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So while trying to motivate me to play more Starcraft, my buddy "TheyCallMeLukas" suggested we do a marathon type challenge and do a "Practice Like the Pro's" for a week. So while we talked it over and got some of the finer details down on What it would be like for the average man to get tossed Into a pro routine with no preparation. So A pro vs Joe challenge was born!
GOAL: Attempt to experience and imitate playing Starcraft full-time, just like the Pros. we will be playing 45 hours of Starcraft over a 7-day period. we know most Pros play a considerably longer amount, but as we still may have real-life obligations we decided 45 hours would still fit the requirements of playing "full time."
The following rules and requirements where created to help us not only simulate the Pro Practice regiment but also better us as gamers, and track our physical and mental state during the week.
Rules and Requirements:
•1. 45 hours of Practice total (Minimum of 6 hours and 25 minutes a day for 7 days.)
More hours pr day is allowed, which in turn can reduce the total number of days you have to practice. ie: If you practice 8 hours on 3 days you only need to practice for 6 days instead of 7. End goal is just to reach 45 hours for the week
•2. 1 hour of exercise Monday through Sunday (5 hours minimum), must work out every day we play.
Seeing how we are both runners, that is most likely going to be how we say in shape, but just about any physical exercise will satisfy this requirement.
•3. Record diet.
This is a little more abstract, but the thought behind the recording of the diet is to help track our physiology during the week. Things like eating Only junk food like chips vs healthy food like fruits, may play a roll in how we last during the challenge. So to keep a good log of most of our variables we are tracking this.
•4. Record mood. Done at the start of the day, and at the end of the gaming session.
Once again to track our psychological progress through the week we have agreed to just briefly record our mood at the Start and end of the day. We will do this by using universal one word descriptions of our mood. For example: Anxious, Happy, Sad, Depressed are just a few to give you an example.
•5. Record number of games.
This is to help keep track of the progress we make during the week.
•6. Daily goal.
Once again to help motivate us through the week, we will be giving ourselves daily goals to keep up with and Push ourselves to do in order to flesh out our play. For examples one of the things I really want to get better with is using the F-series of hot keys for targeting key locations on the map for me to quickly jump to. The same goal can be applied of the course of several days if needed, but is not recommended.
•7. 2 days of isolation training: no distractions, no conversations, etc.
Not much to cover Here besides, we have to spend two days isolation training. Practicing builds and grinding the ladder. WE are putting it upon ourselves to not get on skype and have as little outside influence as possible. This is to simulate the fact that Pro players will often go Practice without disturbance for several hours. Also I am Curious to see how this plays out on our mental state during the week.
•8. Replay Analyses
Save good games, examples of progress, and examples of failures/stress. To become a better player, we need to actively Review games and learn from our mistakes. Doing so will help increase our skills and make us better understand the game. But this does not stop here, we also need to actively go out and try to watch Pro replays to better understand where we should be headed as well. Replay analyses should not consist more than 25% of your total hour-age in the week.
IMPORTANT
If you want to participate, go right ahead. It's a great way to get in shape and get better at starcraft. BUT please remember, Do NOT give up real life obligations or hurt yourselves doing this. Remember get up and move around during your practice sessions. (take mini breaks 5-10 mins) The last thing I want to hear about is someone dieing to a blood clot because they were sitting for eight hours straight.
__________________________________________________________________
Remember this is average players simulating a pro players practice routine. The two of us participating in this activity do have jobs that we are currently planning to work around to fit this in.
If something happens during the week where you can't get practice in, it will be included in the reports. The important thing to remember is that we will not give up real world obligations to complete a challenge. Family, work, and friends all come before the game. With that said, both of us have agreed to try our hardest to keep up and follow the schedule.
Start Date: June 11th, 2012
End Date: June 17th, 2012
Participants:
RelleK (P)
TheyCallMeLukas (Z)
Community Participants:
lloydp (P)
Nafa (T)
We are more than happy to put you down on the list if you guys want to participate. Just remember this is a challenge but most of all have fun, and remember that obligations in your life come first before a game.
 
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Good luck! Also kept wondering when reading your post why you have random captilization for heLp, outSide etc. >_>
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Yeah, whats with capitalising the WE's? It is kinda an interesting idea, but all I can take away from this is the weird grammer.
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May I suggest the instead of quantifying your practice, try to qualify it
So for day one set a goal that you will not miss a single inject for 5 games straight, or something of the similar.
