[Radost]

 

If it ain’t broke, why fix it? The List is working for me and I think I can do 45 stars again. I’m challenging myself to get more of my one-offs this time, though.

 

I’m starting the challenge with a weekend out of town for a costumes-encouraged trail race! It’s probably my #3 favourite trail on the Island and Mr. Radost and I will make a whole weekend of it, hit our favourite brewpub and make time for a long walk on the beach. I’m pretty worried about my Problem Foot, I had a return last weekend of the stabbing pain in my heel. Last time, I was okay to run again after a week of calf and IT-band stretches, so I’m hoping it will be fine. The aid station is supposed to be at km 5 and when I’ve had this problem it’s kicked in at around the 4.5km mark, so if I have to bail I should be able to make it there. Ughhhh I just hate not knowing. 8k on fairly challenging ground at the lake was fine at the beginning of the month. Then 4K on an easy chip trail was not. Same shoes, same general activity level (maybe slightly less before the bad run, I skipped my Thursday short run that week). The only difference I can think of is that I had eased off to maybe 30% less calf stretching and skipped the IT band stretches. 

 

This challenge may also see the beginning of Festive Baking Season, right at the end. And Balkan Babes are performing at a local cafe on the 22nd, so I’ll have lots of tunes handy to Buff The Party. 

 

Main goals

🌟 Seek and defeat evil

Exercise every week. The expectation is 2/week of run, bike, hike (seek evil), yoga, or strength (defeat evil)

🌟 Regain spells

Meditate 10 mins every week

🌟 Lesser Restoration 

At least 3 stretching/rolling sessions for my Problem Leg

🌟 Buff the party!

Music. The expectation is 2h choir + 1/2h  other practice.

🌟 Protect the party coffers

Fun money <$75/week

🌟 Side Quests

Home Projects and less-prioritized hobbies (gardening, painting, sewing, decorating, unfucking) 1 hour per week

 

Bonus

🌟 Action Surge

Additional effort on weekly goals

Spoiler

meditation: 1 session 🌟 / 2-4 sessions 🌟🌟 / 5+ sessions 🌟🌟🌟

exercise: 1-2 sessions  🌟  / 3+ sessions  🌟  🌟 

music: 2/.5h 🌟 / total 4h including some personal 🌟🌟 / total 6h including some personal 🌟🌟🌟

hobbies/home projects: + 🌟  for each hour spent on a different task

🌟🌟  Patrol the Hinterlands

Adventures outside the city or my comfort zone 

🌟 Satisfy the Alderman that Evil Has Been Vanquished 

Aka POIDH

🌟 Adventurers assemble!

I don’t know if there will be more West Marches this challenge, but I can get a star here for successes that don’t otherwise fit my goals (such as the hydration challenge last time)
 

One offs/Special

🌟🌟🌟 If I complete at least 3 ☄️ tasks

🌟🌟🌟 If I do a Low-Sugar day every week (unsweetened coffee and tea) 

🌟🌟 ☄️Tab Clearing (at least 20) (yes, this is still hanging around)

🌟🌟 ☄️Turn over veggie patch

🌟🌟 Festive Baking (Big Festive Event is early this year so I might start baking and freezing in the last week of this challenge)

🌟🌟  If I do strength training every week

🌟🌟 Paint a mini start to finish (repeatable)

🌟🌟☄️ build and stock new upstairs shelves

🌟☄️  Unfuck the doll collection or Konmari/put away CDs

🌟☄️ Order a cushion for the upstairs chair

🌟 (major) Sewing project completion bonus (repeatable)

🌟☄️  Research conspiracies

2h+ period spent on game prep (repeatable)

 

Points

45 stars: A! Prize will be booking an hour off work one afternoon in December. Bonus: if I make my budgeting challenge, I’ll take $20 out of the bank to put in a Sooper Sekrit Savings Jar for a large fun purchase I’d like to make in the next year or so. 

 

30 stars: B! No prize but the satisfaction of knowing I “passed” my challenge!

[Snarkyfishguts]

Following! And hoping you have no stabby foot pains!

[Sovalis]

Here for this!! ❤️ 

[Radost]

Week 1 Roundup!

