[Rhovaniel]

“Courage”

 

“Where will you go now?” Theyda asked, drawing her shawl tighter across her shoulders. The question had been rolling around in Rhovaniel’s mind for weeks now, and yet she was no nearer an answer.

“I don’t know” She admitted. Spoken aloud, it was terrifying, but she forced a smile. They were standing on the doorstep to the older woman’s lodging house; the streets were empty in this strange hour before the dawn, but a bitter wind was picking up in the street, and the women shivered.

“You should get back inside, the weather’s turning.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to stay a little longer dear? I don’t mind the company, truth be told. You’re more than welcome. Night on the house.”

“Theyda, you are far too kind. You know I’d love to stay longer, but adventure is calling me at last. It’s out there, beyond these streets and your lodging house, however comfortable it is.” The ranger sighed. “I – I need to do this, Theyda.”

“Well, then you take care, you hear? If you’re ever in Curfield again, you know you’re more than welcome. Very reasonable rates for a room. Not to mention excellent suppers, even if I do say so myself,” Theyda winked, and this time, Rhovaniel’s smile was genuine.

“I know, Theyda, and I thank you for that. Maybe our paths will cross again one day. Farewell!”

 

With a final wave, the door closed and Rhovaniel began walking. She waited until the large stone house was lost from view, and the town was at her back before letting out the deep sigh that had been building in her chest. Adjusting the straps of her pack, all her worldly belongings, she blinked rapidly a few times to clear the hazy moisture that insisted on welling up and took one final look back. Day was breaking, and even from a distance, Rhovaniel could see shutters opening, lights snuffed out as the sun crept over the horizon. She turned around and kept walking. Despite Theyda’s kind words, there was no going back to Curfield for her. She had grown stale and stagnant there, and it was time to once more follow her river.

[Rhovaniel]

Spoiler

Okay, I know I’ve done a ‘Chronicles’ challenge before, but shh. This is the new and improved revamped version 😋

 

I don’t know why, but January tends to be a where I gear up to change things before February arrives. No matter how much I plan for changes to start in January, they stubbornly insist that February is where it happens. This time, I’m rolling with it. There are Big Scary Changes ahead that, if I’m honest, are so overwhelming I don’t even want to look them directly in the eye until I’m ready. I know, chicken s**t. I don’t even know why. But there we are. I got to be ready for the changes and I got to be brave about them. More about them anon - they’ll end up woven into narrative, hopefully. Dealing with my problems through creative writing, why not! But anyway, onto the goals!

 

 

I honour my health and Vitality, I do not Squander It

This goal is two-fold. One, I’ve started Yoga with Adriene’s latest 30 day challenge she runs every January. I will therefore commit to doing this yoga practice every day. Good for the mind, hopefully good for my poor, tight calves and hamstrings. My challenge runs Monday – Sundays and you can’t stop me. Therefore, I start today, Monday 3^rd January and run until Sunday 6^th February. The extra 5 days, I will either begin a new challenge block from previous years or merely find some other YT practice/flow that works for me. The idea is simply to commit to daily yoga.

 

Yoga _/35

 

The second part is centred around nutrition. Stealing a phrase from our very own GIF Champion, I have been eating like a bastard, and it has GOT to stop. I am the absolute heaviest I have ever been and it cannot and will not be allowed to continue. To combat this, I commit to no takeout during the week – which naturally means meal prepping at least my work lunches. I have gained a bad habit of nipping across the road to the café where I can get a jacket potato instead of bringing in decent food.  No calorie or macro counting at this stage. Just making sure that I bring in (healthy) food for work. I’ll try to also get into the meal prep habit again, but I want to work out how that’s gonna work for me before making it a goal. Like, once a week or two? Can I handle little to no variety during the week or do I need to change it up a little more? Stuff like that I’ll figure out as I bring in my lunches. I am helped by the fact that the café in question is closed until the 10^th, and three other colleagues want to kick-start some weight loss as well. 

