Level 8: "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

JediNickD · April 12, 2013

"Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."
-- Yoda, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

My ambitious Level 7 challenge was torpedoed in an area, because I didn't plan it well. I was behind in my sprints, postponing training for the right conditions. Then, I got injured preventing any chance to complete the goals. Since I was behind before I got hurt, my efforts resulted in my first B mark in all my challenges. Careful planning and preparation kept my challenges flawless, so that is where I must return. This challenge, I need to plan my weeks ahead of time leaving room for changes. I need to resume Weekly and Mid-Week updates and goal setting. I'll also resume my Battle Log.

Level 8 challenge goals are below with my starting points in ():

FITNESS:

Lift More Weight! +2 STR | +1 STA | +1 CON
Barbell Deadlift and Squat = 195 lbs 3 reps (185 lbs 3 reps)
Barbell Bench Press = 220 lbs 3 reps (210 lbs 3 reps)
Barbell Incline and Decline Bench Press = 130 lbs 3 reps (100 lbs 10 reps)
Barbell Standing Curl = 85 lbs 10 reps, 115 lbs 3 reps (75 lbs 10 reps, 105 lbs 3 reps)
Dumbell Fly, Bench Press, and Overhead Press = 50 lbs 5 reps (45 lbs 10 reps)
Dumbell Curl and Row = 50 lbs 5 reps (45 lbs 10 reps)
Dumbell Two-hand Tricep Extension = 80 lbs 5 reps (80 lbs 3 reps)
Leg Press Sled = 930 lbs 5 reps (900 lbs 5 reps)
Leg Extension = 165 lbs 3 reps (150 lbs 5 reps)
200 Box Jumps
200 Lunges
200 Burpees
200 Mountain Climbers
60 Hand Stand Push Ups
150 Pull Ups
150 Chin Ups
250 Dips
1000 Push Ups
1500 Crunches
1000 Bicycle Crunches
1000 Dual Leg Lefts
1500 Oblique Twists
1500 Side Bends
1500 Side Raises
300 Reverse Situps

Run Faster! +3 DEX | +2 STA
Sprinting Distance = 3000 m (intervals count as half)
50m Dash = 6.60s (6.63s)
200m Dash = 28.50s (28.77s)
58.8m Medicine Ball Shuttle Run = 17.00 (17.48s)
37.8m Shuttle Run = 8.70 (8.84s)
Jogging Distance = 12 miles (fartleks count double)
Rugby Training = 180 minutes
Hiking = 6 miles
Biking = 12 miles
Rowing = 6 km

DIETARY:

Eat better! +1 CON
Take a Multi-Vitamin daily (minimum 35 of 43 days for an A)
Eat meat salad as a meal 10 times. Dips/dressing allowed but must be minimal.
Track my sugar intake daily.

LIFE:

Train the Mind! +3 WIS | +2 CHA
- Private Work Goal to improve productivity
- Family and Home
- Hang out with my wife = 60 hours
- Hang out with my kids = 60 hours
- Household Chores (dishes, laundry, etc) = 43 hours
Nerd Fitness Community
- Update my Challenge Thread = 12 times
- Update my Battle Log = 36 times
- Comment on someone else's Thread = 18 different threads
- Comment on my Accountabilibuddies' Challenge Threads = 18 times
Toastmasters
- Complete two Toastmasters Advanced Communication Manual Lessons (4/23 and 5/14)
- Volunteer as Table Topics participant twice
- Volunteer for at least 4 different roles
- Mentor a Member with twice a week interaction
- Complete Club Newsletter
Jedi Training
- Complete two IJRS Communication 101 Lessons with Exercises
- Complete one IJRS Creed 101 Lesson with Exercises
- Read Jedi-related material = 500 minutes
GeoCaching
- Find 6 caches
- Hide 1 cache (will be my first)

Celeborn · April 13, 2013

This is a pretty cool challenge, I like that you have so many diverse goals. Am definitely subbing

maegs · April 14, 2013

Wow, you have a lot of goals! I'm curious - do you plan/schedule what you're going to do when over the next 6 weeks so you can fit everything in, or do you do it a week/day at a time?

JediNickD · April 15, 2013

For most of it, I need a schedule or plan, but some days I need to be flexible due to time, available equipment, or weather. The key is to always execute something, and execute that something to its fullest, then do one more. If I stick to that, then I keep myself from getting into catch-up mode.

If you don't make staying ahead of your goals a priority, then you'll always be in catch-up mode. And, catch-up mode is the worst, because it makes you feel like you are failing continually. You need a sense of victory to encourage you. You have to smell success to continue to pursue it.

