[Jarric]

Jarric vs Mountain

 

Before I talk about what I'm doing this challenge, it's important to remember my plans for the year, so here's my 2023 road map.

  

On 12/29/2022 at 9:58 PM, Jarric said:

2023 road map

 

Last year I decided that, rather than post my road map for the year in a battle log and then forget about it, that I would put it at the top of my first challenge for the year, and then repeat it in every subsequent challenge. That worked fairly well, so I'm sticking with it.

 

I also decided last year to divide the things that are important to me into 5 pillars, and map each of those pillars onto a D&D stat. For how that went you can see my 2022 wrap up here, but the final result was as follows:

 

Level 17 Wood Elf Ranger

STR: 12  -  CON: 10  -  CHA: 3  -  SAN: 7  -  INT: 11

 

This year I'll be following a very similar format, trying to earn points to increase those stats as much as possible. I'll also be including some specific benchmarks within some of the pillars - not necessarily goals to hit (though I might well have challenge goals working towards them), but to see what I can tick off by the end of the year.

 

Exercise (Strength)

This pillar is all about the physical activities I do, be that OCR, climbing, crossfit, running, swimming, whatever. It also encompasses activity that enables those things, like yoga, physio, foam rolling etc. I don't separate between STR and DEX, because I don't really think that makes sense for the kind of things I do.

 

Specific benchmarks I'd like to hit:

• Complete Strong Viking in June Edit - June: done!  
• Complete Man vs Mountain in September
• Climb a font 7A
• Climb a font 6A outside
• Get reliable ring muscle ups
• Get reliable bar muscle ups
• Handwalk 12ft
• Learn to kip up
• Squatmas: 50 reps at 75% bodyweight, unbroken
• Deadliftmas: 50 reps at 100% bodyweight unbroken

 

I also need to plan out a few more OCRs, maybe a triathlon or aquathlon. I'd like to do a novice strongman competition too.

 

Nutrition (Constitution)

This is about putting the right things in my body (hey, if a joke ain't broke, don't fix it). That includes food, obviously, but also alcohol and caffeine, not smoking, basically whatever I consume. Currently I'm trying to bulk up a bit, and at the moment I anticipate cycling cutting and bulking for the year.

 

Creativity (Charisma)

This is a stat I didn't hit much all year, so I'm really keen to boost this stat in 2023. I think being creative is really good for me, and it's something I want to do more of. In order to enable this I'll probably also need to redress my work/life balance, to give me some more creative energy. This includes drawing/art, music, and D&D stuff.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Publish some of my own D&D content online
• Be prepared (enough) for every session of my D&D campaign
• Complete Inktober this year
• If I reduce my working days, use the extra day creatively

 

May edit: I'm now confirmed to be working 4 days per week from September, so I'll need to find a way to use those extra days creatively  

 

Self-care (Sanity)

2022 was a trying year, and 2023 is definitely going to have its challenges (though fewer of them would be nice). With that in mind I need to keep on with the little things that keep my mind in check - brushing my teeth, keeping in touch with friends, tidying my house, getting out of work on time. I got most of my points in this last year from brushing my teeth, a habit I hope I may have finally cracked (at the age of 33!). This year I want to get more points in this stat, and get them from more different activities.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Sort out the outhouse, and run power down there
• Get a price for the porch
• Paint my office
• Go away with friends Edit - June: though it wasn't the trip I was thinking of, I did have a great time in The Netherlands with Rhovaniel

 

Learning (Intelligence)

I like learning stuff for pleasure, and I need to do it for work. This encompasses my professional qualifications, language learning (currently learning Dutch and French), and anything else I want to study.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Complete professional qualification completed in April  
• Achieve extra qualification status
• Converse in French with a francophone
• Converse in Dutch in The Netherlands went to The Netherlands in June - 'converse' might be a strong word but I used a bit of Dutch!

 

*    *    *

 

Under the hood

Each challenge goal will have stats assigned to it, which I earn on successful completion, and over the course of the year I want to get all of my stats as high as possible. My character level is determined by XP (and has been for possibly all of my years on NF) - each stat point is worth 5XP and I level up every 100XP. There's no requirement to hit all of the stats every month, I can mix and match depending on what I need at the time.

 

Each month I will budget £250* as a bet against my goals. On pay day I will split that money. For the percentage of success I've had on my goals since the previous pay day I get to keep the money in my savings or spend it on something nice. For the percentages of goals I fail I have to transfer that money as an extra payment off my mortgage. The idea is that if I'm not improving future Jarric by hitting my goals I'll improve things for him by reducing his debt instead. This runs payday to payday, rather than with the challenge cycle, because it ensures that I actually have the money to pay the bet when it's due.

