[Jarric]

  

On 1/2/2024 at 5:07 PM, Jarric said:

2024 Road map

 

For the past couple of years, I've been writing my road map at the top of all of my challenges, so that I remember it and refer back to it when I'm setting my goals for the month. At the end of the year I then do a big wrap-up to see how I've progressed, and you can see 2023's wrap up here.

 

I don't really have a big why or a master plan, and I don't have any big overarching goals that I want to complete in 2024. I do have a few areas of my life that I would always like to improve though, and I can handily map those on the D&D stats. After last year's challenges, those stats look like this:

 

Level 20 Wood Elf Ranger

STR: 15  -  CON: 21  -  CHA: 8  -  SAN: 16 -  INT: 17

Alongside each stat I'll have some specific benchmarks, and I might add more as the year goes on. These aren't goals as such, but they are things that I would like to hit and that I can measure progress against.

 

Strength - Exercise

I don't separate STR and DEX as different stats, because it doesn't feel like a useful definition for the kind of stuff I do. STR includes going to my local crossfit-style gym, running, bouldering, taking part in OCRs and any other competitions that I get myself into, and also anything else that might take my fancy during the year like swimming, hiking, who knows?

 

Why am I focusing on this? Because I like being able to do cool stuff, and to me that means lifting heavy, doing gymnastics tricks, or completing the kinds of races that make other people think I'm mad. I also think you can never be too strong, and I want to be mobile and pain-free for a long time to come.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• March edit - rehab my knee, so that I'm no longer in pain when I run. This is a pre-requisite of a lot of the things below.
• Man vs Coast - a 25-mile coastal adventure race in the UK August edit - Done! I had to walk it, as my knee recovery wasn't sufficient to be able to run, but I was really grateful to be able to walk it pain free.
• I'd like to do some kind of strongman competition, if I can find a good one
• I'm looking at Tribal Clash, which seems to be a cool fitness event if I can get a team together May edit: Tribal Clash is out, but I'll be doing Conquer the Farm instead. August edit: Conquer the Farm was fun! Not sure that Crossfit competition is for me, but now I know.
• Climb a font 7A March edit - Done! Got my first 7A this month
• Climb a font 6A outside
• Get reliable pistol squats with both legs May edit: I'm not sure at what point I can say this is definitely reliable, but I think I might be there  
• Be able to string together multiple muscle ups (ring and bar)
• Handwalk 12ft (2 mats in my gym)
• Squatmas: 50 reps at 75% bodyweight, unbroken
• Deadliftmas: 50 reps at 100% bodyweight, unbroken
• Squat 1.5 x bodyweight for 5 reps
• Deadlift 2 x bodyweight for 5 reps
• Row 100m in under 16.9 seconds (#oddlyspecific I know - I hit 16.9 in October 2019, and I've equalled it a dozen times but never beaten it)
• August edit: run a sub-25-minute 5k. My knee recovery has me running a much higher cadence, and that's given me a much quicker pace. I feels like sub-25 is on the cards. September edit: I hit 23'39" on the last day of August!
• September edit: run a sub 50-minute 10k. After how much I smashed the 5k time this feels on the cards

 

Constitution - Nutrition

This is about the things I put in my body - food, alcohol, and cigarettes being the main ones. I've decided recently that I'm not that fussed about caffeine right now, and whilst I don't want to smoke I'm at a level where I do so rarely and can go months between cigarettes.

 

Why am I focusing on this? Because it's the foundation that everything else is based on. When I eat better and drink less I feel better, I lift stronger, I'm less out of breath, and I'm more alert. Also, I look better - it's vain but I won't apologise for that. I have a more complicated relationship with alcohol, but like food it's all about sensible moderation without needs for excessive restriction.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Get to <12% body fat (per my home scales), just to see what it's like.

 

Charisma - Creativity

This will probably be primarily focused on drawing, but also on writing D&D content, maybe even picking up my guitar again as I haven't in a while. August Edit: I've started a subscription to a company that sell D&D minis, so mini painting is also likely to be a strong feature here.

 

Why am I focusing on this?  Because I think being creative is really good for me mentally, and because I think creativity is really worthwhile. In my mind there is something intrinsically valuable in the act of creation, even if it's not something you share or make money from. And because I enjoy it, I feel good seeing some of the stuff I've drawn over the years, or when I pick up the guitar just for fun.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Draw a whole D&D party for any group I run/am in
• Publish some of my own D&D content online
• Complete Inktober this year
• I have Wednesdays off work, so do something creative every Wednesday at least
• Learn a handful of songs that I could play at an open mic night

 

 

Sanity - self-care

This is about keeping my head screwed on straight, and doing the things that keep me level. That includes small things like brushing my teeth and keeping the house tidy, but might be specific self-care habits like journaling, social things like seeing friends, or big projects on the house.  It's recently occurred to me that reading more for pleasure could also be on this list, or on my INT list, and I'll consider that among my potential future goals.

