Crazyhawaiian21 starts at base camp of Mt. Midoriyama

[Crazyhawaiian21]

Round 2....Ready....FIGHT!

 

The last challenge was an excellent intro/git yer ass in gear time period.  Time to focus, plan ahead for the big moves, and  think outside the box.

 

One of the hiccups I experienced with the first challenge were my shoulders and elbows.  They got pretty beat up with side-missions, TRX workouts, and swimming.  I mostly blame it on taking part in an adventurer challenge and trying to get the highest # of pushups in a day (525) along with the 100 Burpee Challenge not really letting my joints catch up or rest during the duration. 

 

For this challenge I am focusing more on creating positive habits rather than a specific outcome.

 

Goal 1:

"By air, land and sea -the strength to persist, the courage to endure and the power to defend" ~Churchill

Strengthen the body  4.5 times a week: (+3 Str, +2 Sta)

Rock Gym (Air) Advanced BW workout or TRX workout (Land) / Swimming (Sea)

A) 27 workouts / B ) 25 workouts / C) 23 workouts / D) 21 workouts

 

Goal Two:

"Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or the willow survives by bending with the wind." ~Bruce Lee

Wind in the willow 4 times a week: (+4 Dex)

Yoga / Indian clubs / stretching (20 min.) / foam roller

A) 24 willow / B ) 23 bamboo / C) 22 pine / D) 21 balsa

 

Goal Three:

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.†

― Julia Child

I am lucky enough to have an excellent cook in the household and my effort at assisting or improving my own skills has been lackluster to say the least.  Cook or prepare at least 2 meals a week: (+2 Con)

A) 12 meals / B ) 11 meals / C) 10 meals / D) 9 meals

 

Goal Three:

"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens" ~ Jimi Hendrix

Got off to an excellent start with spanish for the last challenge but wanted to expand options and continue to exercise my brain with all my other bits.

Free your mind 4 times a week for 30 min.:   (+2 Wis, +2 Cha)

Spanish / Lumosity / Practice the Uke

A) 24 mind meld / B ) 23 brain food / C) 22 mind pleaser / D) 21 noggin' teaser 

[sammiejune29]

I love the quotes!! Very inspiring 

[Aeryn]

Nice goals - the quotes are great! And the air/land/sea goal is totally awesome. Heck yeah on creating habits that'll stay with you! Good luck!

[Wolverine]

I've had trouble with overuse injuries in the past too.  Especially taking on the mini-challenges and PvPs in addition to my regular training - it's sometimes a recipe for disaster.  I like that you're noticing these issues and doing something about them NOW rather than later when injuries can get permanent.  Wise man.

 

Your goals are also super balanced and attainable, and to repeat what everyone else has said... I like the quotes.

[Elastigirl]

I love the quotes on your goals! And seriously you did 525 pushups in a day?!!!

[Crazyhawaiian21]

Thanks guys, trying to keep it interesting.

 

I've had trouble with overuse injuries in the past too.  Especially taking on the mini-challenges and PvPs in addition to my regular training - it's sometimes a recipe for disaster.  I like that you're noticing these issues and doing something about them NOW rather than later when injuries can get permanent.  Wise man.

 

Your goals are also super balanced and attainable, and to repeat what everyone else has said... I like the quotes.

The majority of overuse is my right shoulder, played tennis growing up, am a rabid raquetball enthusiast and an attempted high-school breakdancer have taken a toll over the years.  Prevenative maintenance is always better than reactionary repairs .

I love the quotes on your goals! And seriously you did 525 pushups in a day?!!!

Yes, and my shoulder and elbows were sore for days, accomplished on an off day in sets of 10

[Red1263]

A challenge with awesome Quotes? AWESOME!

 

If you need partners to help practice spanish, and you have skype/webcam, you can go to this website italki.com, it's a website that's main purpose is to just help people find partners who speak other languages. Good luck!

[Crazyhawaiian21]

Thanks Red, I'm lucky enough that my wife speaks spanish fluently so I've been working on a computer program and throwing my short albeit awkward phrases her way for assistance.  Hopefully after this challenge I'll have enough vocab for a short exchange.

[Red1263]

I've learned the best way to learn (d'oh!) how to speak fluently is to just flat out speak it as if you already knew spanish. You're going to stumble, get funny looks, be mis-heard, but if you stick to the process you'll start picking up, correcting yourself and THEN you'll be speaking it fluently.

 

That's how I learned... but I still get some words wrong

[Crazyhawaiian21]

Hmm... you do have a good point and she already looks at me funny all the time...

