[MezzothePatient]

 

Now that we are somewhat settled into our school year routine, I'm ready for a proper challenge!

 

• Training for 5K (?Turkey Trot?)
  Mr Mezzo wrote out a 13-week training plan for me, so this is going to stretch across 2 challenges. I have some Stamina and Strength points I can earn over the course of this training block, and the overall goal is a sub 35 minute 5K on Thanskgiving.  Tracking in a BuJo spread.

 

• Daily Stretching (5 minutes)
  This came out of a conversation with @athousandwords   My goal is 5 minutes minimum of intentional stretching, ideally first thing in the morning but that's not a requirement (yet). I'm doing 10 minute yoga videos (built-in leeway for kid interruptions, they love to "help") until I have enough of a base to string my own flows along. This is a potential Dexterity point. I started during zero week and it has been DEEPLY humbling. I am not a 25 year-old wannabe yogi anymore ? Also tracking in a Bujo spread.

 

• ReEngage
  Not going to talk much about this but upon completion of this marriage workshop, I get a Wisdom point. Weekly class/group work for 14 weeks. It's a time commitment and there is a good amount of homework involved.

 

• Villainous Vanity
  Is it sad that I'm using the villain arc to give myself the permission/excuse to focus on some beauty goals? Probably.  But in Act 1 of Wicked Glinda gives Elphaba a makeover and my villainous inspiration Emma Frost is unapologetic in her vanity. She knows who she is and does what she wants.
  Depending how I break this up it will be worth a Charisma point or two, because feeling pretty makes you more confident which is a cornerstone of charisma?? Sure, let's go with that.

 

That's it for the challenge. 

 

Thanks for being here and Happy Fall Y'all!! 

 

 

[Sovalis]

Here for this!!

 

 

[athousandwords]

Love this! Also: is everyone doing a villain arc this challenge?? Because I haven't decided on a theme yet and now I kind of want to join in. ? #FOMO

[Elastigirl]

Cheering you on!

[MezzothePatient]

21 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Here for this!!

 

 

 

Glad to have you!  

 

46 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

Cheering you on!

 

Thank you!! 

 

1 hour ago, athousandwords said:

Love this! Also: is everyone doing a villain arc this challenge?? Because I haven't decided on a theme yet and now I kind of want to join in. ? #FOMO

 

 

(not the right tone, but too perfect for villain vibes to not include. My brother and I quote semi-frequently ? )

 

Sovalis started it with her villain soft launch last challenge, but lots of people picked up on it and it became a Thing TM. 

 

Artemis Prime set up a Wicked-inspired group challenge thread if you want to check it out!

 

 

[MezzothePatient]

Memo to self: don't run on lunch break. Still too hot for that. ? Just ran 3 miles and that last half mile was rough! I'm feeling okay now though so I don't think it was too much but I was definitely pushing it.

The training plan has me doing 8 miles total this week and I'm not looking forward to the 2 mile "hard" run (probably Thursday or Friday).

 

Stretching going well. Mr Mezzo and the kids join in most days and yesterday my oldest wanted to do another one by himself. ? I am noticing that my heels are getting closer to the ground in downward dog so yay for incremental progress!  I know my hamstrings, quads, hips, and glutes are all problem areas and that was before I started the training block so it's good I'm doing something to help them. I should probably add some foam rolling after stretching (or even running!) but I'm not making it a requirement. yet. 
I have a bad habit of trying to do too much, getting overwhelmed after 4 days f running myself ragged doing all the things and then give up. Trying to avoid that, even though I keep thinking of new things ?

 

 

[athousandwords]

18 hours ago, MezzothePatient said:

Stretching going well. Mr Mezzo and the kids join in most days and yesterday my oldest wanted to do another one by himself. ?

 

So cute! My 4yo loves the Cosmic Kids yoga on youtube, if they want to try something geared toward kids.

 

Cheering on your runs! 

[MezzothePatient]

On 9/11/2024 at 8:19 AM, athousandwords said:

 

So cute! My 4yo loves the Cosmic Kids yoga on youtube, if they want to try something geared toward kids.

