Jarric

Thank you, that's really nice. I agree that humans need to be social, and it's tough, but thank goodness for the forums, and Discord, and Zoom and Google Meet and all of the other ways we can stay in touch these days, even when we can't be physically together. You should! Fingers crossed you'll be able to get your house hunting moving again soon too.

Yeah, that sound be fun. I know D_R's workout plan looks very different from mine right now, but a PvP to keep on track with out respective Darebee plans could be cool.

Looks like a great day! Here's to getting shit together! *raises glass*

Oh no, that's actual footage of me It costs a thousand dollars for a CT scan? Wow, that's really scary. Hope you manage to find out what's going on though, and get stuff sorted. Sending positive thoughts

I know that feeling! When you look at the pile of dirty washing up and think "how do we own this much stuff?" Just been catching up; love all of the workout photos and good stuff working out in that heat! Also glad Mischief is better.

That sounds like a really interesting challenge (assuming they book a new lesson) That's really good to hear, glad to hear you're finding something that's working.

Yeah, absolutely. Might be a little while though; even if we get the keys next week I can't see us moving all of our stuff in until March! Then again there might be some work in progress pictures too. Yeah, even just 5 minutes would be hugely useful, but Deffy definitely has this nailed down. Yeah, that would be amazing! And you're right, it would actually make a really good superhero story - starting with you going wild, having all nighters, doing crazy things, and then slowly realising you're immortal and all of the problems and responsibilities that come with that

Thank you! I still can't quite believe it might actually be happening. And that's a cool idea! I was just thinking of Bernard's Watch when I started reading that, which would be awesome, but being able to rewind and fast forward would be the shit. perfect song choice

Thanks! Yeah, that would be awesome!

Week 3 Stats Running: 76.95/116 miles for the challenge - 66% of the mileage in 60% of the time, so still on track Foam Rolling: 2/3 for the week, 7/9 for the challenge - I got this started early in the week, but lost the motivation to round it out on Sunday Protein: 7/7 for the week, 21/21 for the challenge - spot on Create: 2/3 for the week, 5/9 for the challenge - very much the same story here as with the foam rolling Teeth: 6/7 for the week, 17.5/21 for the challenge - Sunday evening motivation buggered up what was otherwise a perfect week * * * Monday - Week 4 day 1 Yesterday was a good day. I started by doing a shitload of crunches: This workout kicked my arse! Well, in fact it kicked my abs. Anyway, I'm rubbish at core stuff so this was a tough one. I followed it with some hangboarding, which was really hard to do what I could barely hold my legs off the ground, and some stretching. Work was ok. I was a bit distracted, both in general mood and specifically because we're actually getting somewhere with the house purchase and I needed to speak to people and chase things up and stuff. In the evening WW cooked burritos with the leftover pork from our Sunday roast, and then we went to Tesco. It's so much nicer going late in the evening when we can walk around a massive shop with no-one there. On the flip side though it was bedtime when we got home, so no time for drawing or foam rolling. I did tick off teeth brushing and protein. * * * Last night I kept waking up from the DOMS in my abs! I don't think I slept too badly despite that, and this morning I got out for my run. Today was a simple 0.5 mile (~0.8km) warm-up, 3 miles (~4.8km) quickish, and 0.5 mile (~0.8km) cool down. It was -2*C outside (28.4*F), so the fields were frozen, but it was still nice to get out. When I got in I went straight into day 5 of Strength Protocol: I managed Sets of 17, 6, 6 on the raised leg pushups, 7, 4, 2 on the pike pushups, the prescribed 3x20 thigh taps, and 18, 8, 8 tricep dips. That's a ton more tricep dips than last week, which I guess is because there wasn't much tricep work before that. Today we've also been asked to transfer our deposit money to our solicitor, in order to exchange contracts on our house purchase. All being well, we could have bought the place by the end of next week! I won't hold my breath, knowing what the process is like, but it's certainly exciting. Tonight I'm sorting out that money and some last paperwork, cooking a beef sausage casserole, and I must do some foam rolling to actually hit some goals! * * * Icebreaker: If you could have one superpower, what would it be? I'm going to save my answer for this one, and wait to see what y'all think.

Well if it is cancelled, but you're still allowed to travel, you'll just have to come and see us anyway!

On your first job, see @deftona's comment I love the positivity man - it seems life is pretty good for your right now, but I think being able to appreciate that is the main thing. I feel like we're in the same boat with just about all of this - I was fine to oblivious in our first couple of lockdowns, but this one with its lack of things to look forward to is just tough. D&D is 100% a lifeline. Will be interesting to see what happens with RRDW; I got an e-mail last week and they were still advertising it as though it was going to go ahead!

That's really interesting - I'd never come across those terms but I can certainly think of people who fall in one camp or the other.

