Kelly’s “Take Me Back To The Start� Challenge

[PrincessHeather]

I actually have a fascination with real life killers, too. Not so much in the I want first hand experience, but more in the I want to study your crazy ass brain. This whole BTK thing is on my list now. It really does sound very much like that season... freakin' freaky! And yeah, I would definitely snoop, too. And then run the frak away hahaha

I have an odd fascination with documentaries about creepy things... I can't watch a fake horror movie without nighmares, but a majorly depressing film about a real life tragedy? No problem. Just this week as part of my school procrastination, I watched something on the weird Hollywood connections between people associated with the Manson murders, and another one on Jonestown. I have no idea why I think those things are interesting.

[Hermione Gainser]

I have an odd fascination with documentaries about creepy things... I can't watch a fake horror movie without nighmares, but a majorly depressing film about a real life tragedy? No problem. Just this week as part of my school procrastination, I watched something on the weird Hollywood connections between people associated with the Manson murders, and another one on Jonestown. I have no idea why I think those things are interesting.

I'm with you. I've read a lot on the Manson murders. But still...none before bed! hahaha I actually considered watching the BTK thing on netflix today while I did some filing work but decided not to.. not when boyf is working, anyhow! hahaha

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Week 5 progress

Diet and Fitness Goals:

1. Lift two times per week (squat/bench/DL/bent rows one day, squat/OHP/DL/inverted rows the 2nd), cardio (of whatever variety I choose, just get moving to improve endurance) three times per week. 30 points possible, up to 5 per week. (2 STR, 2 STA)

Two session of cardio. No lifting. Really? No lifting? This week will be better! 16/30 so far.

2. Plan and prep meals – Plan the following week’s meals and grocery list by Thursday of the current week. Grocery shop over the weekend. And make the bulk of the week’s food on Sundays. (12 possible points. One for planning by Thursday. One for prepping by Sunday night.) (2 WIS, 2 CHA, 1 CON)

2/2 last week. 9/12 total.

3. Zombie Run – Complete in less than 1 hour. I did the Warrior Dash in 1 hour 8 minutes (no judging). The course isn’t exactly the same, but from what I’ve heard aside from the zombies, it’s very similar. 5K through a field with obstacles (and zombies). Training for this will partially be the cardio in #1, but hopefully a goal finish time will ensure I run more. All or nothing. Sub 1 hour gets points. (Side note, if I ran a 5K on a flat, paved surface, I think I’d finish in about 40 minutes. And this will be a hilly course that’s not paved, with likely lines at obstacles.) (2 DEX, 2 STA)

Finished in just over 55 minutes! I know that's not a time to be excited about, but as ineffcient as a course like this is (there was a lot of running in circles (after I lost my flags, I played "Operation: Human Shield for others I was with), a lot of waiting before each zombie zone, and walking to recover after running in circles), I didn't think I'd finish in under an hour. The last 1 1/2 miles of the race was more running/less zombies, and I could have walked with the people I was with, but actually found myself saying, "Anyone want to run?" And I ran as much as I could to finish the race. Overall, I'm actually pleased with my results.

Life Goal:

Yard – I have two landscaping areas in my backyard I need to take care of before winter. I also want to fertilize my yard two more times before it freezes. The fertilizing is easy as long as I do it. Cleaning up the landscaping area is the time-consuming/grueling work. I know – I did the front yard this weekend. So 25% for fertilizing, and 75% for the landscaping. (2 CHA)

Fertilizing is done. And I hope to lay the landscaping fabric sometime this week. I spent my days off working on my Halloween costume, it was much more time-consuming than I thought it would be. Anyway, it's probably an hour's worth of work to finish up the landscaping. I just need to do it.

[weirdquark]

Congrats on the Zombie run!

[msuroo]

Finished in just over 55 minutes! I know that's not a time to be excited about, but as ineffcient as a course like this is (there was a lot of running in circles (after I lost my flags, I played "Operation: Human Shield for others I was with), a lot of waiting before each zombie zone, and walking to recover after running in circles), I didn't think I'd finish in under an hour. The last 1 1/2 miles of the race was more running/less zombies, and I could have walked with the people I was with, but actually found myself saying, "Anyone want to run?" And I ran as much as I could to finish the race. Overall, I'm actually pleased with my results.

Nice job!

[goodwince]

Wow. You kinda overshot your goal then!!!!! Great work!! I'm impressed all this talk about not doing well and you kicked zombie ass! What a great idea being a human shield too!

