[DarK_RaideR] does the thing and shuts his mouth

[DarK_RaideR]

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, you returned after a hard day's work to find thugs raiding your house. You scouted from a safe distance. They would pay for this with their lives.

 

You snuck back into the house through the escape tunnel you and Father had dug up. The irony of using it the opposite way than it was intended did not escape you as you and Florence made your way back in. The tunnel was mighty useful and led you all the way back into the home. You would fight and defend what was yours. Room by room, floor by floor, the two of you fought a deadly close quarters battle. What you didn't know at the time was that those hired thugs worked for the railroad. The corrupt local government deeded them your property, claiming the right of eminent domain. Making the house you were defending no longer yours. Every man you killed raised the reward on your head a little higher. Because now you were a wanted man. An outlaw.

 

When every last thug was silenced, the truth of your situation finally hit home. You had to run.

 

 

Diet and nutrition are back on point, proof that this morning I weighed in as much as last Friday, meaning those extra 2kg acquired over the weekend are now gone once again.

 

So I've been having a talk with the SRLF that started before this year's Open. Back in 2016, I was not yet a member of my current box, but visited every week to do the Open there. At the time, I was competing against the codenamed "Chubster" a.k.a. a guy my age but significantly more overweight who was still though going head to head with me on the leaderboards. Final workout of the year was the dreaded 16.5: For time, with no time cap, 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of thrusters and burpees over bar. Rx weight was 95lb and since I could handle that, albeit not at a really quick speed, I stubbornly decided to go Rx just so I could score the tie breaker and finish ahead of the Chubster. Back then it took me 33 minutes and 34 seconds of gruelling work, but I got it done. I guess it's been sort of a landmark thing since.

 

Back to this year's Open, me and the SRLF have been talking about how 2 years later I don't feel like I'm in the same or better shape, with her saying that I must have gained some strength and endurance that would allow me to hit the same time, if not better. I was hoping this year's repeat workout would be 16.5 so I could test this, but it wasn't. I haven't done this year's repeat workout before, so I don't have a score to compare. I finished 4 places ahead of the Chubster this year, but is that really a sign of progress? I'm not feeling like this was a good Open overall, though the SRLF thinks otherwise. Long story short, I had to put my money where my mouth is and do the thing regardless.

 

So while she was doing her tough rowing class on Tuesday (15 one-minute rounds at 30 s/m and 100% pull with one minute rest intervals) I signed up for Open Gym and re-tested 16.5 Rx. The good news is I'm pretty sure my reps were super clean, something I'm not certain about the 2016 attempt. I also upkept the new "jump up from the bottom of the burpee with both legs" standard which wasn't around in 2016 and my pacing was a lot more.... mature. The bad news is it took me 36:25 to finish it, which is 2'51" longer than my 2016 performance. Also, I ran into someone I haven't met in a long while...

Spoiler

 

It's-a me, Pukie the Clown!

 

SRLF insists it's not a major bump in time for such a long workout. She also says a casual setting of doing the WOD on my own might have been to blame, as opposed to the energy of the Open, having people cheer you on and other athletes doing the same WOD with you. Last but not least, back then I hadn't hit 30 years of age, which might also have something to do with it all. Myself, I'm just happy with the outcome, even if I wasn't able to hit the same score.

 

Never again though. Willingly, at least.

[shaar]

So I always forget you're doing a narrative here, and every time I see a preview of your latest post and it's all "so and so died!" or "hey thugs raided the house!" I do a SCREECH for a second like OH NO WHAT HAPPEN but then I remember......................

 

p h e w it's all ok everything's cool.

 

OH GOD PUKIE THE CLOWN, meeee~mories...............  Can confirm aging changes are the worst, even if it's just a few years.  Like I find the older I am the more just a liiittle bit of stress affects me, or if I have a beer with dinner the night before a workout, it affects me WAY more than it used to.  The stupid little things really make their mark and it's dumb.

