the wolverine adventure series Where zenLara stops the rumours and proves she’s NOT a cyborg, but just a humble Wolverine…

[Lara]

There’s absolutely no need to painfully inject adamantium into your body to get that beautiful, totally shiny, unbreakable adamantium skeleton you’ve been dreaming of, you can build it yourself in the comfort of your own home… yes, you can, really, no pain. Well, some pain may be involved. But not much… How much, do you ask? Hmmm, do you see that barrel full of icy water, my dear? Just get in and we’ll talk…

 

Main goal. Complete the Wim Hof course, so as to become The Wolverine.

 

Starting the challenge at week 5 of the course – it doesn’t seem to involve moving to Svalbard yet 

Thinking on how intense this is going to be from now on, points are going to be generous here. Same as last challenge, it is an all or nothing goal, I do it or I don’t do it.

2 STR 2 DEX 2 WIS 2 CON

 

Second goal. Exercise.

 

Anything that helps to become The Wolverine, counts: self defence, running/sprinting, dead hangs/pull-up prep, push-ups, abs…

1 STR 1 DEX 2 STA 1 CON

 

Third goal. Don’t throw everything in the trash.

 

I’m getting back to work in a few days, and there is big danger here of getting overwhelmed. I am quite active at this moment, with plenty of exercise, the WH course, music practice and so, and soon my free time is going to be reduced. The goal will consist on being attentive and see whether I need to reduce my activity, by how much, and how much time it takes to adapt myself to the new routine.

2 WIS

 

If I succeed in finishing the course and I get all my points both from the course and the exercise goals, stats will change and I will start at Level 0 as The Wolverine, won’t be a Wood Elf anymore.

 

 

[Lara]

Day 29

Spoiler

Retention times: 2' - 2'35" - 2'45" - 2'45" - 45" (air out, push-ups)

Push-ups: from now on, push-ups are with no air, so quite different from until now. However, I managed to stay at my recent PR of 12 (a bit of bad form on the last 2).

How did I feel?

Lots of tingling over the legs during the breathing-retention cycles. Ears a bit clogged during the last cycle, some white noise during the 3rd. Push-ups felt weird with no air.

Yoga was fine and not fine, depending. Forwardbend is awesome right now, there is only space for 4 tight fingers between my knee and my head, which is quite an awesome accomplishment considering I've always been such a stick. I can't believe this changed so much in only 1 month. Backbend and twists are ok. This week butterfly has made its appearance, it feels so easy compared to what it has felt at other times of my life. However, I am far from the real thing. I will need a tutorial for the pigeon -prep for the splits- and I definitely can't do the f*** shelf. I barely managed to lift my weight from the floor and I am not even sure of what was happening. Did the crow afterwards. Today was time to try candle stick without arms support which looks like something I can easily do. For the headstand, there's no way I can lift my feet off the floor, so I'll keep on practicing it like that by now.

Meditation was ok, a bit distracted but not as much as other days.

Then, the moment of truth. I must say, I thought of you all before I entered the shower  NF support needed! I put some low music on the background to have something to cling to in case I were feeling bad. Which obviously happened, around the 6-7th minutes. It was just cold until the 5th or so, but afterwards, trouble with breathing, plus shivering, and I was even bored to be there. At some point I thought "please, let me get out", but in the end it was not that bad. Far from the heavy shivering from the first time. No teeth chattering, no weak legs, felt quite well after drying -a bit warm even- and putting on some clothes. Still no socks.

 

After what by now looks like a total feat, I ate breakfast and went to self-defence. Lots of sparring today, all of it sitting on the floor (the attackers are standing up, so basically you're screeeeeewed), but I managed quite well. Worked on evasive movements for knife attacks, and the abbess-in-the-orphanage guy told me I am really good at that. Crazy tired when coming home, but I had a meeting at work -short, but when I was leaving I bumped into the mother of one of my students and stayed chatting with her, so I ended arriving home at a quite late lunch time.

May or may not face an abs vid this afternoon.

[deftona]

Here to pretend I buy the zenLara non-cyborg propaganda. 

[Lara]

45 minutes ago, deftona said:

Here to pretend I buy the zenLara non-cyborg propaganda. 

[Dagger]

Cyborg wolverine:

[WhiteGhost]

I think you have some errors in the title of your thread. The corrected version should be:

 

Where zenLara stops the rumours and proves she’s NOT a complete cyborg yet, but just a badass Wolverine…

[Elastigirl]

I love the plan of levelling up your character!

[annyshay]

2 hours ago, Dagger said:

Cyborg wolverine:

Beat me to it!!!

 

16 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

I love the plan of levelling up your character!