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Here's a video of pictures of the race. A lot of people were asking what the race was like. I'm not sure if this is similar (I think it is) to the Run For Your Life zombie runs. I'm not sure how infested the rest of the races were, but they had about 200 zombies out on the course, but they were clumped up into zombie zones that they weren't supposed to run out of. So you'd come into a zone and there'd be about 20 or so zombies in an area. There was one maze of high grass/thicker grass like corn that you really couldn't run through. This was my least favorite obstacle because you were in the grass and trapped. The maze was really only wide enough for one person and the zombies were coming from every direction. My flags were long gone by this time but those with flags were trapped.

There's talk of giving the zombies flags next time so runners can pull their flags off as well (similar to shooting them I guess). The only thing I didn't like was you got three lives, but two of mine got taken simultaneously. So that wasn't really three lives. The third one I gave up when there were kids near me and adults were running toward me and I was afraid I was going to trample a child. So I pulled off the flag and handed it to the kid.

For those who have done the other races, were there children zombies? If so, what age? I know the kids loved it, but it was definitely scary since the kids are more risky/less aware of the results of their actions. So they'd run full force toward an adult who was running away from someone else. And if the adult didn't see them, or changed direction, it felt really dangerous. They did keep the kids out of specific areas and tried to put them more in open fields. But it was still scary.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that a couple got married for real at the race. So the wedding picture you see (if you watch) is an actual wedding. Kind of neat.

[goodwince]

Hahaha zombie wedding!! That sounds awesome and fun, however, if you were wanting to practice your serious zombie skills trampling children wouldn't be very fun!! Dude, I'm sad now.. they had one here and I didn't go.

[PrincessHeather]

That video makes it look super fun! I hear you about the children zombie thing, kids under maybe 12 aren't really going to understand that being run over isn't fun... and WTG on making that goal!!! Sounds like you could have finished faster without some of the logistical hiccups, so that's aweseome!

And that wedding pic, wow! How fun, and also a bit odd haha.

Good job Kelly!

[nightlight]

awesome job with the zombie race!

[Blueberries]

Love that you killed it at the race! Was it as cold in Wichita that day as it was in Lawrence? BRRRRRRRR. We had to be on the field at 6:15 that morning, so I had 2 layers of pants and 4 layers of shirts, plus a coat and gloves! Hope it was warmer for you, although I suppose running from Zombies might keep you a little warmer.

[Hermione Gainser]

Wow. You kinda overshot your goal then!!!!! Great work!! I'm impressed all this talk about not doing well and you kicked zombie ass! What a great idea being a human shield too!

Right! She's a silly banana.. thinking she won't be awesome. Pfft.

OMG kid zombies. Yeah, that right here is what my nightmares are made of. AHH!

So, did you find your 30 minutes to squat your ass on yet?

[concretecavewoman]

Omg that race looks like all the fun. I know what you mean about the kids though, that seems kinda scary. Usually when I'm running a race and kids are also present, I find myself getting regularly clocked by 8 year olds, but then we're all running in the same direction, so less danger factor. And yay for hitting your goal time!

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Congrats on the Zombie run!

Nice job!

Wow. You kinda overshot your goal then!!!!! Great work!! I'm impressed all this talk about not doing well and you kicked zombie ass! What a great idea being a human shield too!

Thanks everyone! It was a lot of fun. The obstacles were easier (although these obstacles had longer waits than Warrior Dash), and much less hilly than the Warrior Dash. So the race itself was much easier, but less efficient. If it were harder, not sure i would have beat my time.

Hahaha zombie wedding!! That sounds awesome and fun, however, if you were wanting to practice your serious zombie skills trampling children wouldn't be very fun!! Dude, I'm sad now.. they had one here and I didn't go.

It seemed they had a lot of feedback from runners about the children zombies, and they posted something on their facebook page and all of these parents were like, "The runners were jerks. They should watch out for our kids. They deserve to do the race. It's not fair if they can't be zombies." Soooo... We'll see how that plays out next year. If they have kids again, I probably won't do the race. I think it's crazy these parents think any of the runners would intentionally run over children! But that seems to be the way a lot of parents are around here - their children are never wrong, and it's uncommon to deny them anything. Not that the kids shoudl be denied. I guess the question is, who is the race targeting? Runners? Or children zombies? Just make a decision, and that's the focus of the race! Easy enough!

That video makes it look super fun! I hear you about the children zombie thing, kids under maybe 12 aren't really going to understand that being run over isn't fun... and WTG on making that goal!!! Sounds like you could have finished faster without some of the logistical hiccups, so that's aweseome!

And that wedding pic, wow! How fun, and also a bit odd haha.

Good job Kelly!

