Jormungand: IX - Siege Tank

[Jormungand]

The siege continues, and there are new strategies being put in place to adapt to the ever-changing tides of combat. I am keeping with this theme due to the necessity of staying focused long term and doing what I know works for me. This time, however, I am taking inspiration from one of my favorite instruments of war, the Siege Tank from StarCraft. This vehicle has the ability to function both as a mobile tank and as an immobile, yet more powerful, siege cannon. For this campaign, I need to adapt to any given situation, like the Siege Tank. In doing so, I will be able to become a better version of myself. The siege is long, and I need to be able to do what is necessary to emerge on the other side.

 

 

First Quest: Drop the Hammer Now is not the time to let up on my strength and cardio training. I like to have the option of choosing what to do as the mood/circumstance sees fit, so I will have this quest the same as last time: train in some fashion at least five times per week. This can include strength training, running, cycling, or anything else that I can honestly assess as some form of training (mowing the lawn might not count but swimming might). The point is, I never know what may come up, so I will just have to be ready for anything. The one difference from the last challenge is that if I combine training during one session (for example, if I go for a run before I strength train) it still only counts as one session. +2 STR +2 STA

 

Second Quest: Oil for the Machine My body is a functioning, ever-changing machine, so I need to treat it as such. This quest will function on a number of levels. First, I will drink a gallon of water per day for the duration of this challenge. I'm not going to cut things like coffee, but I also won't allow for any non-water drinking to count towards the total. Second, I will maintain situational awareness with my food. I cut out french fries during the last challenge but incidentally ended up eating more potato chips than I normally do. So, in the situations where I have full control over what I put in my stomach, I will avoid eating food that I know goes against my goals. We all know what kinds of food this is. I just don't want to fall into the trap of swapping one bad food for another. I will allow for some breathing room in this category though. If the situation arises where we are going out for pizza with some friends, I will probably end up having pizza. I just need to instill more discipline in my day-to-day food choices. I will try to post any successes I have throughout the week to hold myself accountable. Third, I will stick with only drinking alcohol two days out of the week. This seems like a healthy and maintainable goal for now, and it's worked for me in the past. +4 CON

 

Third Quest: Identify Target My reading has really slipped recently. I will read every day during this challenge. A new China Miéville novel came out last week, and I've really been looking forward to it for a while now. However, I need to finish the current book I'm reading before I can start on it. Lately, I've only been reading in short bursts, and I want to get back in the habit of reading more. To help with this, I will also not be playing any video games for this challenge's duration. Also, I am hoping that this increase in quiet time will allow me to start reflecting on my future aspirations, one of which includes planning for World's Toughest Mudder 2017. I am hoping on recovering somewhat from last challenge's failure in this regard. +1 WIS +1 CHA

 

I know what to do. I've seen personal success with these areas, but I want to see more. I've been able to eliminate a large portion of body fat over the past couple of years, most of which occurred in the past 18 months. However, there is still a stubborn portion that has remained. I don't think that I will get rid of it in the next four weeks, but if I follow these goals and have some fun, I think I can make a solid step towards victory. Now, let's roll out.

[Wild Wolf]

39 minutes ago, Jormungand said:

and have some fun

 

When you have fun, all else seems to fall into place  Glad to see ya back Jormungand! 

 

W0lf

[Charlie_Quinn]

C_Q reporting in!

[Jormungand]

8 hours ago, Wild Wolf said:

 

When you have fun, all else seems to fall into place  Glad to see ya back Jormungand! 

 

W0lf

 

Thanks, brother. Always glad to see you stop by. 

 

7 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

C_Q reporting in!

 

Thanks for swinging by. I was just thinking how this thread could stand for a little more Deadpool. 

[Ranger Five]

What you need is a medivac. Then you will achieve true greatness.
 

 

[Jormungand]

1 hour ago, Ranger Five said:

What you need is a medivac. Then you will achieve true greatness.
 

 

 

That is impressive. Thanks for that. 

[Ranger Five]

36 minutes ago, Jormungand said:

 

That is impressive. Thanks for that. 

No problem! Little known fact, @Tanktimus the Encourager is actually that medivac, juggling rangers in and out of his protective encouragement beams at warp speed.

[Wild Wolf]

4 hours ago, Jormungand said:

 

Thanks, brother. Always glad to see you stop by. 

 

 

Thanks for swinging by. I was just thinking how this thread could stand for a little more Deadpool. 

