A Conspiracy Unmasked... Calanthia Cobbin "scouts" out the Scouts!

[Calanthia Cobbin]

Hello all you scouty... scout... scouts. ANYWAY allow me to introduce myself.

 

My name is Calanthia Cobbin, and I am a 4'11" hobbit living in Tuckborough, but I recently left my home to go on an adventure! Since then I have slowly made my way across Middle Earth, experiencing a variety of cultures, including the Assassins, Druids, and now you, the lovely Scouts! Along my quest so far I've had successes and failures, and I even took a short break in Rivendell last month to refocus and rejuvenate my life. But now I'm ready to hop back on the trail and take off towards Mordor!

 

This month I'll be focusing on a few different areas of my life that I've been kind of... "meh" about. So without further ado, my quests:

 

Orcs run! 5K

 

For the past month, I have been working on completing the Zombies run! 5K training program, and it has been amazing! I've never stuck with any workout program for this long, but I find myself loving it! Now the only thing left to do is gather the strength, stamina, and motivation to finish the last four weeks of the program and run a 5K at the end of week 8, which coincidentally happens to be scheduled for the last day of this challenge! So I'll be working on my stamina and attempting to run my first 5k since high school by the end of this challenge.

 

If I successfully complete this challenge, don't skip any workouts, and finish the 5k by June 4th, then I will earn +3 STA and +10xp!

 

Drinking the Ent Draught; part II

 

I've completed a water-drinking challenge once before (hence the part II), but the habit didn't really stick, and since I've been running I'm realizing that I'm not drinking NEARLY enough water. Last time I forced myself to down 2-3 32 oz water bottles per day, which was really difficult for me and clearly not sustainable, at least when jumping to that from drinking nothing. This time around I'm aiming for habit-sustainability, so my quest is to simply drink one 32 oz water bottle each day. I normally only drink about half or less of one of these water bottles, so I think finishing one water bottle over the course of the day rather than trying to force down 2 or 3 of them will still be beneficial to me without feeling like I'm torturing myself, and maybe I'll be more likely to keep this habit going beyond the challenge. 

 

If I can drink a full 32 oz water bottle (full of water!) six days per week, then I will earn +3 CON and +10xp

 

Ditching Goblin-meat for Lembas

 

Despite the fact that I've been running consistently for a month now, I've noticed that there has been NO difference in my weight or energy thus far. Considering the fact that my husband and I still regularly eat out at fast food restaurants -- or Goblin-meat as it is more accurately described -- I think I've found my problem. Since I'm trying to take things slow and go for sustainability (and my husband is still addicted to taco bell), I'm going to limit my fast-food intake to only once per week. Currently we go 3-4 times per week, so hopefully cutting down to once a week and then making *relatively* healthy choices while at fast food places will set me on the right path towards eventually ditching the "Goblin-meat" completely. 

 

If I can limit my fast-food intake to once per week and make healthier choices when I do go for the duration of this challenge, then I will earn +3 STR and +10xp (STR because I already have a CON goal, and also because I'm hoping the better food choices will give me the strength to finish my 5k training!)

 

A Hen Without It's Beak; part II

 

For my life quest of this challenge, I'm revisiting another "failed" challenge. I've been an aspiring author for as long as I can remember, but between school, the temptation of video games, and running my own household, I rarely ever sit down and find the time to write. In the previous challenge, I required that I write for a certain amount of time each week, with the intention of spreading that out over the days of the week, which didn't work. I would avoid it all week and then essentially blast through a couple hours of non-productive writing because it became all about the time. This time around I have specific goals that I want to accomplish, rather than just aiming for a certain amount of time. I need to finish character sketches for my minor characters and supporting characters (thank goodness I've finished the protagonist and antagonist already). I ALSO would like to finish the general outline of my novel this month, as I would like to start researching specifics for next month. I will focus on finishing the character sketches for now, and will adjust the outlining goal as needed depending on how long the characters take me. 

