Anaticula - Fish Splashing Around

[Anaticula]

I don't play many video games, but one that I do love to play is Pokemon.  And one of my favorite Pokemon is Gyarados. As everyone knows, for your Pokemon to become Gyarados you have to deal with Magikarp splashing around and not being able to actually do anything for a long while first.  That's how I feel right now.  My last challenge, I splashed around and nothing happened. I lost my focus, my determination, and my desire to do better.  I went through the motions, but accomplished nothing. Well, very little, I did manage some things, but not as much as I would like.  At any rate, before Magikarp can become Gyarados a lot of splashing is required. Right now I'm only a level four Magikarp, but I know that if I keep going into battle I'll eventually reach level 15 where I'll at least be able to make something happen, then reach level 20 where I can become a Gyarados.  

 

Before I can become Gyarados, or in my case, complete my Half Ironman, I need to get the basics down. My biggest failure last time was my diet. I ate everything. Fast food. Soda. Lots of candy and holiday treats. It has been said here and at camp many times that you can't outrun your fork, so this challenge I'm going to focus on what I eat.

 

Main Quest: Level up to Complete Half Ironman

 

Quest One - Fill the Pokedex - Just as the trainer keeps track of the Pokemon they see, I need to keep track of all the food I eat.  My first goal this challenge is to log my food. All of it.  If I mess up and have a soda, I write it down.  If I eat pizza I write it down. Also, to properly log my food I need to measure my food correctly before I put it on my plate. I bowl of soup sounds fine, but I need to know if the bowl holds one serving or 4. Going to grade this on a daily basis. Grades: A - Log all meals and snacks each day; B - Log 2 meals or snacks each day; C - Log one meal or snack each day. Fail - log nothing. At the end of the challenge I'll look back over all my days and see how I did to come up with a final score. Reward: A Wis +3 Cha +1; B Wis +2; C Wis +1.

 

Quest Two - Use the Health Potions - Health potions help get the Pokemon between battle.  Water is that health potion for humans. This challenge I'm going to give up the soda for water. I will earn one point for every 8oz of water drank each day; lose 2 points for each 8oz of soda. I'm taking points off for soda because soda is one of my biggest problems. I constantly cave in to it and think one soda won't hurt me.  But I know that in reality it does. Because I can't stop with one. And I'm fairly certain that much of the 6 lbs I gained in December is due to soda. Grades: A 7 to 8 points a day; B 5 to 6 points; C 3 to 4 points. Fail two points or less. Reward: A Sta +3 Con +1; B Sta +2; C Sta +1.

 

Quest Three - Battle - The most important part of leveling up in Pokemon is battle.  In order to level up I have to train. This is a goal I go with almost every challenge, because I know it's good for me.  Follow my trainer's schedule in order to get stronger and better prepared for what is ahead. I will complete the tasks my trainer assigns me. Grading: A- do each session on the day it is scheduled for; B - Complete each session within two days of the time it was scheduled (in other words if I miss a session I have two days to make it back up); C - Complete each session the week it was scheduled (the week starts on Monday, so I have until Sunday night to make sure I have completed every task my trainer assigned.) Fail - Miss a session in a week for a reason other than illness or injury. Reward: A Str +3 Dex +1; B Str +2; C Str +1.

 

Life Quest - Knowledge is Power - So this has nothing to do with Pokemon, but I've always wanted to be fluent in a second language, so I just purchased a 6 month subscription to Rosetta Stone Spanish. My goal is to complete level one by the time this challenge is over. I picked Spanish because my coach and several people on my team speak it, as well as a good many people in the community here. It's a language I'll actually be able to use. Plus, the fact that I know several people who speak it means that if I really get stumped on a section I've lots of people I can ask for help.  I know that there are free services out there, but I like the way Rosetta Stone works.  I used it in the past, and had I stuck with it instead of getting bored I'd be fluent in a second language already. Grading: A complete level 1; B finish 2/3 of level one; C finish 1/2 of level one. Reward: A - Wis +3; B Wis +2; C Wis +1.

 

I'm hoping that this challenge will get me back on track and well on my way to completing my half Ironman and eventually becoming a Gyarados (completing an Ironman) someday.