 

Most welcome my friend. I'll be stopping by a lot more often. And MOAR Deadpool you say???

 

 

W0lf

[Rurik Harrgath]

Pew pew!

 

[Jormungand]

33 minutes ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

Pew pew!

 

 

I accept and welcome Siege Tanks of all kinds here, especially adorable ones. 

[Rurik Harrgath]

4 minutes ago, Jormungand said:

I accept and welcome Siege Tanks of all kinds here. 

 

Good because I'm going to let my freak flag fly this challenge! 

 

[FatboySuave]

I don't know anything about StarCraft, but we all know the coolest character in The Matrix was Tank:

 

Make Tank as proud as Neo does! You've got another great challenge. Following, obviously. 

[Jormungand]

I know it's only Zero Week, but I was too excited for my challenge to start to wait any longer. Plus, I have a bad habit of using Zero Week as a time for scaling back on my workouts and eating a lot of crap. So, today for lunch, I was a little worried because I had a meeting, and the location we eat at doesn't have the greatest options. As per my second quest, I wanted to actively take part in choosing what I ate rather than just say "Oh, I am going to eat this cheeseburger, but at least I am consciously making that choice." Well, not today. I ended up getting the salad bar and loaded up my salad with enough eggs to make an omelet. I also had a ton of pepper slices, green olives, and grapes to go with it.

 

Also, for the past two days, I've gotten my gallon of water in. It's not that bad to get it in, but I have been making frequent trips to the bathroom. To counteract this, I am going to scale back my coffee a little bit in the mornings, too, just to not completely send my renal system into a meltdown. It hasn't been raining as much, either, so I think I am going to go for a run today after work. I haven't gone for a nice long run outside for a while, and I want to see where I stand. I just realized that the Michigan Tough Mudder is taking place on the last day of this challenge. I am hoping to run two laps like I did in Chicago. Just because I'm not running World's Toughest Mudder this year doesn't mean I can slack until next year. This is going to be a long process: a siege, if you will. 

[Wild Wolf]

27 minutes ago, Jormungand said:

Well, not today. I ended up getting the salad bar and loaded up my salad with enough eggs to make an omelet. I also had a ton of pepper slices, green olives, and grapes to go with it.

 

Nailed it! Way to go man

 

28 minutes ago, Jormungand said:

Just because I'm not running World's Toughest Mudder this year doesn't mean I can slack until next year

 

Great attitude brother because doing little things here and there, creating those small victories will payoff. It may be a seige but you're the field general. Lead the charge my friend 

 

 

a different kind of siege, but still same concept.

 

W0lf

 

 

[Jormungand]

1 hour ago, Wild Wolf said:

 

Great attitude brother because doing little things here and there, creating those small victories will payoff. It may be a seige but you're the field general. Lead the charge my friend 

 

 

a different kind of siege, but still same concept.

 

W0lf

 

 

 

I appreciate that. That's what I'm hoping for. Ideally, I'd love to be able to tell people that I started training for WTM17 even before WTM16. And, hey, a siege is a siege (especially one as badass as that). 

[Jormungand]

Zero Week Recap:

 

I normally don't do these for this week, but I was feeling antsy so I started testing out the different aspects of my challenge to see how they'd work out. I am satisfied with the quests I've planned out, and I feel confident in how this whole challenge will unfold. I did three workouts (two strength and one run) this week, so I didn't completely neglect Zero Week. Also, since last Tuesday, I've drank a gallon of water each day except for yesterday. However, I was in the car for seven hours total yesterday and at a baseball game, so I didn't want to completely wreck my bladder. Pretty happy with most of my food choices this past week. I have only had alcohol two days, and even on those days I had one beer each day. Not completely terrible this weekend as far as food is concerned. The ally and I had some DQ Blizzards tonight, and we went out for Mexican last night. So, I'm seeing progress in some areas but not as much in others. Again, I will keep track of any victories moving forward. Here's to everyone finding success in their own challenges and goals. Let's move it. 

 

[SaltyDragon]

Checking in, and reporting for battle! What a great attitude – you just can't wait to get started. Also excited to see you thinking of doubling down on another TM!

[Raxie]

I really like your challenge set up and goals! You're Siege Tank and I'm a Robot this challenge! I've got kind of a similar theme-ish set up (Oil the machine, etc)  Super cool! I'll be following along

[Jormungand]

10 hours ago, SaltyDragon said:

Checking in, and reporting for battle! What a great attitude – you just can't wait to get started. Also excited to see you thinking of doubling down on another TM!