 

So, if I can complete the character sketches by the end of week one and then spend the following three weeks finishing the outline for my novel, then I will know that I have gained the wisdom and fortitude to finish this novel once and for all and will therefore earn +3 WIS and +10xp! 

 

So there you have it; my quests for this challenge will hopefully help me while I learn to live like a Scout for the time being. I will be making my rounds to other posts soon so that I can say hi to all of you! I'm so glad to be joining you all this month, and I can't wait to start this journey with all of you! 

 

May your roads go ever on and on,

 

~Cal

[Polgara19]

Yay!  More Zombies, Run! 'ers!

 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

On 5/6/2016 at 8:51 PM, Polgara19 said:

Yay!  More Zombies, Run! 'ers!

 

Yay! I have the base-game app but realized all too quickly that I don't currently have the energy to run for 30-40 minutes at a time, which prompted me to start out with the 5k app

[SaltyDragon]

That's great that the Zombies Run training is working for you! There's definitely a lot of others around here doing it as well, including myself from time to time. Do you have a race picked out, or will you be running one of the virtual races?

[Polgara19]

Yay! I have the base-game app but realized all too quickly that I don't currently have the energy to run for 30-40 minutes at a time, which prompted me to start out with the 5k app [emoji4]

I don't have 30-40 min either, but you can now change the abase length of missions (shorten or lengthen the time between story clips) so I do that!

I hear the 5k app is quite engaging though, kinda want to go back and do it too! I'm only halfway through season 1, so wouldn't be too much of an imposition....

[chickie.monkey]

I love your challenge! I'm shooting for the 5K goal myself. I didn't realize there was a Zombies, Run! training program. I just jumped right into Zombies, Run! without the running... It's more like Zombies, Walk! haha. I'd say I'd go back to the training program, but I'm way too into the story to go back now! The thing I like about it is it makes me want to get out there and actually walk (sometimes add a couple short burst runs) because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!! 

 

I also love your fast food goal. Last night my wife was like, you know, you can do all this running, but you're never going to lose weight if you keep eating ice cream and junk food (as we were stuffing our mouths with greasy Culver's burgers goodness). Yeah, good point.

 

Good luck with your challenge. Following along!

[Calanthia Cobbin]

8 hours ago, Polgara19 said:

I don't have 30-40 min either, but you can now change the abase length of missions (shorten or lengthen the time between story clips) so I do that!

I hear the 5k app is quite engaging though, kinda want to go back and do it too! I'm only halfway through season 1, so wouldn't be too much of an imposition....

 

I may have to try that when I finish the 5k app! And I got about halfway through season 1 before starting the 5k version as well, so it really shouldn't be an issue I think the 5k story starts between episode 1 and 2 so its not too far off  and it has it's own little story line that you can follow too!

 

4 hours ago, chickie.monkey said:

I love your challenge! I'm shooting for the 5K goal myself. I didn't realize there was a Zombies, Run! training program. I just jumped right into Zombies, Run! without the running... It's more like Zombies, Walk! haha. I'd say I'd go back to the training program, but I'm way too into the story to go back now! The thing I like about it is it makes me want to get out there and actually walk (sometimes add a couple short burst runs) because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!! 

 

I also love your fast food goal. Last night my wife was like, you know, you can do all this running, but you're never going to lose weight if you keep eating ice cream and junk food (as we were stuffing our mouths with greasy Culver's burgers goodness). Yeah, good point.

 

Good luck with your challenge. Following along!

 

I think I just commented on your challenge about this! I did the same thing, I started off at Zombies run and then switched over to the 5k app when I realized that I couldn't run the whole time and the zombie chases were killing me! The story is super interesting for both though  and yeah the fast food goal came to me when my husband and I were downing Taco Bell for the third time that week and I had to run that evening... needless to say it did NOT go well... hahaha!

[chickie.monkey]

 

 

I may have to try that when I finish the 5k app! And I got about halfway through season 1 before starting the 5k version as well, so it really shouldn't be an issue I think the 5k story starts between episode 1 and 2 so its not too far off  and it has it's own little story line that you can follow too!

