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I'm not looking back, I'm looking forward. So, to start with an overall declaration: I am a person who does the things I need to do to achieve my goals. Each goal has it's own declaration as well. I'm thinking of making these same declarations, especially the overall one, for every challenge for the whole year, with only the details of each goal changing if/when necessary, sort of like a drawn out version of @Tanktimus the Encourager's line-writing exercise from the last mini challenge. I may add a declaration or two as I go, this is not a complete list of things I need to do to achieve my goals, but for now this is what I'm focusing on. Goal 1 ~ I am a person who doesn't skip a run day I will run 3x/week. Runs will consist of: Tuesday/Thursday - treadmill interval workouts, starting at 4x5min @ 7mph, with the goal to increase the number of intervals at that speed until I'm doing 60 minutes of work (12 intervals); Saturday or Sunday - outdoor 'long' run, starting with my 5.7k route and working to increase distance up to 10k. At the end of the challenge I will run the beep test to see where I'm at. Goal 2 ~ I am a person who takes care of her body I will do my physio exercises and stretch daily. I can skip the physio 1x/week but stretching must always happen. Goal 3 ~ I am a person who has good food habits I follow the ETP program, so this has more to do with food prep than hitting specific calorie goals. If I have food prepared I have no problem meeting my macros and sticking to the plan. I will shop for and prep food on weekends, and on Wednesdays if necessary. I will sort out the meals coming with me to work the night before. I will make sure I have enough food prepared so I can stick to the plan easily on weekends as well as weekdays. Goal 4 ~ I am a person who finds time for necessary skill development This pertains specifically to pushups right now, but may expand as the year progresses. I will do pushup training 3x/week, on crossfit days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). If I do 50 or more pushups in class, that will suffice for the day. If I do fewer than 50 pushups in class, I will make up the difference after class. If I do none in class, I will do 50 total in as few sets as possible (starting goal of 5x10) after class. Goal 5 ~ I am a person who prioritizes sleep I will go to bed at 11pm Sunday-Thursday (barring a call-out on nights when I'm on call), and by 12am Friday-Saturday. I will get up with my alarm on mornings when it's set. I'm allowed to sleep as long as my body wants to on Saturday and Sunday. Goal 6 ~ I am a person who records her progress I will prepare a journal ahead of time, with space to record workouts and a checklist of the things I need to accomplish/habits I need to stick to for each day. I will record in my journal daily, and not skip any of the items on the checklist. Mini Challenge Feats Strength ~ add 2 pushups to each set instead of the usual 1 for each of this week's pushup sessions (unless it's week 1, in which case just do all the pushup sessions) Speed ~ run at least 1 interval in each of my interval workouts at at least 7.2mph Distance ~ figure out a running route that will add at least 1/2k to my current long route, then run it on my outdoor run day Combat ~ don't skip any physio or stretching sessions this week and mush at least once ('cuz you need to be supple to excel at combat?) Ranger ~ find a reason to use my new crampons

One of my favourite Shakespeare lines, I don't imagine you could say that out loud without sounding like a badass, and I need more badassery in my life, so I shall endeavour to embody all that is encompassed in that line. Goal 1 ~ Set Up for Success Go to bed at 11 on work nights, midnight on non-work nights. Up with the alarm all mornings on which one is set. It really clicked for me in the last challenge how much easier things are to accomplish when I've had good rest (I mean, I knew this, but apparently I didn't really KNOW this). My job is such that I will have disrupted sleep some nights, since I'm on call and could be called out for emergencies at any time, but when that happens, I need to find a way to persevere the next day and do the thing anyway. The 'getting up' part is harder than the 'going to bed' part, but I struggle with both at times. Score: 0/28; 0/28 Goal 2 ~ Stretching and Physio and Yoga, Oh My! I'm doing physio for some hip/glute issues I've got going on, so the goal is to do that plus some stretching every day. I also quite like the NF yoga (though I've only done Water A so far), but it takes longer than my regular stretching and I don't always have the mental energy needed to do it, so I'll aim to do it 2x/week in place of regular stretching. Score: 0/28 (overall); /8 (yoga only) Goal 3 ~ Stick to the Workout Plan My schedule for the next while will be a bit all over the place, since two coworkers are going away for 6 weeks of training and I'm the only person available to train the new people. I'll go back to making weekly plans based on my work schedule, and then I'll stick with them. See above for persevering on less-than-ideal days. The plan will consist of 2x strength workouts/week and 2x regular runs/week and 1x intervals/week, in some order as to fit between work shifts. If I have to run on the treadmill when I'm on call, I will, but as many runs as possible will be outside. I will also be playing hockey once per week, on Sundays, staring in May. This can't replace any other workout during the week, it's extra. Score: /4 Goal 4 ~ Pushups I'm putting it separate from the workout goal, since I keep