Whew, this was tough, but got it done.  Working toward getting a sub 6 mile again.

DAY 6 — RUN WORKOUT: MILE SUPPORT

Warm-up

Easy jog — 8 min
Walking lunges — 10 total
Air squats — 10
Pogo hops — 20 sec
Relaxed strides — 2 x 20 sec
Easy jog/walk — 2 min

Workout

Option A — preferred if you can mark distance

6 x 400m
Rest 90 sec walk/jog
Pace target
Rep 1: 1:29-1:30
Rep 2: 1:29-1:30
Rep 3: 1:28-1:29
Rep 4: 1:28-1:29
Rep 5: 1:28
Rep 6: 1:28 or better

Option B — if distance is off again

6 x 90 sec hard
Rest 90 sec walk/jog
Goal: pace should feel like controlled mile support, not sprinting
Cool-down
Easy walk/jog — 8-10 min
Daily goal
Final rep equals or beats rep 2
Fast but relaxed

RESULTS: 1:30, 1:27, 1:28, 1:27, 1:28, 1:25

DAY 5 — UPPER STRENGTH + MIXED ENGINE

Warm-up

Easy bike or rope — 90 sec

2 rounds:
Band face pulls — 10
Tall-kneeling light DB press — 8
Bench-supported DB rows — 8
Burpees @ 70% — 6
Rest 30 sec between rounds
Empty-bar strict press — 2 x 5, rest 30 sec

Workout

A. Strict Press

Set 1: 110 x 3
Set 2: 115 x 3
Set 3: 120 x 3
Set 4: 120 x 3
Set 5: 122.5 x 2 if stacked and crisp
 If not, do 120 x 3
Rest:
2:00 after 110 and 115
2:30 before and after 120+
Goal: zero layback

RESULTS: 110#, 115#, 120#, 120#, 125# (I don’t have the ability to do 122.5 - but got this done. Last rep hard!)

B. 1-Arm Bench-Supported DB Row

4 x 8/side @ 70
Rest 20 sec between sides
Rest 60 sec between sets
RESULTS: No real problem but when I pull to my hip (back to my hip) it’s harder.

C. DB Floor Press

3 x 8 @ 70s
Rest 75 sec
Goal: fewer grinders than last week
RESULTS: Only slight grinder was the last rep of set 3.

D. Band Face Pull

3 x 20
Rest 30 sec
RESULTS: Done.  I have other options, not sure how m uch benefit this is doing for me unless there is some other reason to have it in there.  I do feel a slight burn at the end.

E. Mixed Engine — 4 rounds for time

400m run
15 wall balls @ 20
10 burpees
Rest exactly 2:00 between rounds
This is intentionally not an all-out death march. It is a repeatability workout.

Daily goal
Press stays clean
Each round of conditioning is within about 20 sec of the others
RESULT: 21:03 (about 5:17 per round)

After a day of rest, back felt just fine again.  Whew.  Dodged a bullet with the whole pulling on the socks thing and stopping the moment I felt something weird...

DAY 4 — POSTERIOR CHAIN + CARRIES

Warm-up

Easy bike — 3:00
KB deadlift with 35 — 10
Glute bridges — 10
Reverse lunges — 8/leg
Light trap bar reps — 2 x 5
Rest 30 sec between pieces

Workout

A. Broad Jump

4 x 2
Full reset
Rest 45 sec
RESULTS: Done. Why is volume going down over time? It’s fine, just curious.

B. Trap Bar Deadlift

EMOM 10: 3 reps @ 285
Goal: speed and perfect brace
If speed drops badly after round 8, stop at 8
RESULTS: Done, a bit easier than last time.

C. DB Reverse Lunge

3 x 8/leg @ 62s
Rest 20 sec between legs
Rest 75 sec between sets
RESULTS: Done, no real problem here.

D. Barbell Hip Thrust

4 x 8
Loads:
285
295
305
315 if form is clean
Rest 90 sec
RESULTS: Done, 315# was the first real challenge I’ve had with this movement.

E. Farmer Carry

5 x 60m @ 62s
Walk back and rest until breathing is mostly under control
Target rest: about 60-75 sec
RESULTS: Done, tough as always but succeeded.

F. Side Plank

3 x 30 sec/side
Rest 20 sec between sides
Rest 30 sec between sets
RESULTS: Not hard.  Done.

This is getting pretty easy... maybe I have adapted and learned how to play this, but I was never really in danger of losing this realm or the last.  Is it the characters?  Or me?  Not sure but it was only a little dodgy the first few locations of the first expedition.

