Jarric - Building a Foundation

[Jarric]

Building a Foundation

 

Last challenge I kind of disappeared in week 5, and I don't really know why. All had been going reasonably well, but I just ran out of enthusiasm for my goals. I stopped doing my hip physio (which I'd been intermittent with anyway), I stopped sticking to my calorie goals (though I still tracked calories), and I got less consistent at brushing my teeth.

 

This zero week has been pretty stressful, as my internet has been disappearing for hours at a time. Given that I now work remotely from home, socialise virtually from home, play D&D from home, run D&D from home... you get the idea; home internet is quite an important part of my life right now! Up until this week I've been thriving in lockdown, it's been relatively easy for me to deal with and it's given me some new opportunities, but this week was tough.

 

This challenge I'll be focusing on one thing, my physio for my hip. Being comfortable and being able to do all the things I want to do is the most important thing, as several of you have pointed out, and to quote @DarK_RaideR you can build a ziggurat without a strong foundation. So my goals this challenge are thus:

 

Hip Exercises - 12XP

I have three exercises to do daily - clams, single leg glute bridges, and a hip hike/proprioception thing.

 

Hip Stretches - 12XP

Seven stretches to do daily - adductors, groin forwards, groin sideways, piriformis/figure-four (two variations), hamstring forward bend, hamstring standing.

 

Foam Rolling - 12XP 

IT band with a roller and glutes with a massage ball daily.

 

Glute Warmup - 7XP

Do a glute warmup/engagement routine three times per week (before each full run)

 

Pose Running - 7XP

Focus on running form, in terms of pose and posture, five times per week (during the three full runs and two sprint sessions). No pressure to think about it constantly, just remember to think about it at some point.

 

Other Stuff

These aren't challenge goals, but other things that will be happening:

• I'll be following the workout routine my coach sends me, which largely consists of handstands, pushups, handstand pushups, weighted pullups, and sprinting.
• I've recently bought an art programme called Art Quest, so I'll be doing lots of drawing
• I'm hoping to lose another 5lbs over the course of this challenge, so I'll continue to track calories
• I'll be running my D&D game (5e) with a lot of awesome nerds weekly, and playing my other two D&D games (Pathfinder 1e) every week and every other week respectively

 

I initially wasn't sure what to do for this challenge, so I asked the awesome people here for advice. Original post in spoiler:

 

Spoiler

 

???

 

Rangers, nerds, and rebels, I need your advice. I don't really know what to do with this challenge.

 

Last challenge I kind of disappeared in week 5, and I don't really know why. All had been going reasonably well, but I just ran out of enthusiasm for my goals. I stopped doing my hip physio (which I'd been intermittent with anyway), I stopped sticking to my calorie goals (though I still tracked calories), and I got less consistent at brushing my teeth.

 

This zero week has been pretty stressful, as my internet has been disappearing for hours at a time. Given that I now work remotely from home, socialise virtually from home, play D&D from home, run D&D from home... you get the idea; home internet is quite an important part of my life right now! Up until this week I've been thriving in lockdown, it's been relatively easy for me to deal with and it's given me some new opportunities, but this week was tough.

 

I know I want to do another challenge, but I don't know what direction to take. I've put some possible options down, but I'd really value your input on what works well for you, and what you think might work for me.

 

Option 1 - One goal

Work on hip physio, as that is the biggest issue for my health and long-term goals right now, and trust that everything else will fall in to place. I'd probably split this into a series of smaller goals - hip exercises, hip stretches, foam rolling, glute activation drills for running, and running form focus.

 

Option 2 - More of the same

Stick with the format which worked well for me for a few challenges, even though last challenge petered out. As I don't know why that challenge went wrong, I don't know if it'll happen again. Goals would be something like hip physio, exercise, calorie counting, art practice maybe. I only get points for goals if I have completed more foundational goals first (so if I don't do hip physio, for example, I don't get points for any of the others).

 

Option 3 - Writing

This option would be to have no goals, and instead focus on coming on here and writing campaign journals from the D&D (5e) game I run for WW, @Charlie_Quinn, @Rhovaniel, @DarK_RaideR, @jonfirestar, and @Mr_Willes, and for the two D&D (Pathfinder 1e) games that I play in. The logic being that just by being here and talking about stuff I'll stay motivated to do the things I know I need to do, without any pressure.

 

Option 4 - Schedule everything

This would be the opposite extreme to option 3, here I would schedule every moment of my day from waking to going to bed. I'd put that schedule in my phone with reminders so that everything I need to do gets done. I've heard about this approach in a few places and it sounds totally insane to me, but I think if I could pull it off for a few weeks it would be an interesting learning experience and a good habit builder.

 

So those are my first thoughts, what do you think?

