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Been a while since I posted a log on here. Thought I would post where I'm at as I work towards my last mountain bike race of the season. I've gone back and forth on how well I've been sticking to my training. I had a pretty disappointing race in August. I felt like I was in pretty decent shape, but raced the course blind, and broke a pedal (again) on a pedal strike after about 20 minutes. I rode through it, but took a little bit before I noticed that if I flipped it around I could still clip in. I did however go down probably the most technical descent before I figured that out, foot slipped off the pedal right at the bottom, which could've been a lot worse. I think I finished in just under 50 minutes, about 8 minutes behind 1st in my division. I also would've benefited from knowing the course, there were a LOT of tight blind corners, which I probably slowed down too much for. I felt like I was faster fitness wise than i have been all year. That being said, its pretty late in the season, and I definitely did less consistent training than I was aiming for, and it showed. When I would get passed, I'd try to hang onto the wheel of the guys infront, and I just couldn't. Definitely something to improve on for the next. So that brings me to today. Here's the performance management chart I pulled from Golden Cheetah since that race, through today, and projecting to my next race at Pando. Last race was on the 27th, which I had tapered for, and you can see the my stress balance (yellow chart) blip positive. In hind sight, I probably would've been better off to simply plan to build through that race, not taper at all, and then continue to build for the last races of the year. I had two races I was tentatively going to attend, and decided that I would rather train through those and just focus on the one end of season instead. So that's what I did. Been focusing on bringing up my training volume week over week, while working on not going too much into the red, since I really don't want to overtrain and get sick (again). My fitness was at about 25 LTS for my last race, its at 45 today. I've noticed since increasing my weekly training volume, I'm carrying a lot more fatigue in my legs. I was using the charts at Training Peaks, which are similar, but recently migrated my data to Golden Cheetah, since its free. The numbers aren't exactly comparable between the two, but the graphs are pretty much the same. Golden Cheetah shows my LTS and stress balance a little higher. So I didn't include a legend in my screenshot. Purple: Short term stress. Weighted average of the past 7 days. This is roughly your current acute fatigue. Blue: Long term stress. Weighted average over the past 42 days. This is roughly your current fitness. Yellow: Stress balance. Difference between LTS and STS. This is basically a fatigue-o-meter. When increasing volume you want to keep it negavitve, but not too negative or you start over training. Somewhere around -10 to -30 is good for progression. Also useful for race readyness, as you don't want to be carrying a lot of fatigue into an important race. Should be a bit positive after an ideal taper. And not shown in the screenshot used to derive all the data points: Training Stress Score: Numerical representation of how intense a given workout was. 100 points == threshold heart rate for an hour. More or less points will be assigned based on the intensity and duration of the workout. Most of my workouts are between 50 - 150 TSS. Last week was one of the higher TSS weeks I've done in a long while, totaled 457 TSS at 6.6 hours riding time. Today is a rest day. TSB is showing -36 and quite frankly, my legs are still tired. I had good rides in the last two days though. I should be set to ride again tomorrow though. Goal for this week is to get in about 6ish hours again, while keeping my TSB somewhere around the -20 to -30 range. I don't think I have enough time left to increase volume much more before my race, so I'm thinking I can probably keep my LTS around 45ish while working on bringing down my fatigue a little. Hopefully that'll be enough to notice a bit of a difference for the race at Pando. /end-background-story BATTLE LOG 9/11/17 Over under intervals 3x 2min1min w/ 3 min rest FTP: 190 watts Over: 230 under: 180 Rest: ~120 Time: 40 mins TSS: 52 These were hard, I was short on time, so I figured I could get in a quick workout before picking up the baby from daycare. Cut down recovery time between interval sets to save time. Definately put out a good hard effort, started strong, but these got hard pretty fast. First few weren't too bad, but the 2nd and 3rd sets were tough! I finished strong though, was able to push through for the last interval to slowly raise the effort above 230. I was increasing my cadence by 1 every 15 seconds for that last interval, and then after I hit time on my interval, continued to ramp up power until about ~300 over the next 30 seconds, and then held 300 for 30 seconds until I pretty much blew up. Short warm down and that was it.

