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The end approaches. After the last 11 ordeals, I have finally passed from the hands of the old master and onto the new. Although survival is not certain, I must persevere to the end. Less dramatic version: I'm starting book 12 of WOT and Brandon Sanderson has finally taken the wheel. The first time I finished the series, there was a year+ gap between me finishing book 11 and then next three books. I'm actually not certain I read book 12 at all. Oh yeah, goalz. Gym stuff - still cutting and expect me to gripe about that. My program is in the signature, but I'll be copy/pasting today's work in order to gripe more efficiently. Like so: Set 1 2 3 4 5 Range Wt. Reps Reps Reps Reps Reps Week 3 - 2/04/18 Day 1 - Bench Paused Barbell Bench Press 3 244 3 3 3 3 3 Chin-up 5 10 5 5 3 Dip 5 10 5 5 3 Dumbbell Snatch 8-12 60 12 12 12 Dumbbell Row 8-12 60 12 12 12 Not-gym stuff - Languages, languages, and more languages. Continuing in German and tackling Icelandic for reasons, but mrs laghail and I are visiting the Dominican Republic for a friend's destination wedding, so I gotta resurrect my beginner Spanish. No, I earnestly don't want to leave the resort, it's not that kind of trip. But it's only polite to be able to mangle basic phrases, plus, you know, neighbor to the south n such.

Wrestling with Saidin 12/24 - Last week of 531 12/31 - Overload volume 1/7 - Low volume high weight 1/14 - Meet 1/21 - PHUL Week 1 1/28 - Whining about PHUL Week 1 Courting the Yellow Ajah Foam rolling - Daily Chiropractic - Weekly Writing - Daily Sleeping - 49 hours weekly

"But Kishi, aren't you doing themed challenges?" Well, I'm still working through the WOT, but like I said, theming it was getting pretty thin. And since I'm still working my way through book 6, well, I didn't think it made a lot of sense to worry too much. I suspect that going forward, I'm going to have to let that sink into the background of things. Anyway. I'll have to post some Righteous Santa Justice or something once I'm at a computer that lets me do that. So. I went to give blood on Monday. Giving blood is a good thing to do - it burns calories, regulates iron, and oh yeah it saves lives maybe. It's also useful as a pseudophysical, which when I didn't have insurance was pretty great. And for the most part, the numbers came back awesome - pulse was a touch higher, but that's to be expected given that I have a sedentary job now. But that perfect blood pressure, tho. But then it got interesting when it came time to take my temperature. I clocked in low 97. Why is that interesting? Because a lowered temperature is a sign of a depressed metabolism. It wasn't something I'd ever really noticed before, but after seeing some of the discussions here on the board, I've begun watching that in myself. I was suspicious before: the fact that I couldn't stop being cold up in Boston wasn't just my delicate Southern constitution, and I've noticed that my internal temperature shifts depending on how much I've eaten. Even having taken to eating more, I've noticed that I'm hungry in the mornings, and three hours after I've woken up my hands are back to being cold again. How do you fix that? Well, barring some kind of medical intervention, your best bet or so I've heard is to eat more. A lot more. But I'm still not lean enough for it to make sense to pursue the fabled Dirty Bulk. No, no. We're not doing that. Instead, we're going to keep it clean and Low Carb, except for training days. The training, for its part, is going to have to be adjusted somewhat as well. I'm going to put this energy to work. Don't worry, though, I'm not talking about hopping on a treadmill or something like that. Everything is deliberate. And since I insist on being a socially normal person, I suppose Da Cheatz will come as they do. Goal 1: EAT ALL THE THINGS I'm not really exaggerating on this. The recommendation I got is to take maintenance and add 300 calories to it. Combined with my tendency to modulate my eating based on what I've done that day... oooooh. I'll be over 3000 calories on training days, man. Bring on the almond butter. And extra guac, and beef. No real carbs, though, not beyond some fruit periworkout and some beans at dinner. This will be tough. Low carb high calorie is expensive. In order to do that, I'm going to have to win the time to batch cook in the kitchen, when nobody else is using it. Spoilers: between my brother who is on bulk and my parents who cook at home, there is always someone using it. Haha, dammit. Okay. They don't call these Challenges for nothing. Goal 2: TRAIN HARD Well, if I'm going to take in all this energy, I might as well put it to work. I'm going to up the rep ranges some - from 5 to 8. No RPT work this time. I just want to lift heavy. Rucking will continue. Finishers, provided that the rest of the session has gone according to plan, will be reintroduced. I just got my first taste of a Versaclimber on