JediNickD · April 15, 2013

Today, I did some speech writing. I will be working on it heavily this week as I present next Tuesday. I have a schedule for all the Toastmaster meetings.

4/16 Grammarian

4/23 Speech

4/30 No meeting (work on Newsletter)

5/7 General Evaluator

5/14 Speech

5/21 Toastmaster of the Day

I did Toastmaster mentoring through email with a meeting scheduled for Thursday.

I also read Star Wars: New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory I: Conquest for 15 minutes. I need to do another 15 later today.

JediNickD · April 16, 2013

114 g of sugar yesterday. 40 g from 12 fl oz of Dr Pepper and 30 g from some leftover birthday cake. Today is my eldest daughter's 5th birthday, so there will be more cake, but after I should be between 40-80 g a day.

Toastmasters meeting today. Should be fun.

Ran 1.25 miles this morning on the treadmill, so I could get some updates from the TVs about the Boston bombing while I ran. All my friends and family are safe and unhurt, though a few were mere blocks away. Scary.

Deleted Account · April 16, 2013

Awesome set of goals! I'm doing my first challenge now; definitely following you as a role model for both this and future challenges. Also, I was incredibly confused by "IJRS" as I'm familiar with the acronym standing for "International Journal of Remote Sensing." Googled it and scrolled down a bit - and discovered something awesome.

afflictionreckoning · April 17, 2013

Your challenges look so epic and then you finish with such great marks. You're just awesome.

Glad everyone you know is safe. It was definitely frightening and tragic. =(

JediNickD · April 17, 2013

Awesome set of goals! I'm doing my first challenge now; definitely following you as a role model for both this and future challenges. Also, I was incredibly confused by "IJRS" as I'm familiar with the acronym standing for "International Journal of Remote Sensing." Googled it and scrolled down a bit - and discovered something awesome.

Your challenges look so epic and then you finish with such great marks. You're just awesome.

Glad everyone you know is safe. It was definitely frightening and tragic. =(

Thanks for the encouragement! I've made improving myself a career, because you can't help others unless you know how to help yourself. I have two daughters to raise and train. I can't make compromises with myself if I expect to do the same for them.

But it didn't start out like that... always start small. That's why the challenges are restrictive to 4 goals. Do something little, but do it perfect. Then increase the difficulty. When you buy a new video game, you don't just go into the first stage at the Expert difficulty setting. You start at Beginner or with a tutorial and work your way up. I'm at Level 8 and been doing challenges for over a year. You can watch my progress now, but also look at my old challenges to see where I've been. Here are some links:

http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/12585-late-to-the-party/

http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/13563-adventure-excitement-a-jedi-craves-not-these-things/

http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/17881-no-try-not-do-or-do-not-there-is-no-try/

We all start in different places with different ideas of what a finish line might be, but we all get there the same way. Little by little, day by day. Start small and build. Learn from failure, rally in success, and never give up on your goals.

JediNickD · April 17, 2013

Typical chores I do around the house are listed below:

Picking up trash, recycleables, food waste, dirty clothes, dirty dishes
Dish Washing
- Loading, unloading dishwasher
- Hand washing dishes
Cleaning kitchen countertops, sink
Taking out trash, recycle, compost (Tuesday, bring trash and recycle to curb for pickup)
Laundry
- Load washer, dryer
- Seperate, fold, and put away
Vaccuuming, sweeping
Animal Care
- Bathroom cat food, water, litter
- Outside Rabbit pen food, water
- Outside Rabbit pen poop scoop
- Outside Duck food, water
- Outside Chicken food, water
- Dogs food, water
- Dogs poop scoop

Most of these are daily and unavoidable. Some are weekly or split between my wife. My goal is to do 43 hours of chores in 6 weeks. The basis is that if I do an hour a day, then I should be able to do more than my typical daily share which will allow for my wife and I to do more chores and keep our home in better shape.

JediNickD · April 17, 2013

I read IJRS Communication 101 Lesson 2 Part 1 and took a 20 question quiz on my communication skills. Results said I was average. I didn't bother buying detailed results.

For my Toastmasters prepared speech next week, I am going to switch my speech order as my topic for Lesson 3: Non-Technical Audience of the Technical Speech Manual is ready, but my topic for Lesson 2: The Proposal still needs a lot of work.

SkiBlue · April 17, 2013

That's a decent list of chores. Good luck with them all!

Deleted Account · April 17, 2013

Thanks for the encouragement! I've made improving myself a career, because you can't help others unless you know how to help yourself. I have two daughters to raise and train. I can't make compromises with myself if I expect to do the same for them.