This challenge (as well as the next one) will be influenced by two things: Soulcon, which starts July 10th and the Spartan Race, which will be August 27th. Soulcon is a ministry for men created by Navy veteran, author and lifestyle/fitness coach Cody Bobay. It stands for SOULCONtrol and refers to the Bible's call to submit our mind, will and emotions to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. Essentially, Soulcon equates the concept of self-discipline with strengthening your walk with the Holy Spirit; they are not mutually exclusive. The spirit (your soul) needs to be strong in order for the body to be healthy and strong. Soulcon is a 6 week challenge for men, and there are four main fundamentals that are part of the Soulcon daily routine: what you eat, what you drink, exercise, and rest. In addition, there are several required objectives: Pray the Lord's Prayer out loud, on your knees, every day No carbs after 3pm from grains and breads (sweet potatoes, vegetables, and berries are allowed) Track your caloric intake except on feast days Drink at least 64oz of water a day Exercise at least 30 minutes 5 days a week Run, walk or crawl two 5ks a week Before you leave home for the day do 40 pushups (or as many as you can) <---- I may be substituting burpees here. Sleep 6-8 hours a night (excluding feast days) Evangelism: Talk to at least 10 people you don't know about your faith There is also a weekly physical challenge: Week 1: Test-In Week Max Push-ups in 2 minutes 2 min rest Max Sit-ups in 2 minutes 2 min rest Run, walk, or crawl a 5k (who crawls a 5k?) Make sure to record your 5k time, push-up, and sit-up count to challenge yourself on Week 6 Week 2: Max Week Monday: Push-up Day You have 24 hours to do as many push-ups as possible. Wednesday: Sit-up Day You have 24 hours to do as many sit-ups as possible. Friday: Bodyweight Squat Day You have 24 hours to do as many squats as possible. Week 3: Fast Week Have one fast day with at least one person on your team (this team consists of a Facebook group). On this day, you will drink only water and black coffee. Week 4: Hell Week This week you are limited to fruit, veggies (including sweet potatoes, not white potatoes), lean proteins, unsalted nuts, and protein powders (no milk added, only water). Also, no weight training this week, just daily push-ups and any bodyweight training you desire. Push yourself as hard as possible, and have a healthy competition with the guys on your team. You can keep track of: miles from jogging or walking miles from cycling miles on the elliptical There are two more weeks, but I will save them for the next challenge. I will also share my Spartan challenge in the next post.

This will be a work in progress since I am ultimate stress-panda right now. Hopefully will have some time to breathe post race this coming weekend and then finalize my goals for the rest of the challenge (aerial will definitely be on the list once I have time to brain and breathe again!) For this week my only goals are: UPDATED GOALS as of Week 2! GOAL 1 - ENDURANCE - Run at least once per week and do a good walk at least once per week (hikes also OK, and if I run or walk more than once that is also OK!) GOAL 2 - LIFTING - I MISS LIFTING. Slowly ease back into lifting 1x per week on Sundays, because I like how dead my gym is on Sundays and I am finally over my mopeyness that my trainer left and realize I NEED TEH LIFTINGS. GOAL 3 - AERIAL - Aerial once per week. If I can't make it to my usual day, replace with core and pull up progression work. (If I go back to lifting on Sundays I cant really do open gym for aerial unless I want to do both in 1 day and that sounds like a bad idea.) GOAL 4- Life goal: DECLUTTER - This has been an ongoing goal for forever I know, but yeah. Declutter at least 30 min per week! WEEK 1 GOALS (Already past, but for a refresher!) 1. Run final prep run before race either Weds or Thurs. Trying to decide which day is better. If my sleep is going to be total shit this week I should probably run tomorrow/Weds so I get actual time to recover for a few days pre-race. 2. Pack for race trip earlier in the week so you don't have to stress last minute on Thursday night (key note: I don't want to deal with actual overhead baggage and I am not doing checked baggage so I am strategizing how to fit everything I need in one small backpack) 3. Figure out how to lower stress level NOW. At minimum enough so I can actually sleep. Sleep would be nice. Current strategy is I have cut out class for tonight and any plans I had for tomorrow. May also cancel on nerding on Thursday night. ANY plans are causing me aaah aaah stress give me my time back mode right now.

Hey all! I'm on the lookout for a group enterprising souls who would be willing to tackle the Ragnar Trail Relay on April 28-29, 2017. It's an overnight relay in which a team of eight runners (or four ultrarunners, for the hardcore) run legs of a trail network, for a total of about 14-16 miles per person. It's a combination of relay racing, trail running, and crazy camping. Learn more about the race here, and check out the event page here. I'm familiar with the state park where the race is being held - it's a beautiful place to visit! If I can get enough interest (both here and in real life), I'll be glad to organize a team!