Sunday, and... it's terrible. It's like a Stairclimber on steroids. Can't wait for next time. Beyond that, though, I think I want to build Finishers around crawls and carries as well, and I think I know how to do it. Goal 3: WRITE ON I need to find a way to keep my writing habit going. NaNoWriMo is always good for starting it, but I don't seem to stick out long past that. I end up getting distracted by side projects and such like that. But this year is different, on account of the fact that 1) I like the project I'm working on, and 2) I'm not desperate to submit things, since I have a good job now. There's no need for me to be distracted now, beyond the pull of the day to day. Goal 4: DO WORK SON I may be up for a raise at the end of the month. That's going to depend on my evaluation. That's going to depend on my work. Best get to it.

The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny. Two guesses as to whether he succeeds or not. I sorta dropped off the face of the earth last challenge. I didn't mean to, but... yeah. The job isn't really brutal, but the hours are, and I haven't been good about getting around to you all like I wish I had. Still, things are being adjusted. I unfortunately find myself in a place between talking about the challenge and doing the challenge; unfortunately, that only ends one way. And so much has happened, just in the past week! I managed to hit the Simple requirements - 100 one-arm kettlebell swings and 10 TGUs at 70 pounds in 15:10. I swung the 53-pounder 200 times without dropping it. And then today, I managed to do clapping pull ups for the first time! What a week it's been. Makes me suspicious - like sickness is hiding somewhere in the facade of my health. And yet, here I stand on the other side of these things. I do not feel weak at all. In fact, despite the lack of sleep, it all feels mental. Put me under the bar or in the ring and the body functions just fine. I suspect it's because I've been eating a lot better lately - more food and higher quality. Good stuff. It's bearing me up. And also the fact that I spend all day sitting as opposed to intermittently lifting things. "Do you have dreams when you sleep?" Rand is having a hard time having just signed up for the whole Doomed Savior of the World bit. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. But he decides he needs to test the prophecies concerning the Dragon Reborn in one last desperate try to not be the person the Creator has decreed he must be. Like Rand, I have tests that I must pass. Passing means I did better than an 80 on both of them. DDS's idea, not mine. But to hell with it - I'll take the pass. Rand's goal is about getting to work, doing the assignments and making sure that the grades are good enough every day. "A bloody hero. Thom, if I ever look like acting the hero again, you kick me." "And what would you have done differently?" "Just kick me!" So yeah, the picture from last challenge actually takes place in this book. I forgot. Oops. Still, he's all about hard living, and he's even more about that now that he's had that pesky ailment dealt with. And me, I'm learning how to get my back unwhack and it's changing measurements and playing merry havoc with the data like I knew it would. But the goal here is about staying the course - eating well and fasting and staying in control. I got this. Really. "What is your name? If I have to share this ship with you for days yet, I can't keep calling you girl." "I call myself Mandarb. I will teach you something, farmboy. In the Old Tongue, Mandarb means 'blade'. It is a name worthy of a Hunter of the Horn." "You see that black stallion? His name is Mandarb." Oh, Perrin. You have no idea how much trouble you're about to get in. But it's cool, man. You lift. Training goals are here for this challenge. Til shade is gone, til water is gone Into the shadow with teeth bared Screaming defiance with the last breath To spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the Last Day. Yesssssss. And now we get to meet some of the badasses. They're good characters, yes, but these were the badasses who inspired me in the first place. The Aiel. The Aiel have come out of their desert homeland in search of a story - of He Who Comes With The Dawn (go on and guess who that is. Certainly not the guy who everyone swears looks like an Aiel, that's for sure). And believe it or not, they represent the reading and writing goal this time around. I have a writing challenge up in August - 40K words. With the new job forcing me into a cram session every day, my work is cut out for me. But it's going to be great, I think. I got a lot of world building done and managed to gloss over the cracks in a lot of what I was doing. Now I just need to make some scenes and everything should be good. And that does it I think. I don't know how well I'll do getting around to people this time. But I promise I'll do my best. And now let us commence the next step of the journey.