 

No takeout during the week:  _/25

 

I am Courageous, and I do not let Fear consume me

 

Writing is something I love, and for various reasons, I barely do it. I fear to show subpar work, I fear revealing that this thing I love to do is something I’m no good at, I fear – I fear too much. With the changes afoot, it is high time I let it be the refuge it once was. To effect this, I am trying to continue the theme of ‘Do This Every Day’. I am committing to an exercise called Morning Pages, where you are supposed to write 3 pages of longhand, freewriting anything that comes to mind first thing. I did it today and let me tell you it took bloody ages. In the interest of getting to work on time, I will be cutting that down to 2 sides of A4. I will also set myself the target of writing something every day. A journal entry. A piece of narrative for this challenge. A scene that pops into my head. I want to fall back in love with writing and the only way to do that is to write.

 

Morning Pages: _/35

Daily Writing of ‘Something’: _/35

 

 

Alongside all this, I will continue to walk in the Footsteps of the Dúnedain and get to the gym, though I’ve been contemplating changes with that, too. I’ll mention them here, but they’re not set goals because of schedule fluctuations, life changes and because I don’t want to overload with too many goals.

 

[Rhovaniel]

This being the 3rd Day of the Second Age, in the year 2022 by the *Shire Reckoning:

 

I honour my health and Vitality, I do not Squander It

Of to a strong start! No takeout today, though if I'm honest the main temptation is driving to/from work, or the aforementioned café near work. But hey, it all counts. I went for a nice walk that ended up being just over 6 miles, which combined with my 5 mile hike with a friend yesterday, my feet are feeling it. Yoga with Adriene day 2 was hard after that, but definitely worth it.

 

I am Courageous, and I do not let Fear consume me

I did my morning pages (which is why I know how long they take!) and I'm calling the narrative piece above enough to count, as I'm also currently writing some dnd prep for my Wednesday session. I never thought I'd have courage to run my own game, but I have some excellent players who are patient, understanding and so much fun. 

 

Health

Yoga: 1/35

No takeout during the week:  1/25

Courage

 

Morning Pages: 1/35

Daily Writing of ‘Something’: 1/35

 

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Hey Rho, following along again. Always glad to see the Dunedain telling more stories.

[Elastigirl]

Following along!

[shaar]

YAY so glad to hear you're off to a good start!

 

I hear you on side-eyeing the big looming stuff... deep breaths and stay your course and it will all be okay.  Whatever is staring you down, you're more than capable of taking it on. ❤️ 

[athousandwords]

Following! And happy to see someone else indulging in narrative challenges this year.  Very strong start - I love the challenge theme and the goals you've set!

[Rhovaniel]

On 1/3/2022 at 7:08 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Hey Rho, following along again. Always glad to see the Dunedain telling more stories.

Hey Tank! As always, glad to have you here  

 

On 1/3/2022 at 8:26 PM, Elastigirl said:

Following along!

EG! Yay! 

 

On 1/4/2022 at 2:01 PM, shaar said:

YAY so glad to hear you're off to a good start!

 

I hear you on side-eyeing the big looming stuff... deep breaths and stay your course and it will all be okay.  Whatever is staring you down, you're more than capable of taking it on. ❤️ 

Thanks Shaar. It's - I'm getting a little better. I am planning around it, whispering into my morning pages... baby steps. 

 

22 hours ago, athousandwords said:

Following! And happy to see someone else indulging in narrative challenges this year.  Very strong start - I love the challenge theme and the goals you've set!

hello! So glad toy see your name pop up here. And you have narrative too? Excellent!