 

Cheering on your runs! 

 

My almost 4yo loves Cosmic Kids too!  My 6yo is too cool for that though, he wants to do the grown up ones. Or do a "Brain Break Party" from Coach Corey Martin. Those are really fun because 1 yo starts copying the big kids and they are all doing silly dance moves or jumping around ❤️

 

Week 1 was crazy....  MrMezzo is working a lot right now so I'm having to be really intentional with my time. And I'm mostly succeeding, I think. I'm hoping to catch up with everyone's threads soon! ?

 

I ran 8 miles total and feeling pretty good. The 5k was a 48 minute one so I have my work cut out for me to get that time down though.

I earned a STR point!!! ? (Need to add that to my Epic Ques/Stats)

The way I structured the challenge, I figured I would reach the first one pretty quickly but I'm still surprised I reached it on Week 2.  It just goes to show that when I have a goal to work towards, I push myself harder than I would otherwise.

 

Stretching is still going great, though I did miss last Wednesday. Kids are enjoying it too, though it's more of an evening thing than a morning thing as originally envisioned.

 

As part of my vanity project I'm taking a lot of pictures of myself (ewww) and I'm realizing that my posture is getting pretty terrible. ? So I'm working on how to address that as part of vanity project.

Spoiler

My grandma used to harp on my posture as a teen and young woman. I was (am, really) terribly self-conscious of my bust size and while she could relate, she insisted that good posture would help my confidence and my back. She was right, of course. I've clearly regressed in the last decade though and I need to address it before I develop a dowager's hump. ?   I will likely add something the stretching goal and re arrange my work setup to be more ergonomic to start.

  

Week 2, let's go!

 

 

[Elastigirl]

Way to rock week 1!

[Laghail]

On 9/7/2024 at 10:51 PM, MezzothePatient said:

ReEngage
Not going to talk much about this but upon completion of this marriage workshop, I get a Wisdom point. Weekly class/group work for 14 weeks. It's a time commitment and there is a good amount of homework involved.

 

Always down to hear about the content of the course in term of curriculum and classroom gossip! 

 

On 9/7/2024 at 10:51 PM, MezzothePatient said:

Villainous Vanity
Is it sad that I'm using the villain arc to give myself the permission/excuse to focus on some beauty goals? Probably.  But in Act 1 of Wicked Glinda gives Elphaba a makeover and my villainous inspiration Emma Frost is unapologetic in her vanity. She knows who she is and does what she wants.
Depending how I break this up it will be worth a Charisma point or two, because feeling pretty makes you more confident which is a cornerstone of charisma?? Sure, let's go with that.

 

It is heroic admirably villainous that you're prioritizing your own feelings about yourself and your body. Here for this so hard!

[MezzothePatient]

Week 2

• Workouts and runs went well. 
• Stretching 4 out of 7... not the greatest
• Vanity stuff is intermittent. Retooling.

It was a rough week. MrMezzo's dad has some health stuff happening and it's almost definitely cancer and possibly terminal (still waiting for all test results to come back).  It's hit MrMezzo pretty hard. I need to figure out how to talk about it with my kids (6 yo and 4 yo) and prepare for lots of travel back and forth in the coming months. 

 

In light of all that, the vanity thing seems pretty frivolous. I'm not going to stop, but it's fallen down the priorities list. Instead of testing lots of different braids/hairstyles as originally planned, I'm going to focus on a couple an get really good at them. Same with skincare/makeup routine.  I want to get an everyday look together and make it my go-to. That way I feel put together instead of frazzled and messy. I'll pin all the fancy/complicated ones and come back to them later.

 

I will also being soft launching some new routines around cooking and cleaning this challenge. I've been mulling over what this looks like for a little while but I wasn't going to be serious about it until next challenge. 

