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Epsilonte - Project "Shieldmaiden"


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Last challenge I rekindled my love for poledancing after the mess that was 2020 and finished my first semester of physiotherapy school. 

This challenge I want to deepen this connection with my chrome lover so I can finally feel strong like my true Norn self again. This will be a topic in my life until the end of August, when I will dance with my beloved bellydancing group in a probably very badass Viking themed choreo and I absoluteley want to look and feel the part. Hence: Project "Shieldmaiden". :D 

 

This time it will be a real CHALLENGE as well.

School starts again at full force on Monday, also two weeks ago I started working in my sparse spare time (10h a week), so it will need a bit more planning and discipline to achieve anything these next few weeks/months. 

 

My goals are:

 

1. Be wise like Raven: Keep up with the good school work (this will always be top priority for obvious reasons^^).

2. Be strong like Bear: Do one (or more) movement things a day. Best case: Pole and stretching. Worst case: 15 mins of stretching. Bonus: walks. Also there will be bellydancing classes that also count since the endgoal is a bellydancing choreo. :P 

3. Be strategic like Snow Leopard: Still go to bed at a reasonable hour (10-11pm-ish) and plan the following day before heading to bed. I will have a lot more early school days than last semester (that means: leaving the house before 7am - that is super early for me), so I need to keep my bedtime rather strict. *

4. Be loyal like Wolf: Try to keep up with my friend's challenges and post something at least 3 times a week (trying to be reasonable here xD). 

 

Image result for snow leopard, bear, raven

 

So more of the same things I did in the last challenges (sorry :D ), but with a new endgoal, a higher difficulty level and a slight Guildwars 2** theme. ^^

 

So grab some ale, my friends, sit by the fire and tell me of your heroic deeds!! ***

 

 

*ahem, totally not posting this challenge thread at 1am or something... Oops. :D It's ok, I still have one day to get back to my usual sleep schedule. xD 

** Yeah I know, Norn and Vikings might share some similarities, but are different things and neither do a lot of pole dancing, but it's my challenge and I get to do what I want with it. :P :D  

*** Or don't. I don't judge, you can also drink tea and sit there in silence if that is what you prefer. :D 

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Challenges: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, 13, 1415

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18 hours ago, Mike Wazowski said:

Oh hey, I’m not the only one reusing last challenge’s goals!!

 

Excited to hang around and cheer you on!

 

Never change a running system... xD :D 

Glad to have you!! :) 

 

7 hours ago, MezzotheLefty said:

I've got a mug of coffee and I applaud your theme challenge, Shieldmaiden!

 

Following ☺️

 

Welcome, my friend! :) 

 

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

This means you’re doing it right! 😄

 

Love the theme! And just because it’s not documented that norns did pole dancing doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Or something. 😅

 

Oooooh true. And with all the Ale they are drinking all the time... Also some of the armour the female Norn wear would totally be wearable on a pole. (I'm even thinking about basing my Viking costume on the Norn armour, maybe... ^^ Though costume making will be part of one of the future challenges, probably around April/May).

 

 

Today was a great last day of my vacation, we had some friends over (it's finally kinda allowed again xD) and played pen and paper. Lots of talking, not much fighting today. I drank a tiny amount of coffee. That might have been a bad idea... 

Also did some little bit of stretching in the morning, that counts. ^^ Especially since it's Sunday and the challenge for me does not really start until tomorrow. ^^ 

 

Plan for tomorrow (since I want to be strategic like a Snow Leopard): School starts at 8am (online) and goes till 2pm with 1h break in between. Ideally I want to use that break for stretching (or generally moving, after sitting for a few hours...). Afterwards it's eating time (I started intermittend fasting again a few weeks ago, I never used to eat much breakfast anyway, so eating late is nothing unusual for me^^) and then I want to spend the rest of the afternoon preparing for the school week. Evening plan: First pole challenge, then bellydancing class. We will see how much of this will turn into reality xD But I'm very confident, since most of my schedule is not planned by me, so I have to do it and I tend to be a lot more productive if I'm doing things "between two meetings" instead of just having the whole day to not start doing anything. :D). 

 

ETA: Oh, I forgot, I still owe you a review of "The Medium". :) We played the game this week, took us three evenings to finish it (steam says about 7,5 hours). So it's not terribly long, but it was fun! The puzzles are easy, but the atmosphere is great and the story is captivating (and sad). So overall we really enjoyed it (we took turns playing with the other one watching and/or making hot chocolate to calm down :P ). 