 

 

[Elastigirl]

What  I decided to do this challenge was to do something different than what I've done before. I am working on one skill, the L-sit, and having all my strength and mobility support that goal. Maybe  something similar, where you do a different style of workout than you've done before will motivate you more

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I vote option 1. Get that hip fixed so everything else works.

[Jarric]

48 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

What  I decided to do this challenge was to do something different than what I've done before. I am working on one skill, the L-sit, and having all my strength and mobility support that goal. Maybe  something similar, where you do a different style of workout than you've done before will motivate you more

 

Yeah, I like the single focus idea. Workouts are the one thing I don't struggle with, I haven't missed a day in at least a couple of months, but the singular focus sounds like a good idea.

 

44 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I vote option 1. Get that hip fixed so everything else works.

 

It's a fair point, thanks man.

[DarK_RaideR]

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I vote option 1. Get that hip fixed so everything else works.

AgreeWithTank

Gotta lay the foundation for that Ziggurat.

[JuiceeTarget]

Really, any option is viable. But I would recommend not trying what you tried last time (Option 2) just to mix it up a bit. On that note, I think focus is a good thing and getting that hip physio sounds like it will set you up for whatever you want to do next challenge...

[WhiteGhost]

What about option 5, which is focusing on the hip physio but also do something else*

 

 * By something else I mean keep working on HSPU   I am working on them because of inspiration from you and its always great to have others all working towards the same goal

[deftona]

Here to vote for anything but option 4, unless the hidden point of option 4 is to do it for a while, then be super duper motivated to do any of the other options because hey, at least you don't have to do option 4 any more. 

[Terra]

I'll do hip stuff with you!  

[Jarric]

On 5/8/2020 at 6:12 PM, DarK_RaideR said:

AgreeWithTank

Gotta lay the foundation for that Ziggurat.

 

Good shout.

 

On 5/9/2020 at 1:47 AM, GoodDoug said:

Really, any option is viable. But I would recommend not trying what you tried last time (Option 2) just to mix it up a bit. On that note, I think focus is a good thing and getting that hip physio sounds like it will set you up for whatever you want to do next challenge...

 

Two very good points. Mixing it up would definitely be good.

 

22 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

What about option 5, which is focusing on the hip physio but also do something else*

 

 * By something else I mean keep working on HSPU   I am working on them because of inspiration from you and its always great to have others all working towards the same goal

 

Don't worry, no matter what I choose I'll still be getting my workout plan from my coach, and that plan will include daily handstand practice and/or handstand pushups. Now I know you're watching them I'll make sure to post videos too.

 

17 hours ago, deftona said:

Here to vote for anything but option 4, unless the hidden point of option 4 is to do it for a while, then be super duper motivated to do any of the other options because hey, at least you don't have to do option 4 any more. 

 

Yeah, option 4 sounds kinda hellish, but I included it because apparently it works for some people? Mostly I was wondering if I'd find any of those people here to tell me why it works!

 

2 hours ago, Terra said:

I'll do hip stuff with you!  

 

Now there's an offer I can't refuse

 

[Jarric]

So the big news is the internet is apparently not fixed, though amazingly it stayed on all day yesterday. Internet man has put a tracker on the router and is coming out again on Monday, so hopefully he'll figure it out. 

 

(Side note - Internet Man is a rubbish superhero name. Then again my internet is with Virgin Media, so I've been resisting the urge to call him Virgin Man.)

 

Yesterday was a good day. I chilled for a couple of hours in the morning having breakfast and a big pot of tea, then got out for a 15 mile run. It was hot as all hell so pretty tough going, but it was also beautiful outside and I very much enjoyed it. Also ran into a friend from the gym that I haven't seen since gyms closed, so it was nice to stop and talk to her from a distance.

 

In the afternoon I did some drawing - a terrible visual pun for a friend's birthday card, and we made our own pizza dough. Pizza in the evening was delicious with homemade tomato pizza sauce, mozzarella, cheddar, tomato, mushroom and chorizo. We should have made the base thinner though - we probably could have squeezed two bases out of all the dough we made!

 

In the evening I pretty much crashed out - I blame the run! (Or maybe stress from worrying about my internet connection!)

[Mr_Willes]

Keeping fingers crossed it will keep up for the upcoming 3 hours...

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

9 hours ago, Jarric said:

It was hot as all hell

I looked at the weather for your area yesterday.

After seeing the high temp I was unimpressed  

 

[jonfirestar]

9 hours ago, Jarric said:

Yeah, option 4 sounds kinda hellish, but I included it because apparently it works for some people? Mostly I was wondering if I'd find any of those people here to tell me why it works!

 

Well it works if you can stick to it. I've tried and failed lol but I got a lot done while I did stick to it. That said organisation and routine (especially atm) is probably a good thing. 