 

Why am I focusing on this? Because it's been a tough couple of years - including losing a couple of friends and my dad being diagnosed with dementia - and I don't like feeling bad. These are things that I can do to feel better in myself, and feeling good is it's own reward. It also allows me to better support my family, and to face challenges as they come. 

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Go away with friends Edit: I did go away with one friend to Man v Coast - not quite what I had in mind but it half counts
• Sort out my office - paint, re-wire, and new carpet
• Sort out the outhouse with a new roof and door, and run power down there
• Get a price to replace the porch

 

Intelligence - learning

This includes studying for work, any side-project academic study that I feel like, learning languages, maybe even skill learning if it doesn't fit under STR.

 

Why am I focusing on this?  I  like to learn new things, I find it interesting and rewarding, and it makes me a better person. It also might help my future employment prospects/earning potential, which isn't a big driver for me but it can't hurt.

 

Specific benchmarks:

• Make good progress on my last big professional accreditation
• Continue learning Dutch and French on Duolingo - I should be on an 800+ day streak by the end of 2024
• Converse in French when I go to France for the Olympics this year August edit: turns out that when you go to Paris during the Olympics, pretty much everyone you speak to will just talk to you in English. I got to use some French though, and it was good for watching the TV coverage of the Olympics if nothing else.
• Learn a little bit of coding

 

Edit - I keep forgetting how to score this, so the percentage required to gain a stat point, based on the number of stat points a goal is worth, is:

• 1 stat point: 75%
• 2 stat points: 50%, 83.3%
• 3 stat points: 37.5%, 62.5%, 87.5%
• 4 stat points: 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%
• 5 stat points: 25%, 41.7%, 58.3%, 75%, 91.7%

 

Jarric: The 'C' Team

 

 

Each challenge, I theme my goals around roles within an adventuring party. Not character classes, but roles, like the cartographer that maps out the dungeons, or the hoardsperson that keeps track of the party loot. I got the idea from Acquisitions Incorporated: The 'C' Team, and it just so happens that this challenge my goals match up perfectly with the C Team members.

 

If you've never seen it, The 'C' Team is an excellent D&D actual play show, with a very narrative style and an incredibly loose grip on the rules. It's nothing like most D&D I've played or seen, but I fell in love with it a few years ago and although they've now finished their 4 seasons and aren't making any more I still thoroughly recommend it.

 

The decisionist [+2 CON]

 

 

Track food food every day, using My Fitness Pal. I start bulking from October, so September is about establishing what my maintenance calories are so I can then set my bulking calories for the next 3 months.

 

The hoardsperson [+2 SAN]

 

Spend no money all challenge.

 

This is what I've recently seen described on the forums as a SMRT goal. Specific, Measurable, Relevant, Time-defined, and very much not Achievable. Obviously I won't get through the whole challenge without spending any money, but I want to have as many zero-spend days as possible.

 

This is a bit of a compound goal. For one thing, I'm skint, so it'll obviously help with that. But it'll also stop me drinking as much, particularly when it comes to drinking at home, and that's going to be good for me physically, mentally, and calorie-wise. And it should stop me from buying endless bottles of fizzy drinks, which don't feel good for me when I'm drinking them every day.

 

The documancer [+1 SAN]

 

Check in here every day. I do better at my goals when I'm here talking to y'all, it keeps me on track. Plus, I like being here and seeing what everyone else is up to too.

 

The cartographer [+2 CHA]

 

Paint one mini every week. I've been getting a monthly box with 3 D&D minis in it to paint, but I've fallen behind with it and now I just have a load of grey plastic sat in my kitchen. I do enjoy painting them though, and I'm excited to get through a few. For the purposes of this challenge I'll be grading at the end on whether I got through all 6, so whilst the aim is one per week it's ok to work ahead or fall behind as life demands.

 

There were some other things I was thinking about for this challenge, which haven't quite made it in. I was planning to do pistol squats every day in September, and I might still try and bring that back but so far I'm failing miserably at it. I also thought about a todo list for all of the stuff in my house I'm ignoring, but I can't quite pull it together right now. And I was also thinking about @titsworth's prompt in the tavern thread and how I should do a bit less sitting on the sofa, but that's probably a bigger challenge than I want to fit in this time around and requires a bit more thought and unpacking.