 

*Edit - this number is necessarily changing over the course of the year, because I've changed how I do my savings to earn more interest, and because I'll be taking a pay cut to reduce my working hours. There is still an allocation for this though.

 

This challenge has a lot of exciting things happening right at the end of it. Firstly, I'll be running Man vs Mountain on 2nd September. It's a 22 mile run up and back down Mount Snowdon in Wales, including probably some abseiling and lake wading and that kind of stuff. I'm really looking forward to it, but it's scary to think about how little training time I have left after working towards this for 9 months!

 

Secondly, from September I'll be going part time. That won't affect much this challenge, except that I'll be trying to clear stuff at work in anticipating of having fewer hours to do things in, but I'm really excited that I'll be working a 4-day week 

 

Goals-wise, last challenge was pretty good so I'm not changing much. Let's get into it.

 

The chronologist [+2 SAN]

 

Get to work (either physically in the office, or sat at my desk at home) by 08:35 on work days.

 

This is goal went very poorly last challenge in one way, and really quite well in another. I'd been late for work a couple of times, and really wanted to nip that in the bud before it becomes something that I become known for. I start work at 08:45, so the goal of being ready 10 minutes early allows me to get sorted, log in, and actually be working by that time.

 

What actually happened is I barely ever hit my goal time of 08:35, but I always got in by 08:45, so it sort of worked? I want to do better this month, and so I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm going to set a reward for a goal. If I achieve at least 80% success on this challenge goal, I get to buy these:

 

 

Aren't they pretty? My elven cleric of Aphrodite, Psyche, has a lot of rose-themed weapons thanks to a visit to a temple to Aphrodite, and these would be perfect for her.

 

The decisionist [+2 CON]

 

 

I started cutting last challenge, looking to lose 0.75% of my total body weight each week. The plan is simple; I'll track calories every day, weigh myself weekly, and adjust my weekly calorie target based on the week's results. I've also refined an old method I used to have - each week I'll divide my weekly calorie target by 8, giving me 7 daily targets and then a buffer that I can spend throughout the week. Each day I'll write down how much I used from my buffer, and try to keep enough buffer left to finish on track for the week.

 

I've put together a spreadsheet with my goal weights, and here's where we'll be up the the end of the challenge:

 

Date	Target	Actual	Change	Actual kg
26/06/2023	180	180		81.65
03/07/2023	178.65	180	0	81.65
10/07/2023	177.310125	180	0	81.65
17/07/2023	175.9802991	182	2	82.55
24/07/2023	174.6604468	178	-4	80.74
31/07/2023	173.3504935
07/08/2023	172.0503648
14/08/2023	170.759987
21/08/2023	170.759987
28/08/2023	170.759987

 

As you can see, I'm planning to stop cutting just before Man vs Mountain, to make sure it doesn't interfere with the race too much. Having said that, I'm also behind on the weight target, so we'll see how that goes.

 

Scoring for this goal will just be based on whether or not I tracked every day, regardless of whether I manage to hit my calories perfectly or not.

 

The muscle [+1 CON]

2 shakes per day, every day.

 

Over the last 2 challenges I've been experimenting with a recovery shake after my workouts, and last challenge I also added in creatine to my routine. Both seem to be working a bit, though it's really hard to tell. I'm going to stick with them, and try to be mindful of how/if they're helping.

 

De vertaler [+1 INT]

 

I'm cloning the translator this challenge, and splitting him into two goals. The first is to work on Dutch, using Duolingo, every day.

 

I really liked being able to speak a little Dutch in The Netherlands this year, but it would be nice if I understood a whole lot more. I may very well be going back for another Strong Viking next year (or maybe an Iron Viking), so I want to build on this.

 

Le traducteur [+1 INT]

 

I'm cloning the translator this challenge, and splitting him into two goals. The second is to work on French, using Duolingo, every day.

 

Next year I'll be going to Paris for a week to see a bit of the Olympics (which I believe starts 1 year today), so I want to get as good as possible at French before then. My French is already a lot better than my Dutch, so it'll be interesting to see how far I can take it.

 

The face [+1 SAN]

 

Brush my teeth, twice every day.

 

I did excellently on this last challenge, and I had a very positive dentist visit towards the end of the month, so I want to make sure I keep it up.

 

As my goals haven't changed, I'll be starting them in zero week, so lets go!

[sylph]

31 minutes ago, Jarric said:

Secondly, from September I'll be going part time. That won't affect much this challenge, except that I'll be trying to clear stuff at work in anticipating of having fewer hours to do things in, but I'm really excited that I'll be working a 4-day week 

This is very exciting!