Haha! I agree on the wedding thing. I liked that they did what THEY wanted to do (it's so hard not to conform to social norms). If I understood correctly, this was a second marriage, so that may have played into having a non-traditional wedding. But the whole thing had to be REALLY cheap. They didn't have hardly any guests beyond wedding party, reception was free, the race was free (zombies are volunteers, don't have to pay for the race), they did buy a cake, the celebrant was a friend (so I assume free), and the clothes definitely weren't as expensive as normal wedding attire. An article in the paper said the kids (their kids) weren't relaly into the whole thing, but they came to watch. I can imagine that being embarrassing as a middle/high schooler for your parents to get married that way! But, pretty much everything at that age is embarrassing.

awesome job with the zombie race!

Thanks!

Love that you killed it at the race! Was it as cold in Wichita that day as it was in Lawrence? BRRRRRRRR. We had to be on the field at 6:15 that morning, so I had 2 layers of pants and 4 layers of shirts, plus a coat and gloves! Hope it was warmer for you, although I suppose running from Zombies might keep you a little warmer.

It was in the low 40s when I got there. With the sun out, I thought the weather was perfect (but I'm a cold person). When the sun would go behind the clouds I'd put on a hat. I think it got up into the high 40s a little later into the day. Definitely the first cold run I'd done. But I prefer running in the cold to runnning in any type of heat. So I can't complain! I know most runners were all, 'Next year do this in the summer!" Um, hello! Have you been outside in the summer? It. SUCKS!

Right! She's a silly banana.. thinking she won't be awesome. Pfft.

OMG kid zombies. Yeah, that right here is what my nightmares are made of. AHH!

So, did you find your 30 minutes to squat your ass on yet?

You know I still havent' done more than what I'd consider stretching out squats, which is kind of awesome, I guess. A year ago 45 pound and 90 pound squats were NOT stretching. Now they feel light! Last night was exhausting. I worked in the yard and finished up my landscaping! (BOOYAH!) And then hid in my house from trick or treaters. I would have participated, but hate having the candy in my house, and wasn't sure on leftovers. I cleaned my kitchen and can see my neighbor's front porch from my kitchen window. She turned off her light at 7:50, so I guess that means there were enough I'd run out of candy. So next year I'll participate (last year I wasn't home). One of my sisters always buys a ton of candy and then gets like 10 kids. Which measn then she eats about 500 pieces of leftover candy. I did NOT want that!

Omg that race looks like all the fun. I know what you mean about the kids though, that seems kinda scary. Usually when I'm running a race and kids are also present, I find myself getting regularly clocked by 8 year olds, but then we're all running in the same direction, so less danger factor. And yay for hitting your goal time!

Yay for goal time! And yay for not feeling burdened by running anymore. I didn't mind the walking/sprinting intervals for a pretty short distance, but other than that, am taking some time off from running!

As for the kids, I guess we'll see what happens next year. There were some crazy little kids there. I think there were some about 6 years old. Yikes! I think 13-15 is probably a good age, with parental supervision. A lot of these kids didn't seem to have adults who were willing to say, "Hey, maybe be careful." So not sure if there were no parents there or if the parents weren't thinking either (both are just as likely probably). So maybe simply adding parents who enforce rules would be enough? Not sure. Last think you want is some kid getting paralyzed by a 200 pound runner plowing over his 60 pound body. YIKES. (See, I'm a worrier. I think worst-case.)

[Hermione Gainser]

Ditto. No candy for us. I anticipated a lot of knocking on the door last night but we didn't get a single trick or treater. So, I'm glad there was no candy!

[weirdquark]

Isn't it awesome how old heavy weights are now light? This time last year I think I was struggling to get sets of five reps with 90 pounds and now I can bang out sets of ten heavier than that.

I don't understand why people would want to run in the summer. When I was doing running every week last challenge I'd go out in the morning and if it was in the seventies I'd be sweaty and just barely not overheating -- it would be fine for walking, but running was so much more pleasant the one day it was in the low sixties-- the running warmed me up enough that I was comfortable. Not sure how running while it's in the 40s will be, but I'm planning on taking a non-lifting day once or twice a week and with daylight savings time it'll be light enough when I go out in the morning again, so I guess I'll find out how much I need to wear to not be too cold or too hot.

With the kids-- yeah, there should be a parent if there are going to be six year olds. I don't think there are many adults who will plow through a kid on purpose/not care but I'm betting it's hard enough to not run into another adult when they come out of nowhere -- a kid'll be below eye level for most people, and even a super short adult is going to have height on a six year old.