Yo, I'm back. So I'm literally back from the wilderness. I just spent a month living in Guatemala, with a few weeks on both ends that got swallowed up in exams, preparations for the trip, and working at a couple summer camp things. Guatemala was kinda crazy, partly because I was living in a different country with crazy food and madhouse traffic, and partly because I was there to learn Spanish in four weeks (?), with absolutely zero background in the language. It actually went really well; I had tutoring five hours a day with a teacher who spoke no English whatsoever, so I had to learn fast if I wanted to have any sort of conversation. Anyway, now I'm back (yay for American plumbing!) and looking forward to getting back into regular workouts, cooking, all that good stuff. I'm interning in central VA for the year, so I have to adjust to a new speed of life, and not having university classes for the first time in ever. I also have to drive to a gym now, as opposed to having it right next to where I live - yes, I was spoiled - so this challenge will mostly be me trying to get into a new sort of weekly routine. One of the great things about my life and location now is that I can return with a vengeance to one of my favorite athletic pursuits: obstacle racing! This challenge will be focused on rebuilding my base and conditioning. Then, in late September, the fun really begins... Ze Goals: "It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise." - Make it out to the gym at least two, preferably three times per week. Actively joining a gym is actually a new thing for me. I've always been part of some kind of university community with an athletic center, so finding, signing up for, and attending a proper gym is a slightly different experience. Right now, I just need to actually show up to the place and get used to the new environment. My runs are a normal enough part of my daily routine that they should hopefully happen naturally. "They always grow louder when they're about to feed..." - Cook at least two new recipes per week. This shouldn't be too hard. I'm happily working through a couple of my cookbooks, and the results have been excellent; I just need to keep consistently working on expanding my repertoire. Since this is already a big hobby, I expect good results. I may even post photos for bonus points. "Why won't my arms move?" "You've been mostly dead all day." - Stretch, at least for a couple minutes, daily. I've been feeling a bit creaky lately, probably from the weird mix of sitting around and rare high-intensity exercise that's been thrown at me this summer. I want to try to build in a stretching routine into my mornings to deal with some of this. "And yet he gains!" - Run a race. Any race. Don't die. This will probably be a 5k in the neighborhood or something. I think I need to psychologically adjust to the idea of races and runs with other people again, after not doing anything of the sort since March. Oh, and it's great to see y'all again. It's good to be back. "That doesn't leave much time for dilly-dallying..."

Hi all! The City Challenge Obstacle Race is happening in Hoboken, NJ, on October 1st. I'm planning on going, and was wondering if there was anyone else on these forums who I might run into as well. And for any who might not have heard of it yet and are interested, here's the website: http://www.citychallengerace.com For any NYCers interested, Hoboken is about a 15 minute ride by the PATH station at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub - typically, there are more PATH stations open on weekends, but there's construction going on for the next few months unfortunately. I've never done it before myself, but I've been making good progress on my exercise goals and even exceeded my expectations on a 5K I ran recently, so I figured why not give it a shot? Hope to see you there! P.S. - this is my first time posting on these boards, so if there's a better place for this, just send me a PM and let me know!

I'm trying to figure out what race I am, but I don't know many races, where can I learn about them? Is there an article on NF? Or some link to an RPG page? I'm not that familiar with RPGs, so any help would be appreciated.