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Challenges: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, 13, 1415

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23 hours ago, Mike Wazowski said:

Solid first day plan! Hope the school restart doesn’t feel too, too sudden.

 

Yesterday it felt too soon (or rather the vacation felt too short, as is always does xD), but today it was fine. :) 

 

 

So let's check plan versus reality:

 School from 8 am to 2 pm with a stretching break: check. The first lecture was quite a bit shorter than expected, so I had some spare time and could do a longer stretching video (by a different teacher than usual, loved the change, new things to play around with! :D ) while still also doing random household stuff like putting away laundry and doing dishes. Win.  :D 

 Ate delicious pizza and chilled from 2 to 3

 Did my school stuff from 3 to 5, less than I expected, but still finished everything I wanted to do

Then we change plans: went for a walk and grocery shopping since we were in dire need of toilet paper. xD xD

 Pole challenge check. :) Had a lot of fun again tonight.

Bellydancing class was cancelled. My alternate plan: playing some Cyberpunk. What else. xD 

 

So Raven, Bear and Snow Leopard are pleased. Wolf is a bit sad, I did read some threads while eating my pizza, but I don't think I wrote much. 

 

Plan for tomorrow: School is online again, but starts a bit later tomorrow. I hope to get up at my usual time and get that stretching done before school starts. After school it's worky-work time... After that I might do some more school stuff, but that's optional since it will be a rather long day even without additional moodle stuff. I'd really love to go for a walk again and I also want to play more Cyberpunk, the side quests are so much fun right now! (I only have the last main quest left, I'm hopelessly overleveled, but I don't wanna stop playing, so now I'm doing ALL THE STUFF. xD Have played 85 hours so far. That game really was worth its price... xD).

Now off to bed! :) 

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Challenges: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, 13, 1415

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Thanks!! :D

 

Yesterday went again quite nicely like planned. I did stretch a bit later than I intended, but it was fine. Went for a super long walk in the evening, didn't play any Cyberpunk, but we watched Sherlock (BBC) while eating dinner and that was very nice and refreshing as well. 

Didn't manage to look much at the forums though, School is starting full force now. xD 

 

Today: My day started in the middle of the night, since I had to be at school (live) at 8. Rest of the day so far was spent working. 

I should do more school stuff and I have pole later today, but right now I'm just so damn tired that I'm really contemplating taking a nap (But I'm a bit afraid I might not wake up anymore today from said nap... Or nap for three hours and then not sleep at night). So right now I'm just kinda existing, even though the plan says "school stuff". xD 

Ah well, it would be weird if every day went according to plan. :P 

Challenges: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, 13, 1415

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Finished yesterday with a walk, school stuff and an early bed time. No pole, too tired. 

 

Today was an early day again, but not as early, and those 45mins more in the morning really make a huge difference. Had a lot of fun at school, rushed home to attend a work meeting (my former manager is leaving, it was fun but sad but very nice, but sad... xD And I really wanted to say goodbye even though today would not be a working day for me). Then more school stuff and now I'm relaxing.

Overall the last two-three days were super tiring. xD And it's just the first week. xD xD This semester will be fun. 

 

Feels like weekend already, since tomorrow we have only online stuff. :D 

Since I didn't do any pole, dancing or stretching since MONDAY (aaaaah) I plan to do at least a stretching session and either Wednesday's pole session in between my online stuff or Friday's session live so make up for it. Maybe even both pole things. Or some more dancing. I need to MOOOOVE! We did move a little bit today at school, but not much. 

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4 hours ago, Mike Wazowski said:

Oof, sorry the school stuff has been so tiring lately for you.

 

Hopefully the body adapts soon!

 

Awww thanks! I think it's more the combination of school stuff and working again that will take some time getting used to. Tuesday to Thursday were rather dense days in that regard. But all the things we are doing right now are suuuuuuper interesting, that really keeps me going. :) Lots of physics based stuff, biomechanics and such. ❤️ 

 

 

Today was much better! 