I am also intrigued by this idea... 

 

Kick butt! (apparently from the floor, what even?)

[Lara]

3 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I think you have some errors in the title of your thread. The corrected version should be:

 

Where zenLara stops the rumours and proves she’s NOT a complete cyborg yet, but just a badass Wolverine…

When I read the first sentence I thought "oh, no, not my crappy grammar again", but NO SIR, I inform you that my title is CORRECT.

 

2 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

I love the plan of levelling up your character!

I hope I succeed!

 

1 hour ago, annyshay said:

I am also intrigued by this idea... 

 

Kick butt! (apparently from the floor, what even?)

We'll see what comes out of it...

Welcome!

[NeverThatBored]

I'm not convinced that you're not a cyborg, but I'll be following closely to study the evidence.

[Ensi]

Following!  Good luck with becoming Wolverine!!

[Lara]

10 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

I'm not convinced that you're not a cyborg, but I'll be following closely to study the evidence.

I thought at least you would support me in my dream of becoming a Wolverine and leaving behind all those cyborg accusations 

 

3 hours ago, Ensi said:

Following!  Good luck with becoming Wolverine!!

Thank you! Welcome!

[Lara]

Day 30

Spoiler

Retention times: 1'55" - 2'25" - 2'45" - THREE! - 37" (air out, push-ups)

Push-ups: 9. They fel exhausting today.

How did I feel?

The space between my knees and ankles seems to be receiving lots of attention from my blood flow these days. Tingling, sensations of opening, muscles moving a bit on their own...

Shaky after the push-ups. Meditation was just ok. Shelf: NO WAY. This is maybe one of those things that seem unattainable, but that will get better with time, however I am so so far from getting into that pose.

Now, the shower. A pattern is appearing. The beginning is hard -and today water felt even colder- but after a couple of minutes I am fine. Not comfortable, but fine. This holds up until around the 6-7th minute when everything changes and I start to shiver and to feel actually cold and I want it to end. That's the moment I am choosing to focus on an external object, in this case, music. I chose aerosmith's "crazy" and "I don't want to miss a thing" because the titles seemed appropriate for an awareness exercise under cold water  Then, for the last minute or so I seem to recover my courage and everything is fine again.

Came out shivering, but feeling some warmth. Cardigan on, no socks.

My boyfriend gave me the idea of taking an infusion after the shower to help recover body temperature more quickly but I tried today and it doesn't seem to work.

One hour after the shower, I've had this nice warm feeling that has began to spread from my ankles through my feet.

 

I woke up in the middle of the night with lots of anxiety feelings. This would usually end up with me being awaken and anxious for the rest of the night, but not today. It was easy to focus on the anxiety itself and let it go. I noticed which thoughts were on the background, but I knew they weren't important and were basically distortions, so I payed no attention to them and focused on feeling the anxiety. It went away so easily I am still puzzled. I went back to sleep without much trouble, and 3 hours later it happened again. Repeated the process and back to sleep again. One thought I had was that compared to the cold showers, anxiety wasn't that bad, nor that intense  Maybe I'm recalibrating my sensations according to my new Wolverine physiology...

I have also noticed another change that has started these last two weeks, and I am not sure where that comes from. Maybe from the self-defence training, maybe from this course... I am different with people. I can't explain everything that has changed because it is more about sensations and feelings than words but, here I am looking everybody straight in the eye, adopting power poses, well focused in the conversation... I've also noticed my posture is much better, probably from all the yoga, and that my walking is different and feels weird.

 

-----

 

Did a bit more of breathing and yoga, and added the 90's abs vid from the PvP. Intense.

[deftona]

1 minute ago, zenLara said:

I can't explain everything that has changed because it is more about sensations than words but, here I am looking everybody straight in the eye, adopting power poses, well focused in the conversation... I've also noticed my posture is much better, probably from all the yoga, and that my walking is different and feels weird.

 

....I dunno about Wolverine. It sounds to me like you're turning into Beyonce. 

 

[WhiteGhost]

You totally have the strength to do a shelf, you just need to work on getting the leverage from your elbows. For me it is all about getting them in tight under my pelvic bone.

 

For practice on how it should feel, you may want to try balancing across the back of a sofa (if you have one that isn't backed against a wall) to help give you a sense of where the balance point is. One you have a feel for that it should be easier to get the arms into the right place.

 

Also, still can't beleive you are going a full 3 minutes without breathing.  Total badass wolverine skill right there!

[Lara]

24 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

You totally have the strength to do a shelf, you just need to work on getting the leverage from your elbows. For me it is all about getting them in tight under my pelvic bone.