 

So, I kinda forgot to update yesterday. I managed to get to the gym after work because we left an hour early - the new, hopefully not as awful as your interim manager starts today so I think that was the last we could do that for, but it was nice. We super-setted deadlifts with pull up progressions and once I realised my shoulders were getting fried and I could barely do a negative, I essentially just did deadlifts for that portion, because I knew we had 50 pull-ups/scaled option of that in the workout and it was a chipper, so all at once. I opted for ring rows. not trying to do negatives anymore was the right call, even with the rows I was struggling to hit 5 in a row. I gotta work on that. The whole workout, after the deadlift portion was:

For time:

50 pull ups (I subbed for ring rows)

50 deadlifts (kinda proud of me for this. I did 45kg for the first 25 reps, but then my lower back was starting to hurt so I slipped the 5s off and did the rest of them at 35kg

50 box jumps (ha. hahahahaha. No. I subbed the F out of those and stepped up every rep. I was also next to the woman who slipped doing them in JULY and she showed me her legs - they're still scarred, and she says jumping is still painful. NO THANKYOU)

50 DB Cleans (I used a 10kg DB, thinking that was going to be a little tough. It was... but also I did them unbroken, which was kinda huge for me!)

 

Made it in 13.03, and the time cap was 15 minutes. Pretty happy with that. 

 

All in all, a great workout, but it meant I was driving home late and hungry. The takeout cravings were there, I was literally just talking myself into a kfc when I remembered my goal, but knew I had zero patience to cook anything. So, I stopped by the supermarket and grabbed a few ready meals and a bunch of bananas. Gave my body something a little better than what it would have got. I let it settle and then did my yoga with Adriene before bed. Sure it was like 9.30pm and I was tired. But goals are there for a reason. To be done daily. Whether I'm tired or not, whether I had a tough day or not. Felt good and after the workout, I'm sure my body thanks me for it, too. Woke up this morning not feeling too achy. 

 

I honour my health and Vitality, I do not Squander It

Felt good to get this done, and get a workout in!

 

Yoga: 2/35

No takeout during the week:  2/25

 

I am Courageous, and I do not let Fear consume me

A little iffy on this. My morning pages were done in a few segments at work because I woke up my normal time and forgot I was going to get up early to get them written. I also wrote like maybe a couple sentences of nonsense I was messing around with. But it was a 'something' so it counts?

 

Morning Pages: 2/35

Daily Writing of ‘Something’: 2/35

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

2 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

But it was a 'something' so it counts?

It absolutely counts.

[Jarric]

Wow, that's an intense workout, well done Rho!

 

4 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

But it was a 'something' so it counts?

 

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

It absolutely counts.

 

IagreewithTank™

[Rhovaniel]

On 1/5/2022 at 5:22 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

It absolutely counts.

 

On 1/5/2022 at 7:20 PM, Jarric said:

Wow, that's an intense workout, well done Rho!

 

 

 

IagreewithTank™

Thanks guys. It will eventually add up, I'm sure. 

 

 

 

[Rhovaniel]

The day wore on, and still Rhovaniel walked. She made good progress, never pausing for long. For one thing, the wind was picking up and whilst it was impossible to keep out its relentless bite when moving, at rest it was almost unbearable. At times it seemed to go through her rather than around her, leaving her pierced with a thousand icy barbs. She struggled on for another hour, seeing no shelter in the harsh, formless landscape. She had no idea where she was going or what there might be out there, for good or ill, and not for the first time she felt the keen stab of longing to run all the way back to Curfield and beg a room in Theyda’s boarding house again. Eventually, she found the road sloping downwards, and the open fields began to be interspersed with little copses of trees.

Shivering, she stopped under the half shelter of a large, forlorn looking oak and fumbled around in her pack for her winter gear: a thick pair of gloves, purchased recently as a necessity, though her coin was running low. Once her fingers had warmed enough to work again, she pulled on her cloak. It was torn in several places, and these days her feeble attempts at mending the patches were starting to fray too. Mostly, it was her blanket on the road now, but as the afternoon faded to evening and the temperature dropped still further, it was another layer to gratefully pull on. She would need to pick up a hat the next town she reached, she decided. One thing she found in her pack, as she unfurled her cloak, was a care package Theyda must have slipped in some point that morning. Thick sandwiches, a lovely crunchy apple, generous helpings of two of her bakes. Theyda was a wonderful host, though the bakes were heavy and tended to make Rhovaniel feel sluggish and bloated, in that moment, she didn’t care. She sank against the tree’s trunk with her back to the wind and devoured both the bakes and the sandwich too. As the last sugary bite disappeared, she heard the first plop of a heavy rain plash first onto the upper branches, then more, multiplying second after second till the sound of the downpour filled her ears and deafened her to any other noise in the wilderness. Drawing her knees up tight to her chest, tucking her pack securely under her legs, Rho hugged her cloak around her and stared out miserably into the rain. What point was there in moving anyway? She had no where to go.