I did follow my plan - did a lot of school stuff and 1h of stretching in between. I even managed to do a pole session in the evening. Had a lot of fun there, I really needed that. :) 

Weekend will probably be nice, I will do more online lecture stuff - we have a ton of things to do on moodle right now, also the first three (!) exams will already be in March, so there is always enough stuff to study. xD I quite enjoy this, it's nice to do things on my own time, feels a bit more like university and a bit less like school right now. xD

Might even get to play some Cyberpunk tomorrow... And I plan to do another pole session tomorrow, I still have to catch up Wednesday's class. 

Monday will be an online only day as well, so I plan to do a little zoom session right in the morning with some friends to talk about all the online stuff, since that really helps with understanding everything. Like a little study group. 

 

Today I learned that vacuuming totally counts as exercise (it's a physical activity with moderate intensity :D ), so that will be part of my exercise plan for tomorrow. :P 

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https://imgur.com/a/IhyIp3D

 

Did some stretching today. It almost felt kinda good. xD It has gotten a lot easier to switch from straddle to middlesplits lately. :)

 

Yesterday I did nothing. xD Ok no, I studied and then went to visit a friend - she is moving to my neighborhood right now (15mins walk :) ) and got her new bed delivered yesterday. So of course I grabbed my yoga mats (to sit on) and walked there, and we sat on the floor on her empty flat, waiting for the delivery, eating sushi and drinking sparkling wine to celebrate. It was awesome. :D 

Rest of the day was spent playing Cyberpunk. 

 

Today: Study time, then stretching, now study time again... :D It's very foggy and cold outside and cozy inside, perfect weather for studying with a cup of hot tea and the cat sitting nearby. :) 

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Yeah, that looks so smooth and comfortable! You make me want to stretch more! 

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Raptron, alot assassin

67666564636261605958 575655545352515049484746454443424140393837363534333231302928272625242322212019181716151413121110987 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

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On 2/21/2021 at 6:45 PM, Mad Hatter said:

Looking great!

 

Thaaaanks :D  

 

5 hours ago, raptron said:

Yeah, that looks so smooth and comfortable! You make me want to stretch more! 

 

It didn't feel that bad as well. :D And yay that makes me happy! Stretching is fun!!

 

 

Updatey update:

I was lazy. :D Ok no I wasn't, just too busy. Those 10h/week of work really bite into my workout time. 😕 And energy. (But getting some money to buy chocolate is nice too :P

 

Monday: Stretched and did two bellydancing classes (plus lots of studying). 

Tuesday: Stretched a little less and... nothing more. xD I basically had school from 8 am to 8 pm (mostly because I did an optional lecture in the evening that was suuuuuuuuuper interesting!! No regrets there. :D I need to learn myofascial trigger point therapy, that stuff is awesome. :D. I had planned to do pole afterwards, but I just didn't have the energy. 

Wednesday: 3,5h lecture, 7h work. Afterwards I took a walk because I couldn't think straight. No pole or stretching. :( 

Thursday: 3h work, off to school, corona test on the way home (they are fast and free :P Take just 20 mins and that is only because you have to sit there for 15 mins waiting for the result xD I have to go to the dentist tomorrow and just wanted to be extra sure I'm fine. :) )  and then I just walked the rest home, all in all I did about double the steps I usually do today. xD And then I had another awesome bellydancing class. :D 

 

So looking back it wasn't too bad, but I want to do more poooole. I have a huge chunk of time reserved for pole tomorrow, so I really hope I get to dance a bit. :) 

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Challenges: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12, 13, 1415

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On 2/26/2021 at 5:48 AM, PaulG said:


That’s what we all do it for — that sweet, sweet chocolate money. :D

 

Yess! Why else should we do this? :D 

 

32 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Did you get to pole this weekend?

 

Yes!! Did a nice 2,5h session on Friday. :) I was super weak, but still had fun and that is the important part. ^^

 

Then I was sore all Saturday. xD

 

 

Sooo Update:

Friday: Went to the dentist (I hate my teeth, they are the most expensive thing I own... And will get more expensive in the next years. QQ Already have the next two appointments set for March QQ), then I wanted to get some (extremely good, and also vegan xD) ice cream as a treat for going to the dentist, but the ice cream shop didn't open for another 1,5 hours... Sad story. So I danced my ice cream longing out on the pole (did a Dan-recording, some freestyle and a recorded stretching class), then went to school and that was basically it for the day. xD

Saturday: Some studying, then we had an online meeting of my fantasy book club (always nice, we used to brunch and eat fancy stuff, which isn't really possible right now, but online is better than nothing^^), then I had an online meeting with my study group. Went for a long walk and grocery shopping afterwards (forgot about buying chocolate!!! But I got some nice gummy candy and other treats :D ), then more studying, then netflix and ALL the eating. Great Saturday overall, 10/10, would do again. xD

 

Today: Well, I got up and that's it for now. xD I plan to clean the bathroom and do a stretching class, but we will see. I also plan to do some studying since it's a lot of fun right now. Maybe some pole? 

