Critique on my First Challenge

[terrormortus]

So the next challenge will be my first one. So I was hoping to get some feedback on my tentative ideas for my first goals. These might be subject to change, for instance if I can do 30 push ups in one go by the time it starts I'll add a few more.

 

1. Be able to do 50+ pushups in one go

Currently I can do about 25 before my arms start to give out. Usually I add about 5 push ups a week to my routine so I think doubling that might be doable. In addition to wanting to be stronger I need to be able to do a set for the Guard. Minimum push-ups in a 2-minute time period for my age is 40, but I want to better then barely passing.

 

Vee Plan: Is already in place. I do a set up push-ups most mornings, as part of my warm-up, and for a few of my routines. So all I have to do is stay the course and not slack off.

 

Reward: +2 Strength +2 Stamina

 

2. Run My Walking Route

The route I usually take when I go for walks is about 2.5 miles long (have a longer one but that is for the future). I intend to RUN this though, not jog, and to make it a little more difficult half of it is going up and down hills. I'll personally be happy if I can make it by taking a break, but I want to push myself.

 

Vee Plan: At least three times a week I'll take a walk along the route, working in as much jogging as I'm able to do. In additional I'll stick to my usual cardio routine of 2 times a week. At by Week 3 I'm going to be able to jog the entire route, and that is when I'll switch over to jogging the route and running it when I can.

 

Week 6 is race day (well week) and I'm going to run it. 

 

Reward: +3 Stamina +1 Constitution

 

3. Drink a Gallon of Water a Day

My water intake is really screwy. If I'm at work or at home where I have plenty of water nearby I will drink immense amounts, but otherwise I never drink it. So I want to get my body used to the amount it theoretically needs. 

 

Vee Plan: I'm going to divide the amount of water I need to drink into time intervals (I need to have drunk this much by such and such time) and label a gallon of water with them. Then I'm going to carry the thing with me all day and drink it.

 

Reward: +2 Constitution

 

4. Clean My Damn House and Keep It Clean

Half of the storage space in my house in my house is filled up with crap from old roommates, my room is a mess, and everything is strewn all over the place. I want to do a massive overhaul, clean the whole place and then keep it clean. Hopefully it will stay a habit.

 

Vee Plan: Week 1 will be major cleaning. Every time I have a few hours I don't have to work, go to gym, etc I'll clean a room. By the end of Week 1 I'll have the house as a blank template. After that I'm going to focus on maintaining it. That means.

-Rinsing all dishes before putting them in the sink and doing the dishes every 1-2 days.

-Doing my laundry when my basket gets full as well as folding it when it comes out of the dryer before putting it away.

-Throwing away junk mail, receipts, and other trash immediately.

-Not throwing things in random places. "Every thing has a place, and everything in its place."

 

Reward: +2 Wisdom +3 Charisma

 

 

 

So what do you think? 

[UberTumbleweed]

Right off the bat, I see you don't have a scoring system set up.  The push-ups are easy to score: however-many-you-do divided by 50 for a percent.  Then convert the percent to the letter grade associated with it (there's a table somewhere...)

 

But the other goals aren't so cut and dry for scoring.  Should you fail the running challenge if you jog/walk part of it? Probably not!  Maybe a short jog break in the run (60 seconds?) still gets you an A, but a run/jog interval is only a B, and all jog is a C, with a jog/walk being a D.  Maybe you can get an A in water drinking if you average 6+ gallons a week, to give yourself breathing room. (eg, what if you catch a 24-hour stomach bug? not worth failing the challenge over one missed day!)  The housekeeping one might need a task calendar or spreadsheet to track for points, to see how many times you've really done all those weekly mini-goals.

 

Something so that you get points for progress even if you don't 100% complete the stated goal.

 

 

The other thing I noticed is with your push-up goal numbers.  It seems like you're not really putting the hammer down on that.  If you keep gaining 5 push-ups a week, you'll be at 35+ before the challenge even starts.  You'd be at 65 or more before the challenge ends if you just "stay the course".  That's 15 MORE than your goal!  Could you add a new time limit for the 50 push-ups, or make a percentage of them modified push ups (one-handed, clapping, etc) to really challenge yourself?

[terrormortus]

Hmmm I hadn't even though about how to grade it. I'll need to set a grading system up I think, though I am going to try and leave some room for effort counting, I always loved that about gym class.

 

As for the push-ups I did realize that problem after I posted that. I think I might change it to being able to do 50+ push ups in a 2 minute period, which was my next challenge goal. 

 

Let me think on the your points and I'll post a new challenge when I have had time to think.

[aj_rock]

Yup, the better you can quantify your results, the better you can measure them.

 

I'd suggest for the running route, to time yourself, and just try to shave some time off it every time you go! What I'd call a 'run' pace would be about 5 miles/hr, so your goal would be 30 minutes or less. Probably sounds daunting, but it's totally doable over a six week challenge. 

 

I like that you want to increase water intake, but it's not as simple as drinking a gallon a day, which may be overboard on the whole. You probably only NEED to drink about half of that, with another couple of cups while you exercise. Keep that in mind.