 

I love being part time--though I quickly found ways to fill up my 'spare' hours

[Rhovaniel]

Hey Jarric! I already can't wait till the race report for the Mountain!

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

What actually happened is I barely ever hit my goal time of 08:35, but I always got in by 08:45, so it sort of worked? I want to do better this month, and so I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm going to set a reward for a goal. If I achieve at least 80% success on this challenge goal, I get to buy these:

 

Those dice are incredible! Now I'M invested in seeing you get to work on time so you can get them. 

 

I, however, must exercise restraint. I will not become a dice goblin. I will not.

 

[Jarric]

1 hour ago, sylph said:

This is very exciting!

 

I love being part time--though I quickly found ways to fill up my 'spare' hours

 

I'm sure! How long have you worked part time for, and how quickly did the extra time fill up?

 

24 minutes ago, Rhovaniel said:

Hey Jarric! I already can't wait till the race report for the Mountain!

Those dice are incredible! Now I'M invested in seeing you get to work on time so you can get them. 

 

I, however, must exercise restraint. I will not become a dice goblin. I will not.

 

 

Thanks, I look forward to writing it! 

 

Feel free to remind me that you need me to go to work on time so that I buy the dice - it might just help.

[shaar]

Yesssss congrats on the part time! I too work 4 days a week and it is definitely a nice change to ease into. Work/life balance FTW!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following. 

[Mad Hatter]

4 day week - niice! Congrats! 

[Sovalis]

Those dice are lovely! Here to cheer you on to getting them!

[WhiteGhost]

That cut is a lot of math.  Good thing you will have an extra day a chance eek to work out your calorie schedule...

[sylph]

15 hours ago, Jarric said:

 

I'm sure! How long have you worked part time for, and how quickly did the extra time fill up?

 

I went part time at the same time I went remote and moved out of state.

Also COVID was happening...So... three years, ish?

 

So initially the 'spare' time went to dealing with the existential dread that comes from a worldwide pandemic.

Aside from that, it gradually filled with all the things I didn't get around to when working full time--mostly cooking actual food and doing actual yard/house maintenance.

Still a fair amount of time for books and video games--though now sewing is taking up most of my free time.

For me, keeping boundaries around work hours was key. They are only paying me for part of my effort, so I had to have some stern conversations with myself about not 'accidentally' working more than my weekly hours. WFH can blur those lines pretty easily. Sounds like you'll be in the office, so a different challenge for you.

[Cheetah]

Nice dice!

[Jarric]

On 7/26/2023 at 11:46 PM, shaar said:

Yesssss congrats on the part time! I too work 4 days a week and it is definitely a nice change to ease into. Work/life balance FTW!

 

Thank you! I'm very much looking forward to it. Do you do something specific with the extra day, or is it just part of the week.

 

On 7/27/2023 at 12:09 AM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following. 

 

Great to have you as always mate.

 

On 7/27/2023 at 2:25 AM, Mad Hatter said:

4 day week - niice! Congrats! 

 

Thank you! It's gonna be sooo good.

 

On 7/27/2023 at 3:26 AM, Sovalis said:

Those dice are lovely! Here to cheer you on to getting them!

 

Thank you! So far they're very motivating for that goal!

 

On 7/27/2023 at 8:00 AM, WhiteGhost said:

That cut is a lot of math.  Good thing you will have an extra day a chance eek to work out your calorie schedule...

 

 it doesn't feel like that much to me, some how. Maybe I'm a bit of a nerd...

 

On 7/27/2023 at 1:43 PM, sylph said:

I went part time at the same time I went remote and moved out of state.

Also COVID was happening...So... three years, ish?

 

So initially the 'spare' time went to dealing with the existential dread that comes from a worldwide pandemic.

Aside from that, it gradually filled with all the things I didn't get around to when working full time--mostly cooking actual food and doing actual yard/house maintenance.

Still a fair amount of time for books and video games--though now sewing is taking up most of my free time.

For me, keeping boundaries around work hours was key. They are only paying me for part of my effort, so I had to have some stern conversations with myself about not 'accidentally' working more than my weekly hours. WFH can blur those lines pretty easily. Sounds like you'll be in the office, so a different challenge for you.

 

Yeah, fair enough, that's a lot of changes happening at once! Sounds like you get a lot out of it though, which sounds good to me.

 

On 7/27/2023 at 2:05 PM, Cheetah said:

Nice dice!

 

I know, lovely, aren't they?

[Jarric]

Week zero has been a good week! I've been pretty busy and lacking time on lunch breaks, hence my lack of updates here, but I'll try and remember what's happened so far...