[Anaticula]

I have a couple upcoming races that I didn't post about in my first post, so here they are:

 

Starting Yesterday was the Meet Me on Mars year long run.  The goal of this is to log every mile you run this year in hopes that as a group everyone will run the distance from Earth to Mars. My goal is 1,000 miles this year.

Tomorrow, January 3rd I'm doing 10 miles at the Q50 Resolution Run. 

Next I have a marathon (yikes!) that I might be falling back to a half marathon on January 18th. This will be the Louisiana Marathon. I signed up for the full marathon, but depending on how slow I am tomorrow I may email them to drop me down to the half marathon as they are VERY stick on the time limit for their race.

The next race I'm going to do is the Q50 Trails Extravaganza. They are offering 5 races over a two day period and you can do up to three of them. I've not yet picked the one I want to do.  Need to soon so I can sign up for it! They are offering a 10 mile on Feb 28th at 9 am; a 5 mile night time run at 5pm; then on March 1st a 50 mile (starts at 6am), a 26.2 mile (9am), and a 13.1 mile (9am) trail run. I'm planning to do one race and work as a volunteer for the others. I just need to decide what race I want to do first.  And as lots of us will be staying the night there I have to get a tent and a sleeping bag. Think I'll do my race on the 28th as I don't imagine I'd be able to run too well after sleeping on the ground!

Then finally, April 19th I have my Half Ironman. I will admit, as things stand now I'm fairly certain I won't be able to finish...  Hopefully I can pull everything together over these next few months and be ready in time!

 

I'm sure I'll be signing up for a few more races before too long.

[Terinatum]

Wow! Race Race Race!

 

I put them in the calendar, except for the one you have to chose. Just let me know when you know!

 

Have a great challenge!

[blkhole24601]

I'm still in awe of how many races you have coming up, especially that half Ironman! Remember, no matter what, you're doing better than those just sitting around on their couches! Can't wait to watch your progress; you're an inspiration! Subbed!!

[Amdhiel]

Ready to watch your progress and cheer you on!!

[Anaticula]

So I spoke with the people running the Meet me on Mars run and they set up a Nerd Fitness jogging group if anyone else wants to join.  It's free. Or you can pay and get a medal/t-Shirt at the end of the year. Signing up for the team only lets you see how far other people on your team have ran. If you want to join, once you have signed up and all go to the edit my profile page and you'll see a drop down box labeled 'jogging team' from there you can choose Nerd Fitness. I figured lots of people run already, so it's a good way to see how far we can go together.  Going to also post this in the Scouts board and make a PVP thread for it. 

[Anaticula]

And in response to the amount of races I do.  I've discovered that I'm willing to push myself to go further and faster if it is for a race, but when I'm just running (or swimming or biking) just for doing it I tend to take my time and stop to look at scenery and such, so in order to get better I have to do the races. I suspect I will be signing up for many more between now and my half Ironman! 

[Syren]

There is the Grandman Triathalon over here on the Eastern Shore of AL May 30, 2015. I think it may be a quarter of an Ironman, if you don't feel like you are up to the half in April. (However, I think that you can absolutely do the half with the way you put your mind to things).

 

I am thinking about doing it, if my foot will cooperate for getting into jogging shape at any rate.

[Anaticula]

Thanks Syren, I'll look into it. One of my long term goals that I'm hopping to one day accomplish is to do a triathlon (or a run) in every state. I've a long way to go before then, but that'll be both a good way to practice if I can't do the New Orleans one and to add another state to my list if I do manage to complete the half Ironman. So far I only have Louisiana and Mississippi done, so I've a long way to go.

[Kaylya]

I hope your 10 miles today goes well!

You've aimed really high with the marathon, half ironman, etc.; even if you don't complete them (this time!) you've come a long way in the last few months!

[Terinatum]

I love your get up and go! It's quite inspiring.

The challenge looks good. Tracking and water are key for me too.

Have a great week 1, Anaticula!

[Anaticula]

Saturday was really fun and the most difficult run I've done.