 

Main goals

Seek and defeat evil: 🌟

Fought a goblin that had tried to make its home in a hunting cabin, then ranged out from the cabin to patrol the hinterlands. 

Regain spells: 

Lesser Restoration: 🌟

Buff the party! 🌟

Protect the party coffers: 

Side Quests: 🌟🌟

 

Bonus

Patrol the Hinterlands: 🌟🌟

Satisfy the Alderman: 🌟

Awarded prizes promptly: 🌟

 

💪🏻 1/5

☕️ 1/5

 

Running total: 9 🌟

 

It was Race Week! My foot pain returned like a kilometre past the aid station, 😭😡😭 but I was able to walk it off and finish at a run. Folks mostly were very positive about my butterfly wings (one person early on, while we were still packed quite closely, commented that it was a bit hard to see the footing because of them, but she said she was happy using it as an excuse to go slow). It was just as much fun as I thought it would be to run with the wings - anywhere the trail was wide and not too busy I fully airplane-armed along, rejoicing in my billowing cape. It rained almost the whole time, but it was a light drizzle that barely made it through the canopy, not the downpour I was worried about. 

It was a pretty slow race because of the congestion at the beginning and because of my foot. I placed 333/350 😅 I hope I can one day get back to the level I was at in 2019, when I was just one place above the median, but. I’ll never be 37 again, so I kind of accept that it’s a long shot. 

 

Here’s a few pics from the trail. It’s a chill one, lots of up and down but only a couple Serious Hills (though the big downhill was muddy af and I was terrified I was going to slip and fall 50m to my death), and there are lots of stream crossings and gorgeous ancient conifers. 
 

Spoiler

Pre-race! The pics I took with my hair clips lit up didn’t turn out, boo. I thought the pigtails were a pretty good plan B when I couldn’t find a deely-bopper headband anywhere in town. 
 

How can you be sad surrounded by  this much chlorophyll ?

 

At least walking a couple km meant I had no qualms about stopping to photograph this rad mushroom. 
 

I freaking live for this shit. 
 

Post-race, pre-snacks. There were lots of decorations at the start line and a few on the trail, it made my ghoulish heart sing. 🖤 I’m pretty pleased with how well my makeup held up to the rain and sweat!

 

My week was so full of social stuff, appointments, and Halloween costume shopping that I almost missed getting a strength workout (never mind checking in here). Did a body weight video in the hotel room in Race Town Friday night - I didn’t think to bring a mat so it was pretty rough on the knees, but worth it to have A View. 

 

Spoiler

Literally what I was looking at as I did plank walk-outs and side lunges hoping I wasn’t disturbing anyone below us. 
 

On our way to coffee in the morning, an eagle was taking advantage of the low tide. 
 

There’s adorable feral buns in RaceTown. This one had little white peet I luff himb. 
 

In town to hit our favourite brewpub.  The chicken tenders were delicious but the miso broccolini was AMAZE and went So Well with their toasty dark ale with its hints of caramel and sesame.

 

 

I’ve been super motivated to paint lately, which is cool but is eating my time for everything else. I started a Fancy Piece in hopes of doing a spooky diorama for Halloween - I now have about four spoopy minis and a few other lightly evil looking ones, so if I can get this crypt at least blocked in and inked, it will make for a cool scene. I also got a Side Quest star for cross stitch, a star earned with sweat and tears as I did a whole bunch of work and then had to rip most of it out and redo. I’m having so much trouble with this project, it’s been in the works for about five years, and I just find it so hard to work on the dark fabric, I keep messing up. I’m like 25% done now and when I work on it I’m making progress, so I figure it’s just another 4-5 years to completion 😅😅😅

 

Spoiler

The troublesome project

 

A couple pics from a spooky wander with Work!Kid, including the Very Best Pumpkin Cookie Of All

 

Last challenge’s prize, an apple cider gimlet. Not super aesthetic, but completely delicious! 

 

Last week’s My Little Zombie, working on a colour scheme inspired by 80s girls’ toys like Keypers and Care Bears.  
 

WIP crypt with last year’s (or 2022?) Halloween Witch. I have a lot of anxiety about painting some of my bigger or more special pieces, but I’m trying hard to conquer those fears.