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. For centuries, gleemen have told of The Great Hunt of the Horn. Now the Horn itself is found: the Horn of Valere long thought only legend, the Horn which will raise the dead heroes of the ages. And it is stolen. And so we begin. Book II. In which a powerful relic is lost, and a powerful enemy is found. The last challenge went really well. A lot of things that I didn't expect to go right went... well, right. It's a series of facts and such that, to be honest, change a lot of things. I know now that I will be able to afford to travel and do the GoRuck in Boston. I know now that this training has a purpose, and a reason beyond fighting the entropy of long, long sits. And, as one might expect, however, there were complications attached to this - a change in the time I get up, and a change in my schedule, and a change in my training, and as such a change in my diet. In other words, I found something, only to lose a bunch of other things. Not really a big deal, because I can find those things again - I've done it before - but it sure does seem to fit the tone of the book, so here I go. Always something new, always something I didn't expect, and sometimes it isn't horrible. Poor Rand. He learned in the last book that he is a wielder of saidin, the tainted, masculine half of the One Power. He is marked as a doer of sorcerous deeds, doomed to madness and the worst death. But there is more to it than he knows, more than he can even accept... The Rand part of this challenge is to search for the new routine. Once it is found, I must do the new routine. This may sound like something that has a lot of the challenge as a whole wrapped up in it, but the truth is, it's really just about adjusting to a new schedule. Part of that means making the new schedule, and although I have it made up, it's not really complete yet. It will change again in a couple of weeks, once I begin the new job and see what there is to see. At present, mornings are devoted to meditation, prayer, postural practice and stretching, and handstands. I've altered the handstand training so that I'm not doing hollow-body work directly anymore. There's just no time if I mean to do this more days than not, and honestly, getting myself to the point where I'm standing in a perfect handstand will do all the same things anyway. So, what I'm doing at this point is dropping my time back down and bringing myself closer to the wall, to learn to control my kick-up and to get more used to the idea of full body tension as a straight line. Midday work will be about skill practice with the uchikomi, and shadowboxing. Maybe some skipping rope - wouldn't be hard to bring that along, but don't quite know where to fit it. Nighttime is Perrin's problem. I will wager two silver marks to two from each of you that I can beat both of you at once, just the way I said. You can't have fairer odds than that. There are two of you, and one of me, so two to one are fair odds. Mat, of course, has his own problems. He picked up an evil artifact in the last book, and it is slowly killing him. The good news, though, is that he will lose this dagger and regain his life. The bad news is that his troubles are only getting started. Part of his recovery is that he has to eat. He is surprised at how much he ends up having to eat, how much the Healing of his wounds costs him. Likewise, it is the same with me. I have been stuck at a plateau for the past three months in terms of shedding fat and getting lean, and this has been a function of a mismatch between my body's demands and my meeting them. Fortunately, I am back on familiar ground with me being mostly sedentary again. Unfortunately, I'm me, and I'm always keen to experiment with things. On days when I'm just doing handstands and S&S, I am dropping carbs and calories down low - 50-100g for CHO, about 1650+ total intake. I will be saving my carbs for the end of the day to help me feel full and satisfied. On days when I'm formally training, I will reverse everything - 30-50g of Fat, about 1950 calories for total intake. This is simply for now - if I get hangry, or if I feel like my energy is super-stinkin' low, I reserve the right to adjust. I also refuse to deny myself the pleasures of company - hence me being so low and hard on myself. Just in the past week, I've had three glasses of champagne, homemade BLT, and junk food. Please, please don't be afraid for me. I promise, it is unwarranted. And also I think my mother is going to sabotage me - I mentioned that I wanted to see if I could go lower safely and she said she didn't think I had much left to lose. I assured her that I'm being safe - and I am, really - but I doubt she believes me. Now I get to have that problem that