 

You did the thing tho'!!

[Sylvaa]

8 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I finished 4 places ahead of the Chubster this year, but is that really a sign of progress? I'm not feeling like this was a good Open overall, though the SRLF thinks otherwise. Long story short, I had to put my money where my mouth is and do the thing regardless.

 

I tend to agree with SRLF, although I need more information to say for certain. Because over the course of two years, it's most likely not like he'd been sitting on his butt while you had been working out. So even placing a few places ahead of him is a potential sign of progress. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

30 isn’t old enough to slow you down for this sort of thing. I agree with SRLF, not having the cheering would make a big difference. As would proper vs sloppy burpees.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

D_R, the simple truth is you are the Ranger Commander and chubster is not. 

 

You win for all time.

 

So sayeth the oracle.

[Endor]

Firstly, voluntarily repeating 16.5 means you are a certifiable lunatic.   

 

Secondly, dude, you just did the Open, 5 weeks of gruelling workouts and hype, you're going to be background base level tired from all that effort. I wouldn't feel bad about 2 mins or so difference on a 36 min workout under these circumstances, she's right it's not a true 1 for 1 test. 

 

Turdly (!) being sick in a workout is not much fun and probably not a good sign, maybe you need some proper rest/deload week.  

 

Fourthly, 30 is still young. I'm serious, enjoy what your body can do now and how well you can recover, play the sports you enjoy while you can. Wait until you get to 40, that really is a shock. 

 

Finally, even completing that workout Rx is a significant achievement for anyone, well done.  

 

[Raxie]

Uhm you are awesome and you ROCKED THIS OPEN!  Each and every one of the 18 work outs looked insane to me and I am thoroughly impressed by any human that completed them.  And you not only completed them but you came in ahead of a competitor AND did a redo of a prior year just because?!

 

I agree with the others, that's not a big difference considering the length of the workout and the lack of cheering may sound silly but it really makes a huge difference. 

[DarK_RaideR]

On 28/3/2018 at 5:32 PM, shaar said:

So I always forget you're doing a narrative here, and every time I see a preview of your latest post and it's all "so and so died!" or "hey thugs raided the house!" I do a SCREECH for a second like OH NO WHAT HAPPEN but then I remember......................

There's an option on the right of that page to collapse the threads and only see the titles. Saves you from spoilers and confusion

 

22 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

I tend to agree with SRLF, although I need more information to say for certain. Because over the course of two years, it's most likely not like he'd been sitting on his butt while you had been working out. So even placing a few places ahead of him is a potential sign of progress. 

I know he had a minor injury after a bad landing he took while skydiving, but other than that he's been working hard.

 

16 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

You win for all time.

 

14 hours ago, Endor said:

Firstly, voluntarily repeating 16.5 means you are a certifiable lunatic.   

In other news, water is wet

 

14 hours ago, Endor said:

Secondly, dude, you just did the Open, 5 weeks of gruelling workouts and hype, you're going to be background base level tired from all that effort.

Yeah I got that comment from a lot of my fellow athletes, they said doing another thruster-heavy workout so soon was a bad idea. It may have been a factor.

 

14 hours ago, Endor said:

Turdly (!) being sick in a workout is not much fun and probably not a good sign, maybe you need some proper rest/deload week.  

I do Open workouts at Scaled and they're still not easy. This one was Rx, which should explain the grand finale. Still, since I did it Rx in 2016 because some people *cough* told me a single Rx rep places me above scaled athletes, I had to do it Rx again for the comparison to be valid.

 

36 minutes ago, Raxie said:

I agree with the others, that's not a big difference considering the length of the workout and the lack of cheering may sound silly but it really makes a huge difference. 

You do not sound silly at all. Cheering and competing both make a difference.

[Xena]

On 3/28/2018 at 5:15 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

30 isn’t old enough to slow you down for this sort of thing. I agree with SRLF, not having the cheering would make a big difference. As would proper vs sloppy burpees.