This post really has nothing to do with swimming as the title might suggest. Instead the next month will be about keeping some good habits I formed last month, working on some weak areas I observed, and generally trying not to get overwhelmed by my work and training load(s). I only have two months until I toe the line at American River 50 Mile and to be honest, I'm freaking out! The next six weeks will be the most important training block, but will also overlap with two separate week-long trips, trying out a new position at work, and taking two night classes. Whew! Things are moving, but they seem to all be coming to a head at the same time. As a result I'll likely have more than four standard goals. FITNESS & HEALTH GOALS - Goal # 1: Increase weekly mileage. Run 4 days weekly. Right now I'm comfortably running close to 35 miles each week. Over the next six weeks I'm going to add 10% mileage increase each week until I'm running 50 mile weeks in March. The breakdown will look like this. Week 1 - 37 Week 2 - 40 Week 3 - 44 Week 4 - 48 Week 5 - 53 Week 6 - 55 Goal # 2: Pack Lunch and Breakfast every work-day during February. This was a great success last month, and definitely saved me some money that can instead go to paying down debt and saving for travel later in the year. Goal # 3: Strength train twice weekly. Again, this was part of my last challenge, and I think it's valuable to being a good ultra-runner and important for overall fitness. I'll be following stronglifts 5x5 which I enjoy, is a simple program, and produces results. Goal # 4: All the little things! I have a really hard time remembering to foam roll, do hip and glute strengthening, basically all the little things that help me not get injured. The goal for this challenge will be to develop a 20 minute session that I can do most week-nights before bed that will help me to get rid of some nagging pains and be a more resilient runner. Goal # 5: Dinner time is winner time. Last challenge I noticed that my eating habits really deteriorate around dinner and the weekends when things are less structured. This challenge I'm going to focus on no grains, dairy, or sugar around dinners. And on the weekends I'm going to allow myself only one "off plan" meal. I'd love to get to my race 5-10lbs down from where I currently am and I know this will help. PERSONAL GOALS - Goal # 6: No skipping! I will now blow off class unless I'm traveling, I will not blow off my homework, period. Goal # 7: Try really really really hard at work, and be really really really nice to everybody. I'm being given a trial run at work for the position I want to move in to and I really want to impress everybody and show that I can hold my own and deserve the job. This challenge will be about knocking it out of the park when it comes to work. In addition to that I know one of the biggest things holding me back is how I present myself and how I work with others. My review from this year was stellar aside from that so it really is the only thing holding me back. I need to revive the old version of me who taught snowboarding, could take crap all day from dumb clients and do so with a smile on her face and the air that made everybody think they were having the best time ever. This challenge looks like a lot, and it is. But there is a season for all things, and this is the season for simplifying life outside of a few key areas, working really hard, and embracing the challenge. Come April I'll have more time on my hands to relax and decompress.

Darkfoxx 21: Darkfoxx Goes To School This challenge is going to throw me some curveballs. I’m going back to school 2 nights a week for front-end web development: the first schooling I’ve attended since getting my undergrad in 2002. So … I need to re-learn how to be a student, and need to get re-acquainted with fitting homework into my schedule. This is throwing major elbows into my RUCK ALL THE THINGS and DO ALL THE OTHER THINGS plan. Plus, I’m starting this zero week off sick - the first time I’ve had to deal with an actual sickness in over 5 years. My body is unhappy about this development. Overarching Goal For This Cycle Do the things, but keep schoolwork in the forefront of my mind and time commitments. I have no idea how this is going to play out - my undergrad degree was in Communication, so I could basically BS my way through it. Coding: not so much with the latitude for BS. I also need to keep some sort of physical training goals on deck, lest I get completely sidetracked. To that end, I have at least 1 5k to do in short order (Patronus 5k) I’m supposed to be doing Tough Mudder on the 7th, but if it’s too cold I’m not making myself go through it. 50 or over is my threshold. I have the Turkey Trot 4 miler on Thanksgiving And some more rucking to throw in before it gets too cold out. and rucking. RUCKING. I have distance in the can; now I just need to work on speed (and more mileage totals per week). Plus, RuckFit looks amazeballs. And Beer Yoga! And the RP dealie! So .. looks like I’ll be busy, no? Goal 1: Work It Out Sill aiming for 4 - 5 days during the week + 1 good activity weekend day here. I’m also throwing in an archery date night. I don’t know how this is going to happen with class, but I aim to regulate my schedule by Official Week 1, so more coming here. If nothing else, I can poke around some RuckFit workouts, work on a couple Beer Yoga poses (sans beer), and work on pull-ups. *cough* Wolf *cough* And the role play game … I’ll have to think of something there. Not sure of the deets yet, but I have a feeling I won’t have to sit this one out. Goal 2: Macros SSDD. For those of you that are new to me, here’s a recap: I haven’t really deviated from this metric plan in over a year, and don’t see any reason to start. For those of you that are new to me, my metrics are based on those outlined in the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. My metrics are as follows: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, 100 grams or under of fat and around 1,500 calories. This plan seems to work for me, and if I stick to it, my weight stays where I want it and my body stays fueled without being sluggish. That said, I have recently begun carb loading for races and eat whatever my body is screaming at me it wants post races (generally a bigass steak and/or a face full of carbs). This seems to be working well, and I’ll be sticking with it. I also shoot for 64 ounces or so of water (2 refills of my water bottle + a coffee), and track my general activity and sleep with a Misfit Flash. I’m on My Fitness Pal and Fitbit. Goal 3: Minimalism I did so well here last challenge, I want to keep the ball rolling. I have 1 book shelf left to purge during Phase 1 and I FINALLY got my last batch of crap back from the digitization place. I need to label those pics/files (plus the last batch of pics) and get them squared away + deal with the physical copies. I also aim to pile all my sentimental crap into 1 place - probably my bed - and massively purge until I have 1 bin left. This may need to be done in 2 stages: 1 bin for photos; 1 bin for crap. I also need to see to it that my donation pile actually leaves the door, and the boxes I’m building of kid stuff actually make it to my sister (for her upcoming baby girl) & brother (who isn’t yet spawning). Goal 4: Craftsy I have a bunch of crafts I need to do: My sister’s baby blanket Tank’s cross-stitch Wolf’s cross-stitch Monthly Triceratops cross-stitches Holiday cards + more holiday cards Ranger Card/Gift Exchange Holiday cookies Process the pictures of munchkins I just took Goal 5: School Aim to be valedictorian of school, dammit. Goal 6: Badges This went over so well last challenge, I need to keep these going. And I want to re-vamp the styles so they’re more tiny friendly. Goal 7: Mini Challenges & PvPs Do them. If nothing else, this will force me to get my workouts in - I may disappoint myself, but I try damn hard to make sure not to let my guild mates down. Goal 8: BIOHACKING You thought I forgot about this one, didn’t you? I’m twiddling my thumbs, waiting for my data to get back from 23andMe and have been taking the 999999989 quizzes on the site to maximize my contribution to the greater good. TWIDDLING MY THUMBS.