[goodwince]

Dude, little kid zombies are going to get trampled. If they did it so little kids couldn't take flags than maybe.. That way the adults know that little zombies with orange armbands aren't to be worried about. They just wanted to dress up and scare you. That might solve the issue? Because they're mixing kids competition with adults competition lol. No good. We're bigger!!

Congratulations on the progress, recognizing it on your squats.

Weirdquark, I like running in the summer. I enjoyed the sun, the heat, and the sweating haha. I live in SD so winters aren't harsh and summers aren't either. I did come from Alabama and running their in August is not something to be taken lightly. Running in the winter tends to leave me kinda itchy..

[Blueberries]

I don't understand why people would want to run AT ALL.

FTFY

Re: Kid zombies. If you're going to have a kid zombie fest, have a kid zombie fest. If you're going to have a zombie race, prioritize the runners.

[Strawberry Squatcake]

Ditto. No candy for us. I anticipated a lot of knocking on the door last night but we didn't get a single trick or treater. So, I'm glad there was no candy!

Kids here are pretty good about not knocking if there's no light on. So I didn't get any knocks. But I noticed my neighbor's porch light turned off around 7:50. either she didn't buy much candy or there were a lot of kids out. So I probably would have gotten rid of it. Did I already say this? I feel like I did. I'm so freaking tired but cannot sleep. So here I am. On NF!

Isn't it awesome how old heavy weights are now light? This time last year I think I was struggling to get sets of five reps with 90 pounds and now I can bang out sets of ten heavier than that.

I don't understand why people would want to run in the summer. When I was doing running every week last challenge I'd go out in the morning and if it was in the seventies I'd be sweaty and just barely not overheating -- it would be fine for walking, but running was so much more pleasant the one day it was in the low sixties-- the running warmed me up enough that I was comfortable. Not sure how running while it's in the 40s will be, but I'm planning on taking a non-lifting day once or twice a week and with daylight savings time it'll be light enough when I go out in the morning again, so I guess I'll find out how much I need to wear to not be too cold or too hot.

With the kids-- yeah, there should be a parent if there are going to be six year olds. I don't think there are many adults who will plow through a kid on purpose/not care but I'm betting it's hard enough to not run into another adult when they come out of nowhere -- a kid'll be below eye level for most people, and even a super short adult is going to have height on a six year old.

I agree about everything. The lighter weight feeling heavy. The running in the summer. Although, if I ease into the season (or it doesn't get terribly hot really fast - that tends to happen), then I can work my way into runnin gin the summer. If I miss the transition (or there is no transition), then I'm screwed. Same with winter. If I run as the season goes from warm to cool to cold, then I can run all winter. And prefer winter (even below freezing) to summer.

As for the kids. I wouldn't be a good mom because I'd be way over-protective. No way I'm putting my six, eight, ten or twelve year old in the path of a bunch of runners who are running from something! Hell, I'd probably be "that mom" who doesn't want her 16 year old doing it, either. But my level headed "don't be a nerd" husband would probably sign the waiver. (I can have kids in my pretend world wihtout actually wanting children, right? Because I also don't really see myself ever getting married. Although, right guy, you come along and I'm snatching you up!)

Dude, little kid zombies are going to get trampled. If they did it so little kids couldn't take flags than maybe.. That way the adults know that little zombies with orange armbands aren't to be worried about. They just wanted to dress up and scare you. That might solve the issue? Because they're mixing kids competition with adults competition lol. No good. We're bigger!!

Congratulations on the progress, recognizing it on your squats.

Weirdquark, I like running in the summer. I enjoyed the sun, the heat, and the sweating haha. I live in SD so winters aren't harsh and summers aren't either. I did come from Alabama and running their in August is not something to be taken lightly. Running in the winter tends to leave me kinda itchy..

Summer runner. Weirdo. Just teasing. I'm jealous. I see people running in summer like it doesn't kill them. Even if I "ease" into summer, I always run at night. None of the running when the sun's up for me. Wait. Am I a zombie?

I really like the armband idea for the kids! I feel like the parents commmenting on the situation wouldn't be happy because their kids enjoyed it so much, but as with most things in life, they have to go one way or another. I'm not married to the race by any means. So if they go with the kids, then that's perfectly fine with me. It's for charity, so those running it will know who they're targeting.

FTFY

Re: Kid zombies. If you're going to have a kid zombie fest, have a kid zombie fest. If you're going to have a zombie race, prioritize the runners.

Agreed. Totally! I think the people in charge of the race will probably try to please everyone to make the most off of the race. But hopefully see making a definite decision will define who they're targeting. And I really don't care either way. If it's for kids, then they'll make it more safe to allow that (and those who are running for time or whatever simply won't go). Or vice versa, they'll say no one under X age, and then those parents won't sign up to run or be zombies. Either way you lose part of who showed up this year, but being definite in what you want will hopefully expand to those who were on the fence this year an dkeep about the same turnout.

