[Killashandra]

Hail fellow rebels, I'm Killa, and I'm going to be a Crystal Singer.

 

I'm relocating to the planet Ballybran in 6 months, to a cube somewhere near the Milekey ranges where I've heard the best supplies of black crystal are. (Only the best for me.)

 

I haven't taken the entrance exams yet, so I need to work hard before I apply join the Heptite Guild.

 

It's all pretty secretive, but as far as I've learned so far, Crystal singers need to be able to do the following:

 

1. Hike mountains searching for signs of crystal

 

2. Carry crates of crystal along mountain paths in gale force winds

 

3. Carry a crystal cutter on their back whilst carrying heavy crates of crystal in gale force winds

 

 

So, in order to build these skills, my goals for this challenge are:

 

*5 hill walks per week, minimum of 1km, maximum of 7km, 12:30min/km average pace, +/- 1 minute.

 

*Upper body strength training workout 2 times per week minimum, 4 times per week maximum, to help haul those crates. 

 

*Core strength training workout 2 times per week minimum, 4 times per week maximum, for stability in those gale force winds.

 

* Optional leaf blower training if I'm feeling extra tough. 

 

 

To do all this I'll have to give up some of my gaming and reading time, feel the pain of walking in the hot sun and having to put horrid sun screen on my skin, and get over the shame of sucking really badly at pushups.

 

I'll know I'm moving towards my goals when walking hills is easier, I feel stronger, my arms show more definition, and I start wondering what it would be like to hike with a heavy backpack. 

 

Thanks for the support, rebellion. I know I can do this with you behind me. 

 

K.

 

 

[Mefus Braf]

22 hours ago, Killashandra said:

Hail fellow rebels, I'm Killa, and I'm going to be a Crystal Singer.

 

I'm relocating to the planet Ballybran in 6 months, to a cube somewhere near the Milekey ranges where I've heard the best supplies of black crystal are. (Only the best for me.)

 

I haven't taken the entrance exams yet, so I need to work hard before I apply join the Heptite Guild.

I love those books, although gosh it has been ages since I've read them.  Good luck with your goals! 

[Killashandra]

11 minutes ago, Mefus Braf said:

I love those books, although gosh it has been ages since I've read them.  Good luck with your goals! 

 

Thanks Mefus! I love them too.  I've just finished re-reading them so I thought it might be fun to train like a crystal singer for a while. 

[Elastigirl]

Welcome! Hiking up hills is amazing for cardio and strength. Where I live, pretty much everywhere I walk has hills. It's really fun when they start to get easier to climb faster

[athousandwords]

I have no idea what any of this means, but it sounds fun!  Welcome aboard and best of luck with your goals! 

[Rooks]

Welcome to NF! Very cool goals. Rucking is always a good time. I'm with @athousandwords here. I've got no idea what the backstory is, but feel free to share. 😀

[Killashandra]

Thanks for the comments guys! 

 

16 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Welcome! Hiking up hills is amazing for cardio and strength. Where I live, pretty much everywhere I walk has hills. It's really fun when they start to get easier to climb faster

 

Hi @Elastigirl, it is! Same here, I live half way up a giant hill, so hill walking is a default, not an active choice. 🙂 I'm still waiting for it to get much easier, though I can already see an improvement! 

 

5 hours ago, athousandwords said:

I have no idea what any of this means, but it sounds fun!  Welcome aboard and best of luck with your goals! 

 

3 hours ago, Rooks said:

Welcome to NF! Very cool goals. Rucking is always a good time. I'm with @athousandwords here. I've got no idea what the backstory is, but feel free to share. 😀

 

Hi @athousandwords, hi @Rooks, thanks for the support! The crystal singers is a wonderful trilogy by Anne McCaffrey. It centres around an emotionally dramatic woman called Killshandra Ree, who refuses to be anything but the best. I love how intense and flawed and capable and determined she is. She makes no apologies for who she is and the rest of the world just had to deal with it. 😄 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/653711.Crystal_Singer

 

The first book is the crystal singer, then killshandra, then crystal line. 

 

I really recommend them if that's the kind of story you like. Anne McCaffrey writes such incredibly believable and detailed science fiction. I love all her other stuff too. 

 

Goal Update: I've managed a hill walk every day since I posted this, and am averaging about 4 a week backdated to when the challenge started. 

 

No pushups yet, that's next on the list. I'm getting quite an ab workout from the hill walks. 

 

I will be making a special effort to walk in the next storm that hits. It's often windy here, and storm walks are fun. At least they keep me cool. It's so hot here right now. 

[Shello]

Great challenge goals!  I live on a hill as well.  I can definitely gauge my fitness level by how much I'm dying at the top.  

[WhiteGhost]

Hi and welcome!  I haven't read anything by Anne McCaffrey but my sister loves her stuff.  I will have to check out some of her stuff.

 

 

[athousandwords]

18 hours ago, Killashandra said:

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/653711.Crystal_Singer

 

The first book is the crystal singer, then killshandra, then crystal line. 

 

I really recommend them if that's the kind of story you like. Anne McCaffrey writes such incredibly believable and detailed science fiction. I love all her other stuff too. 

 

Adding it to my to-read list! Thanks for sharing!

 

18 hours ago, Killashandra said:

Goal Update: I've managed a hill walk every day since I posted this, and am averaging about 4 a week backdated to when the challenge started. 

 

Nice work!

[Mad Hatter]

Welcome!  Can't say I've read the books (yet) but great challenge set up.

 

Awesome work on the hill walks!

[Kishi]

Awesome! I haven't read as much Anne McCaffrey as I should like. That is one of many things I should fix.

 

Glad to hear that the hill walking suited you! Hope the rest of the challenge has gone well.

[Killashandra]

Progress update:

 

Averaging 4 - 5 walks a week, slowly increasing the distance and difficulty each time. Today I managed to walk all the way to the bottom of the hill, then all the way to the top, then back to the middle, where I live. It's getting easier and I can do it without stopping now. Takes about 70 minutes, so it's not a small hill! 

 

Not quite at the point where I want to run it or carry heavy stuff, but also not totally ruined after a walk either. 

 

I did go from 76.6kgs down to 74.5kgs, and now seem to be back up to 76kgs again. Doesn't really matter, I'll just keep going and see where I am next month. 

[athousandwords]

On 3/6/2022 at 9:19 PM, Killashandra said:

Averaging 4 - 5 walks a week, slowly increasing the distance and difficulty each time. Today I managed to walk all the way to the bottom of the hill, then all the way to the top, then back to the middle, where I live. It's getting easier and I can do it without stopping now. Takes about 70 minutes, so it's not a small hill! 

 

That's impressive! Great job with the consistency!

[Kishi]

I'm actually really vibing with the walk goal. It's something I'm trying to do more of back here, and I haven't really got it figured out yet. Glad to see it's making a good difference for you!