 

Regarding pole I'm super torn right now. I want to do more, but during the week I'm lacking the time/energy for it... Dan has now a whole platform for his classes (awesome!! even kinda cheap, if you do all of the classes, which I don't have the time for), but I'm not sure if I want to subscribe there. I mean I really WANT to, but even though it's not that expensive, it's still slightly more than I can spare right now. But without the external pressure of having these classes I fear I will go back to my usual quarantine life of not touching the poor pole at all... :(

I just wish the Pole Studios (and Fitness studios for that matter) were finally allowed to open up again, that makes everything so much easier and more fun. But looking at our numbers I don't think it will happen anytime soon... We have been closed since November now. :( I miss it so much!

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1 hour ago, Epsilonte said:

Yes!! Did a nice 2,5h session on Friday. :) I was super weak, but still had fun and that is the important part. ^^

Yay! That's a looong session! :o 

 

1 hour ago, Epsilonte said:

Regarding pole I'm super torn right now. I want to do more, but during the week I'm lacking the time/energy for it... Dan has now a whole platform for his classes (awesome!! even kinda cheap, if you do all of the classes, which I don't have the time for), but I'm not sure if I want to subscribe there. I mean I really WANT to, but even though it's not that expensive, it's still slightly more than I can spare right now. But without the external pressure of having these classes I fear I will go back to my usual quarantine life of not touching the poor pole at all... :(

Oof that's a rough spot to be in, especially as you just started to get back into the groove. But I also understand that your schedule is preeetty damn hectic between school and work and the show. Could you set up regular pole dates for a looser structure but with some accountability? Or focus more on dancing around on your own as end of day wind downs or movement breaks? Plus maybe a bit of token conditioning when you feel up for it- 

 

I miss IRL classes too.

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3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Yay! That's a looong session! :o 

 

It also had a "freestyle - watch the video - dance again - watch the video..." part in it, so it wasn't 2,5h of pure pole. xD But still, it's waaaay more than I did in January, just the fact that doing a Dan-Video went from "do it and die of exhaustion" to "oh yeah, afterwards I'm warm enough to dance some" in just two months is really remarkable and awesome. :D 

 

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

But I also understand that your schedule is preeetty damn hectic between school and work and the show.

 

Haha the show part hasn't even begun for real yet. xD Might have overdone it a little bit. Oops. ^^ Eh, that's a problem for future Epsilonte and next challenge. :P  (I'm really hoping for my breaks for this one - I have easter break right after our first two choreography workshops, so some time to practice and start thinking about the costume, and a school break during all of August right before the show, so even more time to finish everything and practice to perfection. :D

 

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Could you set up regular pole dates for a looser structure but with some accountability? Or focus more on dancing around on your own as end of day wind downs or movement breaks?

 

I try to. I have at least one big Pole chunk set apart in my calendar per week for the next two weeks and will see how that goes. 

End of day wind down... On very long days I am not able to do more than "watch youtube and play solitaire and minesweeper on the second screen" (still better than mindlessly scrolling through facebook and instagram xD), but for the days where I have a little more energy this would be a great idea. It's just I don't really know beforehand how the days will feel like, sometimes even "not so long" days are exhausting. xD On the other hand: I know once I start I will GET the energy to keep going, it's just the starting that's difficult. Maybe I can do virtual poledates with my pole sisters... Hmmm I'll ask them right away. :D Accountability ftw!! 

Or/And I could make a plan of maybe two or three Dan-like exercises (done enough of those to know them very well :P ) to do as a "warmup/mini-session" and then see if I want to do more or totally count that as a workout in itself. Dan-light. xD 

 

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Plus maybe a bit of token conditioning when you feel up for it- 

 

Who does feel up for conditioning like... ever?? xD xD Not me, that's for sure. :P But I do feel great afterwards... 