 

The run didn't start until 9, but registration opened at 7 am, for those who wanted to get there early.  I like to arrive early and chat with people before the run, so I woke at 6 and soon as I finished eating I headed out.  It was supposed to be a 45 minute drive.  But I got lost. Twice. I finally arrived at 8:20. Found a parking spot and headed over to greet everyone.  I only knew the race director, his second in command, and one of the volunteers, but I got to chat to a few people and it was nice. C (the race director) introduced a few people to us before the race.  One was the director for the New Orleans Mission, a homeless shelter that all money raised from the races C set up goes to, who announced that we had raised a couple thousand dollars for them in the last 6 months.  I though that was pretty awesome. The second person he introduced was a young kid around 10-12 who had been doing the trail races from the time he could walk.  And more than once finishing in the top 10. Then all the volunteers who help with the races were introduced. Which was also pretty nice, because it's good to be able to let them know how much we appreciate them.  Couldn't do the races without them.  The other person he introduced was a member of the USA 100k world team, who was running the trails with us that morning. I don't follow races, so I had no clue how fast this guy was until much later, will get to that later on. 

 

Usually before the race C always arranges for a very short children's race to give the kids a chance to run before their parents start the long run.  Well there was only one kid who wasn't competing with the adults.  So C had two of the kids who were competing and three adults join her for the children's run.  It was really short, just out to a chair in the field and back.  Then once C had given the kids their prizes he had the rest of us line up and get ready.  He informed us that there were several wooden bridges we would have to cross and that were were to go across the bridges single file and to walk on them because they were very slippery.  Then we began.  Everyone set off, then bottle necked at the first bridge which was just on the other side of the field. Once we made it across the bridge we headed through a marsh we we sank into ankle deep mud. After another bridge we reached the woods where the real trail began. The trail was a narrow dirt path originally designed for mountain biking that zigzagged through the woods, up and down hills and even over downed trees.  As it had rained the day before the trail was slick. I managed to jog and walk the first mile, but as I kept going the trail got rougher and slicker.  I meet up with C who was biking through the trail in the opposite direction of us to get photos. He told me to take as long as I needed to and that there was no time limit, so that if I wanted to just walk the whole ten miles I could.  Mile two I still managed to jog a little, but on mile three it started to rain on and off.  At this point the Team USA guy passed me.  I didn't think much of it until I realized it took an additional 9 minutes for the second place guy to pass me.  That's when I finally realized just how fast this guy was. Eventually the trail finally reached the end where I could head back towards the entrance.  By now I had other people passing me as they started their second loop.  People doing the 5 mile only had to make one loop, but those of us doing the 10 had to do two. Whenever I heard people coming up behind me I'd move to the side of the trail, which meant I often ended up in mud or brier patches. Got my ankles scraped up a bit from this.  Don't think I slowed anyone down trying to get out of their way though. It stopped raining mid way through mile three. So the trail was now very slick, which meant I had to walk.  I'm not a good runner to begin with, and don't like running on wet pavement, so running in slippery mud was out of the question. Even just walking I slipped and tripped several times, but luckily didn't fall. The trail would have been tough dry, but at least dry I could have jogged more than I did.  At any rate I eventually reached mile 4 and was thinking I was almost done with the first half. This is when I encountered the zig-zags.  For a quarter of a mile the trail, double, tripled back on itself 12 or 13 times.  It was supper confusing because everyone was heading if different directions and you couldn't tell if someone was ahead of you or behind you.  And if you were to get off the trail (which was marked with caution tape strictly to prevent this) you could go in circles for hours without getting anywhere.  Finally I made it out of the zig-zags and back to the marsh. I was thrilled.  Then I reached a huge mud puddle.  If I were about to quit I would have just walked through it, but as I didn't want to do the next 5 miles with wet shoes I tiptoed around the edge.  Even there I almost lost my shoe once. After this it was a quick run through the field.  At this point the entrance to the track was to my left and the finishers shoot on my right. I seriously though about calling it quits. C ran over and asked if I wanted to do the second lap or not. I decided to go ahead and do it.  He asked if I was okay with him going ahead and doing the award ceremony without me as he usually waits until everyone is finished before beginning, but we both knew it would be a long while before I made it back out. I told him it was fine to go ahead without me. He then warned me it was going to start raining again and asked if I was sure I wanted to do the second lap. Because I'm stubborn I said I was going to do it no matter what.  I filled my water bottle and grabbed a banana and headed back into the woods.  Literally the second I stepped on the trail entrance it started pouring rain. Not the light rain of earlier, but bad rain. I seriously wanted to give up at the point, but pushed on. About 1/2 a mile later it finally stopped, but now there was standing water everywhere, which meant I had to walk and check every step before I set down my weight to keep from sliding.  My 20 minute miles turned into 30 minute miles. A little after mile two I was passed by a runner who decided to do more laps after the awards. (Talked to him later, he is training for an ultra, and did 10 miles before the race, the 10 mile race, then another 10 miles after. And still managed to finish all of them only 5 minutes after I finished my ten miles. With a hurt knee.) Eventually I made it to the zig-zags and I wanted so bad to cut through them in hopes of just getting out of the woods, but I knew if I tried it I'd get so lost. Shortly after the zig-zags C caught up with me.  He was ridding his bike through the trail picking up the signs.  He walked with me for a bit because he wanted to make sure I was going to make it, then headed up trail to collect more signs.  He pointed me in the right direction then caught up with me again at the mud puddle.  After this it was through the field and to the finish line where one of the volunteers and two other racers were waiting for me.  We grabbed a couple photos together then they herded me to a near by table to eat and get water.  This is where the ultra runner caught up with us.  He did 20 miles in the same time it took me to do ten, after he had already done ten miles. Chatted with him for a bit. I then went to go pick out my plant (C does plants as finisher trophies) and was instead given the remaining 30 plants. My mom gardens, so I'll be passing most of them along to her. All total it took me roughly 4 hours and 20 minutes to finish. (My watch said 4:25, but I forgot to turn it off after I finished.) I had a great race.  Really enjoyed it.  I plan to do another one with Q50 soon.