 

Monday to Wednesday were fairly normal days. Played Pathfinder Tuesday night and killed our second dragon in as many weeks. This one was a corrupted air dragon (I think) which had turned into a sort of sandstorm creature - we had to kill it with a magic talisman on a sword which had been created from water blessed by Aeries. It went weirdly well for the group (it went very poorly for me; I couldn't roll above a 4 - that might be part of the reason why I'm inspired to get some new dice for Psyche!).

 

Watched Questing Time Wednesday night, so that ended up being quite a late one. Unusually I didn't drink, knowing that I had a potentially boozy couple of days ahead and wanting to conserve my calories for later in the week. I also booked a physio appointment on Wednesday, which I have to wait a couple of weeks for, just to try and make sure I don't injure myself in the run up to Man vs Mountain (or ahead of Beachy Head Marathon in October).

 

On Thursday I had to go into town for a meeting all afternoon. I had planned to then have a couple of beers with the people I was meeting, but that didn't materialise so I went home and had some more of our beer tasting box instead. We also watched a bunch of Lego Masters New Zealand, which I'm really enjoying so far - very similar to the Australian version and definitely better than the American version.

 

Friday was a very busy day. After an hour of working I had to get myself back up to town for a work lunch. I had a great time, ate a load of excellent Indian food, and drank quite a bit of beer. Calories for the day are a complete guess. We left town about half 5, I went home and changed and had a quick oven pizza, and then went back out in the evening for a friend's birthday. More beer, some fizzy pink wine, and a late train home.

 

Yesterday I didn't feel too sharp, but definitely no worse than I deserved. I got up, dropped WW at work, and went out for a 5-mie run. The run actually felt great, it was a beautiful day to run along the sea front and I even accidentally joined a Parkrun for some of it. After that I went climbing, which was very much another story. I felt tired from the off, but I got a solid hour in and topped some decent routes in that time. In the afternoon I mostly vegged out, with a quick break from relaxing to have a nap. I did manage to get time to go to my parents' and put a tracker on Dad's phone so Mum can worry a bit less about him wandering off. In the evening WW made soup, and we relaxed some more.

 

Today I got up and started feverishly preparing for D&D. I had started prep about a week ago, and then not got back to it, which meant that all of the real nuts and bolts still needed doing. I did as much as I could, and then went our for my run. I probably ran 15 miles, though my watch died 8.5 in which was a bit of a pain. Again, today's run felt really good - my cardio fitness has definitely improved a lot in the last month or two of upping running mileage.

 

I got back about 3 minutes before I needed to start running D&D. I had a really fun session, and I hope that WW, @WhiteGhost, and @jonfirestar enjoyed it too. I was running Horror of the Shade - an adventure included in Limitless Heroics, which is a D&D sourcebook for modelling disability symptoms in D&D 5e. It's a very cool book and it was really pleasing to run something from it.

 

Goals-wise I'm very much on track. I didn't get to work in time for my goal on Monday, but I did for the rest of the week, and I've ticked all of the other boxes. I'm going to be over on calories for the week (in fact I'm already just about over and I haven't had dinner yet), but I think I can keep it to a manageable level.

 

Stats after week 0, day 6

The chronologist: 4/5

The decisionist: 6/6

The muscle: 6/6

De vertaler: 6/6

Le traducteur: 6/6

The face: 6/6

[WhiteGhost]

8 hours ago, Jarric said:

I hope that WW, @WhiteGhost, and @jonfirestar enjoyed it too.

Oh yes, it was a load of fun.  The dice seemed to be decidedly unfair in our favor, though.  I think I rolled 6 or 7 nat 20s over the course of the game and only one nat 1.  Meanwhile it seemed like the gargoyles were rolling extremely poorly

[shaar]

Phewwww you did have a busy couple of days huh. But staying on track through it all is the big win imo!!

[Jarric]

10 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Oh yes, it was a load of fun.  The dice seemed to be decidedly unfair in our favor, though.  I think I rolled 6 or 7 nat 20s over the course of the game and only one nat 1.  Meanwhile it seemed like the gargoyles were rolling extremely poorly

 

Yeah, it could have gone better for the gargoyles, and your crits with sneak attack were insane! Still thought I might at least kill one of you, but it wasn't to be

 

 

4 minutes ago, shaar said:

Phewwww you did have a busy couple of days huh. But staying on track through it all is the big win imo!!

 

Yeah, definitely. Thank you, I'm really pleased I managed to stay on track.

[DarK_RaideR]

On 7/26/2023 at 10:33 PM, Jarric said:

Aren't they pretty? My elven cleric of Aphrodite, Psyche, has a lot of rose-themed weapons thanks to a visit to a temple to Aphrodite, and these would be perfect for her.