 

This week I'm implementing 15-minute zone cleaning (concept stolen from the flylady, who was recommended to me years ago on the forum ). The kids have a mini verison to do while I'm tackling bigger things. Today for example they will wipe the tables and chairs while I clean the stove and microwave. They are excited because MrMezzo is bribing them with a pack of Pokemon cards a week if they do their chores. ?‍♀️

 

New week, let's go.

 

 

[MezzothePatient]

Week 3 so far

• Stretch 2 of 3 days (Wednesdays are ReEngage nights and I run out of time in the evening to stretch. If I was stretching in the morning this would not be a problem.) I've been enjoying random 10 minute "Yoga with Kassandra" videos on YouTube.
• This morning was a short fast run and I did an 11:07 mile! It was rough but I did it. This is SUPER close to unlocking a Stamina point: the sub 11 minute mile. I'm excited that I'm so close!!
• 15 minute zone cleanings are going really well. My house is still chaotic mess but we're setting the habit. 6 yo and almost 4 yo are doing a great job helping!! I'm very proud of them. ❤️  Yesterday was living room. I moved the couch and they helped pick up all the random socks, toys, and snack wrappers. 

Happy Thursday y'all! 

 

[Elastigirl]

Yay for running AND cleaning!

[MezzothePatient]

Week 4 so far:

 

• Workouts: 2 runs and 2 weights days. Went easy on weights today as I'm feeling run down (period or allergies or something)  I did earn new STR point on Monday though!  And I have a 4 mile run scheduled for Sunday morning so that will be a STA point too.
• Stretching only happened on Monday so far... I need to habit stack this with waking up in the morning otherwise it gets pushed to the side and forgotten.
• Cleaning with the kids is a mix bag this week. ?

This week was crazy. My husband was working a lot and I'm feeling run down trying to cover all the bases and implementing challenge objectives. It is what it is and I don't want to beat myself up over it and I don't want to give up. We're celebrating my daughter's birthday this weekend and then we'll reset and get back to it.

 

Happy Fall y'all!!

[MezzothePatient]

Here's my tracker spread for this training block. I track the individual runs and workouts in my weekly spreads but this helps keep track of progress over time.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[Sovalis]

You’re doing great! Love your tracking spread, it is awesome!

[MezzothePatient]

Week 5 and Wrap Up

• Workouts and runs going as planned. I did get the 4 miles straight last Sunday and again this past Saturday, so thats a new Stamina point unlocked!
• Stretching fell off. ? And I'm absolutely feeling the effects of not stretching!  I need figure out how to reincorporate stretches.
• Cleaning with the kids is going GREAT! I'm so proud of them. ❤️ The house is still a mess overall, but they are getting in the habit and we are seeing some small improvements in little places.   I have some bigger projects planned for the next few month. We are likely hosting Christmas this year so I'm already thinking about how to get the house ready.

I'm overall happy with the challenge because I have followed the training block to a tee. I'm not losing any weight, but after six weeks of my 13 week training block I am definitely stronger and faster and I feel better than I have all year. Y'all, exercise is sooooo helpful for my anxiety. My therapist commented on how much more content I seem. 

 

There is so much I want to add to next challenge but I don't know what is going to make the cut after the training block and cleaning with the kids.

• Mr Mezzo want to do more cooking (if you have recs for cook books or youtube channels, I'd love to hear them!)
• Better sleep habits (10 pm bedtime, up at 6)
• Back to stretching, possibly stacking with wake up
• Personal style/beauty routines I'd like to get more consistent 
• Another master gardener  presentation in a few weeks has me thinking about where to start on my yard

Probably some others that I"m not thinking of.... I'll figure it out!

 

Happy Zero Week y'all!

 

 

 

[Elastigirl]

Way yo win this challenge!

[Sovalis]

Omg, cookbook recommendations are right up my alley!

 

My very first choice, so much so that I give it as gifts for weddings, etc., is Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. Honestly, I love all of his stuff, although Nopi is really advanced and I don’t cook from it often. But Plenty is all vegetables and pretty much all delicious. I cooked my way through it during my divorce, got 80% of it made, and there were only two recipes that weren’t to my taste enough to remake again.