Friday - Week 3 Day 5 Friday was a good day. Poker in the evening was really good fun, it was lovely to catch up with Hopalong and The Captain. I finished with slightly more money than I started with as well, which is nice. I also drank with relative moderation, and got to bed by 11. Teeth and protein were done. * * * Saturday - Week 3 Day 6 Saturday was a good day. I got up in the morning and went for my long run. It felt a bit rubbish to start with and 20 minutes in I thought I might have to cut it short, but somehow things picked up and I felt really strong for most of the middle of the run. I also remembered to wear my neoprene socks, so despite running through semi-frozen water a lot my feet stayed warm enough. After lunch it was time for D&D hosted by the wonderful @jonfirestar. I don't want to talk too much about what I think is going on, because I don't want to spoil anything for the other players, but suffice to say I am very, very excited! In the evening we had a few beers and caught up on Questing Time. I've been a bit emotional all weekend for some reason, but last night particularly I was all over the place laughing and crying along with the show. Not sure what that's about, but I think the current lockdown is still getting to me. Or maybe I'm just tired; who knows? Teeth and protein were done, and got to bed about half 11 * * * Today I got up and went out for my run. My knee felt a bit awkward, and I was running a bit late, so I decided to cut the run short at 3 miles to be on the safe side. When I got home I reheated some colcannon I'd made for dinner Saturday night, and threw in a couple of fried eggs for good measure, which was really rather good. Today was also D&D day, the game I run. All of the players were excellent, as we head through a truly epic battle defending a massive temple-farm, but special mention has to go to @DarK_RaideR. He ended the session with an awaked tree throwing him into the battle, across 250ft of open field, only to throw the breath weapon sack from a green dragon on to a group of hill giants, exploding poison into their faces. It was an extremely cool move.

Oh yeah, Ark would love that one! Not that I'm trying to give you ideas; with divebomb attacks and sneak attack these things are scary! That sounds like a really valuable thing to do, to go over your past in a constructive way like that. I try not to hold grudges too, it doesn't seem like a good use of my energy. And I know what you mean! I was great at maths in school and college, and I hate it when I find something's slipped away from me.

Good work this week man - everything's so much harder when you're lacking sleep, but you've managed to do well despite that.

Heya, good to see you back! If we can somehow make this the slogan for the year I will be very pleased.

Hey T2SC! I haven't spoken to you in far too long, how are you? And thank you, it seems to work for me

Thursday - Week 3 Day 4 Yesterday was a good day. In the evening I cooked what I am calling bolognese, but one that used the veg I have in the fridge I needed to use up - leeks and celeriac - and then with the more traditional beef, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, and garlic. It was really good, if I do say so myself. After dinner we played Pathfinder. A good, quite combat heavy session, which ended up with us fighting a trio of maflets, a vrock, a shadow daemon, and a glabrezu. The vrock and the shadow daemon were both creatures that had escaped us in other parts of the dungeon, and so this fight is looking much tougher than it might have been had we finished them off earlier. We finished the game mid-combat, and it was only afterwards that I realised that it wasn't just the vrock and shadow daemon we had seen before. Remember I mentioned last session that we met an efreeti, that agreed to grant us wishes if we freed it? Well, efreeti do grant wishes, but so do glabrezu, and glabrezu are also masters of disguise who use their guile to trick people into making wishes they can pervert. So I'm really looking forward to seeing how my wish turns out now, if by some miracle we get out of this combat! The creatures, to bring this to life: Also, for anyone who thinks Pathfinder might be a bit complicated, I feel that's illustrated in the sheer number of rules we cocked up last night. I forgot how enlarge person worked, and didn't deal the right damage. Everyone forgot what size category WW's warpriest was, and made her too large which totally messed up everyone's positions. WW also forgot how damage for enlarge person works, but because she'd previously cocked up the rules when she was reincarnated she still arrived at the correct number. Our GM forgot that the maflets have improved critical (many, many times). I forgot to make intimidate checks that my character gets automatically. Basically, we are not good at this. I had a few beers with the game, and we had a nice chat after we'd finished as well. I find myself missing people a lot right now, so that was really nice. Teeth and protein were ticked off. * * * This morning I got up and worked out, day 3 of Strength Protocol: This was suspiciously easy. I wouldn't rule out having DOMS tomorrow, because of the sheer number of reps, but it wasn't really a challenge. I followed it up with some hangboarding, where I'm finally getting back to where I want to be (and hopefully can start making progress from there), and then some stretching. After that I had to go to the dental hygienist. It was weirdly exciting to have a reason to leave the house and see other humans. Unfortunately it's been so long since I had to drive a car in the morning that I didn't even consider the idea of ice on the car, and by the time I'd scraped off the windows enough to see out of them I ended up being late. Still, the hygienist was very positive about my teeth, which is an experience that's quite new to me (my traditional experience being someone telling me that all my teeth are going to fall out, or be pulled out, and I need to do something about it), and that was quite pleasant. Work today has been fine. A bit disjointed due to the dentist appointment, a meeting in the morning, and our team catch-up at half 4, but still ok. This evening I'm playing poker with Hopalong and The Captain, having a couple of beers, and intending to get a fairly early night ahead of my long run tomorrow.