 

 

I think I just commented on your challenge about this! I did the same thing, I started off at Zombies run and then switched over to the 5k app when I realized that I couldn't run the whole time and the zombie chases were killing me! The story is super interesting for both though  and yeah the fast food goal came to me when my husband and I were downing Taco Bell for the third time that week and I had to run that evening... needless to say it did NOT go well... hahaha!

 

Yeah, the zombies totally ate my brains on the first mission. Then I found that the chases can be turned on/off and the frequency/intensity can be adjusted as well within each mission. Needless to say, I left the chases on, but the frequency is about once an episode (although I think I may bump it up to twice) and for a VERY short time Haha!!

[Calanthia Cobbin]

Days 1-3:

 

So far I've done alright on my goals, though I haven't done any writing/character sketching just yet... I plan to hopefully get some of this done tonight but saying and doing are two different things

 

Went for my first run of this challenge today, and I definitely felt like I had NO energy. Of course I usually will lay around my house and have some coffee first and today I didn't, so I'm wondering if the coffee really helps my energy levels that much or if it's just because I had waaaay too much junk food this weekend...

 

I guess that I don't get to have any more fast food this week either, because I grabbed some Taco Bell with my husband on the way home from picking him up at the airport yesterday... so here's hoping I can make the week!

 

I didn't realize that the challenge started on Sunday rather than Monday, so I didn't drink hardly any water on Sunday :/ I DID however finish my entire water bottle yesterday, and I am almost done with my water bottle for today! 

 

So, so far so good, usually week 3 is really rough for me so here's hoping I can keep it up this time! 

 

~Cal

[Calanthia Cobbin]

10 hours ago, SaltyDragon said:

That's great that the Zombies Run training is working for you! There's definitely a lot of others around here doing it as well, including myself from time to time. Do you have a race picked out, or will you be running one of the virtual races?

 

I somehow missed this comment last time I read through! At the moment I don't have an actual race picked out... and what is this about virtual races?

 

I'm mainly looking to improve my endurance so that I CAN run a 5k, then maybe for the next challenge I'll do a race? 

[SaltyDragon]

Virtual races are organized (sometimes loosely) events open to anyone, anywhere. There's a designated time frame – a day, or maybe a week – and you just go out where ever you want and run 5k, or whatever the event is. The app scores your results, along with all the other entrants. They usually have numbered bibs you can print out, and some even have t-shirts you can buy.

 

Zombies Run organizes one every year, I think. I don't know if there is one coming up – it may have already happened this year. There's a group here on NF, though, that is planning one for September (without zombies!).

[Talvi]

NF race, you say?  I'm going to have to start digging through the forum to find that

 

Good luck with your novel!   It is something that a lot of people want to do, but I rarely hear them getting their act together so well done When are you planning on working on your book (a regular time each day/week or just whenever you can)?   What kind of book will it be? Fiction, fantasy, hobbit adventures?

[Calanthia Cobbin]

On 5/12/2016 at 5:05 AM, SaltyDragon said:

Zombies Run organizes one every year, I think. I don't know if there is one coming up – it may have already happened this year. There's a group here on NF, though, that is planning one for September (without zombies!).

 

Ooh this is something that must be looking into... My primary question now is... do they cost money?

 

10 hours ago, Talvi said:

Good luck with your novel!   It is something that a lot of people want to do, but I rarely hear them getting their act together so well done When are you planning on working on your book (a regular time each day/week or just whenever you can)?   What kind of book will it be? Fiction, fantasy, hobbit adventures?

 

At the moment, I work on it whenever I can. I'm the primary homemaker at my house, since I only work part-time while my husband is a full-time Medical student and an officer in the National Guard. Between my household responsibilities and general laziness/procrastination, I don't get to work on it as often as I would like :/ We are moving soon and I will have an actual office and a desk, so I'm hoping that having a quiet place to work will help... 