 

Agree with what all the others have said. Sloth said it pretty well.

 

I'm really impressed with your effort throughout the open. Especially some of the workouts you tackled a second time. You showed a lot of grit, which counts for a lot in my book.

[Endor]

On 30/03/2018 at 2:17 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

In other news, water is wet

[DarK_RaideR]

You lost everything, became an outlaw on the run. But you still had Florence. The love of your life. You were drifting through settlements, evading the law, gambling. And you did well enough. But whenever you won, someone had to lose. And if there was something the Masked Man truly could not stand, it was losing. Then, out of thin air, a gentleman appeared, offering to resolve your predicament, in return for your soul. Unaware of the gravity of the situation, you told him to go to hell, just as they surrounded the saloon. You were surrounded with nowhere to run. Every way out was barred or blocked. Enemies positioned themselves outside the windows. You were as good as dead.

 

Florence fell first, her eyes going glassy as her soul slipped away. You gave your last breath. But on that breath, you pledged to him. You gave your soul for a shot at revenge. Trapped between life and death, you now belonged to neither realm. The coffin nails didn't hold fast as you burst out of yours. You were supposed to be dead, so no one took notice right away. You found a good vantage point and the lead started flying. Each bullet you took, your flesh slowly spat it back out as it mended itself. With only one man left standing, you crept away to the telegraph and signaled for the enemy to send in more men, just so you could satisfy your bloodlust. You weren't done dispensing justice. Not long after, every living soul there was dead. But you? You were just getting started...

 

 

So a combination of post 16.5 DOMS, work overload and extreme traffic kept me away from the gym on various occasions until just yesterday, Tuesday the 3rd of April. I joined the rowing class for 15 rounds of 250m sprints at 28 s/m and 100% pull, which took me 15:46. Afterwards, I saw on the app that I've done this before, in 15:03 no less, another sign that I'm not as sharp as I used to be. On the bright side though, the SRLF suggested a tweak to our usual program in order to avoid the stress and traffic jams while minimizing time on the road. As of that, we'll be moving rowing classes to Saturday mornings, then staying for an extra hour to do a double workout. Thursday's yoga class is staying, maybe again a double class or not and I will try to sneak in another one early in the week, Monday or Tuesday but late enough so I don't have to do the whole ordeal of taking the car, driving to the SRLF's work, pick her up and drive to the box.

 

Nutrition-wise, I'm still zoning but it's a steady decline in rigidity as the day goes on. Breakfasts are textbook stuff, lunch is eyeballed but within the rules and dinner is a real exercise in constraint and item combos, especially if eating outside the house. Experience tells me there's a good chance dinners will not go as planned, so I make sure to have a solid breakfast that'll keep me going for long into noon, then an average lunch so there's wiggle room for evening shenanigans. With this and the option of skipping snacks if I need to cut down on the calorie total, I finally broke through the 86kg plateu this morning, even if it was just 85,9. It's probably gonna climb up again and fluctuate, but it's a sign I'm on the right path. Futhermore, the SRLF seems to be more thoughtful about her own diet, even if for now due to limited willpower she'd just like to cut down on sweets and eating out. It's a start and she has all my support.

[starpuck]

On 4/4/2018 at 6:11 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

Experience tells me there's a good chance dinners will not go as planned, so I make sure to have a solid breakfast that'll keep me going for long into noon, then an average lunch so there's wiggle room for evening shenanigans.

This is some wisdom here.   I think I do the same thing on most days, but I never really noticed the sensibility behind it!    It also makes it seem like a smaller problem to address when I look at it this way.   Instead of having a whole day of eating to fix, I have a few hours that need adjusting.  Thanks!