[Jarric]

4 hours ago, Mr_Willes said:

Keeping fingers crossed it will keep up for the upcoming 3 hours...

 

 

 

Glad it did! Hope you guys had fun

26 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I looked at the weather for your area yesterday.

After seeing the high temp I was unimpressed  

 

 

Yeah, I can't claim to compete with you. I think after about 5 minutes in your neck of the woods there would be nothing left of me but a puddle.

 

13 minutes ago, jonfirestar said:

Well it works if you can stick to it. I've tried and failed lol but I got a lot done while I did stick to it. That said organisation and routine (especially atm) is probably a good thing. 

 

Good to know that it sort of worked for you then. Might be an idea to bank for the future.

[Jarric]

Challenge updated with actual goals:

 

On 5/8/2020 at 3:53 PM, Jarric said:

Building a Foundation

 

Last challenge I kind of disappeared in week 5, and I don't really know why. All had been going reasonably well, but I just ran out of enthusiasm for my goals. I stopped doing my hip physio (which I'd been intermittent with anyway), I stopped sticking to my calorie goals (though I still tracked calories), and I got less consistent at brushing my teeth.

 

This zero week has been pretty stressful, as my internet has been disappearing for hours at a time. Given that I now work remotely from home, socialise virtually from home, play D&D from home, run D&D from home... you get the idea; home internet is quite an important part of my life right now! Up until this week I've been thriving in lockdown, it's been relatively easy for me to deal with and it's given me some new opportunities, but this week was tough.

 

This challenge I'll be focusing on one thing, my physio for my hip. Being comfortable and being able to do all the things I want to do is the most important thing, as several of you have pointed out, and to quote @DarK_RaideR you can build a ziggurat without a strong foundation. So my goals this challenge are thus:

 

Hip Exercises - 12XP

I have three exercises to do daily - clams, single leg glute bridges, and a hip hike/proprioception thing.

 

Hip Stretches - 12XP

Seven stretches to do daily - adductors, groin forwards, groin sideways, piriformis/figure-four (two variations), hamstring forward bend, hamstring standing.

 

Foam Rolling - 12XP 

IT band with a roller and glutes with a massage ball daily.

 

Glute Warmup - 7XP

Do a glute warmup/engagement routine three times per week (before each full run)

 

Pose Running - 7XP

Focus on running form, in terms of pose and posture, five times per week (during the three full runs and two sprint sessions). No pressure to think about it constantly, just remember to think about it at some point.

 

Other Stuff

These aren't challenge goals, but other things that will be happening:

• I'll be following the workout routine my coach sends me, which largely consists of handstands, pushups, handstand pushups, weighted pullups, and sprinting.
• I've recently bought an art programme called Art Quest, so I'll be doing lots of drawing
• I'm hoping to lose another 5lbs over the course of this challenge, so I'll continue to track calories
• I'll be running my D&D game (5e) with a lot of awesome nerds weekly, and playing my other two D&D games (Pathfinder 1e) every week and every other week respectively

 

I initially wasn't sure what to do for this challenge, so I asked the awesome people here for advice. Original post in spoiler:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

???

 

Rangers, nerds, and rebels, I need your advice. I don't really know what to do with this challenge.

 

Last challenge I kind of disappeared in week 5, and I don't really know why. All had been going reasonably well, but I just ran out of enthusiasm for my goals. I stopped doing my hip physio (which I'd been intermittent with anyway), I stopped sticking to my calorie goals (though I still tracked calories), and I got less consistent at brushing my teeth.

 

This zero week has been pretty stressful, as my internet has been disappearing for hours at a time. Given that I now work remotely from home, socialise virtually from home, play D&D from home, run D&D from home... you get the idea; home internet is quite an important part of my life right now! Up until this week I've been thriving in lockdown, it's been relatively easy for me to deal with and it's given me some new opportunities, but this week was tough.

 

I know I want to do another challenge, but I don't know what direction to take. I've put some possible options down, but I'd really value your input on what works well for you, and what you think might work for me.

 

Option 1 - One goal

Work on hip physio, as that is the biggest issue for my health and long-term goals right now, and trust that everything else will fall in to place. I'd probably split this into a series of smaller goals - hip exercises, hip stretches, foam rolling, glute activation drills for running, and running form focus.

 

Option 2 - More of the same

Stick with the format which worked well for me for a few challenges, even though last challenge petered out. As I don't know why that challenge went wrong, I don't know if it'll happen again. Goals would be something like hip physio, exercise, calorie counting, art practice maybe. I only get points for goals if I have completed more foundational goals first (so if I don't do hip physio, for example, I don't get points for any of the others).