 

And it is a young adult/fantasy novel about a guy who is basically raising his little sister on his own, until she gets kidnapped and he follows her kidnapper to another world where he finds out that he is the long-lost prince of said world, which is currently being ruled by an evil tyrant known as "The Shadow King" So he has to save his sister and hopefully save the kingdom in the process  

[Calanthia Cobbin]

Day 4-5 (ish)

 

So, there have been a few mini wins and mini losses the past couple of days... 

 

First off, I've been finishing my water bottle every day so far! YAY!!! 

 

Also, still have been avoiding the nasty "goblin-meats" this week, which is impressive for me. I have a tendency to eat in secret and sometimes eat fast food on my way home in addition to my dinner :/  Well yesterday I was thinking about grabbing a burrito at Taco bell before going home, but I reminded myself that I already had fast food this week and that if I was really truly hungry then there were some leftovers at home that I could have instead. So I drove right past the Taco Bell and went right on home Then I guess I was actually hungry because I devoured a bunch of leftovers but at least it wasn't fast food... so, baby steps? lol

 

I've been doing well on my runs so far, though I was supposed to run yesterday and prioritized sleep instead, because I had only slept for 5 hours the night before and really needed a nap after work. So I'll have to make that up today once it cools off some more... 

 

And the writing... well, I had plenty of time to finish my characterization yesterday, but I instead spent the ENTIRE day trying to figure out names for all of my characters... :/ I don't know something about not having names for some of them was really stressing me out. I think I have the names figured out now though, so hopefully this weekend I can get their character sketches done! and honestly some of the names will probably end up changing anyway :/ 

 

 

[SaltyDragon]

13 hours ago, Talvi said:

NF race, you say?  I'm going to have to start digging through the forum to find that

 

3 hours ago, Calanthia Cobbin said:

Ooh this is something that must be looking into... My primary question now is... do they cost money?

 

The official Zombies events do have a fee if you want to be scored with everyone else, but they keep them available after the fact for free, so you can just run them for fun on your own. There was one available in my app for a while, but it seems to have disappeared.

 

The NF race is still in planning stages, spearheaded by @SnowOwl. Here is the discussion thread.

 

------

 

Good job passing on the Taco Bell. And, yes, baby steps are a very positive thing. Just keep it up and be careful – when I try to cut back on something, I'm often tempted later to binge out on it, telling myself I've "earned" it. For this reason, I sometimes find elimination easier than scaling back. You'll find what works for you!

[SaltyDragon]

Sorry for the double post! (the boat turned and internet started misbehaving )

 

 

[Styx]

I really hope for your success on this challenge, especially the water goal. 

 

Good luck!

[chickie.monkey]

Good job so far!! 

 

Most virtual races do cost money, but then you get a metal and sometimes a shirt. The ones I do benefit charities as well. I really like the Nerd Herd series. Several races, you get metals, and all proceeds go to benefit Stupid Cancer. There's a ton more out there on FB and Google.

[Calanthia Cobbin]

Week 1.5-2.5?

 

Water goal: doing great so far! Haven't missed a day

 

Orcs run: So I have no problem getting my workouts done for the week - like I'm DETERMINED to get all three runs in each week. The problem I'm having at the moment is getting the runs done on their designated days rather than pushing them off to the weekend, which I know is not good for my knees and recovery period. I'm a bit conflicted about it at the moment, because my husband and I have been coming down with a cold this week so I was telling myself that it would be best to save my energy for my immune system to fight off my cold... but then NF sent out that email today about excuses and lying to ourselves... but then I AM trying not to get sick... but am I really??? This has been my internal struggle today and yesterday, as I currently have three days this week to run three times... :/ (Fri, Sat, Sun)

 

Ditching the Goblin Meat: I've been doing pretty well on this, though last week my husband and I fell to temptation and had fast food *twice* last week... which is a loss for my challenge but a win for real life? Especially when considering that we would normally go out 4-5 times in a week - so a semi-win? We also had taco bell tonight for dinner again because we are sick and don't want to cook (again with the excuses :/ ) but I have been making extra sure to make relatively healthy choices while there, such as getting the cantina bowl rather than some cheese-filled burrito, as it has *less* carbs and is high in protein with no dairy if you ask them to take off the sour cream, etc. Could be worse, though ideally in the future I would avoid the fast food all together. 