[Rhovaniel]

So… this week had a bit of a strong start leading to a ski slope crash out and a wobbly legged attempt to get back up. Wednesday was D&D night, and I missed yoga because I was last minute prepping and then when we signed off it was late and I crashed in bed.

 

Thursday ended up being a heck of day at work. I do not work 12 hour shifts. But it turned into 12 hours. We had to come in early and we left an hour and half late because the last surgeon (one for a morning list, another an afternoon list) couldn’t be bothered to arrive on time. Morning was good but tiring, I was observing in theatre (shoulder surgeries, I was just curious which is why I was there and not waiting around to fetch patients) but they were short on people so I ended up helping out (basic things like opening things so the scrub nurse can use them – they can’t touch the outside of packets or anything that’s not sterile whilst scrubbed – and transferring patients. I think I twinged my elbow on the last one. He took up a lot more of the slide sheet than then others, so I didn’t get as firm a grip on it before I had to yank it across). Then the afternoon was another on my feet all the time session and so I fell into bed with no yoga or writing.

I was going strong on my no takeout goal… till Friday. Another late shift, and I was all out of ready meals. I caved and bought mcdonalds because it was on the way home and I was so so done with the week. It’s an excuse, and a feeble one. But it’s what happened.

 

Today was a bit better. Did my writing (see above), and my morning pages. Got to the gym, did a 4km cycle (10 minute warm up) and then managed to hit 5x5 back squats at 45kg whilst maintaining proper depth. I tend to second guess my ability to stand it up when it gets heavy, but this time I made sure I was going low enough each rep. Finished off working up to 3 x 5 sets of deadlifts at 55kg. Felt good. Very hungry, so headed home after going shopping. I had intentions to meal prep my chicken and broccoli when I got in. What I did instead was heat up a meal I picked up (calorie count one), inhale a protein bar, respond to the RP chat the dnd group I run currently have and veg out to the Sims 4. I did get back on track with yoga though. So, clawing my way up.

 

Tomorrow will be better still.

 

Oh, a question for D&D folk: 

Spoiler

 

one of my players is a dragonborn monk of simple thought. On the fairy warlock’s not so innocent prompting, he seems to be about to offer to ‘take it outside’ with a pig farmer that is very drunk and very angry. A dragon stole his prized sow and even before, the sightings of the dragon have made him belligerent and very anti-dragon, which extends to a rather over-simplistic view that dragonborn are also somehow in league with the beast and therefore bad. (TL;DR the fairy’s mischief is providing the dim-witted spark to a tinderbox). How would you run a potential sparring/non-weapon combat with an NPC Farmer (they are level 2 with a feat)? 

 

It's spoilered because one of my players is on here  

 

[Jarric]

On 1/8/2022 at 11:12 PM, Rhovaniel said:

 

I was going strong on my no takeout goal… till Friday

 

4/5 is pretty good for week 1. If you weren't tracking this, how many more takeouts would you have had?

 

D&D stuff:

Spoiler

In terms of stats, it depends how difficult you want it to be, but I'm sure you can find/make an appropriate difficulty brawler for the combat. I would probably be inclined to make the NPC stronger and dealing more damage than the monk, as he will presumably have fewer attacks.