all the other Nerds have when they live at home. Yaaaay. A young wolfhound must meet his first wolf someday, but if the wolf sees him as a puppy, if he acts the puppy, the wolf will surely kill him. The wolfhound must be a wolfhound in the wolf's eyes even more than in his own, if he is to survive. And what to say of Perrin? Poor man. He hears wolves in his thoughts. It wasn't his choice, but whether he likes it or not he too is being dragged along by virtue of who he is in the Pattern. But it's more than that too - he made a vicious axe, and he is strong with it, but it makes him sick inside and he knows not who he is. Perrin's challenge for me is all about iron - every day that I can, I want to be touching the iron. It can be S&S, or it can be strength training, but in either event it is possible to do something every day. It's a very simple, straightforward way of doing things... but that doesn't mean easy. I've stayed with you long enough, Rand. Why would I stop now? You see, I like you. I would like you even if you weren't ta'veren. Maybe I like you despite it. You do seem to get me neck-deep in hot water. In any case, I'm going with you. And I don't think you can really stop me. And at last we come to one of my favorite characters. Loial is an ogier, a gentle giant of the forest. He loves trees and growing things, but he also loves to read. He's traveling with everyone because he wants to see the world, although he didn't get permission to leave home before taking off on this adventure. But in addition to being a kind young man of 90 years, he's also a writer. He wants to chronicle the events as they unfold. He knows that being around people who literally warp reality as they go is bound to change things, and he wants to write that story. You can see where this is going. Read the next book, yes, but also write and work on my own thing. @erosan challenged me in @Starpuck's thread to write a more ethically nuanced take on the themes of Star Wars and like an idiot, I accepted that challenge. Unlike an idiot, I seem to have stumbled on some wonderfully gray ways to explore those ideas and to tie together a bunch of things that I never thought I could into a single project. Read and write. Read and write. ... I think that about does it for this round. As usual, it looks like much, but it is not really. Let the Dragon ride again upon the Winds of Time...

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time." So, here's the thing. I've read Lord of the Rings and some Game of Thrones and I know that there's lots of good stuff out there. But believe it or not, neither of those were really my first epic fantasy. Oh, I mean, sure, I read LOTR as a kid, but like I didn't get it, you know? A lot of it just went in one eyeball and out the other. I think I learned more about it reading the commentaries than actually reading the book itself the first time. What I'm trying to get at is that, for me, the first fantasy series that I really grokked on any level was the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. What is the Wheel of Time about? Basically... it's a free for all. A battle of the sexes caught up in the battle against annihilation. Man versus woman versus Evil. It's epic and awesome, and it's the kind of series where I go back and reread and always find something new to take from it. And with the news coming down that the legal hurdles have been cleared and that a TV series is somewhere in the future, well... the days I have to actually finish reading this thing are numbered. So, let's dig into this. The books have three protagonists at their center, each of whom represents something admirable. Although I don't know if I'll continue with the series as a theme for my challenges, I think I can make do with this lot to start. Rand Al'Thor. "I am tired of running. Tired of you threatening my friends. I will run no more." Rand is a stubborn fellow. He and his friends come from a place where stubbornness is a way of life. Dig deep and hold your ground. My body is adapting to the work at the store. Now I must make my mind follow suit. Set the day's training agenda, and stick to it, no matter what. I always regret something rushed, but I never regret something done late in the day or in the night. Matrim Cauthon. "Blood and bloody ashes!" Mat's a bit of a contrast with the others. He hears the call to adventure and, after the first one, spends a good amount of time trying to run from the call. The call, sadly, knows where he lives, and very often beats him to the place he is trying to go. This one's all about locomotion. I heard there was a GoRuck happening up in Boston in November, and while I don't know if the money's going to come together to make it happen, training as if it