 

Writing goal: I ALMOST didn't make my goal last week of finishing my character sketches, but then at work last Friday I just sat down and made myself get it done! Rather than trying previous methods that seemed to take FOREVER, I assigned each of my primary and secondary characters to a Meyers-Briggs type personality, which I think helped me to really better understand what makes each of my characters unique (especially after I read through the HILARIOUSLY stereotypical mbti posts on tumblr  ) . Now I just have about 2.5 weeks to work on my outline, which I think is doable if I do about a chapter a day  

[Talvi]

Well done on being so determined to carry through on the goals!   Did you get all those runs in those last three days?    Also that is a really good idea on how to give your characters distinguishing personalities - I really like that idea and I'm going to keep it in mind if I ever come up with a good story

 

 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

I got one of them in yesterday morning and had planned to do the other one Friday evening, but I had an unfortunate mishap involving a thunderstorm, peer pressure, and waaaaay too much alcohol... So I'm formulating a plan to get all the remaining runs in during the next two weeks, which still seems doable so far

[Styx]

Better add some water, since you've had alcohol lol. I've been there! 

 

 

[Calanthia Cobbin]

Alrighty so I'm not so good at posting regularly when life happens... but here I am, back in action! 

 

So about those unexpected life happenings... I've been knocked off my momentum a tiny bit which is definitely unfortunate :/ 

 

Orcs run: I'm about a week behind at this point due to some unforeseen occurrences, so I'm going to automatically drop myself from an A to a B on this quest and extend it by a week. Week 0 of the next challenge will now be Week 5 of this challenge, and I will be running my zombie 5k on either June 10th or 11th (based on weather). 

 

Ent draught: I did skip a couple days last week, which gives me a C for week 3. I had A's for both week 1 and 2, so if I can drink water every day this week then I think I can still pull off an average of an A or at least a B. 

 

Goblin meat, a.k.a. Fast Food: Got a C on this last week for sure. We were out of town several times for a variety of reasons, and my husband studies constantly so we can't spend time at a sit-down restaurant... which means we ate out more than we should have... oops... I'm looking at about a B average on this quest so far. 

 

Writing: I was doing well on this until last week, at which time I had almost no time to work on my novel outline. I completed the characterization in week 1 and made a mini-map with very basic events pinpointed along the main character's journey, but the outlining has not even commenced. If I can finish out this next week with at least HALF of my novel outlined, I'll call that a success and give myself a B-

 

Hopefully this week is far more productive than last week!  

[Calanthia Cobbin]

So if I learn nothing else from this challenge, it's that I need to be prepared for unexpected issues, such as travel and illnesses.

 

I've been sick for the past couple days and haven't gone running at all this week for fear of puking on the side of the road... but I have been making sure that I at least get up off the couch and walk around a bit, so that's something I guess. 

 

My husband and I also went up to Lexington earlier this week so that he could take the first part of his Board exams, and I knew about it ahead of time so I really should have been prepared... but we arrived in Lexington to realize that not only did I forget my running clothes, I also left all of my notes for writing and outlining my novel -- so that didn't get done either.

 

I have kept up with drinking water almost every day, so that has been a success so far, but I'm hanging out at around a C average as far as eating fast food goes... Mainly because we ate out while we were in Lexington more often than we should have. Maybe next time I could pack lunches? 

 

I'm just going to try and finish out this week strong, finish my zombies 5k training as soon as I am able, and keep up with the habits I have built as much as possible.

 

If anyone has advice for future unexpected "issues" and how they handle the rollercoaster that is life when trying to build habits, I would really appreciate it! 

 

You guys rock

 

 

~Cal

[Styx]

I really hope that you will be able to continue drinking enough amount of water - I guess despite having a hard time with the fast food, at least you were able to drink more water - which is a really great thing for your overall health. It's the small steps that count most!  

 

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to figure out a more effective way to cut down on fast food, one way or another. But keep on getting that water!