So you're telling me you're not already planning a Toreador PC for a game of Vampire down the road?

[Kalitraz]

Following along! Sounds like a good challenge. GL!

[Jarric]

Week zero results

As you can see from my challenge tracker, things have started well:

 

 

You can also just about see my quick 'no spend summer' tracker, after I decided to jump on the PVP that @Sovalis set up. I'm skint after booking an appartment in Paris for next year to see the Olympics, so it seemed like a sensible thing to do.

 

I missed getting to work on time on Monday for the chronologist, but managed to sort myself out once I'd bet those dice on it and posted my challenge.

 

All calories tracked for the decisionist. I finished the week at 19,537kcal, against a target of 18,928 (averaging 2,791 per day instead of 2,704), but I still lost 3lbs so the calorie target remains unchanged. I'm now at 175lbs (79.4kg), and target weight at this date was 173.35, so I'm catching up with my playln. Only a couple of weeks before I stop cutting weight and go for maintenance.

 

Shakes and creatine were drunk for the muscle. I feel like this is working, and that I'm leaner despite my weight not changing much. Maybe it's a placebo effect, but I'm not sure that it would be a problem if it is.

 

Both translators were satisfied. I'm at quite an easy section of French Duolingo, so hoping to plow through that nice and quickly. For Dutch I'm struggling a bit with pronunciation, ever since I started trying to ad a rolled r into Dutch words. I'm sure I'll settle back into it after more practice.

 

And finally, teeth have been done consistently for the face.

 

All in all, a good week.

[Jarric]

4 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

So you're telling me you're not already planning a Toreador PC for a game of Vampire down the road?

 

I'm afraid that my knowledge of vampire clans is so shaky that I wouldn't have made that connection . Anyway, isn't Vampire a dice pool system?

 

37 minutes ago, Kalitraz said:

Following along! Sounds like a good challenge. GL!

 

Thank you! Good to have you

 

[DarK_RaideR]

10 hours ago, Jarric said:

I'm afraid that my knowledge of vampire clans is so shaky that I wouldn't have made that connection . Anyway, isn't Vampire a dice pool system?

It is indeed, and only using d10s but between the rose and the priest of Aphrodite, I couldn't help the connection.

"The Toreador are a clan of vampires known for being some of the most beautiful, sensual, seductive, emotional and glamorous of the Kindred."

"The Toreador are responsible for the legends of vampires who seduce and entice their prey with beauty, love and sensuality. Famous and infamous as a clan of artists and innovators..."

[Jarric]

7 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

It is indeed, and only using d10s but between the rose and the priest of Aphrodite, I couldn't help the connection.

"The Toreador are a clan of vampires known for being some of the most beautiful, sensual, seductive, emotional and glamorous of the Kindred."

"The Toreador are responsible for the legends of vampires who seduce and entice their prey with beauty, love and sensuality. Famous and infamous as a clan of artists and innovators..."

 

Yeah, I can see it now. They sound like a lot of fun to play too, very cool indeed.

[Jarric]

Monday - week 1 day 1

Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit first thing was box squats, and I built up to 100kg (220#) x 3, followed by 90kg x 5 and 80kg x 7. Then the workout was, in sub-40 seconds for load, 2 deadballs over the bar and 100ft yoke carry. I managed a 70kg ball and 165kg (363#) on the yoke, both of which are pretty damn heavy as far as I'm concerned! It only took me 32 seconds though, so arguably if I had time to go again I probably should have gone even heavier.

 

Work was busy; got a few competing urgent things going on right now. I arrived to work on time though, and I left on time too as I had planned to go running with a couple of colleagues who'll be going up the mountain with me. That run was good, a nice 6 and a bit miles (10km) over the hills.

 

When I got in I did my French, and then Dutch was done before brushing my teeth and going to bed. French remains fairly easy, Dutch remains tricky. Regardless, all goals were hit for the day.

 

I went over calories by 169 thanks to a 240kcal jam doughnut, meaning that I have 2,197 left in the buffer for the rest of the week. That seems doable.

[sylph]

On 7/30/2023 at 12:41 PM, Jarric said:

Yeah, fair enough, that's a lot of changes happening at once! Sounds like you get a lot out of it though, which sounds good to me.

Best thing I ever did, really. I'm much less stressed about life in general, these days.

[Jarric]

2 hours ago, sylph said:

Best thing I ever did, really. I'm much less stressed about life in general, these days.

 

That's awesome! I sincerely hope I'm saying the same thing in a couple of years time.