This, in my opinion, helps give better direction to the practice, ultimately producing better results than mindlessly playing 30 games a day.
Your goals should be hard-pressed to be met, pushing you to that 6hour mark, but at the same time giving you a goal other than time.
Good luck! Have fun!
and why is "WE" always capitalized?
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lol, i accidentally bumped the tlpd-ize button and it did all that, ill go back and fix it
EDIT:
its all fix'd
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W00t!
I'll be practicing alongside Rellek.
Good luck sir, have fun.
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On June 10 2012 01:07 Cheater23 wrote:
May I suggest the instead of quantifying your practice, try to qualify it
So for day one set a goal that you will not miss a single inject for 5 games straight, or something of the similar.
This, in my opinion, helps give better direction to the practice, ultimately producing better results than mindlessly playing 30 games a day.
Your goals should be hard-pressed to be met, pushing you to that 6hour mark, but at the same time giving you a goal other than time.
Good luck! Have fun!
and why is "WE" always capitalized?
This is a good idea. I'll probably do it for a certain percentage of my games.
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I will be doing this starting today now, as i was already going to have fun seeing how going for like 8+ hours straight would be like with only dinner and a couple small breaks.
edit: due to things, i am starting same day as you guys.
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i did this for about a month like 3 years ago... after a week and a half i was exhausted...
the good old bw days...
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On June 10 2012 03:59 XenOsky- wrote:
i did this for about a month like 3 years ago... after a week and a half i was exhausted...
the good old bw days...
and that is exactly what I find so interesting about this experiment. Not only just trying to become a better player, but the shear fact of all the mental and physical drain it has on the player. To tell the truth, I'm nervous, anxious and kinda excited to do this and see the results first hand.
But this is also why I recruited a buddy that had a similar mind set to compare results.
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My former team tried a 50 game challenge last week. None of us made it, the closest was 43 I think.
Edit: didn't clarify it was 50 games in one day.
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On June 10 2012 06:22 DanLee wrote:
My former team tried a 50 game challenge last week. None of us made it, the closest was 43 I think.
Edit: didn't clarify it was 50 games in one day.
Did you only get one try, or several?
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What level are you at currently?
Also, would you be willing to accept additional people in this endeavor?
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Good luck man. That sounds intense. Can't wait to hear how it goes. I'm not sure I can even play for that many hours in a single day yet.
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Both of us are high gold level players.
I have no problem with people joining us, but Rellek has control of the thread :p
edit: In fact, I think it'd be a good idea to have other people join us. We can share thoughts and ideas, or even practice together.
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By all means join us, hopefully we can get this experiment off the ground and get going. Right now I'm getting everything ready and just about to head out the door for some exercise.
Just please remember, Do NOT give up real life obligations or hurt yourselves doing this. Remember get up and move around during your practice sessions. (take mini breaks 5-10 mins) The last thing I want to hear about is someone dieing to a blood clot because they were sitting for eight hours straight.
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Looks like you need some terran presence. I'll take on the challenge aswell.
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Day 1
Overview:
Didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I thought. I focused on my PvZ as it's my worst match up. I tried Stephano's fast max build and discovered I don't have the mechanics to be able to do it too effectively. Day9 lies, it's not easy lol
The concept is simple enough, though. I played for a couple hours in the morning then the rest of the night after a job orientation. Never felt totally focused all day.
I had a lower win percentage than I would have liked (47% on the ladder; 55% including games with Rellek). I suppose it's not too surprising considering I've never played for 7.5 hours in one day before haha I noticed I started making plenty more mistakes towards the end of the day.
Hopefully I'll be more focused tomorrow, and I'll be working a lot on creep spread along with my PvZ.
If any Protoss players want to practice with me, I'd appreciate it! (CallMeLukas code:417)
EDIT: How are the rest of you doing?!
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~Day 1~
1. Total practice time 6 hours 25 minutes
2. Today i lifted weights for the first time in a loong long time. After the hour i
was pretty beat, and soon after started the practice session.
3. Today i ate: A Shake for breakfest, containing alot of various things, point is its healthy.
For a snack i had a ricefruit (a finnish type of milk product with jam). Then for dinner a finnish type of sausage called "mustamakkara"
which in literal translation is black sausage, alongside with potatoes and salad. For desert some ice cream.
Then for another snack some quark. Later in the day i ate
three pieces of toast, with cheese and meat. Alongside some more quark and some peas. I also drank 1 red bull mid game session since i had one left over from watching mlg.
