Jormungand: VI - Resident Evil

[Jormungand]

 

For this challenge, I am focusing on preparing mentally and physically for OCR season. I run my first Tough Mudder this month, and then I've got two more planned later this summer. Also, we're about six months out from World's Toughest Mudder in November, which will be a beast of an entirely different sort. There might also be some other races thrown in there that I have not officially registered for yet. So, to get fully prepared for these trials, I will be drawing some inspiration from one of my favorite video game franchises - Resident Evil.

 

First Quest: Enter the survival horror

 

This time I am combining my running and my strength training into one quest. I cannot afford to neglect either if I want to overcome the obstacles and terrain survive a t-Virus outbreak. Each week will consist of five days of training, which can include three days of running and two days of lifting, vice versa, or some other combination. I've been really good about this in challenges past, but I usually have my running and lifting split up. This time, I'd like to keep my training under one focus. +2 STR +2 STA

 

Second Quest: Teamwork

 

Nobody gets through this alone. About a week ago, my wife asked if I would help keep her motivated in staying on track regarding her health and fitness. We've always done a lot together, and she is also running in the TMs this season. She's not running in the WTM, but she will be in my pit crew. In order to keep her accountable, I need to keep myself accountable. To keep us on the same track, I will workout/run/bike with her each week at least three times. +3 CHA

 

Quest Three: Heal with herbs

 

With OCR season all of the infected drawing close, I will need to make healthy eating habits a priority. In order to insure that I utilize the healing herbs,  at least twice a week, I will eat a vegetable or fruit of the above three colors: green, red, and yellow. I chose the herb colors from Resident Evil 4. I know the original RE had green, red, and blue, but I played a lot more of the fourth game. (I can keep the blue in the back of my mind and consider that as a bonus if I eat any blueberries or blue potatoes.) I will also mix it up from week to week. That way I'm not just eating lettuce, strawberries, and corn each week. +2 CON +1 WIS

 

Overcome your fears and survive.

[originalpiratematerial]

Hey! How did the HM go yesterday?

[Jormungand]

22 hours ago, originalpiratematerial said:

Hey! How did the HM go yesterday?

 

It went better and worse than I'd expected, if you can imagine. It went better because I was able to finish without stopping to walk, and it went worse because miles 10-12 were pure drudgery. Overall, I had a lot of fun, and it helped immensely that I had a close friend to run with the whole time. I ended up with a time of 2:25:58. It rained a little off and on, but the weather was fairly decent during the race. The post-race meal of wings, fries, and beer was incredible. 

 

I was happy to read up on yours. Congratulations on your accomplishment. That heat sounded pretty brutal, though. Any plans for upcoming races?

[originalpiratematerial]

That's great - well done! Yeah, my brother had assured me I would get second wind after mile 10 but it conspicuously didn't happen! No, no plans ATM. I need to formulate something for a four week challenge first [emoji848]

[originalpiratematerial]

I like your challenge and it's so cool that your wife is doing TM also!

[Jormungand]

I am off to a solid start. I updated my challenge somewhat so that I have to eat a GRY vegetable and fruit at least twice per week. That should be pretty doable, and I might up it further based on how this week pans out. We had green cabbage last night, and some red cabbage and radishes are on the menu for later. Also, I can always eat bananas and granny smith apples to keep up with my colors. Still looking for a chance to get some blue food in, as well. I took two days off after the half marathon on Saturday to rest, and I went back into the fitness center this morning for a nice and easy 2 mile run. My wife and I went together, so I'm already moving forward on these quests. We've got our first Tough Murder of the season coming up in two weeks, so we're trying to prepare physically and mentally.

[Charlie_Quinn]

Another OCR person to follow! 

 

[SaltyDragon]

Great challenge. OCRs are intriguing to me...in that "from a distance" sort of way. I have too few event opportunities to see myself doing one soon. But someday, I'd sure like to try it!

 

---

 

Neat blue food trick... you mention red cabbage. Most blue foods are actually red, but the cabbage really is blue. Try this for fun... put a little cabbage in a bowl with its cooking water, which will be strongly colored. Throw in a pinch of baking soda – it will turn totally blue. Now drop in a little lemon juice (or vinegar, any colorless acid) and will go back red. It's nature's own litmus test. You can go back and forth like this all day. (BTW, I'm easily amused).

[Jormungand]

14 hours ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

Another OCR person to follow! 

 

 

Welcome aboard. I am always happy to have someone to talk OCR shop with. 

 

13 hours ago, SaltyDragon said:

Great challenge. OCRs are intriguing to me...in that "from a distance" sort of way. I have too few event opportunities to see myself doing one soon. But someday, I'd sure like to try it!

 

---

 

Neat blue food trick... you mention red cabbage. Most blue foods are actually red, but the cabbage really is blue. Try this for fun... put a little cabbage in a bowl with its cooking water, which will be strongly colored. Throw in a pinch of baking soda – it will turn totally blue. Now drop in a little lemon juice (or vinegar, any colorless acid) and will go back red. It's nature's own litmus test. You can go back and forth like this all day. (BTW, I'm easily amused).