 

[SkyGirl]

On 4/4/2018 at 7:11 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

Nutrition-wise, I'm still zoning but it's a steady decline in rigidity as the day goes on. Breakfasts are textbook stuff, lunch is eyeballed but within the rules and dinner is a real exercise in constraint and item combos, especially if eating outside the house. Experience tells me there's a good chance dinners will not go as planned, so I make sure to have a solid breakfast that'll keep me going for long into noon, then an average lunch so there's wiggle room for evening shenanigans.

 

This is definitely how I eat too. My breakfast is usually just coffee, and I keep my lunches pretty small too, because I know dinner will be my largest meal of the day. It's not exactly an intermittent fasting schedule, but I do conserve calories at the beginning of the day so I have freedom to flex in the evening.

 

On 4/4/2018 at 7:11 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

Futhermore, the SRLF seems to be more thoughtful about her own diet, even if for now due to limited willpower she'd just like to cut down on sweets and eating out. It's a start and she has all my support.

 

If she's interested in joining us for support and accountability, she is absolutely welcome!!   

[Xena]

On 4/4/2018 at 7:11 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

even if for now due to limited willpower she'd just like to cut down on sweets and eating out.

 

Those two things make a huge difference!

[DarK_RaideR]

No narrative for this one, got quite some stuff to bring up and I haven't progressed further into the game so I wanna put this up now instead of forcing myself to play in order to add the narrative. Also, in other news, I got TEW to run on my laptop once again, so there may or may not be some wrestling narrative around these parts.

 

Last week being the one before Easter round these parts, I got a bonus day off from work on Thursday and Friday was that anyway, mourning over the grave of Jesus and all that jazz. Funny thing though, a friend of ours has her birthday on the 6th and since she also moved out on her own recently for the first time, we convinced her to throw a party anyway. Being a doctor, she had very little time to set it all up, so the SRLF took care of all the food supplies while I brought the laptop and speakers to play the music. This of course meant that we had to stick around till the very end, which then evolved into hitting a late night bar with the survivors, finally returning home around 6 in the morning. Since I am no longer in my twenties, most of Saturday was spent sleeping and somewhat recuperating. Good thing with being the dj is I had to stay mostly sober, so I only had like a couple of beers.

 

Saturday night I joined the SRLF and her mom to go to their local church for the whole tradition of holding a candle and passing around the holy light after midnight while underage kids shoot firecrackers all around. Not a big fan, but it's nice to keep up the tradition every once in a while, as it's been over a couple of years since I last bothered to visit a church on this big night. We then returned home to feast on the traditional "soup" of veggies and lamb organs

 

*insert death metal double bass drum blast*

 

As I've mentioned in the past, Easter Sunday here is a lot about being in the countryside (mainly the villages people are descended from) while spitroasting lamb-based products. We were in town and not cooking for many people, so lunch was had at the SRLF's home with her mom. We then met with friends later that night for a beer, people who'd gone out for a drink after the post-midnight feast the night before but who we couldn't join due to Friday's party leaving us in a bad shape to repeat it two times in a row.

 

Monday was also a holiday and after all these things, we decided to stay in and do some Domestic Rangering, the kind of stuff we never have time and/or courage for during regular days. We also watched Wrestlemania, last part of which I solo'd while ironing a ton of bedsheets. The rest of the evening was spent making plans for our UK trip.

 

With all the above, it's pretty obvious we haven't worked out in a while, even though our box was open all through the holiday season. It's been a conscious choice in order to let us rest and do some housework, though part of it was forced after Friday's party, meaning there was no chance we'd work out on Saturday.

 

Pretty good news nutrition-wise though. Of course I didn't stick to the Zone Diet during the holidays, but I was mindful with my eating, making sure I ate enough protein, didn't go overboard on carbs/sugar and keeping quantities to reasonable levels. This was evident when I weighed in at 86,3kg this Tuesday morning, not even half a kilo up from the last weigh-in before the holidays.