4. Neutral mood at beginning of day, happy after i woke up properly. After gaming session my hands are quite sore from all the lifting and playing. Mood Happy.
5. A total of 17 games. I spent some time studying new builds.
6. Daily goal was just to get a feeling of playing back, been busy for the last month so i havent played much in a while. I feel like i achieved it.
Day 1 TL;DR. Tired, but happy.
As i start Day 2 im actually quite excited to play some more starcraft 2.
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I started off feeling kinda tired, and played quite terribly the whole, for only about 4.5 hours. I had some irl stuff to do afterward and when that was finished I was wayy to sleepy to do anything.
i was only able to exercise for a little more than a half hour x.x
I ate a peach, banana, and peanut butter jelly for breakfeast. for dinner I only had one lambchop, some cauliflower, and mashed potatoes. small dinner.
I felt kinda tired at the start, and was pretty angry by then end cause of how bad I was doing. also drowsy.
I played 21 games in total
my goal ( being like mid-high masters) was to not mess up my builds at all so I get them completely right, but I played quite terribly
day 1 TL;DR: monday was definetly not great, and because of some things that happened I only got a half hour of exercise and about 4.5 hours practicing. But now it's teusday and because I was really tired and fell asleep early I'm up at 6:30 and can make up some time. I am feeling good and am ready to rock n roll.
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Day 1
Exercise: aprox 5 mile run. 30 situps/ pushups/ pullups
Diet:
Breakfast: Bannana w/ water
Lunch: Pork Rib w/ french frys
Dinner: taco's w/ refried beans
Mood:
Start: excited
End: disgruntle (from computer crashing)
Crash count: 8
Goals: Get used to using the f-series for location hotkeys
Number of games:
7-6 (6 losses to crashes)
practice: 9 practice games
Isolation Day: no
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Good job, gents!
Also, the exercise can be broken up as well. I'd recommend splitting cardio and strength training. I like to go for my run and be able to work really hard, then wait 45 minutes or even an hour or two. That way I don't have to worry about killing myself again with pull-ups and ab workouts.
Keep it up ya'all
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Have you considered writing / copying your daily progress to a different blog you make especially for this? And then add links to everyone's journals in the OP, that way they'd be easier to find and keep track of.
All in all, looks like a good idea!
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I really like the exercise and dieting part of your challenge. This makes it a much more worthwhile thing to do than to just play tons of starcraft everyday.
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~Day 2~
Today the total time i spent in the Starcraft 2 world was over 11 hours. However, i watched the gsl so thats why the hours look so high. Actual time spend ingame myself was 7 hours 30 minutes.
2. I went for a bikeride, a little over an hour. At the end i was pretty beat, this was to take a break after 4 hours of practicing starcraft 2. Got the nicest doms in my upperbody from lifting yesterday, didint bother much while playing though.
3.
Breakfest: Ill just refer to theese shakes as "healthshakes". I had a healthshake
Lunch: a mix of potato and meat, again a more of a finnish food.
Dinner: potatoes, salmon and Salad. For desert a tiny bit of icecream
After the bike ride: another health shake
Last meal of the day: 3rd health shake
4.Excited mood at beginning of day, i was looking forward to gsl and playing starcraft2. After the session tired but happy at everything i got done today. Tired because its so late obviously.
5. A total of 28 games.
6. Todays goal was to find a style that i like in TvZ. and i ended up with bio as its fun to play and a great way to be aggressive and learn to macro during aggression. It's something i was quite bad at in the past, so that'll be my main focus for the next 2 days.
TL;DR excited, pleased with myself for doing all the practice and exercising. Looking forward to new season
tomorrow where ill tear up ladder all day long.
PS: a picture that shows off the timer i use to keep time of my practice, so ill make sure i get the 6h 25mins. Its always on top and easy to pause so i wont get the fake feeling of playing for 6 hours, when in actuality ive taken breaks every game to browse liquid and infact only played 5 hours.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/fjaVG.png)
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Day 2:
Exercise: aprox 15 mile bike ride.
Diet:
Breakfast: Bannana Cherios
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Wrap
Dinner: SLEEP!
Mood:
Start: Nervous
End: Relaxed
Crash count: 2
Goals: focus on macro/ not get supply blocked
Number of games: 7-3 (2 crash)
practice games: 6
Isolation Day: Y
Notes on the day:
Since yesterday I crashed so many times it messed with my rating, got placed in silver. But yet still facing gold or platinum players. Either way today was a pretty good day, overall only lost 3 games, while crashing on 2. Also today was my one of my isolation days where i just grind-ed. Also had to work extra hours at work only resulting in 6 hours of practice with the work out. Overall I'm feeling kinda sore and already feel the pain of the week starting to come on. I also feel very edgy and starting to get irate at the littlest things in my play. Not sure if its from work, the long hours, or both.