 

Photos!

 

 

 

 

[Shello]

Another nice looking challenge.  Wishing you luck on the food portion.  That's always tough.  I know you can do it if you set your mind to it.  

 

And that race sounds horrendous.  I'm glad you made it through almost unscathed.  I'm glad you enjoyed it though.  You are truly amazing.  

[Anaticula]

So after my race this weekend I've decided to drop my run at the Louisiana Marathon from a marathon to a half marathon.  There is no way I am ready to do that many miles in only 7 hours.  However, I have spoken with C, and he has the Trail Extravaganza coming up.  He was planning to start the 50 mile runners at 6 am and the marathon and half marathoners at 9 am, but he has agreed to let me start my marathon with the 6 am group.  This will give me an extra three hours to run.  I know that as it is a trail run it will be more difficult than a road run, but this way I can do my marathon even if I have to walk the entire 26 miles.  Now I just have to email the Louisiana Marathon people and let them know. 

[blkhole24601]

The course looks gorgeous, but sounds absolutely treacherous. Proud of you for persevering though! And good call on coming down from a full to a half. While getting out there is half the battle, there is no satisfaction like finishing, and it's fantastic that you have a supportive alternative. Glad you had a good time at your race, even if it sounds awful!

[Anaticula]

I'm sure that if it had been dry it would have been easier.  The people who are used to trail running seemed to do fine on it because they know how to run on it better than I do.  Several people did talk about wanting to jump trail on the zig-zags but being afraid of getting lost if they did so.  Most of the trouble was because of the rain.  The ultra runner mentioned that he and his wife had run the course earlier that week after a rain and that they both slipped a few times.

[Anaticula]

I made myself a set of 15 goals to complete this year instead of setting a resolution.  One of those goals it to throw a party.  I'm an introvert and don't usually even go to parties unless my friends make me.  Well, Feb 21st I'm hosting a Murder Mystery Party.  I've got friends who are really excited about it as many of them have always wanted to attend one.  I'm a little nervous as this is the first time many of my friends will meet. The only thing they have in common is that they know me.  

 

I have a question for you all...one of my guests is vegetarian.  I'm not. Anyone know some vegetarian snacks that I can provide that everyone will enjoy? So far I'm just thinking of fruit, hummus, vegetables, but for the meat eaters I also have meatballs, mini quiches and such in mind.  What is a warm app for vegetarians? For the main course I'm doing pulled pork or beef, and found this recipe for mango pulled squash that sounds good.  Has anyone tried it by any chance? Or know of something similar?

[Harihead]

Whahoo! You are so rocking, you unstoppable gal!