could or would is probably going to benefit me. So, there are two things I need to grow comfy with. Moving with a pack, and swimming. So: Find and acquire 6 bricks for the pack Acquire and begin applying Total Immersion Perrin Aybara. "We don't talk about being men, we just are." ("That's why you make such a bad job of it.") Despite his size, Perrin's actually a very gentle young man in the beginning. He is known for being deliberate and careful with his thoughts, and given how the journey changes him, this is a Very Good Thing. Continue mental training with an emphasis on awareness and correction of emotionally useless states. Moiraine Damodred. "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills." Oh, Moiraine. The first real badass. More Gandalf than Gandalf to me. There's no hiding that she has a story to tell, but when we first meet her, she's trying to learn stories and to understand and read the Pattern of the world around her. So, a reading challenge. Finish The Eye of the World by the end of the challenge. Don't laugh. It's a big book and I read slow. Though maybe I should pick up something about speed reading if I can. Maybe that would help. ... Time to throw the dice...

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Fourth Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the forest of Braem Wood. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning. Rihor strolled along a path studded with fallen leaves that still held on to the memory of autumn. Winter now grasped the land and the naked branches overhead reached out to the sky as if to repel the frigid air. The path wound about the bottom of a gentle hill dotted with outcroppings of weathered rock and was flanked by a stream that sat low in its bed on the other side. Leaves crackled underfoot and his exhale greeted the chill as a weak cloud. He was not on this path to reach a destination. The path was the destination for all it mattered to him. There was nowhere he needed to be and nowhere he knew of that he wanted to be. This remote place absent of other people served as good a place as any to do what needed to be done. So he walked. A wind came out of the north cutting through his clothes finding the warm flesh beneath. The wind rushed past carrying the remaining leaves along as they scraped across the ground in protest. And there was stillness. Then he remembered. Memories of pulling The Eye of the World off a shelf as an adolescent came to him. The choosing of the book had not been a lengthy, deliberate process like much of the other choices he had made and will come to make in his life. Nor had the choice been entirely a whim. He had opened the book and flipped to pages at random reading lines here and there. Plus the sheer length of the book provided a challenge he had not yet faced. It had been a good choice though. The story told of three young men who led a simple life that were called to something greater as books like these tended to do. But he could identify with Rand, Mat and Perrin. Each clung adamantly to the way they thought their life should be while life had other plans for them. Each man would deal with it in different ways. One would let his life go and live only for others. Another would try live only for the fun that encompassed his youth. And another would cling even harder to that simple life while denying to himself and others what he was truly capable of. * * * I remember looking to these three as role models in absence of good, real, male role models in my life. But then, I think it was more than that. It was their lives I wanted to live rather than my own. Sure, I did have my own story, however it was messier. And harder. And would have enemies that were ill-defined. But one does not have the choice of living another's life so we must make do with our own. It does not negate those character being role models though. Instead, they highlight my own struggles and those things which I value. And without any further ado...Dovie'andi se tovya sagain. It's time to toss the dice. The Ta'veren Challenge Rand loses himself in doing what he must rather than what he wants. His life ceases to be his own to live. Despite this, he has to remain centered and focused to continue on while learning to put down what he once was...what he thought he would be...for who he is. Practicing sword forms: Robert Jordan's description of sword play reminds me Tai Chi swordplay. So for this challenge, Tai Chi Jian once a week. And mega bonus points for learning the entire sequence in a month!Finding the void: Breath-meditation twice a day (once in the morning and once at night). Rather than just quietly sitting and breathing, there is some movement to it and it is relatively quick, but effective. And I think it