 

If you ever get the chance, I would highly recommend you trying an OCR. As much as you run, you would probably excel at them. All of that trail running you do would go a long way. It's hard enough for me trying to plan a weekend around one, so I can only imagine what it's like for you and your traveling schedule. You never know, though. 

 

Thanks for tip on the cabbage. That sounds pretty trippy. We didn't get to cook any tonight since we were using it to make a slaw for our fish tacos, but I will definitely keep it in mind in the future. 

[Jormungand]

Update for Week 1

 

Things have gone really well this week. I got in five workouts in four days: three short runs and two lifting sessions. I feel pretty confident in my overall fitness leading up to the Tough Mudder next Saturday. Also, I went to the fitness center three times with my wife, so I'm doing well on that quest. 

 

I've been mixing it up a lot with the fruits and veggetables this week. I had some red and green cabbage and some radishes with dinner a couple times this week. Also had a healthy portion of raspberries and strawberries for breakfast today. That and some bananas earlier in the week. 

 

I'm up in Milwaukee this weekend visiting family. Looking forward to eating some tasty meat and cheese. 

[Jormungand]

Another day for a race, another night of rough sleeping. The same thing happened a couple weeks ago - I just didn't sleep well before the half marathon. Nothing for it now. 

 

So far, this week has been passable. I got in two runs and a strength training session. I didn't want to stress anything, so I am counting the Tough Mudder today as both a strength session and a run. It is also going towards my teamwork goals, as well, since my wife will be running with me. As far as the herbs go, the following have been somewhere in my diet this week: strawberries, raspberries, bananas, spinach, red and yellow onions, poblano peppers, tomatillos, and asparagus. 

 

On another note regarding the TM, we discussed last night the possibility of my running it again right after we finish. A lot may depend on some logistics, how we feel after the first go through, and how long it takes, but it's really gotten me thinking. This may have something to do with how poorly I slept last night. My wife knows that I am intending to run World's Toughest Mudder in November, and this may be an opportunity to see where I stand. Either way, I will let you all know how today goes. 

 

[Jormungand]

 

This represents me slaying that Tough Mudder today. Well, "slay" might not be entirely accurate. "Hacked" and "drudged" may be more appropriate. My wife and I went through in about four hours. It was an 11 mile course, and we got through (or at least attempted)  all of the obstacles. It was a lot of fun, as per usual. However, once we went through it once, I did end up going back through the course for a second running.  

 

See above on some of the verbs that applied to the second go-around. It was a slog at times, but I eventually made it all the way through. This was pretty eye opening in consideration for my overall training. There will definitely be some enhanced cardio sessions in the coming months. I was pretty pleased with my abilities to get over most of the obstacles, there will just need to be more focus on running those types of distances. 

[SaltyDragon]

Congratulations on finishing the TM...twice! That's awesome! I didn't realize these things covered 11 miles, as I assumed they were more about the obsticles than distance. I'm really impressed. Also sounds like you've been doing really well on all your goals this challenge. Great work!

[Jormungand]

Thank you. There is definitely a lot of running involved. Thankfully, the Chicago course was super flat, which helped immensely. I'm going to be doing one in Kentucky in three weeks, and there are hills galore down there. This course had about 20 obstacles and they were spread out nicely. One portion of the course, while not officially an obstacle, was a wade through about quarter mile of waist-deep water. 

 

I put away a lot of food during the remainder of the weekend. That's all well and good but not really something that needs to be maintained. However, I've found that there are few things as enjoyable as the post-Tough Mudder meal. If you ever get a chance to run one, take it. 

[Jormungand]

Here is the update for the previous week. Hard to believe that this challenge is almost over. My fitness goals are all on track. I fudged a little bit by counting a couple days of yardwork as my cardio. Lugging a weed eater for an hour and half definitely keeps the heart rate up, and I defy anyone to argue with me. 

 

The teamwork was lacking a little bit, and I only trained with wife twice. Not much of a slip, and I plan on making up some of that this week. Food goals are good, too. Some of the fruits and vegetables from last week include (but are not limited to) red and yellow onions, bananas, strawberries, more tomatillos, and green apples. I like this food challenge a lot, though I am thinking of changing it up somewhat for the next go around. Something like holding myself to eating a certain number per day might require more effort than just eating so many per week. 

[originalpiratematerial]

Congrats on your TM performance, sounds awesome!

[Jormungand]

15 hours ago, originalpiratematerial said:

Congrats on your TM performance, sounds awesome!

 

Thank you very much. I would recommend them to anyone who is even halfway interested. I will warn you, though - it's difficult to just run one after you've started. 

[Charlie_Quinn]

Can't believe I missed reading about your Tough Mudder till now. You ran the course twice? Dude, that is awesome! Well done! 