 

I really like your water vs soda challenge. I'm doing the same thing with overall calories, but the consequence is a fine. If I miss, I fine myself. I'm experimenting with negative reinforcement to compliment the positive reinforcement. It can't be too negative, or I buck it off!

 

Will be standing by cheering you on.

HH

[Anaticula]

I hadn't thought about using negative reinforcement.  If simply working it with the point system isn't doing it for me after a week or two I'll have to try changing to that.

 

Just checked the schedule my trainer set up for me for this week, and yikes. It's a tough one.

 

Today: Two hour bike ride (have to do this inside as my bike currently has a flat, I have a spare tube to replace it, but haven't had a chance to yet) AND my session with him at 8 pm (he's going out of town, so we have to meet today instead of Friday).

Tuesday: Rowing class and lower body strength.

Wednesday: Upper body strength and 2,000 yard swim.

Thursday: 6 mile run and core strength.

Friday: 2 hour bike ride and 2,000 yard swim.

Saturday: 3 hour bike ride and a 10 mile run.

Sunday: Rest.

[Kaylya]

Mini Quiches could easily be done vegetarian, e.g. with spinach and cheese (do make sure to squeeze out extra liquid from spinach). Veggies and hummus is always a great healthy option to have on hand.

I have done a BBQ Tempeh sandwich before (not sure of the exact recipe I used but along these lines: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/barbeque-tempeh-sandwiches/)- I like tempeh every now and then but I find I have to go to a health food store to get it (where I get it frozen).

[Syren]

I made myself a set of 15 goals to complete this year instead of setting a resolution.  One of those goals it to throw a party.  I'm an introvert and don't usually even go to parties unless my friends make me.  Well, Feb 21st I'm hosting a Murder Mystery Party.  I've got friends who are really excited about it as many of them have always wanted to attend one.  I'm a little nervous as this is the first time many of my friends will meet. The only thing they have in common is that they know me.

 

I have a question for you all...one of my guests is vegetarian.  I'm not. Anyone know some vegetarian snacks that I can provide that everyone will enjoy? So far I'm just thinking of fruit, hummus, vegetables, but for the meat eaters I also have meatballs, mini quiches and such in mind.  What is a warm app for vegetarians? For the main course I'm doing pulled pork or beef, and found this recipe for mango pulled squash that sounds good.  Has anyone tried it by any chance? Or know of something similar?

 

I am mostly coming up with vegetarian main dishes from my flirtation with that lifestyle, however, if your guest(s) are vegan, samosa potato skins are pretty tasty: twice baked potatoes with curry powder, green peas and carrots stuffed back into the potato skin then served with a mango or cilantro chutney

 

Roasted and seasoned chickpeas are also a really tasty snack, but I am not sure if they would fit your dinner.

 

Falafel is also popular. It is like a miniature chickpea patty, and kind of made like a hamburger. I never liked them much, but a lot of vegetarians love them. 

 

There are also recipes for lentil or quinoa "meat"balls, and Kayla is right about mini-quiches being easily made vegetarian.

 

Double check with your friend to make sure that he/she is not vegan first. Vegans won't eat anything that has a hint of animal in it/contributing to it: no cheese or eggs.

[Anaticula]

He is vegetarian not vegan, so eggs and cheese will be okay. Thanks for all the recipes everyone. I'm going to give them a try between now and the party so that I'll know how to cook them when the time arrives. He's the only one who doesn't eat meat, and I didn't want him to feel singled out with the food.  

 

Day One Report:

 

Fill the Pokedex: I logged all my food and exercise right after I ate it, with the exception of some grape juice I had right before I went to sleep that I logged now.  I can clearly see why I gained weight over the holidays.  In spite of a two hour bike ride, I was still 390 calories over my goal.  Turns out what I though was a single serving bowl of soup actually had two servings in it, so when I had both it and my sandwich for lunch I had way more calories than I thought.  Plus, on my way home from work I grabbed fried chicken, which when I logged it turned out to be over half my daily goal. I need to start looking up my foods before I eat them so this won't happen again. But I did log all my foods. Grade: A

 

Use Health Potions: I only drank three cups of water. However, I had no sodas, so 3 points. Grade: C

 