 

Although I'm not actively doing these things I may well talk about them as I wrap my mind around them, or they might become relevant in the West Marches PvP or the Wicked PvP, both of which I'm thinking of how to work with.

 

Well, without further ado, let's do this!

 

[Jarric]

 Cross posts from my last challenge, where I was putting daily updates before I set this one up.

 

Monday W0D1

On 9/3/2024 at 5:33 PM, Jarric said:

As I've made it a challenge goal to update here every day I better keep this thread going until the new challenge is live.

 

Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit was a bunch of front squats:

30kg x 3x10

40kg x 3 x 8

50kg x 3 x 6

70kg x 3 x 4

80kg x 3 x 2

 

That was every even minute for 30 minutes. Every odd minute was time on an air bike. Add to this that after work I went for a run, because I couldn't run this morning, and my legs hate me today!

 

Work was ok, apart from the fact that we found out somebody quite foundational to the business had been made redundant, which was a major shock. Still hoping rhat things will change for the better, but moments like this leave me cynical.

 

Food tracked at 2,858kcal, including some excellent hommemade falafel, with homemade roulé cheese and a chickpea and bean salad courtesy of WW. I updated here, I spent no money, and I even did some painting on the necromanceress I'm working on. Unfortunately I forgot my pistol squats, so I guess I should go and do some now!

 

Tuesday W0D2

On 9/4/2024 at 5:21 PM, Jarric said:

I don't have time to set up a new thread today; will do so tomorrow. In the meantime...

 

Yesterday was a good day. Up and out early to go to our northern office for the day. Really busy, but nice to see a few people I don't normally see and had a good chat with a colleague that gave me a lift there and back.

 

Calories were tracked at 2,435 and I checked in here. Went out to lunch with colleagues so failed my no spend goal.

 

In the evening we played Pathfinder. It ended up being a shopping and roleplay episode, which was quite nice and chilled to be fair. I knew after 90 minutes of debating what to sell and how best to spend our money that we wouldn't be making much progress  . We ended up buying a staff of heal, because this megadungeon is lethal. and we have no shame in trying to stack the deck. Our healer now has the staff of heal as well as a bunch of healing abilities and spells, my bard/herbalist I can make 4 healing elixirs per day and has a healing spell, and the druid has goodberries and a wand of heal. It still may not be enough...

 

Wednesday W0D3

On 9/5/2024 at 9:17 PM, Jarric said:

Ok, I promise that I will, in fact, post my new challenge soon. But it's late, I'm tired, and I now have a side quest, a villain arc, and a West Marches run that I might need to consider...

 

Yesterday was a good day. Gym first thing, went for an eye test and ordered my new glasses, crashed out and slept on the sofa for a while.

 

I also finished painting my first mini of the challenge! It's not good, even before I messed it up trying to do a cool blue lighting effect that didn't work, but it's an extremely detailed model and it's been giving me a headache for quite long enough so I'm finished with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As this completes this set of 3, guess I can share a picture of the set as well given that I feel better about the other 2...

 

 

In the evening I went out for dinner followed by a work in progress comedy show from Jason Manford. It was a really good night, with a fair few beers, and I didn't get home until midnight.

 

Food was tracked at 4,250kcal, failed the no spend goal as money was spent on food and beer (hence the calories). Checked in here for 2/3 dailies.

 

I've already forgotten about my pistol squat goal; might need to rethink that before week 1...

 

[Rhovaniel]

 I 'C' your challenge and I think I'll stick around! Looks awesome!  

 

Spoiler

Are you still brushing your teeth twice a day? ? Don't think we've forgotten...

 

[Jarric]

Thursday W0D4

Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit was some snatch practice, and then 'Amanda', which is a bunch of ring muscle ups and more snatches. I didn't finish the workout, but I did get 16 ring muscle ups over the course of the session, which I'm really chuffed about!

 

 

Food was tracked at 3,004kcal, and I spent no money all day thanks to working from home and not going out in the evening. (I did go grocery shopping, but that's not relevant for this goal, which is about discretionary spending). Didn't write this thread yesterday in favour of getting an early night, which was much needed after the late night on Wednesday.

[Jarric]

Just now, Rhovaniel said:

 I 'C' your challenge and I think I'll stick around! Looks awesome!  

 

  Hide contents

Are you still brushing your teeth twice a day? ? Don't think we've forgotten...