Scout's Plumber Toolbox Race Week 6 : Bike 10km or Run 5km or Swim 1km Mario doesn’t have to rescue any princesses at the moment, so he wants to work on getting faster so when he does have to save another princess he can get there quicker. He doesn’t want to venture too far from the Mushroom Kingdom, so he was planning on a triathlon using his bike in World 1-1, running in World 1-2, and swimming in World 1-3, and stopping before getting to the castle in World 1-4. He would greatly benefit from having pacers during his race so we are going to help pace him during his race. The race will occur during week 6 of the challenge (August 31 to September 6). Decide if you want to pace him for a 10k bike ride, a 5k run, or a 1k swim (and for those over achievers, you can do more than one activity if you want to). This is being announced early so you can potentially incorporate it with your challenge goals and have plenty of time to schedule your bike, run, or swim. There is a quick poll to see how people plan to pace Mario during week 6. Prior to the week 6 race we continue to have weekly minis that awesomesue is working on

Hey kids, I'm back! Challenge: Train for 5k (or 10k) Night Race on Sept 25! To complete this, I must: 1) Run at least once a week 2) Do 2 other cardio exercises a week (This can be any cardio I like, including running.) 3) Buy new running shoes by the end of the challenge! (Which will give me 2 weeks to break in the shoes before the race). I'm totally going to keep up with the strength n stuff, which I have been....which is why I am still posting in Rangers. I'll assign points n stuff later. K Bye

After my successful finish to my first challenge I thought I would take a look at another goal for my second challenge, but I realized if I take away from my running to much my marathon goals later this year might be cut short. So although I not only kicked my goal's butt with a 1:42:27 half marathon time, which was also a PR, I am going for faster and better running in my second challenge. Main Quest: To reach a 1:40:00 Half Marathon time. Until I can do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs there is always the need to get faster. I am planning on running the Narragansett Half Marathon on July 12th for now. Side Quest #1: To get faster I need to run more and better. I will be running 4-5 days a week and totaling 27-40 miles each week. I should top 200 miles by the time the challenge is done. Side Quest #2: I have completely dropped my body weight work after the last challenge and find the r/bodyweight routine not my type of work. I will be doing some body weight work 3 x week, but have not set what one yet. It must work push ups, pull ups and planks. Side Quest #3: I'm in the ballpark of my goal weight now at around 170-171 pounds, but I am keeping my MFP goal set at losing 0.5 lbs/week to keep from creeping back up. My goal is to not only keep to my calories each day, but also make sure I eat 2-3 servings of vegetables a week. I have no problem getting enough proteins and fruit, but vegetables often get forgotten as the week drags on. Life Quest: A scout is worth nothing if he can't do a bit of spying on the enemy. To improve my Charisma I need to work on my skills. I will require myself to talk for longer than 10 minutes with someone not in my family and preferably not a close friend (coworker or acquaintance counts) each day. Also I am working on learning Spanish and will require 30 XP of duolingo each day (up from 20 XP goal). Lastly I will try a service like Mixxer once or twice a week to gain confidence to speak with others in Spanish. I've set the bar pretty high this time and will rely on HabitRPG to track these goals daily as well as weekly. I also prefer to update my post here daily on weekdays so I have some accountability. With a week to go I plan on using the time to refine my body weight plan and test the Mixxer system for finding a good partner.