That's funny, I was going to blame me starting this hypertrophy programme on you getting me sucked into reading the Darebee website

Aww, well I'm glad it helps you, and it certainly makes me feel more positive to know that it's making you feel better too Also, I don't know what on earth that gif is, but I'm here for it!

Wednesday - Week 3 Day 3 Yesterday was a good day. There's not much to say about it that I haven't said already really. After my late paperwork working and my late dinner, and then updating on here, I decided on an early night. Teeth and protein done. * * * Today I feel much better than I did yesterday - I guess the extra sleep really made a difference! I've got all the DOMS in my triceps from yesterday's workout, but it's nice to feel them for a change (in a way!). My alarm went off at 6am, I got up at 06:07, and got out for my run. I ran 4 miles with 2 * 1 mile intervals and a half mile easy pace in between them, and it felt fairly decent. After my run I did Strength Protocol day 2: Scapula shrugs were a little tough, but done as prescribed. The downward to upward dogs were rough - I'm not sure if I was doing them right by doing a Hindu pressup from one to the other - and I only got sets of 14, 6, 4, 4. The reverse angels were brutal, but as I was laying on my face and could rest very briefly I did manage to get all the sets in. The backfists were easy, though I'm not a fan of Darebee's 'combat' moves in workouts in general. Not pictured above is the optional pullup work - 3 sets of max pullups with 2 minutes rest in between. I got sets of 12, 6, 6 ( @Mr_Willes take note!). BY the time I'd done all of that I was seriously short on time, so not a lot of stretching happened before getting ready for work. Work has been ok today, I'm starting to feel a bit more on form. At lunchtime I walked up the shops to get beer for tonight, and then read through a load of paperwork for my income protection insurance, so no time for drawing or rolling. This evening I'm cooking something approaching bolognese, and then it's time for Pathfinder - our Mummy's Mask game.

Oh wow that's awesome! Working in an arcade is a dream job as a teenager, I would have loved that! And you were one of the top 3 players in the USA? Seriously? Damn Puck, that's really impressive. I wouldn't worry about being behind - I was horrible at keeping up with people before all the guilds merged, and now I've just accepted that it's not going to happen! It's good to have you here when you can drop in though. And thanks. You're making me blush, but thank you. I think that on a fundamental level everyone has good things and bad things in their life, and it's easy to focus on one or the other. I could paint a reasonable sob story of my upbringing for example, or I could talk about good things from my past. Both would be true, but I can choose which picture to paint and ultimately I think choosing to focus on the positive stuff makes me happier in the long run.

Tuesday - Week 3 Day 2 Yesterday was a good day. After my update I cooked a Mexican style rice dish with black beans, onions, coriander, and chives, topped with fried halloumi, with a chipotle chilli mayo on the side. Pathfinder was good - we managed to defeat the summoner we were fighting marginally more easily than I was expecting, and then ended up having a catch-up and shopping episode back at our starting town. It was nice and chilled after a busy work day. Protein was had. Teeth were done. * * * This morning I laid in bed for almost half an hour on my phone before I got up. I made the snap decision that I needed to do something different to kick in a bit of motivation, and decided to start Strength Protocol by Darebee immediately. So I did day 1: Pushups I managed 16, 7, 5 reps, diamond pushups 10, 3, 3, tricep extensions 7, 3, 2, but my form was crap and I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of them so I did some dumbbell tricep extensions at 4.5kg for 18, 9, 6 each side, finally the tricep dips were 7, 7, 6. The whole lot only took 20 minutes, but man I was shaking like anything afterwards. After that I did some split stretches and some upper body stretches. Work today was not busy, but I struggled with motivation. It's been a tough week, so I hope I get back into the groove soon. I found lockdown much easier last year, maybe because WW was at home while I was home working, but it's tough right now. I did get to listen to Eddie Izzard running again today, and caught a bit of Biden's inauguration as well, so that was nice. Also got a report from our solicitor on the house we're buying, so that seems to be moving forward slowly. After late evening paperwork for that WW has cooked sausages, spuds, and baked beans, and we're now chilling on the sofa before bed.

Thanks! When I eventually finish this one I'll definitely share it. There's also some drawings on my Instagram of varying quality. That's really interesting about the foam rolling. I do roll my quads, but I haven't tried lying on it and bending my leg. I'll definitely give that a go, thanks!