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If it's not too late count me in as a community participant. Going to give this a go.
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On June 13 2012 06:27 Lousy! wrote:
Have you considered writing / copying your daily progress to a different blog you make especially for this? And then add links to everyone's journals in the OP, that way they'd be easier to find and keep track of.
All in all, looks like a good idea!
I feel like we would get called out for spamming, but I could be wrong.
Day 2
Did a 4 mile run in about 27:50, then ab work out.
My diet consisted of peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, lots of water, protein shake, a large bowl of cheerios, a sub from Subway, and a piece of pie.
I started the day in a really good, I was excited to see where I could get placed at the start of the new season. Finally got placed into platinum! w00t and I was able to stay in the top 8 by the time I logged off.
My win percentage on the ladder was 54%
However I ended the day in a bad mood. Lost a couple games in a row to Protoss deathballs. Fuck them and their lasers. Normally I just brush it off, but for some reason the very last game frustrated me a lot. I think I was just getting tired. Clocked another 7.5 hours.
On June 13 2012 14:46 L_Master wrote:
If it's not too late count me in as a community participant. Going to give this a go.
Yes you can! The rest of us will just be finishing earlier.
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Did a 4 mile run in about 27:50, then ab work out
Nice clip.
What are your PRs?
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On June 14 2012 03:26 L_Master wrote:Nice clip. What are your PRs?
Not sure if you're looking for anything specific so I'll give ya all of them lol
800- 2:09
1600- 4:53
3200- no idea lolz
5k- 18:09
4 mile- 25:30
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~Day 3~
Today i also watched the gsl, and my practice session was about 5 hours 40 mins total. Today I read alot of guides, and tore the ladder since it was the first day of the season.
Exercise: i cut the grass today, took about an hour.
Diet:
Breakfast: Health shake
Snack: Apple, a tiny bit of whole grain cereal (30gs or so) and some quark.
Lunch: Same as yesterday, a mix of potato and meat.
Dinner: A baguette sandwhich, aprox. the length of half a subway sub.
Note: also ate 40g of pringles while watching gsl.
Mood: Excited for gsl and new season during the morning time.
After practice session, happy with todays ladder results.
Number of games played today was 18. A nice 13-2 score to start off the ladder season with.
Todays goal was same as yesterdays; learn to macro during aggression. Im still having quite some trouble with it, but i feel
like i have made slight improvements with it.
TL;Dr New season, yay. Gsl, yay.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/1fHuF.png)
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On June 14 2012 07:51 Nafa wrote:
Number of games played today was 18. A nice 13-2 score to start off the ladder season with.
I'm confused, by 13-2 do you mean you won 13 games and lost 2? That seems really good. But then where does the 18 come from? Btw, we are in the same league. Interested in practicing a bit?
anyways...
Day 3
Pretty awful day to be honest. Woke up tired and not motivated in the least. Busted out a 4.5 mile run and I felt perked up after that. Unfortunately I slipped into frustration from playing. I had a shorter practice day due to some things I had going on. However I am still ahead of schedule: by the end of day 3, we should have at least a total of 19 hours and 15 minutes of practice time. At the moment I've practiced for 20.5 hours. Just... wow.
Diet today was also shitty:
Krafts Mac n Cheese, Culvers burger, left over pizza, ice cream, and chips and salsa.
Earlier in the day I was planning on getting to the 6 hrs 25 min mark of practice by midnight but I'm just too tired. Calling it quits at 5.5 hrs.
Ugh.
that is all.
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~Day 1~
1. Practice: Total practice time 3hr 45 min. Pretty busy day with class and work, and not ideal management so didn't get to do as much practice as I would have liked. Played my placement matches, read up a little about PvT 1 gate expand, and then played a few more games in the evening. Went 8-1, with the game I dropped being to someone asking for the points. To be expected though playing bronzies.