 

Thanks, man. I'm nervous/excited about the thought of running two laps again. It was a trial the first time I did it, to say the least. The ally and I are trying to run together more, so hopefully inspiring her will help fuel my own fire. 

 

22 minutes ago, Raxie said:

I really like your challenge set up and goals! You're Siege Tank and I'm a Robot this challenge! I've got kind of a similar theme-ish set up (Oil the machine, etc)  Super cool! I'll be following along

 

Thank you. I will have to check out your thread. It helps to remind myself that I wouldn't put Mountain Dew or Yoo-Hoo in my car's gas tank, so I shouldn't put similar fuel in my own. Although, if my car could tell how tasty Yoo-Hoo was, it might beg to differ. 

[Jormungand]

Week 1 Recap:

 

I am pleased with how my quest goals went this week. I got to ride the bike twice, I went for one run, and I went to the gym once. I know that's only four sessions, but I was pretty active during one of my rest days. I ran a lot of errands and crossed some things off of the household to-do list that had been sitting there for a while; plus, I got the entire yard mowed in some pretty sweltering heat, which I will count for this week. Food intake has been decent. Nothing really fancy, but also there weren't any glaring over-indulgences anywhere. I got at least a gallon of water in each day, and I didn't have any alcohol all week. It wasn't really by choice, I just don't have all that much beer sitting around the house and the opportunity never really came up. So, I'm pretty happy with all of that considering that the ally and I have been on a tight budget this past week or so. 

 

Warning: Somewhat excessive introspection ahead

Spoiler

And, that sort of leads in to a realization I've had today. I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about World's Toughest Mudder. The original plan was to run it this year. Well, after looking at a quick analysis of how much that would actually cost, it just wasn't feasible considering the cost of attending, getting to/staying at the event, and all of the equipment I would need to race. So, I decided to change gears a little and start planning to run it next year. And here's where I come back to what's been on my mind recently. I will attempt to minimize the rambling. 

 

I doubt I am the only person on here who has a "Wouldn't It Be Nice If I Had X" List. Some things on my list are a GORUCK GR1, a VOX Night Train G2 15 Watt Combo Amp, a new pair of Doc Marten's, and the list goes on. A list which keeps growing, but one that I've been trying to be more stringent with in regards with what will have long-lasting usability. A durable backpack? I would think so. A new pair of boots? Absolutely (if the four years I've been wearing the same pair says anything). People talk about functional fitness, and I've been trying to develop a mindset where my purchases mirror that concept: I want them to provide extended use and functionality. This brings in a lot of the items on the list for WTM that I would need to compete. A wetsuit? I might get some use out of that away from WTM, but I have yet been in a situation where I've needed one. A wetsuit hood and/or gloves? Probably not. A headlamp? Maybe, but I usually just use a flashlight in most instances. And that list goes on, as well. 

 

My point being that a lot of the equipment I would need to purchase for World's Toughest Mudder would be just that - equipment that I would need for this very specific race. All of this at a point in my life when the ally and I are trying to fix up certain areas of the house that have been neglected, cashflow her MBA, and put some money back in an emergency fund. All of that is difficult when I'm trying to justify spending in excess of $1,000 on a ticket, flight, and hotel, not including the equipment/grocery list (which would easily estimate to also be over $1,000). 

 

This is already a pretty lengthy post, but if you'll indulge me a little further, this also brings up why I wanted to run the event in the first place. After running a couple Tough Mudders, I'd heard about the World's Toughest Mudder event. Someone I knew said that she intended to do it and that I should do it, too. That (if my memory serves correctly) was pretty much it. From then on, it was just something that I assumed I would be doing. Here lately, though, I've been questioning my why. Why did I want to run it? Really why? That's a good question. In fact, I would say that that's the question. And it's one that I don't have a good answer to. Maybe it's because that (as of this writing) I am six weeks away from my thirty-first birthday. Maybe it's because that after slaying the 200 pound dragon (a goal that I have yet to take for granted and am still thankful for), I was looking for another dragon to fight. Maybe I just wanted to do it because it sounded fun at the time and the idea just stuck. It's hard telling. At least right now. 