 

In terms of format, two players saying "I hit the other guy" over and over again for 10 rounds can get old pretty quick. I would try to make use of grapples, trips, shoves, pins, throwing dirt in his face, or anything else that makes the combat a bit more dynamic. If you lead by example, it may encourage the monk to do the same. Another option is to work with your environment - have them fight on a fallen tree over a stream to create an option for shoving each other off or jumping on each other from a great height, or seed the area with barrels to throw, branches to swing, and ropes to trip people with.

 

The more I write this the more I think @DarK_RaideR needs to get in here - a few wresting moves would be a great addition to this.

 

[Rhovaniel]

4 hours ago, Jarric said:

4/5 is pretty good for week 1. If you weren't tracking this, how many more takeouts would you have had?

This is an excellent point. At least twice, I was tempted but then remembered my goal. Thanks for the reminder

 

4 hours ago, Jarric said:

D&D stuff:

  Reveal hidden contents

In terms of stats, it depends how difficult you want it to be, but I'm sure you can find/make an appropriate difficulty brawler for the combat. I would probably be inclined to make the NPC stronger and dealing more damage than the monk, as he will presumably have fewer attacks.

 

In terms of format, two players saying "I hit the other guy" over and over again for 10 rounds can get old pretty quick. I would try to make use of grapples, trips, shoves, pins, throwing dirt in his face, or anything else that makes the combat a bit more dynamic. If you lead by example, it may encourage the monk to do the same. Another option is to work with your environment - have them fight on a fallen tree over a stream to create an option for shoving each other off or jumping on each other from a great height, or seed the area with barrels to throw, branches to swing, and ropes to trip people with.

 

The more I write this the more I think @DarK_RaideR needs to get in here - a few wresting moves would be a great addition to this.

 

This is actually excellent, thank you! 

Spoiler

I'm hoping the farmer's drunkenness will also come into play re: doing stupid shit  

 

Sunday was big couch potato vibes. I had plans but they got cancelled. I wrote my morning pages and got VERY PISSED ABOUT IT (idk why, I'm actually hating it right now), pottered about till I got my butt out the door for a 5 mile walk. FULLY planned to get home and do some much needed D&D prep. What I did was futz around on the sims for hours. I did force myself to unplug, do a miniscule amount of prep and get my yoga in. 

 

So, as Sunday was my last day of the week, let's wrap up:

 

 

I honour my health and Vitality, I do not Squander It

I did okay at this. One takeout of the week, but also I expected to be out this weekend, but that was cancelled so it kinda balanced in the end. Not too mad at it, if I'm honest. Yoga... I did miss 3 whole days and I'm not pleased with that. But I am back on track, just a few days behind. Toying with the idea of doubling up the practices to catch up, but honestly, I don't know if that would help. Helps me keep track of which video/day I'm on yes, but goals wise, my objective is to get into a daily yoga habit and get a little more mobility into my joints that whisper threateningly about the approaching doomsday (I turn 30 in around 5 months and am slightly freaked out about it)

 

Yoga: 4/35 (out of a possible 7 for week...)

No takeout during the week:  4/25 (I had one slip up, as Jarric says, it would have been worse if I wasn't tracking it)

 

I am Courageous, and I do not let Fear consume me

Holy heck in a handbasket. These morning pages are just:

I don't know why. I guess because it actually takes a long time, 30 - 40 minutes and I have Things To Do and Nothing To Say dammit. Will persist for this week maaaybe and then re-evaluate. I missed two days of the week 

 

Morning Pages: 5/35

Daily Writing of ‘Something’: 5/35

 

 

So, going forward:

 

-Really want to drop the morning pages but I don't know if this anger and uuuuuggghhh energy is something I should and can work through or not. Kinda like when you see burpees and thrusters programmed in the same WOD and everything in you wants to skip that b***h. 

- Kinda want to at least track my workouts more consistently. I've been skipping the coach led classes where I can in favour of open gym for heavier lifts and regaining some lost strength. So far, it's going well. I managed to move up to 47.5kg back squats (5 sets of 5) today and equalled my 1RM clean at 50kg. I want to build on that with at LEAST two strength sessions during the week (Programming is a little iffy, I'm muddling through but tips on straight strength (powerlifting/oly lifting) appreciated. And, actually write down what I lifted instead of relying on using the notes app on my phone. 

