BlimeyCharlie joins The Avengers Initiative

[Charlie_Quinn]

My first challenge with the Rangers, here we go!

 

So my inspiration for this challenge is this:

 

 

My main quest remains the same, get fit and strong enough to complete Tough Mudder.

 

Quest 1

A mischievous Loki pushes you off a cliff and you're hanging onto the ledge. You're gonna have to pull yourself back up.

 

-Do at least 1 unassisted chin up

I'm so very very close to doing this. If I manage to do this earlier than expected, I might change this to at least 2 chin-ups.

 

Quest 2

A building has collapsed and civilians are trapped under the debris. You need to lift up the heavy iron girders to get them out.

 

-Strength training at least 3 times a week.

-Squat at least 45kg

I'm currently squatting 32.5kg and have been increasing about 2.5kg a week so this should be achievable.

 

Quest 3

Hydra have put a bomb in Stark tower. You need to get there and disable it before it goes off. Better start running!

 

-Complete a 10k run

I've signed up for a local 10k run on Oct 12th. My longest run at the moment is 4 miles so I've got a bit of work to do! My aim is to run 3 times a week in the lead up to the run. After that, I might knock it down to 2 times a week just for maintenance. 

 

Life Quest

- Practice playing the ukulele at least once a week.

I started learning to play the ukulele about 6 months ago and then, true to form, I put it in the corner and forgot about it. So I need to set aside at least an hour and a half each week to start learning again.

 

Alrighty then, lets do this! Avengers, Assemble!

 

[Mikroftt]

I like the Avengers parallels!  Do you have a plan to work on chin ups or do you expect the lifting you do to build the strength required?  If you need some ideas of how to get to the chin up, you can try the pull up progression found here.  If you have something else in mind then go for it!

[Charlie_Quinn]

I like the Avengers parallels!  Do you have a plan to work on chin ups or do you expect the lifting you do to build the strength required?  If you need some ideas of how to get to the chin up, you can try the pull up progression found here.  If you have something else in mind then go for it!

 

Thanks! I've mostly been doing lifting to build up the strength but I've also got 2 resistance bands, one light resistance and one medium. I've been doing negative chin-ups with the light and full chin-ups with the medium so I can practice the motion of doing a chin-up (if that makes sense?)

 

I tried to do an unassisted chin-up last night and I was so close to the bar I could almost taste it. I'm not entirely sure if the reason I didn't manage to finish the chin-up is because I was so surprised at how close I was, my concentration broke and I let go! I tried again but couldn't get as close as the first attampt, but I'm going to give it another try tonight before I attach the resistance bands. 

[Yllek]

We have similar goals. I'm working on pull-ups. Actually more like have been for the past 3 months. I'm going to start working on squats for this challenge. Wish you the best of luck and can't wait to see your progression.

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[Charlie_Quinn]

Tried to do another unassisted chin-up last night. I got to about eye level with the bar and no amount of pulling was getting me another further than that! Oh well, I just have the distance from my eyes to my chin to go!

[Yllek]

Tried to do another unassisted chin-up last night. I got to about eye level with the bar and no amount of pulling was getting me another further than that! Oh well, I just have the distance from my eyes to my chin to go!

Almost there! Keep working on negatives. They really have helped me with upper body strength.

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[Ryoko]

I'm new to the Rangers, too!

 

We have a quite a few similar goals - I'm training for a Spartan Sprint in November.

 

Good luck meeting your challenges!

[Charlie_Quinn]

Not had a chance to do much over the last few days except for press ups and chin up training. Looking forward to the challenge starting tomorrow so I can get back on track. Planning a 4 mile run tomorrow.

I'm new to the Rangers, too!

We have a quite a few similar goals - I'm training for a Spartan Sprint in November.

Good luck meeting your challenges!

Hey there! Good luck with the Spartan!

[Ryoko]

Hey there! Good luck with the Spartan!

 

Thank you!

[Anaticula]

Welcome fellow CutLass, I be following ye thread to see how yer doing. 

 

Looks like you have some great goals set up for yourself.

[Charlie_Quinn]

Day 1, woohoo! Here we go.

 

 

Just had a nice lunch of a huge sweet potato, chicken and broccoli. Brought nuts and fruit to snack on later as well, so should be nicely fueled up for a run after work.

[Ryoko]

Day 1 - w00t! Hope you have an awesome run today! ^.^

[Charlie_Quinn]

Week 1 Day 1

 

4 mile run done. Quite a slow one, it was unusually warm tonight and almost no breeze so felt a little hard to breathe at some points. I'm probably the only person in England who can't wait for it to get cold again (then I can moan about running in the freezing wind!)

 

Zombies, Run! is getting so good! I'm only half way through season 1 but I'm already starting to love some of the characters, especially Sam! 

 

Got 2 questions for any fellow zombie runners:

 

1, Has anyone else had issues with the app crashing when you try to go into your base? It was fine for the first few weeks when I installed it on my new phone (HTC One Mini 2 running KitKat) but over the last few days, I haven't been able to go into my base at all. Everything else in the app is working fine.

 

2. Does anyone else talk back to the characters when out for a run? Or is that just me and my own special brand of crazy...

[Ryoko]

I'm waiting for it to get cold so I can complain about to the cold too!

 

I haven't gotten far enough in Zombies, Run! to notice an app crash. I'll get farther once it gets really cold and I need to start running indoors. Right now I'm still running outdoors and I don't wear headphones outdoors.