 

Option 3 - Writing

This option would be to have no goals, and instead focus on coming on here and writing campaign journals from the D&D (5e) game I run for WW, @Charlie_Quinn, @Rhovaniel, @DarK_RaideR, @jonfirestar, and @Mr_Willes, and for the two D&D (Pathfinder 1e) games that I play in. The logic being that just by being here and talking about stuff I'll stay motivated to do the things I know I need to do, without any pressure.

 

Option 4 - Schedule everything

This would be the opposite extreme to option 3, here I would schedule every moment of my day from waking to going to bed. I'd put that schedule in my phone with reminders so that everything I need to do gets done. I've heard about this approach in a few places and it sounds totally insane to me, but I think if I could pull it off for a few weeks it would be an interesting learning experience and a good habit builder.

 

So those are my first thoughts, what do you think?

 

 

 

[jonfirestar]

35 minutes ago, Jarric said:

Good to know that it sort of worked for you then. Might be an idea to bank for the future.

Yeah. It sort of worked but @deftona is right, it was a case of finally feeling free of it when it was over. I don't know I think having certain things scheduled in (if you'd neglect or forget them) isn't a bad thing but a ridgid daily plan was too much for me. 

 

I think it helped me see the benefit in planning that way just maybe be completely honest and realistic about how much free time you actually want. (including things like breaks between activities). 

[Jarric]

53 minutes ago, jonfirestar said:

Yeah. It sort of worked but @deftona is right, it was a case of finally feeling free of it when it was over. I don't know I think having certain things scheduled in (if you'd neglect or forget them) isn't a bad thing but a ridgid daily plan was too much for me. 

 

I think it helped me see the benefit in planning that way just maybe be completely honest and realistic about how much free time you actually want. (including things like breaks between activities). 

 

Yeah, I'm terrible with free time - if I have it I immediately try to fill it, and I never allow time for stuff between activities. In fact I always imagine that I don't need any time to get from one thing to the next!

[WhiteGhost]

10 hours ago, Jarric said:

 

Yeah, I'm terrible with free time - if I have it I immediately try to fill it, and I never allow time for stuff between activities. In fact I always imagine that I don't need any time to get from one thing to the next!

I had to finally sit down and create a schedule for all of the time in my day because without it I would get stuck every time I had some free time and ended up filling it with Skyrim.

 

Nothing really wrong with that, but I wanted to get other stuff done and I was always forgetting it when the time came.  The only way I can make it actually work, though, is by having a very liberal forgiveness policy and doing things off plan for any reason (or no reason at all).  I just need something to provide "suggested activities" whenever free time happens so that I don't just revert to the default.  It seems to be working for now.

[DarK_RaideR]

On 5/10/2020 at 10:00 AM, Jarric said:

(Side note - Internet Man is a rubbish superhero name. Then again my internet is with Virgin Media, so I've been resisting the urge to call him Virgin Man.)

Considering his boss is Richard Branson, I like to think he and all his fellow employees look like Joe Exotic.

[//Min]

Hello Jarric! That sounds really painful... Cheering you on!!

 

Also, will you be posting any of your drawings? It's so exciting when people draw. ^_^

[Jarric]

17 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I had to finally sit down and create a schedule for all of the time in my day because without it I would get stuck every time I had some free time and ended up filling it with Skyrim.

 

Nothing really wrong with that, but I wanted to get other stuff done and I was always forgetting it when the time came.  The only way I can make it actually work, though, is by having a very liberal forgiveness policy and doing things off plan for any reason (or no reason at all).  I just need something to provide "suggested activities" whenever free time happens so that I don't just revert to the default.  It seems to be working for now.

 

Suggested activities are a good shout - I hate getting to the end of a day and realising I forgot about all the things I wanted to accomplish. I may have to include this in my bujo or something.

 

14 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Considering his boss is Richard Branson, I like to think he and all his fellow employees look like Joe Exotic.

 

I seem to have missed all the media stuff about Joe Exotic, so that reference goes straight over my head. Not sure if I'm missing out or not!

 

12 hours ago, //Min said:

Hello Jarric! That sounds really painful... Cheering you on!!

 

Also, will you be posting any of your drawings? It's so exciting when people draw.

 

Thank you! Yeah, I'll probably share some stuff, if any of it turns out well anyway!

[DarK_RaideR]

7 hours ago, Jarric said:

I seem to have missed all the media stuff about Joe Exotic, so that reference goes straight over my head. Not sure if I'm missing out or not!

Can't say, because I haven't watched Tiger King either, but it's such a big part of current pop culture trends that I'm showered with memes and references to the point where it's almost like I've seen it.

[Mr_Willes]

1 hour ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Can't say, because I haven't watched Tiger King either, but it's such a big part of current pop culture trends that I'm showered with memes and references to the point where it's almost like I've seen it.

 

2nded!

[deftona]

10 hours ago, Jarric said:

Not sure if I'm missing out or not!

 

You are