 

Biggest news though, I took the SRLF shopping on Monday the 2nd and grabbed her this little beauty:

 

Streets being empty while everyone was out on holiday, we had a relatively non-stressful environment to test double-riding the bike and I gotta say she's a model co-rider. Things went better than I'd hoped, both in her behavior and how I handled riding with a passenger, which led to several rides together during the last week. Short term, this should increase our maneuverability and reduce gasoline expenses, including rides to and from the crossfit box. Long term, I'm hoping for a few longer rides;even though the SRLF prefers a car to a bike, we can at least hit the beach much easier this coming summer or ride a little further to visit better beaches.

 

Last but not least, my mom slipped and took a nasty fall on Friday. Didn't break anything, but I'm spoilering the grisly details below:

Spoiler

So apparently while visiting a relative, my mom tripped and fell on some steps, stone-made that had been (badly) covered with concrete. Though she didn't break anything, one of the stones cut a real big hole on the front of her shin, big enough to cause a lot of bleeding and expose the bone underneath. Fortunately, my dad's a dentist so he kept his calm and was able to provide first aid that saved them the trip to the hospital. It's been getting better since and she's even able to walk around and take care of herself, but it's still an issue and certainly not something you'd like during the holiday season, or at all really.

Since I stayed here for the holidays, I've been planning to take a few days off and visit my hometown. After this incident, I thought of going there earlier, but it sounds like it's not that urgent and they don't need much help with housework etc. Most likely taking the ferry on Wednesday or Thursday night to stay there until Sunday night.

 

That is all, dear friends. This challenge is supposed to end this weekend, so my next post will probably be the challenge wrap-up. I may have not been present that much around these parts, but I got a good feeling about how it went.

[shaar]

Glad to hear from you dude!!

 

3 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

This of course meant that we had to stick around till the very end, which then evolved into hitting a late night bar with the survivors, finally returning home around 6 in the morning.

 

Wow I instantly got tired just from reading this P H E W.  Sometimes on a weekend I'll stay up until 1 AM gaming with friends but even THAT is a rarity hoo boy.

 

THAT HELMET IS SICK THO'!!!!  A++++ PURCHASE.

 

3 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I may have not been present that much around these parts, but I got a good feeling about how it went.

 

And this is all that matters!!

[starpuck]

What an update!  Feasts and feats and ... something with an F that has to do with motorcycles!        I grew up riding on the back of bikes (bro in law took me on a 100 mile ride when I was 10 lol!)  So when my friend joined a local biker gang (Bikers Against Child Abuse) she asked if I'd help her get used to a partner.  Man I miss it!   And she appreciated having someone who knew how to be a good rider.   Very cool that it went well!

[Xena]

Love the helmet! Glad your mom is ok.

[DarK_RaideR]

Quick update and challenge wrap-up, my mom's fine and an actual doctor checked her leg so it's just a matter of time till it heals up right again. Hometown visit went OK, rode my bike for something like 450km total and finally took my first dip in the water which means summer season has officially begun.

 

Calm your beefy neck, Kurt

 

I also had the time to play a wonderful D&d session with @Jarric, @Oramac and @Tanktimus the Encourager on Saturday, run by the amazing and funny @Starpuck which I hope becomes something more than a one-off deal.

 

Wasn't super mindful during my short holiday, but I did weigh in at exactly 85kg this morning, which means I actually lost weight in my absence and during the entire challenge. Stuff is happening regarding nutrition and a potential workout change, but I'm saving that for the first post of my next challenge thread.

 

Thanks for keeping up!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Always glad to smite those at whom you rage!

[DarK_RaideR]

In typical DERP fashion, I forgot to drop a link to the new challenge

 

[Oramac]

On 4/17/2018 at 2:54 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

I also had the time to play a wonderful D&d session with @Jarric, @Oramac and @Tanktimus the Encourager on Saturday, run by the amazing and funny @Starpuck which I hope becomes something more than a one-off deal.

 

Here's me being super late to the party, as usual.  But YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!  The game was so much fun.  I really hope it becomes more than a one-shot too.