 

All of that to say that I've been doing a lot of thinking about this whole World's Toughest Mudder business and where it rests in my overall life goals, in this siege that I'm taking part in on a daily basis. This is definitely something that I will be evaluating further, so this is a forewarning that another philosophical rambling may be out there. 

 

You are all awesome, and I wish you the best in all of your own personal goals. I hope you reach whatever it is you are grasping for. Let's all have an excellent rest of the challenge. Until next time. 

 

[Jormungand]

Yesterday was a wake up call of sorts. I went for a run from my house to my parents' house, a route that I've done before that is about 5.5 miles. Granted, the last time I'd done it the weather was cooler and I was dead in the middle of my half marathon training. I knew it was hot going out, but I wanted to test a longer run and see how it went. Well, it went. I did a 4 mile run a couple of weeks ago without much issue, but this one was a dirty nasty slog. I stopped to walk at one point, but still ran for the vast majority of the distance. By the end, I couldn't find a dry place on my clothes to wipe my hands. Once I got to my parents' place, I promptly demolished some trail mix and G2 Gatorades. 

 

I'm glad I did it, as it showed that there is a lot of work to get back up to and beyond where I want to be in regards to my physical capability. I've been neglecting my running in favor of strength training recently, but I need to maintain focus on both if I am going to succeed as neither can afford to be left out. Also, my cross training sessions on the bike, while important, may not be adequate enough of a focus at the moment, though I don't intend to completely give it up. I love it too much. As I've said before, though, that's really what this whole siege mentality is about: finding the best balance for my personal goals long term. 

[SaltyDragon]

So much to think about...

 

As far as WTM – well, if it was really just decided on a whim, then perhaps reevaluating and prioritizing are truly in order. On the other hand, it seems like it's a bucket-list sort of accomplishment, and something you might be really proud of for a long time to come. As much as you seem to enjoy the tough mudders...well, I'll let you make the decision. But if you want to do it, I gotta think there are ways to get those barriers down. You've got time to watch craigslist or ebay for the things you'd need to buy – I totally agree it doesn't make sense for you to buy a wet suit new. (Headlamps, though, are useful – I have several – see my thread for the action shot). Travel can also be done on the cheap if you know what to do and plan ahead. Travelhacking, camping/airbnb/couchsurfing, etc. You may have to lower your expectations a bit, but there are options, and a year or so later, it's the good times you'll remember, not the crappy hotel room, or whatever. And 31? I'm 43 and I'm stronger and can do more now than ever before. You're not too old, nor are you running out of time, whichever you might be thinking. So before I go on too long, I guess my point is if you don't really want to do it, then don't. But if you do, then don't give up because it's hard. If you want support and encouragement (and terrible advice ), you've got it. After all, isn't that why we're all here?

[Jormungand]

Thanks. I needed to hear that and I appreciate it. I am definitely still keeping the possibility there, it just might need to be put on hold one more year with more funds now going towards a master's degree, though the ally should be done by the end of next year. I definitely want to keep pushing myself. I am starting to look into Spartan races to add to my race calendar, and they have varying lengths which should help scratch the OCR itch. I believe that currently I am just going to keep this siege moving, but I'd like to start putting more of the focus inward. I need to start thinking long term about what I want to accomplish as well as figure out what's really important. I want to try to get committed to a few areas of my life and try to shave off all of the rest that's trying to pull me in too many directions at once. By doing that, there might come a time when I figure out that WTM definitely is something that I want to do and I will absolutely find the means to get there. And, when that day comes, you can be sure that I will be here looking for more support, encouragement, and advice, terrible or otherwise. 

[FatboySuave]

I think it's great that you're figuring out your priorities and what's really important to you and your alley and putting off WTM for a while. I myself am going through some tough financial times at the moment, so part of me wishes I could put off my Half Mudder, but the problem is I already registered, and I don't think they give refunds, lol. So one way or another I'm going to figure it out. I will say, however, that I hope you stick with it and go for it eventually, whether it's next year, five years from now, or when you're an old fart like @SaltyDragon. If you don't do it though, I might have to give you a, "Say it ain't so, Joe. Say it ain't so." Because I wouldn't have even been inspired to do the Half if it weren't for you. Keep up the good work and stay focused on the real priorities in the interim. Fortify! 

[SaltyDragon]

47 minutes ago, EternalJourno said:

when you're an old fart like @SaltyDragon

 

That's "geezer" to you, sonny!