- Low key started to track calories again. Was kinda shocked at how much I've been over-eating. Going for a target of 1900/day. Not making a goal yet, depends on how my headspace copes with counting again. 

 

[Salinger]

Hey Rho 

 

Sorry i missed you ❤️ 

 

Here though now of course

 

You are doing so well! Your gym sessions are strong and amazing. And no takeouts going great, 4/5 is brill. Well done

 

Lots of love, xx

[DarK_RaideR]

9 hours ago, Jarric said:

D&D stuff:

  Reveal hidden contents

In terms of stats, it depends how difficult you want it to be, but I'm sure you can find/make an appropriate difficulty brawler for the combat. I would probably be inclined to make the NPC stronger and dealing more damage than the monk, as he will presumably have fewer attacks.

 

In terms of format, two players saying "I hit the other guy" over and over again for 10 rounds can get old pretty quick. I would try to make use of grapples, trips, shoves, pins, throwing dirt in his face, or anything else that makes the combat a bit more dynamic. If you lead by example, it may encourage the monk to do the same. Another option is to work with your environment - have them fight on a fallen tree over a stream to create an option for shoving each other off or jumping on each other from a great height, or seed the area with barrels to throw, branches to swing, and ropes to trip people with.

 

The more I write this the more I think @DarK_RaideR needs to get in here - a few wresting moves would be a great addition to this.

 

Spoiler

This is actually a great opportunity to address a few things.

 

D&d 5e characters, even starting ones, begin already as established heroes, way above the average person in the street. This is both a narrative convention, in the sense that they're not just your average farmer who picks up a pitchfork to defend their farm from marauding kobolds, as well as mechanical when you consider that the average human has a 10-11 (+0) attribute score across the board and that's before going into class powers. My point here is, even a starting PC should be able to knock out the average commoner NPC with a blow or two. Maybe you want to go down that path and skip the fight altogether in favor of a cinematic, maybe you want to run it as a combat, the outcome on both cases is the same, an easy victory for the PC. Now you don't want that, not only because it's not challenging but because it encourages the idea of them being almighty personalities who can do as they wish without consequences. That's basically how you get murderhobos.

 

@Jarric's onto something with trying to shake things up. Given the situation, I doubt an elaborate scenery could be set up or that a drunk commoner would even suggest it, so the way to go is the non-punching one. That would allow for a more interesting fight, plus provide you with an excuse to eliminate the monk's striking advantage, maybe even give the advantage to the NPC. Have them brag about how they'll put 'em down like a panicked baby calf and propose a wrestling match, where the winner is anyone who can pin their opponent, then give the NPC some minor but highly specific mechanical advantage due to their experience in catching and pinning farm animals.

 

I doubt the flashier moves of professional wrestling could work, as they're unrealistic, choreographed and meant to entertain an audience. Unless you want to go full on with that concept and have the winner be declared by who gets the most cheers or something, best leave that part aside.

 

[Jarric]

4 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

I turn 30 in around 5 months and am slightly freaked out about it

 

When I turned 30 I started to feel a lot more like I had my life in some semblance of order. At 32 I'm stronger than I ever was in my 20s, both physically and mentally, and I think I'm a better person. It's not all bad

 

5 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Really want to drop the morning pages but I don't know if this anger and uuuuuggghhh energy is something I should and can work through or not.

 

That's a tough one. It feels like a big time commitment, but if you have the time I feel like it'll probably get easier if you stick with it.

 

5 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Programming is a little iffy, I'm muddling through but tips on straight strength (powerlifting/oly lifting) appreciated. And, actually write down what I lifted instead of relying on using the notes app on my phone.

 

What lifts do you want to work on, and how many sessions per week do you have to do it in? That's probably going to dictate your programming.