 

For practice on how it should feel, you may want to try balancing across the back of a sofa (if you have one that isn't backed against a wall) to help give you a sense of where the balance point is. One you have a feel for that it should be easier to get the arms into the right place.

 

Also, still can't beleive you are going a full 3 minutes without breathing.  Total badass wolverine skill right there!

WH says it's all about balance, more than strength, and about finding the right position for the elbows, so you two agree  -thanks for the couch advice, I'll move mine away from the wall to try.

However, I also think that I don't have the strength to detach myself from the floor. Yet. But I'll keep on trying. Things like a tuck sit or the crow felt like impossible at the beginning and now are easy to do, so this shouldn't be different.

 

The non breathing isn't difficult. I know it looks like it is, because when you try you immediately get these feelings of choking that are quite unpleasant, but with this type of breathing when you finally stop breathing you just enjoy the moment, feeling calm and noticing how the blood flows all over your body. It's quite a nice sensation, and definitely not a Wolverine feat (I see you omitted the cyborg part. Good. We may be friends after all).

 

1 hour ago, deftona said:

....I dunno about Wolverine. It sounds to me like you're turning into Beyonce. 

 

She looks quite agressive to me. Are you sure she is not a wolverine too? *scared*

 

[WhiteGhost]

21 minutes ago, zenLara said:

(I see you omitted the cyborg part. Good. We may be friends after all).

I can leave off the cyborg part but if you keep making progress at this rate you are going to have to own up to being a badass (even if it is a badass wolverine)

 

[annyshay]

14 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

I can leave off the cyborg part but if you keep making progress at this rate you are going to have to own up to being a badass (even if it is a badass wolverine)

 

THIS

 

[SymphonicDan]

Every time I read your thread I'm inspired to try out this Wim Hof course (or something similar) as soon as possible - so thank you  And that's the case even during the times when there are problems. You're doing awesomely - I'm excited to see the next half of the course.

[Lara]

Day 31

Spoiler

Retention times: 2'10" - 2'40" - 3' - 3'05" - 42" Those are quite heavy numbers!

Push-ups: back to 12. Wanted to try 13, but couldn't.

How did I feel?

Ear noise during first and last cycles. Again shiny spots in the eyes, very very shiny today. Intense sensations along the shins and ankles. I have a big visible vein in my left leg that began to pulsate.

Shaky after the push-ups.

Meditation was just fine. I still have troubles to stay focused. A bit unfocused during yoga too, however, good progress on butterfly and pigeon. Managed to hold the shelf for half a second, BUT, with my legs bent, which then makes it NOT a shelf, but I have to start somewhere. I find it difficult to attain the crow after I try the shelf, I may put some distance between them. 

Felt weak after yoga, and so hungry I had some bad sensations. Was doubting about taking the shower in that state, but went for it anyway. From minute 6 to the end it was a f*** nightmare. Shivering quite a lot afterwards, but some warm too. Feeling soooo light while preparing breakfast. Feet felt cold but tingly, like they were reacting to the cold (however, they remain cold).

 

I'm planning to go for a long walk today, maybe during the afternoon. Weather is great these days. Also, abs challenge has officially started and I'd like to try the first video.

[WhiteGhost]

Half a second with legs bent is still better than yesterday when you said 

On 9/12/2017 at 5:01 PM, zenLara said:

Shelf: NO WAY

Yay for progress!

[Lara]

6 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Half a second with legs bent is still better than yesterday when you said 

Yay for progress!

You are right there!

Thank you!

[Lara]

Day 32

Spoiler

Retention times: 2'10" - 2'20" - 2'50" - 3' - 33"

Push-ups: did 12 and did them in 10 seconds less than usual.

How did I feel?

Very relaxed during the breathing cycles. Lots of blood flow over the legs and feet and specially in the soles. Last cycle with shiny spots in the eyes (they have appeared every time I've made it to 3 minutes without breathing) and ears clogged. Fast push-ups, then shaky. Meditation meh. I need to improve this. Yoga was fine. Shelf was same as yesterday.

Shower was different today. After the first awful seconds, I felt fine, and then began to enjoy it, for about 5 minutes or so. Last 5 minutes have been way less shitty than these past days. Shivering strongly when finished, but recovered more quickly. Ears clogged. Nice and warm with clothes on, except for the hands, that remain cold. Once I was dry and dressed I had the thought that the shower felt short today.

 

[annyshay]

4 hours ago, zenLara said:

Once I was dry and dressed I had the thought that the shower felt short today.

Rawwwwwwwwr

[NeverThatBored]

4 minutes ago, annyshay said:

Rawwwwwwwwr