[Crazyhawaiian21]

Update 1    18 March 2013:

 

So it has been 3 busy and wonderfully fun weeks which is no excuse for lack of updates. 

 

Goal 1 (By land, sea, and air): Only 11 workouts thus far, no real progress strength wise but the variety has made this goal much more enjoyable and not as much of a grind. I plan on picking up the pace to meet my target.

 

Goal 2 (Wind in the willow): At 18 days of limbering up, my IT bands are happier as is my range of motion with slight gains in flexibility.

 

Goal 3 (Cook Man!, Cook!): Only 3 meals actually cooked so far so definite room for improvement.  I need to get out of the mindset of take-out or eating out to save a little bit of money and improve my skills.

 

Goal 4 (Getting Smrter): At 12.5 I am right on track to finishing this one.  Getting back on spanish but still wanting to dedicate more time.  I have not picked up the uke at all as of yet I have always been a huge fan of spanish guitar which might keep it more relevant.  When I play the uke its usually for something fun like the Tetris theme.

[Wolverine]

Looks like decent progress for the first half of the challenge.  Finish strong!

[Crazyhawaiian21]

Thanks, been picking up the pace as of late, the foam roller and stretching are not fun though

[Red1263]

Just keep it going, this challenge isn't over yet, my friend!

[Crazyhawaiian21]

Goal 1: (+2.75 Str, +1.75 Sta)

"By air, land and sea -the strength to persist, the courage to endure and the power to defend"~Churchill

Strengthen the body  4.5 times a week: So close! AAAARRRGGGHHHHhhhhh!

Rock Gym (Air) Advanced BW workout or TRX workout (Land) / Swimming (Sea)

A) 27 workouts / A-/B+) 26 workouts B ) 25 workouts / C) 23 workouts / D) 21 workouts

 

Goal Two: (+4 Dex)

"Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or the willow survives by bending with the wind." ~Bruce Lee

Wind in the willow 4 times a week: Rocked it! Clubs were fun and yoga has been helping flexibility quite a bit.

Yoga / Indian clubs / stretching (20 min.) / foam roller

A+) 32 blade of grass A) 24 willow / B ) 23 bamboo / C) 22 pine / D) 21 balsa

 

Goal Three: (+2 Wis, +2 Cha)

"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens" ~ Jimi Hendrix

Got off to an excellent start with spanish for the last challenge but wanted to expand options and continue to exercise my brain with all my other bits.

Free your mind 4 times a week for 30 min.: Spanish was an easy habit and lumosity a nice break, still working on musical motivation

Spanish / Lumosity / Practice the Uke

A) 24 mind meld / B ) 23 brain food / C) 22 mind pleaser / D) 21 noggin' teaser 

 

Goal Four: (+0 Con)

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.†― Julia Child

I am lucky enough to have an excellent cook in the household and my effort at assisting or improving my own skills has been lackluster to say the least.  Cook or prepare at least 2 meals a week: All things considered this was a pretty ambitious goal, bombed it but you gotta start somewhere.

A) 12 meals / B ) 11 meals / C) 10 meals / D) 9 meals / F) 9>X

[Red1263]

That's GREAT Crazyhawaiian! 3 A's and a F still leaves you with a "challenge completed" In my book!

[Aeryn]

Nice job this challenge - you did some great work on your goals! Are you feeling stronger and more bendy?

[lyranedara]

Great work! Are Indian clubs something that was new to you, or have you had them for a while? I'm interested in getting a pair, but would love to hear more about them!

[Crazyhawaiian21]

Great work! Are Indian clubs something that was new to you, or have you had them for a while? I'm interested in getting a pair, but would love to hear more about them!

Got them recently, I've always worried about shoulder stability and love raquetball to much to stop.  My shoulders used to pop, like my knuckles and most of my other joints but this has drastically reduced over the last two weeks or so of the challenge.  Also my recovery period and soreness from r-ball has drastically reduced alleviating some worry about an over-use injury. No life-altering shifts but enough of an improvement that I am going to stick with them, plus who doesn't want an excuse to swing clubs around?

 

Nice job this challenge - you did some great work on your goals! Are you feeling stronger and more bendy?

Thanks, I am! Not as prone to feeling like a creaky door hinge when waking up and hip flexibility has much improved with regular yoga so far so good!

 

That's GREAT Crazyhawaiian! 3 A's and a F still leaves you with a "challenge completed" In my book!

Thanks man! That last goal was a bit of a stretch but my better half picks up the majority of the meal preparation so I shall endeavor to improve my motivation instead of just my good intentions.