There's a little simple math involved -- how many dice do I have, how much damage can they do to the enemies - and do I have an extra "ooomph" necessary to weather unforeseen unfortunate events... :)

Fun game, but ready to move on when I either lose or complete the next 2 realms to beat the game...

It's been sitting on the shelf in plastic for many, many months so I just had to play it through!

When presented with the page on the left - the checkboxes of different traits, it all just seemed so easy.

I definitely think of myself in a certain way.  I just wonder if others see me in the same way.

Here are my thoughts on this.

On perceiving myself as adaptable and friendly and conflict-resolving:

I kept my various groups of childhood friends separate because I wanted to make sure everything was copasetic at all times.

I can't stand it what members of a group don't like each other.  I thrive of, and yearn for the synergy of the group. Strong personalities going toe to toe create an angst inside of me. It makes me want to retreat.

I just want everybody to get along and have a good time.

It's not realistic, but it's a thing I bring to a group. I am willing to sacrifice my own happiness for the betterment of the group.

I say this only because I am an adaptable person, with a sort of versatility I feel is rare.

My friends, from childhood, on up through the adult years are disparate. 

I feel comfortable within each of the groups, and I'm terrified of them integrating.

You see, I hang out with classical male American sports fanatics.

I also hang out with board game nerds.

I hang out with tech junkies.

I hang out with fitness dudes.

I hang out with my super brilliant high school friends.

I hang out with introspective travelers.

And I hang out with an online entrepreneur or two.

There are more groups coming, as I branch out into the world after selling my business.

I can connect with all of them - yet I fear them trying to connect with each other.

I'm adaptable, after all.  I'm friendly too.  And if they integrate, I am good at distracting things back into an equilibrium of sorts, steering things away from conflict.

On perceiving myself as analytical, critical-thinking, logical, and problem-solving:

I remember the first big purchase I made with my own money was the Commodore 64 computer and monitor.

Soon, I was able to purchase the disk drive too.

From video games and into Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) of the mid-late 80's, I dove into the code to customize my own Bulletin Board System other personal computers could call/connect with through the phone line, using a modem.

I broke down into the code of the BBS software and began to customize the look and feel of my BBS.  Every word, every color, every graphic, I made it my own.  I chose a sort of medieval theme for it all.

And any time one customizes something in the digital world, one will likely encounter many problems.  And problems need solve.  And by God did I solve them.

Some took me minutes.  Others took me days.

I rarely came out of my cave.  I was in there trying to make things better and better.  Improving upon past improvements.

These traits mushroomed into my professional career as a hybrid business/technical person. I'd look at the business requirements, and then customize the software to support said requirements.  

Problem-solving at it's peak.

You have to understand the problem before you solve it.  And then when you dig in, you find things about the problem you didn't know were there.  You pivot.  You tweak.  You test.  And pivot again.  Repeat.

This is the way.

Then I used these traits in the creation of my own online businesses.

Break it all into pieces.  Create a plan.  Now work through the plan step by step.  And problem-solve your way through to the end.

This is also the way.

On perceiving myself as dedicated, dependable, disciplined, focused, hard-working, responsible, and resilient:

These traits are so tightly integrated, I want to wrap them up in a little bow here.

To solve all the problems I had to solve took extreme discipline and focus.  Especially when I ran my own business and had no boss other than myself.

The discipline gets you to the desk.  The discipline gets you to the task.  The dedication and focus keeps you moving forward on the task, until the task is done.  The resiliency keeps you going when you fail at the task.

The dependability comes when you have to depend on yourself, and no one else.

I had to be all of these things, or starve. :)

And I showed a capability of being these things when I was young, and mom had a hot meal waiting for me every night.

Add these things together, and you have a responsible person.

Yes, I see myself in all of these ways.  I think other people do too.

On perceiving myself as honest and trustworthy:

It's not a win if you cheat.

You know the truth if you lie to someone.  If you cheat.  Steal.  Manipulate sadistically.

You know the ugliness inside yourself.

If I say I'll do something important for someone, I will do it.

If I have a chance to take advantage of a situation in an unsavory way, I won't.

It's how I am.  In business.  And now in my personal life.

When I was younger, sometimes I wasn't dependable to my friends.

I have regrets of turning my back on a friend or two.

The disappointment I felt in myself, about myself, was the teacher I needed so I would not create more regrets of this kind in my life.

-------------------------

And on the next page of the journal, I put all these into sentences with the "why" or "how" I have expressed these traits.

Just starting to connect with myself, my traits, with intention.

Sitting on a small wooden chair outside after a little mindfulness, and who tries to "lay down" in the small little wooden chair next to me?  Walt.

His efforts to lay down were fruitless.  Funny how un-self-aware he is!