Silly Otter Saves the Mystical Wildflowers

[SillyOtter]

Good Day!

 

For as long as I can remember I have been a gamer girl, it started with sitting on my parents living room floor playing Asteroids on my Atari. Yeah you read that right...Atari. My all time favorite series is Final Fantasy and my favorite game within the series is VII, I still own a PS2 just so I can dust it off and try to beat Ruby Weapon once in awhile. So naturally I am patterning my big quest after my favorite game! And, I need to have a little fun with this since life is all way too much "serious business" right now so I am stepping into character and writing a bit of a story.

 

Our story begins...

A mild-mannered, snarky IT girl / accounting student is sitting at her desk one day when the phone rings. 'IT Support Desk this is Silly Otter'.

Her old friend Cloud comes on the line "Silly Otter what are you doing answering the phones? Don't you know that the evil dragon 'Fibromyalgia' is working a spell on you and trying to keep you trapped on your chair while she is trying to destroy the Mystical Wildflowers?!?!"

Silly Otter "Well of course I KNOW! But what am I supposed to do about it?"

Cloud "Get your butt out of the chair, acquire the magical hiking equipment and a shiny new sword and come help us fight her off!"

Silly Otter "But where do I start?"

Cloud *facepalm* so loud I can hear it! "With NerdFitness of course!" 

Silly Otter closes her latest text book, forwards the phones to her team and is out the door to explore how the NerdFitness thing works!

 

The Main Quest:

Save the Mystical Wildflowers from the evil fire breathing dragon "Fibromyalgia"! 

The wildflowers are at the top of a Colorado 14'er (14,000 ft altitude for those of you not familiar with the term) at the halfway point of a 25 mile backpacking expedition carrying a 25 lb pack.

This is a huge quest (right now) and will need to be completed in smaller chunks. I have a little more than 4 six-week cycles plus the holiday bonus cycle to get up that mountain! (July 2014) And I will need all of my energy at the top to defeat the dragon!

 

Stage 1: Aquire the Backpack

The backpack is always one of the first things you want on any quest to hold all the nifty stuff you find along the way. So this first six week challenge will be to work hard and acquire the backpack and the ability to carry it in the end as my prize!

(I already make feeble attempts at exercising so the below goals are realistic. I can currently hike 5.5 miles carrying a 7 lb pack at 8k ft. but it really kills me for about a week!)

 

Specific Goals:

1. Do the Beginner Bodyweight workout at least 3 times a week.
2. Do the 20 minute Interval Training workout at least 2 times a week.
3. Transition back to the Paleo diet beginning with no gluten or sugar at least 5 days a week. (I was full out Paleo for over a year so this is just relearning and readjusting time.)

Life Quest:

Complete my next two college courses! I am actually working on my accounting degree and have 4 courses left to complete before the end of March 2014.  :-)

 

Motivation:

Every day I live with the pain and frustration of Fibromyalgia. I LOVE hiking and being active but I have allowed Fibro to slow me down and it is time for that to STOP!  I want to be a Ranger class kind of gal!

That field of wildflowers is a real thing and this past summer I got photos, next summer I want to see it with my own eyes!

 

Tonight I will post my starting measurements and maybe a photo (I am camera shy so no promises) because I need to see the physical transformation. 

 

Thanks for reading!

[MSU Fan]

Hey, welcome and good luck - I love the goals - realistic and audacious all at the same time! 

 

And to quote one of my favorite movie lines of all time (from "The Princess Bride") - "Have fun storming the castle!"

[Arwenac]

It sounds like you have a good plan! I love the way you wrote this piece.

Hope you can conquer the Dragon. Living with pain is not easy but I like the motivation to not it slow you down

I was thinking of joining the rangers after this challenge so: Good luck fellow aspirant ranger

[Machete]

Ah, a mountain girl. I have been defeated by a few mountains in the past, usually with the help of a heavy backpack. This led me to seek sage advice, which led me to my current quest to acquire raw strength.

 

And I read a little on your Dragon. A tough beast, it appears to be. Respect to you for tackling this challenge head-on. The best of luck.

 

P.S. I am also camera-shy. Mostly because I tend to be caught in stupid faces every time I'm in a picture.

[SillyOtter]

Hey, welcome and good luck - I love the goals - realistic and audacious all at the same time! 

 

And to quote one of my favorite movie lines of all time (from "The Princess Bride") - "Have fun storming the castle!"

Thank you MSU Fan! My goals do tend to run that way throughout my life...realistic and audacious! :-)  

I do indeed intend to have fun storming this castle! And the same to you!  :-)

[SillyOtter]

It sounds like you have a good plan! I love the way you wrote this piece.

Hope you can conquer the Dragon. Living with pain is not easy but I like the motivation to not it slow you down

I was thinking of joining the rangers after this challenge so: Good luck fellow aspirant ranger

Thank you Arwenac! This Dragon is going down...or at least getting chained up in an underground cave in the middle of nowhere!  :-)

Good Luck on your quest to be a Ranger as well! 

[SillyOtter]

Ah, a mountain girl. I have been defeated by a few mountains in the past, usually with the help of a heavy backpack. This led me to seek sage advice, which led me to my current quest to acquire raw strength.

 

And I read a little on your Dragon. A tough beast, it appears to be. Respect to you for tackling this challenge head-on. The best of luck.