Eating: Counted protein up today. 80 grams. I feel like this is probably average. On days where I eat steak or chicken for lunch or dinner, I'd probably end up closer to 100 (I had chili for lunch and dinner.) I only counted the protein in the meat and cheese I had. Didn't go into the details of anything else. For example, my chili had beans (no one curse me - in Kansas we put beans in our chili!) but I didn't count that. And I had a salad with it, but that's so minimal, I'm not sure it would make much difference. Anyway. My guess is I'm around 70-90 most days. So my goal next challenge is to get up to 130. So almost double. But I know still low for a lot of people. If it's easy to get to 130 and I'm still not staying full, then I'll have to up it some more. Gotta figure SOMETHING out without starving myself!

[Bean]

I am supposed to eat around 165g of protein a day. It is a serious amount. Only way I get there is to drink a whey shake post workout and then eat meat at both lunch and supper. Still a challenge.

I will be watching your next challenge to see how you do on this one. At least you enjoy food, so it should be fun.

Been thinking hard about options for you to change up your routine a little. I know I go on about them a lot, but have you ever tried doing a kettlebell workout? Even if you just do a swing workout, by working up to doing 2-minute sets of swings, you end up on the cusp of aerobic vs. anaerobic exercise and this has huge benefits for fat-burning. Plus, swinging around a heavy weight really fast is fun. If this interests you, I suggest you get a copy of Tracy Riefkind's book - Swing. She sets out some really nice progressions and explains the entire thing in a really simple manner.

You can easily add the kettlebell workout into your normal lifting routine as assistance work or you can actually just do kettlebell work for your entire body - but then you would miss out on the joy of squats and deadlifts ...

[Hermione Gainser]

Hahahaha yes, it's totally okay to talk about your pretend children even if you don't want to have children or think you will. I would be crazy parent. My kids would be in a bubble and I would have a heart attack before they reached 10. I am sure of it.

You know, WQ mentioned the kettle bells (I think WQ) in my thread regarding my new workout plan.. and I forgot to comment on them. But Boyf freakin loves his KBs, too. He's been doing this program called Viking Conditioning. Basically: a crapton of KB snatches. His lats are ridonk now. (how bro was that?) I'm intrigued by it.

[weirdquark]

I did mention KBs as a hip thing one could do, yeah. I haven't done swings with a heavy weight for a while -- been doing snatches instead.

When I was tracking calories I remember finding it not all that difficult to hit 130g of protein even without a protein shake, though the shake makes it easier -- I think I was averaging somewhere between 120-150g every day. One cup fat-free cottage cheese/Greek Yogurt: ~30g. 4oz chicken breast: ~30g. Hardboiled egg: ~6g protein. 1oz of cheddar/mozzarella/other snacky cheese: ~6g. Eat a cup of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt (with nuts for fat and a little extra protein) two or three 4oz servings of meat between your lunch and dinner, a hardboiled egg or some cheese for a snack, and you're already most of the way there; if you're still low due to not having protein filled snacks or only eating one serving of chicken, a scoop of protein powder in milk will give you 25-30g.

Look at it this way -- if you're averaging ~80g now and want to get to 130g, all you have to do is eat what you normally do and just add 2 hardboiled eggs or half a cup of cottage cheese, plus a protein shake and you're there. So no problem, right?

[nightlight]

i couldn't sleep last night either. it was awful.

[goodwince]

Re: Summerrunner: Haha.. well I live in SD and that's the only place I've managed to run consistently so summers are a bit different. Sure the temperature is the same as the east, but I tried running in August in Alabama with a hangover.. That was a tough day. The cold fills my lungs too much. I don't like that feeling. I'll take dizziness and having to drink copious amounts of water before my run any day..

I think the only way they could have the best of both worlds is if the kids weren't allowed to grab at your flags. The problem is mixing people trying to safeguard their children with people trying to safeguard their flags from an imaginary zombie apocalypse! You should do a photoshopped picture of a little zombie kid, and a runner with a flag that says "Don't tread on me, bro"

I eat 170+ grams, but I also eat copious amounts of meat.. I didn't eat this way until I was trying to get natural protein in. So I'm eating about two pounds of meat a day. Protein shake is definitely the lifeblood. Just do one and see if you notice a difference!

[PrincessHeather]

His lats are ridonk now. (how bro was that?) I'm intrigued by it.

Are we witnessing the return of Bro-ra? ::GASP::