I sat out last challenge, as the bf was visiting (for TWO MONTHS) on business. Which was awesome except for the weight I gained...having bf in vacation-eating mode (eating out huge meals on the company's dime all the time) assisted my tumble off the wagon. Not back up to my pre-W30 weight, but ugh it does not feel good. One good thing is I've been getting to the gym more often over the past month, ideally that will become routine. I've had enough of going back and forth between restrictive, stressful healthy eating and going all out on cheese. Time to find that laser-like focus and combine it with joyfulness! Also...stubbornness because that comes more naturally to me than 'willpower'. This challenge I'm looking to wolves for inspiration: Main Quest: Get Lean Still looking to be under 25% body fat...still a long ways away. Quest #1: Be a Carnivore Wolves do not eat bread or cheese, because they are not meant to--and neither am I. Goal is to hit a protein and a vegetable at every meal. Time to get in touch with my primal instincts. I'd like to go completely Paleo, but have it be the way that I eat rather than a strict phase. I can have sweets if I make them myself GF/DF/etc (have plenty of Paleo cookbooks to guide me). Protein/Veg every meal: +4 CON Finding balance: +1 CON (If at the end of the challenge I feel like I could continue eating as I have been indefinitely, that will count as finding balance.) Quest #2: Run like a Predator Because I may actually run faster if I can have a steak at the end. Also, I've signed up for a 5k at the beginning of May and depending how that goes may try to increase distance. Dependent on my plantar fascitis. So I will also need to stretch like a predator to keep my calves/feet loose. Run 3x/week: +3 STA Stretch calves and roll feet daily: +1 DEX Finish 5k: +1 STA Quest #3: Hunt with the Pack Take group fitness classes every week to try new things, interact with people, and get a good workout. Hoping this will be fun and that I'll find a class I want to keep taking...maybe even make fitbuddies. Group class 1x/week: +1 CHA, +2 DEX Lifequest: Seek Joy Wolves play. For me, this is setting aside binge-watching TV for reading, crocheting, and miscellaneous DIY. Every week will try to make and read something new! Weekly book: +1 WIS Weekly make: +1 WIS

Hello! Well this is good timing! I'm on the long, slow grind of losing those last few pounds. Have been using MFP for ages to track calories - it's taken me the best part of a year to realise my maintenance calories have a HUGE range. Had to ditch my $10 per month subscription to Daily Burn - partly out of poverty, partly because their server is an old sack of poop and I'm tired of their excuses saying the trouble's on my end when I have absolutely no trouble streaming Netflix, Hulu etc, without constant buffering... I wrote down the kettlebell routines and there are plenty of yoga vids to watch for free online. My main challenge will be self-motivation - I like working out alone, but with instruction - even if it's just a computer shouting in my ear. This time it's going to have to come from me. Main Quest: 1. Achieve 20% body fat - should equate to getting down from 129lbs to 115lbs, but will adjust as necessary. 2. Work towards running a 10K race (mid-July) in under an hour, using a training programme. Quests: Carry on counting calories on MFP and Runkeeper - eat at deficit, eat half of exercise calories back. Strength and cardio from running and kettlebells for fitness and to maintain lean muscle mass. Yoga on rest days - vinyasa, ashtanga, or something restorative if I need a break. I use Grokker and Do Yoga With Me. Adapt this routine while on a week-long walking holiday in the Lake District - use Runkeeper on walks, suspend KBs and running, carry on with Yoga. Life Quest: Learn basic computer programming skills. To cut a long story short, I'm a performer. I don't have a back-up job, and most work-from-home stuff is either marketing or telesales, which I loathe to do. I love playing games and before I was a performer had a decent tech-based job, so I'm confident this can be done! Motivation: 1. Tried lots of different workouts over the last year, from Insanity, to weight training, to dancing, kettlebells, you name it.... and built up my strength and fitness over that time. I seem to carry all my body fat on my belly and now I want to see my hard-won abs! 2. My partner recently ran a half-marathon in a ridiculous time - while I've still got my faculties I want to do something cool, and raise awareness/money for my chosen charity too. The atmosphere at his race was out of this world as well. The race I've yet to sign up to takes you around Central London, and I don't believe there's any other event like that, aside from the London Marathon. ​3. I'm going on a walking holiday to the Lake District during this challenge. I will use Runkeeper to track those long walks. If memory serves I'll be walking all day and it will be too much, not to mention annoying to The Fellowship, should I decide to do Kettlebells or Running of an evening... Ashtanga Yoga should cover it.... Stats: Height: 5' 4" Current Weight: 129.2lbs Current Body Fat: 24.3% Goal Weight: 115lbs Goal Body Fat: 20% Is that enough info? Let me know if I've missed something out!

