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Hello! Some of you already know this, but I used to run. A lot. That was a long time ago. Then my feet got all hurty, and I couldn't run any more. The nice docs at the VA set me up with magic shoes (custom orthotics) so that I could walk without constant pain. So that was better than bad. But I figured my running days were done. Then, I found Nerd Fitness. And people here just would not shut up about all of the awesome running they do, and the cool races and OCRs and mud runs and stuff. So, I started asking around and reading up on returning to running after severe plantar fasciitis, and with unstable joints and old, worn knees. It started to sound possible. So I tried it out. You know that feeling you get when you watch that scene in the movie, when the braces fly apart and he takes off like the wind? That's how I feel every time I go shuffling down the block at a jog that's barely more than a walk, and then 5K of alternating walking and jogging go by, and it still doesn't hurt. After years of wanting to be able to run, but being convinced that it was impossible, what I'm doing now feels miraculous. So guess what this challenge is about? That's right. All. The. Running. It's not going to be very dramatic. My running plan is on a spreadsheet. I'm using Galloway's run/walk method to build up gradually. In a couple weeks, I'll be running as much as I walk. A few weeks after that, I'll get to where I'm running three times as much as I walk. But then I hope to be doing my 5K neighborhood loop in about 30 minutes or so. To name a starting point, today I did it in about 48 minutes. After that, we'll see; we'll be in a new challenge by then. For now, my plan is to follow the plan, and slowly build up without hurting myself in the process. Now, because I'm still a Ranger, that's not all I'm doing. I'm going to keep tracking calories. I want to work on improving my daily prayer time. I want to keep lifting weights, although I haven't finished re-tooling my program for less knee aggravation. I'll do that soon, maybe tonight. I want to keep playing my ukulele. I want to do some yoga here and there. Somewhere along the way I might go nuts and buy a couple of kettle bells, because that sounds like fun. And who knows what kind of stuff I might get into two weeks from now? So, you can see that if I try to make a goal for everything and track them all, I will go totally nuts in a short time. That would be bad. So here's what I propose. I'm going to set two official challenge goals. 1. Calories. Track daily and stay within 100 cals of target, which is currently 1590. 2. Running. 3 times per week, M-W-F is the plan. That's it. Just those two things. I'll give myself 1 xp for each time I do them, which will be 10 per week if I'm on top of the game. Everything else will be bonus, which is the third item. 3. All of the Things. I want to do at least *something* on Tues and Thurs when I'm not running, whether that ends up being weights or yoga or ukulele or something else I haven't thought of yet. I'll give myself 1 xp for each positive thing I do, and list them in my daily update. So that could be several per day, or just one, and could be any day of the week.