 

Thanks for the different inputs, @Mad Hatter, really helped me think about this. :) 

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53 minutes ago, Epsilonte said:

It also had a "freestyle - watch the video - dance again - watch the video..." part in it, so it wasn't 2,5h of pure pole. xD But still, it's waaaay more than I did in January, just the fact that doing a Dan-Video went from "do it and die of exhaustion" to "oh yeah, afterwards I'm warm enough to dance some" in just two months is really remarkable and awesome. :D 

That is fantastic!

 

52 minutes ago, Epsilonte said:

Eh, that's a problem for future Epsilonte and next challenge. :P 

Excellent strategy! What could possibly go wrong? 😄

 

43 minutes ago, Epsilonte said:

Who does feel up for conditioning like... ever?? xD xD Not me, that's for sure. :P But I do feel great afterwards... 

Hahaha poor wording on my part. 🤣 I definitely meant what you already suggested, starting with a warm up dance or regular warm up and then tacking on a little extra purely for maintenance, if you find the strength on the particular day. I know it sucks not being able to train as much as you'd like, but recovery and energy management should probably take priority for now, whatever that means for you. It's all good whether it's youtube or minesweeper or pole!

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On 2/28/2021 at 4:08 PM, Mad Hatter said:

Excellent strategy! What could possibly go wrong? 😄

 

Nothing, future Epsilonte will have it all totally planned out. Or something. xD 

 

 

 

Sunday: Cleaned the flat (so much better now ❤️ ), did my studies, did my stretches - something new this time. I have this (german... again xD sorry) YouTuber I follow who does awesome funny upcycling videos of old clothes. She is a professional dancer (and living in my hood xD) and did a video for fun recently, where she shows us her usual stretching routine. And another one where she does all kinds of shoulder rolls. So that's what I did - first a normal stretching video as a warmup, then the youtube one, then some shoulder rolls because I love shoulder rolls. xD Then I cleaned (in hindsight - vacuuming first and then doing shoulder rolls is the better way around... xD).

Took a nice long walk afterwards to get my steps in and chilled for the rest of the evening. 

 

Monday: First work, then live school. Not too bad today. 

One of my fellow students brought his slackline with him, so we went to the park after class and I tried (miserably :D ) to cross that thing for the first time. That is waaaaay more difficult than it looks like. Also: I know my left leg is better at balancing, but I didn't know until today that the right one is THIS weak at it... xD Standing on the left leg, I could almost stride elegantly and smoothly, standing on the right... not so much. xD But we had a lot of fun, also did some handstand and general rolling around in the grass until it got too cold because the sun started going down. 

Came home right in time for bellydancing class and... it got cancelled. Well, I spend my evening with more studying instead, which is always good. ^^ 

Got my steps in by not taking all trains I could have taken (so I walked part of my commute - all of it would be 2,5h one way by foot, that is a bit overkill :D )

 

Tomorrow: School all day (but it's not too bad, less than 7 hours with one of those being lunch break) and in the evening I really want to do some pole. Now that it is written here, it shall happen!! :) No excuses: the floor is (reasonably) clean, I have a plan of stuff I want to do written down in my pole planner and as far as I know I don't need to do anything else that evening. Not even going for a walk if I sprinkle in my walking like I did today... ^^ 

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Tuesday: School was fine, and I felt very energized when I got home since I walked the last three km of my commute and the sun was shining and everything was nice. :D Then I spend over an hour trying to get an appointment for my covid vaccination... Well  I'll try again tomorrow. (WHO thought, doing that via phone on an already overbooked phone line, was a good idea??? gaaaah. I hate talking on the phone. Not that I did much talking in these 75 minutes before I gave up... Hmpf xD) Then I felt very tired and demotivated... But I still did my Pole stuff and now I'm happier again. xD

Will go to bed soon. :)

But I had got the best compliment ever today at school. We were doing gait analysis (of each other, as usual) and one of my fellow class mates told me that "even if you just walk it looks like you're dancing". ❤️ (Thinking about it now... I think with the "walk barefoot in front of everone and everone is watching you" I automatically fell into my "pole teaching gait". Probably. xD 

 

Plan for tomorrow: Work (plus staying on the phone...), online school, pilates. Yes you read that right. We are doing a "come together and do some sports" evening at work, so they have booked a pop pilates class just for us, I have time and don't need to leave the house for this, so of course I will join. xD We will see how that goes. xD xD 

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