 

Nothing wrong with keeping notes in your phone though - as long as you're tracking progress and know what you did last time. I've not used any, but I understand there's some good apps that you can track lifts and Crossfit workouts in - might be worth a look if you're using your phone anyway.

[Rhovaniel]

2 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

  Reveal hidden contents

This is actually a great opportunity to address a few things.

 

D&d 5e characters, even starting ones, begin already as established heroes, way above the average person in the street. This is both a narrative convention, in the sense that they're not just your average farmer who picks up a pitchfork to defend their farm from marauding kobolds, as well as mechanical when you consider that the average human has a 10-11 (+0) attribute score across the board and that's before going into class powers. My point here is, even a starting PC should be able to knock out the average commoner NPC with a blow or two. Maybe you want to go down that path and skip the fight altogether in favor of a cinematic, maybe you want to run it as a combat, the outcome on both cases is the same, an easy victory for the PC. Now you don't want that, not only because it's not challenging but because it encourages the idea of them being almighty personalities who can do as they wish without consequences. That's basically how you get murderhobos.

 

@Jarric's onto something with trying to shake things up. Given the situation, I doubt an elaborate scenery could be set up or that a drunk commoner would even suggest it, so the way to go is the non-punching one. That would allow for a more interesting fight, plus provide you with an excuse to eliminate the monk's striking advantage, maybe even give the advantage to the NPC. Have them brag about how they'll put 'em down like a panicked baby calf and propose a wrestling match, where the winner is anyone who can pin their opponent, then give the NPC some minor but highly specific mechanical advantage due to their experience in catching and pinning farm animals.

 

I doubt the flashier moves of professional wrestling could work, as they're unrealistic, choreographed and meant to entertain an audience. Unless you want to go full on with that concept and have the winner be declared by who gets the most cheers or something, best leave that part aside.

 

 

Spoiler

This I really like. Neither player strikes me as a murderhobo in any way, but I do want to build in some 'lets not just flatten people here okay?' stuff. If they insist on starting trouble, the innkeep is likely to bar the troublemaking ones for instance, so they'll have to find accomodation in the rougher tavern or elsewhere, and later down the line there is a bit of a plot development that goes much better for PCs if they have a good standing with the townsfolk. But that's quite a few sessions off yet. I'm hoping the cleric will step in but idk... if D&D has taught me anything it's don't assume you know what players are going to do! 

 

Thanks for your help guys, I think I know more how to handle this now!  

 

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

What lifts do you want to work on, and how many sessions per week do you have to do it in? That's probably going to dictate your programming.

 

Nothing wrong with keeping notes in your phone though - as long as you're tracking progress and know what you did last time. I've not used any, but I understand there's some good apps that you can track lifts and Crossfit workouts in - might be worth a look if you're using your phone anyway.

Primarily want to work on getting back some lost strength gains in things like back squat and deadlift, but also focus on improving in fun but technical lifts like cleans and overhead stuff. I feel like I've not progressed at all (in fact, I'm pretty sure my numbers dipped in 2021) so I want to focus on those core movements, drop some body fat at the same time and go from there. So far, my list is: Back Squats, Deadlifts, Cleans, Clean and Jerks, Shoulder Press, Front Squat (I want to get more confident with being in the low squat position with a heavy weight and standing it up). I thought about snatch, but honestly, I don't feel confident doing them when not in a class. Minimum 2 x sessions open gym a week (3 would mean back to back days at the weekend). Hoping to get at least one other gym day during the week too, but work can be tricky for that lately. Surgeons earn an awful lot of money. You'd think they'd spend it on getting a decent watch so they started a list on time 

 

I don't mind using my phone in the gym, it's convenient for one thing. But it's literally just a blank notes app, so I have to scroll through random stuff - like a half dozen to-do lists in various states of completion - before I find the last time I did back squats, for instance. I need to find something convenient that lets me log and track weights lifted over time and (hopefully) see some progress. 