is totally doable. Oh, Mat. Always in search of fun while having it interrupted by responsibility thrust on him. But he finds balance between the two and manages both with style. Of the three, he grows the most while still retaining who he is. Music to dazzle: Simply, piano everyday. No set amount of time. No set procedure. Just for fun. Bonus points for posting videos of new things i work on.Seanchan Poses: While Mat might describe yoga as a bloody waste of time, I think it fits him perfectly as he is an agile, rogue-type. Like last time, once a week. Bonus points for attempting inversions with a smile and a laugh. Perrin...slow, careful and deliberate because with his size and strength he is afraid of hurting others, but that restraint carries over to his mindset as well. Shoulders of the blacksmith: Of typical note are Perrin's shoulders and arms from once being an apprentice blacksmith. So for this challenge, I'm adopting a 2-day Greyskull lifting program with a third day of bodybuilding work to emphasize shoulders and arms. Bonus points for hitting 135 lbs on the overhead press!Contemplation: Perrin cares deeply for others and thinks things through methodically from many angles to understand and be understood. I think I should care for and take an interest in myself by taking time to understand. So I am going to attempt to use a journal. Two days. Just two days per week! Once to recap the week...what worked, what did not, etc. Then a second day of what I want to work on for the new week and what I need to pay attention to.​And finally as a bonus... The Library Challenge The Royal Library of Cairhien is one of the great wonders of the world, a vast treasure trove consisting of tens of thousands of books on every conceivable subject. In the First Battle of Cairhien, it was one of the few buildings in the city not torched by the Aiel in their quest for justice over Laman's Sin. Studying old volumes: I have a smallish book to read, The Unfettered Mind, of my own free choosing. I had finished the Tao Te Ching and The Art of Peace and this other book has been sitting on my shelf. It is along the same line as the other two (wrtings from a Zen master to a master swordsman) so why not?

Ok kids....I'm early, but I'm planning on spending the better part of this next year (at least...it may turn into a much longer stay, even permanent residence) in the Druid forest, so I figured now was as good a time as any. My name is Bekah and I am not new to the Rebellion, and I am a special type of Druid, but they have wayyy too much shiny stuff over in the Assassin's camp and I need to get and keep my core focus before I branch out again. What is my core focus, you ask? Getting my yoga practice consistent and getting this weight off once and for all, and keep reading, because I love it. That's it and that's all. Simple, easy, straightforward...it works for me that way. I love to overcomplicate stuff until I do nothing at all, but no more of that. No challenge grades, no Stat points, nothing except leveling up each challenge. I LOVE Ashtanga Yoga, although there are no local classes here, so I am on my own, but I'm okay with that mostly. My plan is just to work my way through the Primary Series and get to the point where daily practice is second nature. I am also going to do daily meditation for 10 minutes, using the book Meditations from the Mat and I'm going to have a calendar with star stickers as my way of keeping track of my practice days, and will post photos of said calendar. As for the weight loss: No Gluten, Dairy or Allergens and stay Feingold.I am also going to eliminate sugar using the program in the book Your Last Diet This makes the weight fall off and stay gone, it's just not easy. I am also going to participate in the Biggest Loser 3.0 started by AlienJenn when it begins, and that is it. No other goals, no more detailed plans. I will also be keeping track of this in my planner using smiley face stickers. Keep it Simple Silly! My plans for reading include finishing the Wheel of Time Series and then finding a comprehensive list of the classical works in literature and reading those. Challenge Goal Recap: 1. Read "Your Last Diet" book and eat breakfast with protein daily until it becomes habitual. (Step One in the book) Keep track of breakfasts eaten daily by smiley stickers in my planner. 2. Practice Surya Namaskara A and Closing Sequence and Savasana every day except Saturdays, Moon Days and Girlie Holidays and Do 10 minutes of meditation folowing Savasana using the Meditations from the Mat book entry for that day. Keep track of practice days (or meditation on non practice days) by star stickers in my planner. 3. Finish Reading "Lord of Chaos" (Book 6) and start on "A Crown of Swords" (Book 7).