But it didn't start out like that... always start small. That's why the challenges are restrictive to 4 goals. Do something little, but do it perfect. Then increase the difficulty. When you buy a new video game, you don't just go into the first stage at the Expert difficulty setting. You start at Beginner or with a tutorial and work your way up. I'm at Level 8 and been doing challenges for over a year. You can watch my progress now, but also look at my old challenges to see where I've been. Here are some links:
http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/12585-late-to-the-party/
http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/13563-adventure-excitement-a-jedi-craves-not-these-things/
http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/17881-no-try-not-do-or-do-not-there-is-no-try/

We all start in different places with different ideas of what a finish line might be, but we all get there the same way. Little by little, day by day. Start small and build. Learn from failure, rally in success, and never give up on your goals.

Thanks for sharing those; looking back on where you've been and how you've evolved your goals - and goal-setting practices - has definitely given me hope that I can do the same. I need to learn to pace myself - I tend to set achievable goals, but to set way too many of them at a time. My inclination is to try to do all the things (which is why I never get anywhere near the main plot on games like Skyrim, Fallout, etc).

Keep on being awesome.

JediNickD · April 18, 2013

Mid-Week 1 Update:

FITNESS:

Lift More Weight!
- Barbell Deadlift = 190 lbs 5 reps (this is in the bag)
- Barbell Squat = ???
- Barbell Bench Press = ???
- Barbell Incline = 110 lbs 10 reps
- Barbell Decline Bench Press = ???
- Barbell Standing Curl = ???
- Dumbell Fly = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Bench Press = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Overhead Press = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Curl = 45 lbs 8 reps
- Dumbell Row = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Two-hand Tricep Extension = 80 lbs 3 reps
- Leg Press Sled = ???
- Leg Extension = ???
- 20 Box Jumps
- 0 Lunges
- 30 Burpees
- 60 Mountain Climbers
- 0 Hand Stand Push Ups
- 20 Pull Ups
- 20 Chin Ups
- 40 Dips
- 120 Push Ups
- 300 Crunches
- 0 Bicycle Crunches
- 60 Dual Leg Lefts
- 100 Oblique Twists
- 300 Side Bends
- 200 Side Raises
- 45 Reverse Situps

I still have a lot to check in on, but I could only get to the gym in the mornings this week. A couple of times I even arrived late. Next week, I'll get to the gym at lunch time on Wednesday and Friday.

Run Faster!
- Sprinting Distance = 226.77 m
- 50m Dash = ???
- 200m Dash = ???
- 58.8m Medicine Ball Shuttle Run = ???
- 37.8m Shuttle Run = ???
- Jogging Distance = 1.25 miles
- Rugby Training = 0 minutes
- Hiking = 0 miles
- Biking = 0 miles
- Rowing = 0 km

Biking and/or rowing tomorrow. Hiking this weekend at Hershey Park ;-). Going to get times for sprints next week.

DIETARY:

Eat better!
- Took a Multi-Vitamin everyday this week.
- Ate no salads as a meal, but didn't have the resources at home. Need a trip to the grocery store.
- Tracking my sugar intake daily is easy.

LIFE:

Train the Mind!
- Private Work Goal to improve productivity on par
- Family and Home
  - Hang out with my wife = 8.5 hours
  - Hang out with my kids = 7 hours
  - Household Chores (dishes, laundry, etc) = 4 hours

In three days, that is ahead of schedule.

Nerd Fitness Community
- Update my Challenge Thread = 4 times
- Update my Battle Log = 4 times
- Comment on someone else's Thread = 3 different threads
- Comment on my Accountabilibuddies' Challenge Threads = 1 time
Toastmasters
- Scheduled for Toastmasters Prepared Speeches (4/23 and 5/14). Both speeches are mostly written, but I switched the order and went with the one I am more confident with first.
- Did not volunteer as Table Topics participant
- Volunteered for Sgt At Arms and Grammarian
- Mentoring a Member with interaction thrice this week outside of meetings
- I have yet to work on the Club Newsletter
Jedi Training
- Began IJRS Communication 101 Lesson 2 reading
- Yet to start IJRS Creed 101 Lesson 1
- Read Jedi-related material = 60 minutes
GeoCaching
- Have not found any caches. Have not searched either. Maybe on after work today. Checking on virtuals for Hershey Park for Saturday.
- Read up on Cache Hide Rules

I had some progress at Toastmasters, NF, Home, and Work.

It's been a weak first week for workouts. I need to use the weekend to get ahead on my running and bodyweight exercises so I can focus on other exercises during the week.