 

 

Ah, I C what you did there

 

More like once per day, I really should put more effort in to the evenings. Thank you for checking in; it helps.

[Sovalis]

 

Here to cheer!

[Jarric]

5 hours ago, Sovalis said:

 

Here to cheer!

 

Good to have you!

[Jarric]

Friday W0D5

 

Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit was mostly a bunch of handwalking practice, which I very much appreciated. One day, I'll be able to do it properly.

 

Work was interesting - we're renovating our offices so I spent the last couple of hours of the day carting stuff down to a skip rather than doing my day job. It was nice to see all the gym time paying off when I was bracing the boardroom table against my shoulder walking it down the stairs.

 

I managed to avoid spending money at lunch, and then immediately went to the pub after work to fail my hoardsperson goal. It was nice to catch up with a couple of people though, and I only had the one pint before heading home.

 

The evening was spent chilling in front of the TV and posting my challenge. I also made a massive chilli, woth two servings for dinner and another 6 to make lunches easier for the next few days.

 

Calories were tracked at 2,827. I had a very small lunch, which somewhat counteracted all pf the biscuits and sausage rolls that needed to be cleared out of the office as part of the refurb . Updating here was done for a 2/3 goals day.

[Jarric]

Saturday W0D6

 

Yesterday was a good day. Went climbing for a bit - it's 'slabtember' at my bouldering gym so lots of slab climbing to mess around with and skin my knees on. (A slab is a wall that leans away from you, so there's little in the way of handholds and a lot of focus on balancing over your feet. It also means that when you fall off you hit everything on the way down.)

 

Straight after climbing I went for a run - did 9km (5.625 miles) in just under 45 minutes, which puts me well on track to attempt a sub-50 minute 10k next weekend.

 

In the afternoon I went to a little local festival as someone I know was playing guitar in an Alanis Morisette tribute band. Stayed for them, an Irish folk band, and a bit of a Portishead trubute before heading home.

 

The only money I spent was on groceries, but given that I spent over half on the grocery money on beer to drink at home I'm counting it as a fail (it was only 4 beers, but also only a chicken and some eggs on the grocery side.) Calories were tracked at 3,035, and I updated here for another 2/3 day.

 

I also did some mini painting to get a headstart on next week's mini. Thankfully this batch are a bit simpler than the last ones, which were incredibly beautiful and far too detailed.

[Ranger Hal]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

Went climbing for a bit - it's 'slabtember' at my bouldering gym so lots of slab climbing to mess around with and skin my knees on. (A slab is a wall that leans away from you, so there's little in the way of handholds and a lot of focus on balancing over your feet. It also means that when you fall off you hit everything on the way down.)

Oh, interesting. I don't think my regular gym really has any slabs in the bouldering area.

[Jarric]

15 hours ago, Ranger Hal said:

Oh, interesting. I don't think my regular gym really has any slabs in the bouldering area.

 

Yeah, the place I go is only a biuldering gym, no top rope or lead areas, so they have a fairly broad mix from slabs to competition walls to caves.

[Jarric]

Sunday - W0D7

 

Yesterday was a good day. Very chilled out, spent a bunch of time reading the new Rivers of London book (very good so far), and ran the Ranger D&D game where the party made some choices I was not expecting . Watched the end of the Paralympics whilst reading some more and that was about it.

 

Calories were tracked at 2,399. Weekly calories were 20,808, and I lost 1.7lbs.

 

No money was spent, as I didn't leave the house. Updated here. No mini painting.

 

Week 0 scores:

Decisionist: 7/7 days tracking calories 

Hoardsperson: 3/7 no-spend days

Documancer: 7/7 days checking in here

Cartographer: 1/1 minis painted.

[DarK_RaideR]

37 minutes ago, Jarric said:

ran the Ranger D&D game where the party made some choices I was not expecting

Ugh, sucks I missed out on that. Now I'm even more curious to find out what happened!

[Laghail]

Lovely challenge per usual. So far you're serving sausage rolls and fantasy art - no notes.

[Jarric]

22 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Ugh, sucks I missed out on that. Now I'm even more curious to find out what happened!

 

Well, you'll find out next week mate

 

21 hours ago, Laghail said:

Lovely challenge per usual. So far you're serving sausage rolls and fantasy art - no notes.

 

Thank you very much sir.

[Jarric]

Monday - W1D1

 

Quick update as I'm short on time. Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit was clean and jerks - the jerk is my limited factor so I really need some more jerking practice.

