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Hi nerds I haven't really sorted out in my head how this challenge is going to work. For a start, my next race is in 3 days time, before the challenge starts, so I am just trying to keep calm and crosstrain between now and then, and for the next 5 weeks, I guess I'll just do whatever the husband is doing in this book I'm reading. How come Steve never tells us about this good stuff? Probably subscriber-only content I suppose. No wait, there has to be a better plan than that. Um... So between now and Saturday, rest legs, do arm and core related exercise instead (I've been doing this the last few days since I got back from my epic bike ride anyway). To include at least one river row, because the weather is right for it, read Gaelic children's books, generally tie up loose ends of Gaelic learning. Saturday: Kew Gardens 10k run. Beat one hour or die trying (I am actually feeling pretty good about my chances of at least one of these outcomes) Sunday: rest, weigh myself, drink beer in the allotment, fall asleep in the greenhouse, wake up lightly grilled. Monday onwards, challenge proper: 6 days moving per week to include one long run, two short Dont eat like a dickhead Revamp my morning routine and start building a daily Portuguese session (I've planned this out separately here so I won't go into detail but it'll be quite time consuming so will crowd out a lot of other things from previous challenges like Gaelic, meditation, dancing etc. I still have some poetry though because learning Portuguese poetry is part of the plan. I was so surprised at how well my memory coped with learning that way that it seemed like something I should incorporate into my study. OK, mark it on my map and let's do this

OK, this is going to be a hard one because my project will be coming to an end in February so I'll be busy AF, but here's the plan: Oh hang on, let's do a Fallout 4 Theme because it's our game of choice at the moment at home. My Challenge... My Challenge Never Changes Since I'm over 200 years old*, I need to take care of myself. What will make me even more S.P.E.C.I.A.L** than I already am? Well, sticking to what works, of course. Oh and adding some new things to make it interesting too. 1. Strength/Endurance - move every day, including one long run per week, at least two short runs and _something_ on every day of every week. This has been working well for me, so I'm keeping it up. Got to outrun those mirelurks 2. Charisma/Agility - eat sensibly. I tend to be a bit slack around Christmas and New year so week 0 will probably be a bit rubbish but after that, paleoish, with added oaty breakfast. No cannibal perk (we scouts have our standards, unlike some I could mention) no booze and no eating unopened packs of Cram I find in a dustbin behind a raider encampment. 3. Perception/Luck - I'm going to try and take care of myself more, building on last challenge's don't-ruin-your-spine theme, I'm going to keep doing that, stand up straighter and - I can hardly believe I'm writing this - try some meditation. It's hard to explain how not-in-character this is for me, but you know, just like occasionally trying foods you don't like, or poetry, sometimes you have to try things you're written off, just to see if something about you has changed in a way that makes it make sense now. Er... If you see what I mean. I've heard a few people (notably Sam Harris) talk about it in ways that didn't make me cringe recently, and the final impetus came from @sarakingdom's revelation that I could do meditation in the time it takes the kettle to boil***. OK, that's the kind of commitment level I'm capable of. Sign me up! 4. Intelligence - follow my daily schedule of Duolingo dilettantism, more serious Portuguese study, etc., and staying on top of my to-do list. *=In reality, I'm not quite as old as the Sole Survivor, but pretty close **=if you're not familiar with the game these are the basic in-game abilities you start with: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck, ***=disclaimer, this isn't a very accurate description - you can read what she actually said (here) if you want to know more.

So I was roaming the barren, arid cultural wasteland... Wait... Perhaps I'd better introduce myself. Hello. I hope you don't mind me appearing like this in the middle of a challenge and in a different group. I am a former Scout from the UK. I can go away if you like but I hope you won't. I will try and behave myself. So anyway I was roaming the barren, arid cultural wasteland aka Twitter when I encountered an old friend and comrade-in-arms from back in the day, @fearless 2.0, who took pity on my dilapidated state and suggested I return to nerd fitness in search of my lost mojo. In the next 4 weeks I commit to... 1 Move once a day - running, substantial walking, combat or bodyweight exercise in the home, whatever, preferably with family 2 NaNoWriMo - I can't do a full novel but I will write a short story in Portuguese over the course of a month. It probably won't be very good but it'll push the boundaries of the language I'm learning. 3 Eat better - paleoish, no booze And as a bonus, since we are starting a month of lockdown here in the UK soon, come up with a routine I can follow to give a bit of structure to my day. I kind of have one of these already, which I've been following since March but it's got a bit vague and I need to just prune it and refocus.

I seem to have an Andy Weir theme in 2016, so to paraphrase him again... "I'm calling it the 18ck Triangle because after what I've been through, shit on Nerdfitness should be named after me." So the goals for the month will be: Workouts Run 3x a week , aiming to finish my milestone target of a Sub-25 minute 5k by the end Row (or ergo) once a week Lift at least once a week, aiming to hit my milestone target of one unassisted pullup by the end Eat right for the whole month - so not strongly dogmatic rules but "paleoish", low on carbs Have 3+ lessons via skype with my tutor Do some portuguese work of some sort daily Have at least one day of portuguese-only speech Watch at least one portuguese-only film Xp for doing all the things is only 75, but if I do well I am expecting to hit some milestones this time around - possibly a speed goal, a strength goal and a lifestyle goal I've been working on for a while, so we'll see - it might come to more than a hundred.