Celeborn · April 20, 2013

Hey JediNick sound like you are doing pretty good so far glad to hear that your friends and family are all safe after the terrible events in Boston recently.

maegs · April 20, 2013

I still have a lot to check in on, but I could only get to the gym in the mornings this week. A couple of times I even arrived late. Next week, I'll get to the gym at lunch time on Wednesday and Friday.

I dunno, it looks like you did a lot already! And it looks like your life goals are going well too

JediNickD · April 23, 2013

On Sunday, I found a GeoCache. It was an easy Lamp Post cache and dash, but I had my 2 year old with me on a grocery shopping run, so I didn't have much choice. I have a few other caches I know where they are and what I am looking for. I just need the right circumstances. Between this week and next, I plan to create that and make the finds.

My speech and presentation are finally complete. I rehearsed a bit, but I'll need to do some more before the meeting. I'm nervous but I'm ready.

915 lbs 5 reps on the Leg Press this morning. I set my goal just right as the 5 reps were not all good form. It will take some work to get to 930 lbs.

JediNickD · April 25, 2013

Mid-Week 2 Update:
FITNESS:

Lift More Weight!
- Barbell Deadlift = ...
- Barbell Squat = ???
- Barbell Bench Press = ???
- Barbell Incline = ...
- Barbell Decline Bench Press = 120 lbs
- Barbell Standing Curl = ???
- Dumbell Fly = ...
- Dumbell Bench Press = ...
- Dumbell Overhead Press = ...
- Dumbell Curl = ...
- Dumbell Row = ...
- Dumbell Two-hand Tricep Extension = ...
- Leg Press Sled = 915 lbs 5 reps
- Leg Extension = ???
- 30 Box Jumps
- 20 Lunges
- 10 Burpees
- 0 Mountain Climbers
- 10 Hand Stand Push Ups
- 16 Pull Ups
- 16 Chin Ups
- 20 Dips
- 120 Push Ups
- 100 Crunches
- 0 Bicycle Crunches
- 30 Dual Leg Lefts
- 200 Oblique Twists
- 100 Side Bends
- 140 Side Raises
- 60 Reverse Situps

Run Faster!
- Sprinting Distance = 0 m
- 50m Dash = ???
- 200m Dash = ???
- 58.8m Medicine Ball Shuttle Run = ???
- 37.8m Shuttle Run = ???
- Jogging Distance = 1.25 miles
- Rugby Training = 0 minutes
- Hiking = 0 miles
- Biking = 2.7 miles
- Rowing = 1.2 km

DIETARY:

Eat better!
- Took a Multi-Vitamin everyday this week.
- Ate two salads as a meal.
- Tracking my sugar intake daily is easy.

LIFE:

Train the Mind!
- Private Work Goal to improve productivity on par
- Family and Home
  - Hang out with my wife = 4 hours
  - Hang out with my kids = 3 hours
  - Household Chores (dishes, laundry, etc) = 2.5 hours

Nerd Fitness Community
- Update my Challenge Thread = 2 times
- Update my Battle Log = 4 times
- Comment on someone else's Thread = 0 different threads
- Comment on my Accountabilibuddies' Challenge Threads = 3 times
Toastmasters
- Delivered first speech on 4/23. Second is scheduled and I believe I've got a great topic for the lesson... The Joys of Geocaching
- Volunteered as Table Topics participant
- Volunteered for General Evaluator
- Mentoring a Member with interaction once this week outside of meetings
- I have yet to work on the Club Newsletter, because I've had to volunteer for our Membership Drive Chair. Nobody else would do it. I wanted a newsletter to distrbute as part of the membership drive. No chance in hell I can accomplish both unless I can delegate most the Membership Drive work (doubt it). Bastards.
Jedi Training
- Completed IJRS Communication 101 Lesson 2 reading. Began Discussion and Homework exercises
- Yet to start IJRS Creed 101 Lesson 1
- Read Jedi-related material = 60 minutes
GeoCaching
- Found a cache on Sunday. I have a plan for next week.
- Researching possible locations.

JediNickD · April 26, 2013

Squat 190 lbs 10 reps!

Curl Bar 105 lbs 5 reps!

JediNickD · April 26, 2013

Rugby training in the hot sun. I need to pack sun block in my gym bag.

In training, I jogged 2 miles while punting or drop kicking and chasing. I sprinted 1000 meters (20x 50m) while pop or grubber kicking and chasing. I did 30 pushups, 30 mountain climbers, 10 burpees, and 20 lunges between kicks. After training, I did 10 pull ups, 5, 3, 2 chin ups, and 10 hand stand push ups. Beat...

maegs · April 27, 2013

Rugby training in the hot sun. I need to pack sun block in my gym bag.