 

 

[Jarric]

12 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

Primarily want to work on getting back some lost strength gains in things like back squat and deadlift, but also focus on improving in fun but technical lifts like cleans and overhead stuff. I feel like I've not progressed at all (in fact, I'm pretty sure my numbers dipped in 2021) so I want to focus on those core movements, drop some body fat at the same time and go from there. So far, my list is: Back Squats, Deadlifts, Cleans, Clean and Jerks, Shoulder Press, Front Squat (I want to get more confident with being in the low squat position with a heavy weight and standing it up). I thought about snatch, but honestly, I don't feel confident doing them when not in a class. Minimum 2 x sessions open gym a week (3 would mean back to back days at the weekend). Hoping to get at least one other gym day during the week too, but work can be tricky for that lately. Surgeons earn an awful lot of money. You'd think they'd spend it on getting a decent watch so they started a list on time 

 

Ok, so if you're looking at 2-3 days per week, I would probably just have two different workouts and alternate them. Options would either be lower body day and upper body day, or pull day and push day.

 

If you're going upper/lower split, then each day should include a push and a pull (e.g. OHP plus pullups, and squats plus deadlifts). Vice versa is your splitting push and pull each workout should be full body (e.g. squats plus OHP, deadlifts plus pullups).

 

And example might look like:

A - Squat variation (squat, front squat, or overhead squat)

    - Horizontal push variation (bench, pushups, dips)

    - Shoulder to overhead variation (OHP, push press, jerks, handstand pushups)

 

B - Ground pull variation (deadlifts, power cleans)

    - Horizontal pull variation (any kind of dumbbell/barbell row)

    - Pullup variation (rings rows, banded, strict, kipping, weighted)

 

If you wanted you could add some skill work to each - I'd probably do that at the start before you wear yourself out with the heavy stuff.

 

12 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

I need to find something convenient that lets me log and track weights lifted over time and (hopefully) see some progress.

 

I think @Starpuck uses an app to track her lifts, so she may have an answer for this?

[Rhovaniel]

Hey guys. Just a line to say I'm still here, technically. This week... this week is an actual train crash. You know how many goals I've hit so far?

 

 

 

Vernon Dursley might be happy, but I'm not. Clinging on by my fingernails, if I'm honest. Work is a factor, as well as other things messing with my headspace that, whilst I am trying to tackle, is also kinda like wrestling my cat into the cat carrier when he knows he's going to the vets. Painful, time-consuming and it won't go quietly (seriously, Frodo will yowl from the second he's in the carrier till the second he gets out). But hey, shortly after this scene in the film, the room starts filling with letters so maybe the back end of this week will see my days somehow filled with - goal completion?

 

Ha. Seriously, at this point I'm just holding on for dear life. But hey, an update! 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 minute ago, Rhovaniel said:

Hey guys. Just a line to say I'm still here, technically. This week... this week is an actual train crash. You know how many goals I've hit so far?

 

 

That's rough. I'm glad you updated, and hope things get better.

[Rhovaniel]

4 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

That's rough. I'm glad you updated, and hope things get better.

You too Tank. I seriously appreciate you checking in on my thread when things are rough for you too  Thank you.

[juliebarkley]

16 minutes ago, Rhovaniel said:

Clinging on by my fingernails, if I'm honest. Work is a factor, as well as other things messing with my headspace that, whilst I am trying to tackle, is also kinda like wrestling my cat into the cat carrier when he knows he's going to the vets. Painful, time-consuming and it won't go quietly (seriously, Frodo will yowl from the second he's in the carrier till the second he gets out). But hey, shortly after this scene in the film, the room starts filling with letters so maybe the back end of this week will see my days somehow filled with - goal completion?

 

Ha. Seriously, at this point I'm just holding on for dear life. But hey, an update! 

I have had a lot of times when I updated on a bad day or headspace, and it immediately started getting better. Maybe just from sharing the burden with someone else, maybe just mentally processing it by writing, who knows? I hope you get the same from your update. You deserve good things.

[Salinger]

Hey Rho, thinking of you. 

 

We are here with you, always, when you need us. 

 

Have you got any weekend plans? xx