forgetting. I can get 10 good ones, plus another 5-7 wobbly ones, so I think I'll start by doing 3 sets of 10 every other day for the length of the challenge, then retest my max. I need to increase my numbers to being able to do at least 37 in one set, for future police testing. This one isn't as urgent as the running, but slow and steady will get me there eventually, and I find I tend to stall easily on these, even when I'm consistent. This time it's about consistent practice, and I'll work on increasing numbers from there. Score: /14 Goal 5 ~ Stick to the Food Plan I signed up for 2 months of Eat to Perform about 1/2 way through the last challenge. So far I'm doing well at sticking to their prescribed macros (mostly), and I'm not anticipating having too much trouble with this one. However, the aforementioned wonky work schedule leads to some weeks where I don't have 2 days off in a row, so I'll have to make sure I'm buckling down on the meal planning in those weeks. Score: 1/28 Note In the last challenge I said I wanted to go to a Monday-Sunday week, so I had 2 days at the end to catch up if needed. With the wonky work schedule, that doesn't matter so much, so I'll stay with the Sunday-Saturday week for now. When I get my weekends back, I may change again, we'll see. (Edit: changed the order of the goals to reflect my priority, and fixed the scores on pushups and stretching goals)

Biography: Classified Name: Commander Valkyrie Shepherd Earthborn Sole Survivor: An orphan in an overcrowded, poverty-stricken city, I escaped a life of crime on earth by joining the military at the age of 18. During my service, I survived a harrowing mental and physical ordeal which left me the sole survivor of my unit, and mentally tougher than an Asari Matron. My struggles and achievements have created a duality of empathy and ruthlessness, which serves me well in my race to save the galaxy. Class: Soldier Specialization: TBD Spectre Status: Not Achieved Mission 1 Objectives: Prologue Workout 4x (Arms, Legs, Endurance, Conditioning) Track food intake 7x Water 100 oz 5x Bonus XP: Each Macro Hit/Day Total Available XP: 15 Mission 2 Objectives: Gather The Crew Workout 4x (Arms, Legs, Endurance, BW Workout) Track Food Intake 7x Water 100 oz 7x Total Available XP: 18 Bonus XP: Each Macro Hit Mission 3 Objectives: Become A Spectre Workout 4x (7-Minute Workout 3-4x, Cize or other BW Workouts) Track Food Intake 7x Water 100 oz 7x Total Available XP: 18 Bonus XP: Each Macro Hit Mission 4 Objectives: Specialize Workout 4x (Arms, Legs, Endurance, Conditioning) Track Food Intake 7x Water 100 oz 7x Hit Macros (1 point per macro achieved) Total Available XP: 46 Mission 5 Objectives: Final Battle Workout 4x (Arms, Legs, Endurance, Conditioning) Track Food Intake 7x Water 100 oz 7x Hit Macros (1 point per macro achieved) Total Available XP: 46 Bonus Side Mission: TBD Mission XP Total 1 /15 /143 2 /18 /143 3 /18 /143 4 /46 /143 5 /46 /143 Side Missions Paragon(Charm): GtG pushups 3x2 Daily (Progress to 5x2 if it's too easy) Renegade(Intimidate): Burpees(plank) x30/daily Paragon Charm Total 1 /5 /33 2 /7 /33 3 /7 /33 4 /7 /33 5 /7 /33 Renegade Intimidate Total 1 /5 /33 2 /7 /33 3 /7 /33 4 /7 /33 5 /7 /33 Rewards: 85% Compliance With Mission Objectives (121/143 XP): TBD 85% Compliance With Side Missions (28/33 per mission, or 56/66 for both): TBD Methods To Make Up Points: Paragon: Plank 2x1' per set missed (I.E. if I did 1/3 GTG sets, I need to do 4x1' planks to make up for it) Renegade: Jump Squats 5x1' per day missed General: I'm not sure, any suggestions? General Challenge Explanation Each "Mission" is a week in the challenge. I sort of loosely based it on the progression of the Mass Effect game to take me from the first mission to the last mission, with the main things included (becoming a Spectre, specializing, that sort of stuff). This week has been chaotic,what with my dad in the hospital and all. It took me a ton of time and brain power to get this challenge set up exactly how I want it and I spent a silly amount of time on my logo and tracker, but it looks pretty cool so I'm happy haha...I think my obsessive personality decided getting this one just right was a good coping mechanism for stress haha. This week I'm starting officially today, and not penalizing myself for missing stuff the previous few days, but I will count whatever I did accomplish (like tracking, or if I somehow managed to hit a macro) See how I do that? I am a goddess in my own galaxy, I make the rules! =p Saturday, Mister is coming to visit (YAY!) ! So I won't be tracking macros for weeks 2 and 3, just trying to keep the habit going more than anything with tracking and working out. I will probably be doing the 7 minute workout while he's here. Then for weeks 4 and 5 it's full speed ahead, do all the things! I absolutely had to have a Paragon/Renegade element to my Mass Effect challenge! I'm going to try Grease the Groove for my pushups- I'm going to do push up negatives (just the lowering/eccentric part) 3x2 every day (it seems so small and pitiful...but it's more pushups every day (and definitely more every week) than I'm doing now), and work on becoming burpee-proof by completing 30 burpees (planks, not push ups to start with) each day (in one go). If this GtG thing works, I'm gonna apply it to pull up negatives. I want neuromuscular gainz! My main focus for this challenge is on maintaining my good habits (tracking, working out 4x a week, water) throughout the challenge, and especially while Mister is visiting, achieving my macros on the other weeks, and performing perfect practice (say that 5 times fast) when I workout.