I'm jealous of your sun! We got rain and hail at our last practice.

JediNickD · April 30, 2013

Week 3 is where we need to get ourselves on track. At the end, we should be at the halfway point on all our goals. I've got a big week ahead of me.

End of Week 2 Progress:
FITNESS:

Lift More Weight!
- Barbell Deadlift = 190 lbs 5 reps
- Barbell Squat = 190 lbs 10 reps
- Barbell Bench Press = 200 lbs 3 reps
- Barbell Incline = 110 lbs 10 reps
- Barbell Decline Bench Press = 120 lbs 10 reps
- Barbell Standing Curl = 105 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Fly = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Bench Press = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Overhead Press = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Curl = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Row = 45 lbs 10 reps
- Dumbell Two-hand Tricep Extension = 80 lbs 3 reps
- Leg Press Sled = 915 lbs 5 reps
- Leg Extension = ???
- 50 Box Jumps
- 60 Lunges
- 60 Burpees
- 120 Mountain Climbers
- 30 Hand Stand Push Ups
- 46 Pull Ups
- 46 Chin Ups
- 60 Dips
- 270 Push Ups
- 500 Crunches
- 540 Bicycle Crunches
- 180 Dual Leg Lefts
- 700 Oblique Twists
- 500 Side Bends
- 410 Side Raises
- 105 Reverse Situps

Run Faster!
- Sprinting Distance = 1227 m
- 50m Dash = ???
- 200m Dash = ???
- 58.8m Medicine Ball Shuttle Run = ???
- 37.8m Shuttle Run = ???
- Jogging Distance = 4.5 miles
- Rugby Training = 45 minutes
- Hiking = 1.6 miles
- Biking = 2.7 miles
- Rowing = 2.26 km

DIETARY:

Eat better!
- Took a Multi-Vitamin 12 times.
- Ate 5 salads as a meal.
- Tracking my sugar intake daily is easy.

LIFE:

Train the Mind!
- Private Work Goal to improve productivity on par
- Family and Home
  - Hang out with my wife = 31 hours
  - Hang out with my kids = 29.5 hours
  - Household Chores (dishes, laundry, etc) = 26 hours

Nerd Fitness Community
- Update my Challenge Thread = 7 times
- Update my Battle Log = 12 times
- Comment on someone else's Thread = 5 different threads
- Comment on my Accountabilibuddies' Challenge Threads = 6 times
Toastmasters
- Delivered first speech on 4/23. Second is scheduled and I believe I've got a great topic for the lesson... The Joys of Geocaching
- Volunteered as Table Topics participant once
- Volunteered for General Evaluator
- Mentoring a Member interaction = 4 times (she's blowing it off and I'm going to need to buckle down on her)
- I have yet to work on the Club Newsletter, because I've had to volunteer for our Membership Drive Chair. Nobody else would do it. I wanted a newsletter to distrbute as part of the membership drive. No chance in hell I can accomplish both unless I can delegate most the Membership Drive work (doubt it). Bastards. I think I should change this goal to be an Officer goal.
Jedi Training
- Completed IJRS Communication 101 Lesson 2 reading. Began Discussion and Homework exercises
- Yet to start IJRS Creed 101 Lesson 1
- Read Jedi-related material = 150 minutes
GeoCaching
- Found 1 cache.
- Researching possible locations. I think I picked it out Saturday. I need to make the inquiries about the location to the land owners / property owners.

JediNickD · April 30, 2013

COMPLETED Incline Bench Press 130 lbs 10 reps today!

PR on Pull Ups: 12 reps! SLAMMIN'!

COMPLETED IJRS Communication 101 Lesson 2 yesterday!

Read IJRS Creed 101 Lesson 1 and Exercise. Began Exercise today.

Mini-Challenge Week 3: Sprinting 227 m = 0.02 miles

JediNickD · May 1, 2013

COMPLETED Dumbell Flys, Bench Press, Overhead Press (50 lbs 5 reps), and Rows (50 lbs 10 reps).

Ran 50 m Dash in 6.66 s. I mis-timed my other runs, but I felt fast on all four. I think I can break 6.60 next week. I need to do 200 m on Friday.

Mini-Challenge Week 3: Sprinting = 200 m, Walking = 500 m

Mini-Challenge TOTAL = 0.46 miles

JediNickD · May 2, 2013

COMPLETED Leg Press = 930 lbs 5 reps!

Hells to the yeah!

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Level 8: "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

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