff in the homegum Body composition: This is where things get ugly. The thing i already know but what really was apparent last weekend at the OCR's. I need to lose bodyfat! I am 1.73m (5'8) and weigh 82KG (180 lbs) my BMI is 27.4. Now i know BMI isn't the best way to measure, but it's pretty apparent that i need to lose fluff. According to my fancy scale i have a bodyfat percentage of 24.3%. That's too much. Losing bodyfat will help me in most of the things i want to get better in. Running, Calisthenics, Summerbody (cause i'm a bit vain). You know just the average, wanna look good naked thing. I just need to lose the excess weight that is not helping me out in any way! Before after If you check last challenge you can see i did quite a lot of running, a fair amount of lifting workouts, and had an average of just over 2 resting days a week. During a time where i also had my summer-break at work. So i can pretty safely say i don't belong to the inactive group. Yet it does not shift my weight. Which means the source of the problem is found somewhere else. I already know where this goes wrong. Next to troubles with portion control, i love the wrong kinds of food (mostly high KCAL). Fastfood, pasta, BBQ and my love for beer. It feels like an impossible task to say no when those things are offered AND it's hard to control my portion size. Now i don't look forward to this, but this HAS to be my main goal! So onto a workable summary for this Challenge: just like Running (weekly): 1 short run (sub 10k) 1 long run (over 10k) Lifting (weekly): 3 workouts with Protege™ Body Composition (weekly): Portion Control (7) No Fastfood (6) No eating in between meals (7) Strict Breakfast (7) Strict Lunch (5) No beer (per exception) (number of times per week for a score on this goal) (Exception will be stuff like my birthday or some other stuff which i feel comfortable exempting for) I want to stay accountable and i'm riding a good wave at the moment. So i will be regularly (almost daily) checking in here. Sometimes posts will be long, sometimes just a quick update. Next to reporting on things i need to nail as a goal i will also be keeping a record of weight and BF% here to see progress. I'm gonna run some calculations where i am now and what i want to get to so i will probably edit that on right here! As for a far away goal i am going to use the Rat Race OCR in May 2022. Which helps cause i just based most of this challenge on previous experiences and realizations i made on the last OCR. Calculations around BF% Weight: 81.6 KG BodyFat% : 23.8% Fat: 19.4 KG Fatfree: 62.2 KG BF 5%: 65,5 KG BF 10%: 69.1 KG BF 15%: 73.2 KG BF 20%: 77.75 KG BF 25%: 82.9 KG I know this is an oversimplified calculation! It's just to get something to work too! I wanted to work to BF15% as the Magical number. Which works out to a loss of about 10% of my bodyweight 8.2 KG in absolute numbers Before May 2022 (RatRace) 8 Monhts or ~1 KG per month average

Hi Rangers! I actually googled the word "ranger" and found an interesting set of definitions that match my challenge goals. Neato! Main Quest: To run a marathon (plus about 100 other things ) Goal 1: Run faster or "a person or thing that wanders or rangers over a particular area or domain" Before I start training for distance, I need to get faster. Nobody wants to run a marathon in 5 hours because that’s just a long time. I recently ran 2 miles of intervals in about 9:18/mile. So for now, I will run easy on Tuesdays (~3 miles/30mins), intervals on Thursdays (~3 miles/30mins), and a long run on the weekend (~6 miles). Every run earns me a pt. Total pts possible: 18 Goal 2: Eat better or "a keeper of a park, forest, or area of countryside" (kind of a stretch I know. But lots of park rangers know a ton about what's edible and what's not!) Macros! I recently discovered counting macros and realized I was overeating fat, undereating carbs and protein. I calculated my macros from IIFYM.com. Macros are a target and there will be days that I miss my macros because of life. I’m going to say that anything +/- 20% of my macro target is a problem. So that looks like this: Protein 160 g (128/192) Fat: 64 g (51/76) Carbs: 288 g (230/345) If I’m in that range, I get to keep 3 pts per day. If I miss one of the ranges, I subtract a point. Total pts possible: 126 Goal 3: Get stronger or "a member of a body of armed men" (note the emphasis on armed. I want to be an armed lady!) I want to continue to gain strength in my upper body. Right now I’m doing MWF upper body; Chest/Tris, Back/Bis, Shoulders/Abs. Heavy weight, 6-8 reps, mostly dumbbells but some cables as well. Bodyweight abs. Every workout I get a pt. Total pts possible: 18 Life Quest Post up recipes! I make a lot of food and a lot of good food. I often find the recipes from the interwebs but I should post them up and discuss whether they were good, what I changed, etc. This should involve pictures because everyone likes food porn. Once a week, I’ll post up a new recipe that I’m trying (new to this thread) and basically review it. This earns me a bonus pt. Total pts possible: 6 I'm trying to be more lenient this challenge because I'm moving March 1-3 and will probably be eating pizza and not working out. But that's okay, that's life! I'm not going to set "grades" for myself on this challenge, but obviously strive for 100%. First things first, who is your favorite ranger? Strider from LotR? Jon Snow from GoT? Others I've yet to discover?