[terrormortus]

Alright new version. This one includes how I intend to grade it as well. 

 

1. Be able to do 50 push-ups in 2-minutes

Why?: Well A) it would be pretty bad ass to be able to say that I can crank out 50 push-ups in two minutes. But in addition I need to be able to do 40+ for the Guard's Physical Fitness Test, and I aim to over achieve.

 

Vee Plan: Is already in place. I do a set up push-ups most mornings, as part of my warm-up, and for a few of my routines. So all I have to do is stay the course and not slack off. Once a week I'll set have a time where I time myself to see if I'm making progress.

 

How is it Graded?: At the end of the challenge I'll set up one final time and see how well I do. Then I multiply the total number by 2 and there is my grade out of a possible hundred. 

 

Reward: +2 Strength +2 Stamina

 

2. Run My Walking Route

Why?: Running is important from staying in shape to avoiding zombie hordes. 

 

Vee Plan: At least three times a week I will jog my walking route (2.5 miles) and take a morning walk on it as often as possible. On top of that I'll do my normal cardio at the gym (twice a week). After the third week I'll switch over to running the route as much as possible with the hope that by the end of the challenge I can run the entire thing.

 

How it is Graded: Grading will be based on one final run on my route, assuming weather permits if not I'll do it on a treadmill. The goal time will be 30 minutes to run the entire thing, with points taken off for every minute that I have to switch to jogging (-1), walking(-2), or stopping completely (-3). At the end of the run I'll tally the score. So total points possible will be 100. Making the run in 30 nets me 90 points, every minute above a -1 and every minute below is a +3. Then subtract any penalties for slowing and presto we have a score.

 

Reward: +3 Stamina +1 Constitution

 

3. Drink a 2 Liters of Water a Day

Why?: Because your body needs water to function and I doubt I am getting enough.

 

Vee Plan: I'm going to keep a liter bottle of water on me, which shouldn't be too hard. And I'm going to drink from it.

 

How it is Scored: When I do my battle log I'll mention whether I drank what I was supposed to, more, or less that day. At the end I'll add up points, taking 1 away for every liter less I drank through the challenge and adding +1 for every extra I drank during a day (maximum +1 per day). Then I'll figure out what I should have for points if I only drank the 2 liters a day and score myself.

 

Reward: +2 Constitution

 

4. Clean My Damn House and Keep It Clean

Why?: I would like to have a clean house and I still have random crap from 2 roommates ago.

 

Vee Plan: Week 1 will be major cleaning. Every time I have a few hours I don't have to work, go to gym, etc I'll clean a room. By the end of Week 1 I'll have the house as a blank template. After that I'm going to focus on maintaining it. That means.

-Rinsing all dishes before putting them in the sink and doing the dishes every 1-2 days.

-Doing my laundry when my basket gets full as well as folding it when it comes out of the dryer before putting it away.

-Throwing away junk mail, receipts, and other trash immediately.

-Not throwing things in random places. "Every thing has a place, and everything in its place."

 

How it is Scored: On Sunday I'll grade myself on the following.

-Has the Kitchen been cleaned?

-Has the Living Room been cleaned?

-Bathroom?

-My room?

-Laundry done, folded, and put away?

-Dishes done?

And on top of that I can reward myself for any extra tasks I do. Getting rid of crap, reorganizing books, etc, etc. At the end I tally them up.

 

Reward: +2 Wisdom +3 Charisma

[terrormortus]

Yeah I ended up doing a little more research after the first couple of responses. The average male is "supposed" (note the quote marks there) to need 3.something liters of water a day. A few water calculator I used told me I would need 4 as I tend to work out maybe an hour or two a day either at the gym or something more passive like taking a walk to the store. 

 

So I figured that 2 liters a day is a good goal. Enough so even if I'm having to take a rest day I'll still be hydrated.

[Dak-Attack]

This may be disgusting advice, but when it comes to water study your piss.  Not after you drink something caffeinated, but after you workout. Darker the piss, the more water you need.  Then adjust accordingly.

[I-Jo]

50 push ups in two minutes is more than reasonable.  I can do 30 in less than a minute- so yeah- 50 in two minutes isn't really all that much.  

 

I think with consistent work it's more than do-able. 

[aj_rock]

Your body expends about 1/10 of every calorie in processing it. So a 250mL cup of milk (about 120 calories) uses a whopping 12 calories to process. Assuming full liquid saturation (approx equivalent to taking in 250 mL of water), your body expends no more energy than it does every ~2 minutes, or put into a time perspective, increases your total water requirements by 1/10th of a percent. 

 

Count the other sources of water. Hell, even food tends to add to the sum total, even though it's harder to quantify.

[terrormortus]

For the color of my pee, I actually do use that system to keep an eye on whether I need more water or not, I think it would just be a little hard to work that into a challenge as you can guzzle a gallon in ten minutes and it'll be totally clear (yes I have done this).

 

As for what using other sources (i.e. tea and such) I'm taking that into account a bit by not having my water intake actually at what if needs to be. I figured that 2 liters is probably what I need to drink not including water from diet (which can usually take up about a fifth to a quarter of needed), and if that isn't the case I'll be thirsty and drink more.