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Well, here goes my second challenge (and my first as a full-fledged Ranger). It will technically be a five-week challenge for me, as I don't finish my exams until the 14th and so I will be using every spare moment up until then to cram! Main Quest: To make exercise a natural, joyful and intrinsic part of my life. I want exercise to be something I do instinctively, something I look forward to, rather than just another chore to be crossed off my to-do list. I know this may take a while, and that I may have to treat working out as chore initially, but hopefully these coming weeks can help me to take a few first steps along that path! My fitness goals: 1. Run barefoot for 20 minutes (STA - 4 points) I used to run barefoot back in high school, simply because I ran faster barefoot and found shoes so uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I have been wearing shoes to run for more than five years now and have completely lost the knack of landing on my forefoot and not my heel! I know it will take a while for my feet and calves to get used to the change in my stride so I plan on taking it very slowly to begin with. I don't expect to be able to go outside and run five 5k barefoot right away! I am planning to use the first five weeks of the couch-to-5k program that got me back into running initially, so that I can gradually increase the time I run for with breaks in between runs to walk. Grading will be as follows: A - 20 or more minutes barefoot (4 points) B - 15-20 minutes barefoot (3 points) C - 10-15 minutes barefoot (2 points) F - Less than 10 minutes barefoot (0 points) 2. Do pistol squats barefoot! (STR - 1 point, DEX - 3 points) I can do unassisted pistol squats wearing shoes with a low heel. Barefoot, I can do either box pistol squats or assisted ones (holding on the edge of a table for balance). The issue for me is not so much that my legs aren't strong enough, it's that I lose my balance at the bottom of the squat and fall backward onto my bum. Not so classy! Even a two-inch heel gives me enough of a boost to be able to perform them, but I want to improve my balance and flexibility such that I can do pistols in bare feet. Like a boss. Or should I say, like Al Kavadlo: Grading will be as follows: A - 5 or more barefoot pistol squats (1, 3 points) B - 3 or 4 barefoot pistol squats (1, 2 points) C - 1 or 2 barefoot pistol squats (1, 1 point) F - Still unable to pistols barefoot (0 points) 3. Do 10 consecutive pull-ups (STR - 3 points) In my first challenge I sought to make the seemingly impossible jump from 0 pull-ups to 1 pull-up. While I was unsuccessful in my attempt during those six weeks, I kept at it afterwards. My first pull-up happened only two weeks later! In the month and a half since then I have gone from 1 to 5 pull-ups, so I feel like 10 in five weeks should be reasonable. I really hope I am successful because that will mean I can do more pull-ups than my (male) gym-going mate who inspired me to try them in the first place! Grading as follows: A - 10 or more pull-ups (3 points) B - 8 or 9 pull-ups (2 points) C - 6 or 7 pull-ups (1 point) F - No improvement (0 points) Life-related "Side Quest": 4. Read the Bible daily (WIS - 4 points) I am a Christian and believe that spending time reading the Bible, meditating on it and praying are essential to maintaining a healthy relationship with my heavenly Father. That said, as with exercise, I often struggle to make time with God a natural, joyful part of my everyday life. I want to make Bible reading a habit. After all, "Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Tim 4:8) A - Bible reading 5+ times per week (4 points) B - 4 times per week (3 points) C - 3 times per week (2 points) F - Less than 3 times per week (0 points) My motivation: As before. To "run the race and keep the faith". I want to build habits that will stick with me through the rest of my life. After all, as FlyLady likes to remind me "Motivation gets you started but habit keeps you going". I was talking recently to a colleague about the concept of a "Life weight" - of maintaining a stable, healthy weight (plus or minus a kilo or two) throughout one's lifetime (not including pregnancies I suppose!) I'm not really sure whether the concept is a sensible one or not but I certainly like the idea of striving to maintain my current level of fitness into middle and old age. If I never allow myself to get "out of shape" I never have to get "back in shape"! My Weekly Exercise Routine: Monday - Modern Jive class (unrelated to any of my goals, but I love it, so I'm going to keep going!) Tuesday - Run Wednesday - Bodyweight workout Thursday - Run Friday - Bodyweight workout Saturday - Run Sunday - Bodyweight workout