I learned about this race from a guy at work: http://www.rundisney.com/star-wars-half-marathon/ It sounds really cool, but registration is like 200 bucks! Has anybody done it before? Did you like it and was it worth the money?

Level 6: Let's Race! To run a 10K race Possible challenge reward: +4 STA & +2 CON I would very much like to be able to run 10K this year. I started running during the summer, and eventually ran a 5K race in Germany. Since January, I've been working on my 5K (PR: 27.00 minutes) and beginning to practice for longer distances. And then, I got a little excited yesterday and registered in a 10K race that is in one months time in Paris (Soli'run in Bois de Boulogne). Today, I'm still pretty excited about it, but I'm beginning to get butterflies in my stomach about the amount of work I need to do to prepare. So I've transferred out of the assassins to give scouting a proper go. If I ran 2.5 times per week then I'll get in 10 runs before the race. I can start at around 5km and increment by at least 0.5km for each run. Sounds terrifying and good. So I'm aiming for 2-3 runs per week. To improve my Spanish Possible challenge reward: +4 WIS & +2 CHA I'm been studying Spanish on and off for a while now since my boyfriend's family don't speak any English. In my last challenge, I took a new approach by focusing entirely on speaking and listening, and I have really improved and have really enjoyed doing it. My overarching goal for this year is to be able to chat with my boyfriend's lovely mother next time I see her (Summer/Christmas), but I'm so happy about my recent progress that I might be able to achieve a B2 level (CEFR system) of fluency in Spanish if I keep up the good work. I'm currently at A2+ level. I've been practicing and learning in various ways: reading Benny Lewis's book on language learning (FI3M), speaking for an hour at least once a week with my fantastic fellow NF rebel - SymphonicDan, listening to my Harry Potter audiobook, watching nostalgic cartoons (Jackie Chan Adventures & Pokémon) and using the Anki flashcard app to learn vocab. In this challenge, I want to supplement these things with: actually studying how to use some basic past and future tenses and hopefully working through some of the Edx course "Trasplante de organos - desafios éticos y juridicos", plus any other cool resources or ideas I have along the way. I will be using a points system, where I need to get at least 8 points per week. 1 point each for: 30 minutes of speaking 2 x Anki flashcard sessions 30 minutes of listening to an audiobook 1 hour of TV 1 hour of study 30 minutes of the Edx course? To do all the things Possible challenge reward: +3 in a mix of STR, DEX, STA, CON, WIS or CHA depending on weekend activities I wanted to have another goal to work towards, but in truth I just want to focus most of my efforts in running and Spanishing. So my third goal will be simple. I have a few ongoing projects and fun things such as bouldering, progressing towards a pull-up, learning to draw and doing Edx courses. For this goal, all I have to do is to make a list of fun things to do and things I have to do each weekend and to work through it as best I can. The idea is to be productive and not to waste time on things that don't matter to me. Here my mindset will count more than just ticking things of the list. Woop woop! Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys around the forum!

Howdy all, I am a newbie, and have no idea if I am posting this in the right place. I have a 10k race on May 3rd that I am prepping for. I ran my first marathon on the March 15th, but have to retrain myself for shorter hill runs. The race is up a fire road to the top of a small hill, and back with an average incline of 10%. Here is the race I am running: http://www.runtheverdugos.com/ My training schedule is attached. When I trained for the marathon, I mostly did flat running on the treadmill, or would do long runs on the beach which was easy breezy flat. All of the training runs are going to be at some kind of incline, but I am gonna do 5 miles as soon as I finish this post to see how it feels. Wish me luck, and if anybody has advice on hill training let me know! M