Battle: My trainer had me assigned for both a session with him and a two hour bike ride.  I arrived at the gym a little over two hours before my session.  We normally meet on Fridays, but he is going on vacation this week and still wanted me to do a session before he left. I'm not used to biking so much without stopping every now and then.  When I'm on my bike I stop every couple of miles (used to be much more often) and get off the bike to stretch my back and shoulders (my shoulders hurt after riding a while because I'm not used to riding with part of my weight on my hands) and get off the bike seat (I still fine them to be a pain).  In the gym though I can't really get on and off the bike a lot.  I managed to make it an hour and 15 minutes when my trainer came over to talk to me.  Two of his students had canceled, so he wanted to know if I'd let him do my lesson then so he could go home (I was his last lesson of the day). So we went to the spin room and I did 30 minutes of my bike ride with him.  Afterwards I headed back out to the gym bike I did the last 15 minutes. It wasn't too bad.  He pushes me to go faster and for longer than I push myself. We also got to chat a bit about my upcoming events. He decided to let me use his old bike trainer as I don't care for riding outside after dark and the gym only has two bikes in the public area.  This means I'll be able to ride at home for my two long rides later this week.  I followed him home from the gym and he showed me how to set things up.  I'll set it all up tonight when I get home from work. Grade: For this I'll give myself an A because I did what he told me to do even though it meant we combined my bike ride and session with him.

 

Learn Spanish: I've purchased the Rosetta Stone Online sessions, and started them.  I didn't practice any yesterday, but I made it through lesson one session one over the weekend. Yesterday I did did have a real life encounter with how learning Spanish will help me.  When I went to my trainer's house to pick up the bike trainer his mom was there visiting from Mexico. She doesn't speak English, I don't speak Spanish, so the two of us sat awkwardly not talking to each other in the livingroom for 15 minutes while he and his wife searched for the bike trainer (they moved recently and hadn't unpacked it yet). It would have been nice to know how to make a little bit of small talk. As two or three other team members are from Mexico, I know that there will be another time in the future where I'll need to know at least a little Spanish.

 

So for today: I need to drink more water and think about serving size before I eat.

[Anaticula]

Day Two Report:

 

Fill the Pokedex - All food logged. However, I was finishing up a work project at home and I eat when stressed, and I ended up having three servings of supper even though I was full after the first serving. The end result is that I was over my calorie goal for the day by 500 points. Grade - A even though I ate too much.

 

Use Health Potions - No soda (yay!), and I drank roughly 5 glasses of water. Grade - B

 

Battle - Fail.  Working on the project and didn't go to the gym.  Going to try to make up my exercises tonight. 

 

Learn Spanish - no progress, I was busy working on my project for work.

 

Yesterday was all about getting this project done for work.  I had plenty of time before the campus closed for Christmas to work on it, but being a procrastinator I didn't, and now I'm paying the price for it by stressing out and missing my workout.  

 

However, on the good side about yesterday, I did get confirmations from most of my party guests that they will be attending. I have to assign everyone characters some time this week so they will have plenty of time to put their costumes together.  I'm really looking forward to this party.   

[Balthazar]

 Heya, happy new year!

 

I've got a food tracking challenge this time round to, I'm surprised by serving sizes and also what's actually in some foods - there seems to be sodium flipping everywhere!

 

But it also helps you to see why you eat the way you do, like you have already mentioned stress eating, I've noticed I have weekend eating where I seem to think "it's the weekend so I'll eat what I want", it's become easy for me to see how I've gotten to the weight I have

[deborahjade]

Good work with the food tracking... it is great to be able to see your eating patterns and to know which meals you are staying on track for.  I found after doing it for a while that I would sometimes say no to extra snacks just because I knew I would have to write it down. 

 

With your water goal, do you use a drink bottle to keep water with you to drink? Or do you just go to a tap and fill a glass? Having the goal of finishing a bottle by lunch or in 2 hours helps me to drink more. That and trying to get into the habit of drinking some water after I get up. I used to drink around 4 cups of water a day but found it wasn't that good for my body and I would drink less on weekends and always have headaches. I used a couple of drink bottles on my desk at work to make myself start drinking more as I tend to procrastinate refilling them. I also psychologically found it hard as I kept thinking that surely I was drinking waaay too much (at the 2L mark). Gradually I realised that my 'hunger' was really 'thirst' and now found that my body actually wants to drink around 3+ L per day... crazy..