 

Work was fun but busy, and I ended up with terrible brain fog and a headache by mid afternoon. Had a nap when I got home which helped somewhat.

 

A new box of minis arrived yesterday, didn't do any painting but I did glue them together - a witch finder, a plague doctor alchemist, and an artificer with a machine gun crossbow.

 

Machine gun crossbow would be a great band name.

 

Also finished reading The Masquerades of Spring - remind me to do a review as I know we've got some Rivers of London fans here.

 

No money spent, calories tracked, updated here; 3/3 today.

[Jarric]

Tuesday - W1D2

 

Yesterday was a good day. Went for a run first thing - wasn't particularly quick but I'm ticking off the mileage.

 

Work was busy and frustrating at times, but in the end I managed to complete a lot of what I needed to do before a couple fo days out.

 

In the evening we met up with the Pathfinder group. We didn't play as the GM has had a busy week, but it was nice to have a good chat to everyone and just chill out. I spent money on parking, so failed the no-spend goal.

 

Calories were tracked at 2,329, and updated here. Also got my Duolingo challenges done 1st thing for the West Marches challenge.

[Heidi]

On 9/10/2024 at 8:08 AM, Jarric said:

Machine gun crossbow would be a great band name.

100% Agree.

 

20 minutes ago, Jarric said:

got my Duolingo challenges done 1st thing for the West Marches challenge.

Woohoo, well done!

[DarK_RaideR]

On 9/10/2024 at 3:08 PM, Jarric said:

so I really need some more jerking practice.

I will be a fully functional and serious adult about this, so I will.

[Laghail]

On 9/10/2024 at 7:08 AM, Jarric said:

Quick update as I'm short on time. Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit was clean and jerks - the jerk is my limited factor so I really need some more jerking practice.

 

2 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I will be a fully functional and serious adult about this, so I will.

 

I also am not making any humorous observations about how practice is sure to make perfect.

[Sovalis]

[Jarric]

On 9/11/2024 at 9:36 PM, Heidi said:

100% Agree.

 

Woohoo, well done!

 

Thank you!

 

On 9/11/2024 at 11:01 PM, DarK_RaideR said:

I will be a fully functional and serious adult about this, so I will.

 

On 9/12/2024 at 1:14 AM, Laghail said:

 

 

I also am not making any humorous observations about how practice is sure to make perfect.

 

On 9/12/2024 at 2:18 AM, Sovalis said:

 

I won't lie, these are exactly the kind of grown-up, mature responses I was hoping for.

 

[Jarric]

 

Double update!

 

Wednesday W1D3

Wednesday's adventure was going to drop the car off for a service after Crossfit (the car is now alive, but it was an expensive visit.

 

Crossfit itself was squats - 90kg (198lbs) x 4 x 6 - and then barbell box step ups (hideous) and broad jumps. Then we had a short workout of wall balls, skiing, and skipping, which I cut even shorter because my knee was starting to hurt and I'm really worried about re-injuring it. 

 

The rest of the day was spent in intense relaxation. I had a long bath with muscle soak for my knee, then curled up in my pyjamas and did some mini painting, a bit of calf rolling, and a lot of TV watching.

 

Calories tracked at 2,887 as I was ravenous in the middle of the day. No money spent as I didn't leave the house again after getting back from the garage. Checked in here. 3/3 Duolingo quests.

 

Thursday W1D4

Thursday's adventure was a trip into town for a conference.

 

Crossfit before that, which was a longish workout of running, air bike, and burpees. My knee held up ok, which is pleasing.

 

The conference itself was good fun and really interesting, and I stayed afterwards for a few beers and to catch up with various people I haven't seen in a while. Then I headed to the other side of town to meet up with some colleagues for our team night out and a few more beers. That and a burger on the way home netted me 5,460 calories for the day ?

 

Managed 2/3 Duolingo quests on the train up there, but didn't manage to update here and obviously I did spend some money on the night out. Not the best day for goals, but definitely a fun day.

[Heidi]

On 9/11/2024 at 6:01 PM, DarK_RaideR said:

I will be a fully functional and serious adult about this, so I will.

That would make exactly one of us, then, because I saw this and stepped right over it hoping no one noticed me giggling like a 14 year old.

 

2 hours ago, Jarric said:

the car is now alive, but it was an expensive visit.

Resurrection spells are often costly, but are usually very much worth it.

 

Fun days are successes, too.  

[Jarric]

On 9/13/2024 at 2:14 PM, Heidi said:

 

Fun days are successes, too.  

 

You're absolute right - that's a very good thing to remember.