I'm admittedly coming in late to this challenge after a very intense summer of training. Because of this I plan to have this thread serve as a longer battle-log style thread with some moderate goals and some general keeping track. After the Ultra Beast this September I'm planning on taking a bit of an off-season until the start of December. I'll still be training and eating well, but with a decidedly different focus and less pressure. In fact this week I've decided to do nothing I don't want to! And I'll get back to real life in earnest next week. Upcoming Events: Soccer Season - starts 9/27 continues Saturdays through Dec 20 Malibu Spartan Hurricane Heat - Sat Dec 7th Malibu Spartan Sprint - Sun Dec 7th Tinsel Triathlon (short course) - Sun Dec 14th Here are some goals I have for the coming months: 1) Start taking pride in my apartment/look! - Organize wardrobe and start building a better career-centered clothes base - Redecorate living room and bedroom - Finalize bathroom 2) Lose weight (no I'm not that overweight, but 10-20lbs off my frame will be a huge relief if I want to run a 50miler in April 2015). - IF Protocol - Track Cals and Macros - Actually be accountable for weigh ins and measurements 3) Run 3-4x a week (with one HIIT/Speed Session) 4) Weight train 2x a week 5) Spent 15mins 3x a week focusing on yoga/foam rolling before bed My overarching goal is to reach a sustainable place with my training where I am consistent, and yet can miss a workout without fearing the world will end.

Hey everyone! I have a few more spots open for the so cal ragnar april 10-11th 2015, and I know I have room for some people for the Nappa one (date's not released yet). If you run both in a year you get the special gold rush medal!!! We may not be the fastest runners, but we will have fun. Some of us will be representing different causes during the race, Who I run 4 and Team Red White Blue in particular, but you don't have to belong to either to join us! Send me a message or post if you're interested

So there is a Gladiator Rock'n'Run on September 6th, 2014. It is in Shelby Township, MI at the Stony Creek Metro Park. I'm planning on running it, and I don't have anybody joining me, so if there are any nerds in the area that are running it or interested, I'd be willing to meet up for it! Here's a link to the website Disclaimer: I've only ever run a 5k before and I'm doing another 5k this year, but this will be my first crazy-ass hardcore event, so I'm scurrrrrrrred! Come be awesome with me!

Any doing Rock n Roll Portland on May 18th 2014? I'm going to be doing the 10k really excited for this one! Will be my first race medal!

Anyone else signed up for the Manchester NH Color Me Rad 5k? I just registered yesterday! Feel free to join my team (Team Badass)... I'd love some more company! Also - Until St. Paddy's Day there is a $10 discount with the promo code LUCKYMANCHESTER

Hi all, the second Spartan Race event in Germany has been announced, it will be in Cologne, right in my neck of the woods. http://de-de.spartanrace.com/spartan-sprint-koln-20140628 So i´ll run ,probably volunteer as well. I think having a team NF starting there would be cool. Anybody willing to join? Kilian

Would any of you Austin locals be interested in this? We could form a nerd fitness team, and crush the competition with our amazing nerdiness and fitness. If I can't find a team, I'll probably run it alone. http://xperienceadventures.com/

Hey guys! It's a new year and that means a new look at how I lived last year. I've decided that I want to be able to sign up for the Marines either before or on my birthday. So I only have four months to be ready. I can do this! Also I have a Super Spartan I have to get ready for that'll be starting Jan. 25, and I'll be running with another Nerd, the fabulous, Badass, and totally hardcore AWKWARDACTIVE!! And I'm really determined not to do a single freaking Burpee, or slow down AwkwardActive. Goal 1: Train 3x a week: My training goal for this challenge is: 50 FULL pushups 100 Hanging Leg Raises 2 Chin ups 50 Squats with 100# sandbag A+: Surpass at least two A: Accomplished goal F: Failed set goals Goal 2: Exercise and Stretch Concho Everyday: This should be simple enough, I'll obviously postpone this goal when I'm gone to my race. A+: Complete goal and take Concho hiking 2+x a week A: Complete Goal F: Miss two days Goal 3: Workout my Brain: This is my discipline, for me, anything mental related is hard. I have a really short attention span to certain things and tend to zone out when bored. Like Walter Mitty (awesome movie!). A+: Memorize "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe, something I've always wanted to do! A: Work and study everyday. F: Nothing. Goal 4: Grip Strength: If I want to achieve what I've been dreaming to do, then I need the grip of Hercules. I want to learn how to rock climb after all. A+: Hold onto the bar past a minute. A: 1 minute F: Not even a minute. Life Goal: Finish the Super Spartan. Ready to make this year the most memorable of my life!