 

Congrats on getting your 4 miles done!

[Shello]

 

Zombies, Run! is getting so good! I'm only half way through season 1 but I'm already starting to love some of the characters, especially Sam! 

 

Got 2 questions for any fellow zombie runners:

 

1, Has anyone else had issues with the app crashing when you try to go into your base? It was fine for the first few weeks when I installed it on my new phone (HTC One Mini 2 running KitKat) but over the last few days, I haven't been able to go into my base at all. Everything else in the app is working fine.

 

2. Does anyone else talk back to the characters when out for a run? Or is that just me and my own special brand of crazy...

 

Ahoy, fellow CutLass.  I am trying to stay caught up on following everyone.  Seems like you are off to a good start.  I haven't tried ZR yet but talking back to the characters makes it sound even better!

[Anaticula]

I haven't tried Zombies Run, but I know I'd end up talking back too!

[Charlie_Quinn]

I'm in a proper bad mood today, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I didn't get up for the gym this morning. I had a lousy nights sleep and when the alarm went off this morning I just switched it off and went right back to sleep. I'll still go after work but wish I had just got my lazy butt out of bed this morning.

 

Secondly, I'm at my wits end with our kitchen refurbishment. They've been doing the refurb for a week now and it looks like they are no closer to having it finished. The electrician butchered the plasterboard so much that the guy doing the fitting had to put up completely new plasterboard. The units should have been in by today but the workman called earlier to say Ikea haven't sent enough legs for all the units! And to top it all off, there is a chance that the worktops aren't long enough, despite the planner in Ikea telling us that ordering a shorter one and a longer one would more than enough !!!

 

 

I really wish my gym had punchbags 'cos I really want to hit something right now!!

[Anaticula]

Sounds like a very rough day.  I recommend screaming into pillows. I will admit I've also had a time or two where on a rough day I went to the local goodwill, bought some cheap dishes and smashed them. 

 

Hope your day gets better!

[Yllek]

Renovations can be frustrating. A good workout should make you feel better. Hang in there!

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[Mikroftt]

You can push your rage into the floor and do some really cool plyo push ups!  Sorry to hear the remodel is not going to schedule.  

[Charlie_Quinn]

Thanks everyone. I'm a bit calmer now. My main worry is the delays will cause the cost to shoot up. The guy fitting the kitchen is so lovely though, he's actually gone down to Ikea to pick up the parts himself. I just wish the other contractors were as nice as him!

@Anaticula - that's hilarious! Maybe I should try that next time. Best not to do it when the electrician is around though, I might throw the plates at him!

@Mikroftt - I had to look up Plyo push ups. Hmmm, maybe I'll just stick with regular push ups for now. Maybe in a few weeks! [emoji4]

To the gym I go!

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[Charlie_Quinn]

Week 1 Day 2:

 

As planned, went to the gym. I had to switch my routine around a bit as it was so busy and didn't get to do all the exercises I wanted to. That's why going in the morning is so much better. Was supposed to do single arm bent over rows but couldn't get to a bench to do them so will have to do them next time. Had to switch from doing dumbbell curls / triceps extention to cable curls/press down. That will teach me to not get up in the morning.

 

I needs to start keeping a better log of my workouts. I have a list of all my exercises and the weight I'm up to in the notes on my phone, but I don't track how many reps I do with each weight (I try to do 5 x 5 but not always the case).

 

Here's what I can remember doing from yesterday:

 

Cable curl: 5x5 12.5kg (warm up set of 8reps at lower weight)

Cable press down: 5x5 10.2kg (warm up set of 8reps at lower weight)

Shoulder press (Dumbbell): 1x8 @ 12kg & 4x5 @ 14kg

Press ups: Bodyweight 3x12

Plank: Held for 1min 25sec

 

Today's plan is a 3 mile recovery run after work. 

[Charlie_Quinn]

Week 1 day 3

Just a quick update tonight as it's ten to nine, I've only just got in from my run and haven't eaten yet.

3 mile run done. Went out later than I planned due to another kitchen refurbishment emergency. I can't wait till this is all over and I have my kitchen back.

Going to have something to eat, pack my bag for the gym tomorrow and turn in for the night.

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[blkhole24601]

Keep up the awesome work!!

[Charlie_Quinn]

Week 1 Day 4

 

Strength Training

Got up early and went to the gym this morning. Felt pretty good and managed to get in the exercises I didn't get to do on Tuesday. I found a great app called FitNotes to log my workouts on. It's pretty basic but does the job.

 

Today's work out:

Barbell Squat:

2x5 reps @ 30kg

2x5 reps @ 32.5kg

1x5 reps @ 35kg

Personal Best!

 

Deadlift:

3x5 reps @ 30kg

2x5 reps @ 35kg

Not very happy with this, was doing 45kg a few weeks ago but then didn't do any deadlifts last week and I'm down to 35kg!!

 

Dumbbell Row

5x5 reps @ 616kg

 

Dumbbell Bench Press

4x5 reps at 20kg

 

My legs were a little sore after all that so I used the foam roller for the first time. Oh My God! Why hadn't I used that before! It felt sooooo gooodd! I could have happily stayed there all day and rolled it over various parts of my body!

 

Chin up training

Did some assisted and negatives when I got home tonight. Don't think I've made much progression here yet. Just have to be patient.

 

No running today, not decided if I'm going to do intervals tomorrow or just take it as a rest day. Lets see if the DOMS kicks in tomorrow or not!