 

P.S. I am also camera-shy. Mostly because I tend to be caught in stupid faces every time I'm in a picture.

 

Hello Machete

Yes, those heavy backpacks definitely add to the challenge of conquering a mountain! Thank you for the link to the sage advice, I appreciate it!  I will be with a seasoned backpacker so that will add a bit of an edge but my body must be strong enough to keep up!

My Dragon is definitely a tough beast but I am determined to make it bow down at my feet! Thank you for the respect, after reading your profile I know that is a tall compliment!

I managed to get past the camera shy (although not the goofy face) and uploaded a couple of starting photos. Eeep! :-)

Best of luck on your quest!

[SillyOtter]

Beginning measurements (Ugh!): 

Height 5'4" of fiesty IT Girl!

L. Bicep 33 wimpy cm

R. Bicep 34 wimpy cm

Bust 109 cm

Below Bust 95 cm

Waist 102 cm

Hips 122 cm (Yikes!)

L Thigh 62 cm

R Thigh 64.5 cm

Weight 203.0 lbs

Body Fat  43.2% (Oh my!)

 

Here we go with the first Body Weight Circuit! Wish me luck folks, I am going to need it! LOL

[SillyOtter]

Today is my first 20 minute interval and I find that I am actually a bit scared. The feeling of my heart pounding and trying to catch my breathe has always been unsettling. Does anyone else have that problem? How do you overcome it?

[Blaze]

So which 14'er is your dragon sitting on?  My best friend lives in the Springs, and I just visited for a week.  She also has that dragon bothering her, and has dreamed of climbing at least half way up the mountain, but she's got other health problems too, that make it seem insurmountable.  I'm beginning to think that Pikes Peak wants me to climb it someday, and maybe plant a wildflower in her honor.  It doesn't know what it's asking, but that doesn't mean I'll say no.

[SillyOtter]

So which 14'er is your dragon sitting on? My best friend lives in the Springs, and I just visited for a week. She also has that dragon bothering her, and has dreamed of climbing at least half way up the mountain, but she's got other health problems too, that make it seem insurmountable. I'm beginning to think that Pikes Peak wants me to climb it someday, and maybe plant a wildflower in her honor. It doesn't know what it's asking, but that doesn't mean I'll say no.

Hi Blaze

Pikes Peak is a tough one but a good choice especially for such an honor. :-)

My dragon is sitting on Maroon Bells in the Elk Mountains near Vail. It will be one of many hikes, I would love to conquer as many of the 14'ers as possible and several other hikes all over the world.

The biggest challenge with this dragon is that I have to take things so darn slow to not wake it up! But if I sneak up on it, I can tame it!

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[SillyOtter]

Week 1 progress: I would give myself a C for this week and will have to adjust my goals a bit. I like to forget that recovery literally takes twice as long with the Fibro. I did the beginner body weight workout twice and one twenty minute interval workout. The evening after the 20 minute interval, which went great, I got a very painful and persistent cramp from my left ankle all the way to my hip. My very athletic hiking buddy cautioned me to slow down on the leg work before I end up getting injured. Diet wise I did so-so but I ate out a lot this week celebrating a promotion ! It was not a typical week. :-)

My adjusted goals to accommodate the slower healing:

1) Beginner Body weight twice a week

2) 20 minute interval once a week

3) Still shifting to Paleo

Conversation with my hiking partner later this week to set the pace for my workouts. We will probably add a more core/upper body focus workout to the mix to keep me moving forward but give my legs time to heal between intervals.

Life Goal: Final exam in Cost Accounting scheduled for Sunday!

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[charlemagne]

Nice post SillyOtter I go on field trips (for work) every now and then and like to sneak some hiking in when I can - that is if the field work doesn't already involve hiking.

How did you fall off the paleo wagon? I'm paleo 6 months and am curious.

[SillyOtter]

Nice post SillyOtter I go on field trips (for work) every now and then and like to sneak some hiking in when I can - that is if the field work doesn't already involve hiking.

How did you fall off the paleo wagon? I'm paleo 6 months and am curious.

Hi Charlemagne

Thank you!

I moved three times in 8 months to three different towns and one of those moves I had a housemate who filled the kitchen with junk food. Life was chaos and I just couldn't keep up and had trouble adjusting. I was (and still am) a full time student now in the last term of my Bachelors. I currently live in a tiny town where decent produce and meat are hard to find and very expensive. But life is somewhat more predictable which should help with the eating better. So I travel 90 miles one way to get things like coconut oil, almond meal and almond butter. I will be getting a deep freeze soon so that I can buy meat and produce in bulk and freeze it. I also just picked up Paleo Slow Cooking which is helping with the food prep. I live alone now so it is easy to get lazy about cooking which is really bad for proper eating habits but better than a junk food filled kitchen. :-)

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[charlemagne]

Wow - It hadn't occurred to me that you location could affect your paleo-ness. Kudos for not giving up the good fight - especially being a full-time student and all! I hope you get the deep freeze soon and get to cooking all your favourite meals again!

[Kunoichi22]

I also just picked up Paleo Slow Cooking which is helping with the food prep. 

 

 

Oooh, Paleo Slow Cooking, that sounds like my speed!  I will check it out! =)

 

Made anything you like a whole lot from this, SillyOtter?

[SillyOtter]

I have tried several g things from the Paleo Slow Cooking book and have been very pleased with all of them! I would definitely recommend it!

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