[Jormungand]

6 hours ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

Can't believe I missed reading about your Tough Mudder till now. You ran the course twice? Dude, that is awesome! Well done! 

 

Thanks a lot. I'd love to be able to do a lot more running the next time around. Wife and I did a mixture of walk/jogging throughout. We are participating in another one soon, and I am still up in the air on doing it twice. We might have more people with us, and it's more difficult to plan logistically in that case. However, I've got another in September, and I'd like to be able to stay running/jogging for the whole first run through. Then, do what I can on the second time around. I'd like to just take my breaks while waiting at the bottlenecks throughout the course's obstacles. There were a few that got really plugged up by late afternoon. 

[SaltyDragon]

I like your color-coded food goals, too. Very cool idea there, and great that it's working for you!

[Jormungand]

5 hours ago, SaltyDragon said:

I like your color-coded food goals, too. Very cool idea there, and great that it's working for you!

 

Thanks. It's been a lot of fun. I've been trying not to count the auxiliary fruits and vegetables that show up in every day life, like the lettuce and tomato that comes on a cheeseburger. I made kimchi last night, which had cucumber and radishes in it.  Tonight, we're fixing spinach pesto gnocchi.

 

I will give a lot of credit to Blue Apron, the company we use that sends meals for us to cook at home. They usually do a pretty good job of sending recipes that are delicious and varied. There's almost always a generous vegetable portion. 

 

I do not know if they offer sea-worthy delivery. 

[skinNbones]

Hi , I can't believe I've missed your Resident Evil challenge until now ! And an OCR challenge too !

Doing laps on a tough muddier, that sounds a bit like@EricMN on Battlefrog.

"They're coming to get you Barbara!"

[Jormungand]

7 hours ago, skinNbones said:

Hi , I can't believe I've missed your Resident Evil challenge until now ! And an OCR challenge too !

Doing laps on a tough muddier, that sounds a bit like@EricMN on Battlefrog.

"They're coming to get you Barbara!"

 

I'll probably make the majority of challenges this year OCR themed. I've got a Tough Mudder next Saturday and another in September. There might be a few others sprinkled in throughout if I can find the time/money. With those and World's Toughest Mudder in November, now is not the time to slouch. 

[SaltyDragon]

4 hours ago, Jormungand said:

I'll probably make the majority of challenges this year OCR themed. I've got a Tough Mudder next Saturday and another in September. There might be a few others sprinkled in throughout if I can find the time/money. With those and World's Toughest Mudder in November, now is not the time to slouch. 

 

Excellent! My knowledge of these is admittedly pretty minimal, but the intrigue is increasing, so I enjoy hearing about the training, and the events themselves. I'm excited for more!

 

On 6/2/2016 at 9:15 AM, Jormungand said:

I do not know if they offer sea-worthy delivery. 

 

Heh, yeah you can imagine what our produce looks like when it gets to us. Sounds like a great set-up for you though! Call me jealous.

[Jormungand]

 

Four Week Challenge Recap

 

I had a lot of fun staying in a Resident Evil Mindset this time around. Overall, I am really happy with the way things panned out this challenge. My only complaint I have with the overall structure is (and looking back at the first post, I'm not surprised things ended up the way they did) that there wasn't a whole lot of cohesion with the whole thing. True, I managed to hit all of my goals save for one small area (more on that in the breakdown), but I didn't have a very consistent framework throughout. Definitely something that will need addressing for future challenges. As always, thank you to everyone who took part and helped me through this challenge. You're awesome. Each and every one of you. 

 

First Quest: Enter the survival horror I actually stayed fairly active this challenge. There weren't too many rest days, and I was able to hit the activity log pretty frequently. I did make some adjustments partway through. I was not accounting for my yard work taking up as much time as it does. It's not a new thing, I just hadn't factored it into the challenge at the outset. I ended up counting it on days when I was push mowing and/or weed eating. Also, I counted bike rides in the mix, as well. 

 

Second Quest: Teamwork I was able to hit all of co-op sessions except for one through the whole challenge. I am still counting this as a success, and I will definitely be carrying this quest over into future challenges. I like that it makes me accountable to someone other than myself. Also, it forces me to be more intentional with some of my workouts as I have elements to consider. 

 

Quest Three: Heal with herbs This was somewhat easier than I thought it was going to be. I mentioned in earlier posts how it helped to have fruits and vegetables built in to some of our weekly meals. I will definitely be upping the difficulty in any nutrition-based quests in the future. It was fun just to try to keep the color variety in my diet. 

 

First Quest: +2 STR +2 STA (Pass)

Second Quest: +3 CHA (Pass)

Third Quest: +2 CON +1 WIS (Pass)

 

I've got a lot of planning to do for my upcoming challenge. I'm really trying to hold myself accountable this next run through. It will be of a different sort of beast, but one that I am looking forward to combating.