2. Exercise:
AM - 4M easy in roughly 31 min
PM - 2M up, 4.25M tempo in 26:02, 2M down; total 12.5M
Misc: 1.5M walk to class and 1.5M walk back from class
3. Diet
Breakfast: 1 cup of life cereal and a banana
Lunch: Generous plate of nachos (good homemade nachos with like ground beef, tomato, sauce, onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc.), PB&Nutella sandwich, slice of pizza, big bowl of grapes, serving of doritos chips, small slice of apple coffee cake, Dr. Pepper (8oz)
Dinner: Chipotle Barbacoa Burrito, 4oz Dr Pepper, burrito with light barbacoa, easy rice, lettuce, tomato
Misc: Approx 15 cups water
4. Mood - Mood at beginning of day = tired, heavy legs and super hungry (YAY for caloric restriction) but honestly still in okay mood, felt good after morning shakeout run. Good going into game session, a little bored w/placement matches because bronze people are silly
TLDR - Before: Tired, After: Bored/Comfortable
5. Game Number: 9 games, some studying VOD/liquipedia
6. Daily Goal - Going to be a busy day, shooting for 15 games and some time studying VODs/liquipedia. Mostly want to focus on nailing build orders and getting a feel for SC2 micro.
On June 14 2012 07:35 CallMeLukas wrote:Show nested quote +On June 14 2012 03:26 L_Master wrote:Did a 4 mile run in about 27:50, then ab work out Nice clip. What are your PRs? Not sure if you're looking for anything specific so I'll give ya all of them lol 800- 2:09 1600- 4:53 3200- no idea lolz 5k- 18:09 4 mile- 25:30
I'm guessing your fairly new to running and/or a HS runner as your 800m/1600m times are vastly superior to your 5k, but you seem to have decent speed and some nice talent as running 4:53 off of 18:09 is quite respectable. Just keep running over summer and that 5k time will drop a TON by fall XC as 4:53 is equivalent to about 16:50 for the 5k.
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On June 14 2012 14:48 CallMeLukas wrote:
I'm confused, by 13-2 do you mean you won 13 games and lost 2? That seems really good. But then where does the 18 come from? Btw, we are in the same league. Interested in practicing a bit?
anyways...
Yes i played 15 ladder games total and lost 2. The 18 comes from playing custom 1vs1s. The main reason for that high winrate is that i got mostly golds first, and then really bad plat players. at the end of the day i won against a few diamonds too.
Edit: Unless you have an eu account i doubt we can practice toegether as i don't have a NA one.
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LucidDream.368 (P) on NA if you guys wanna practice, or add me on skype: luciditymasters. Probably gold/plat toss.
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On June 14 2012 16:10 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On June 14 2012 07:35 CallMeLukas wrote:On June 14 2012 03:26 L_Master wrote:Did a 4 mile run in about 27:50, then ab work out Nice clip. What are your PRs? Not sure if you're looking for anything specific so I'll give ya all of them lol 800- 2:09 1600- 4:53 3200- no idea lolz 5k- 18:09 4 mile- 25:30 I'm guessing your fairly new to running and/or a HS runner as your 800m/1600m times are vastly superior to your 5k, but you seem to have decent speed and some nice talent as running 4:53 off of 18:09 is quite respectable. Just keep running over summer and that 5k time will drop a TON by fall XC as 4:53 is equivalent to about 16:50 for the 5k.
I ran track and XC all four years of HS. I graduated in 2010 and hardly ran in 2011 at all. It was hard to find time and motivation when experiencing college for the first time. The past few months I've been trying to get back into running more, but for some reason I just dont feel as capable and motivated. I think having to run by myself instead of with a team is part of the problem. Today I'm struggling to even run a good 5 miles.
On June 14 2012 19:03 Nafa wrote:Show nested quote +On June 14 2012 14:48 CallMeLukas wrote:
I'm confused, by 13-2 do you mean you won 13 games and lost 2? That seems really good. But then where does the 18 come from? Btw, we are in the same league. Interested in practicing a bit?
anyways...
Yes i played 15 ladder games total and lost 2. The 18 comes from playing custom 1vs1s. The main reason for that high winrate is that i got mostly golds first, and then really bad plat players. at the end of the day i won against a few diamonds too. Edit: Unless you have an eu account i doubt we can practice toegether as i don't have a NA one.
Thats impressive! And no I dont have an eu account. Ah well..
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~Day 4~
Yet another day of watching gsl (MVP Faighting). My practice session was about 7 hours, i spent alot of time watching the Day[9] daily on bombers TvP, taking notes and then practicing the build. Ladder wasent as good as yesterday, but still not bad. 5 wins and 2 losses. I spent more time in customs today. In ladder im evenly matched against Diamonds and slighty favoured against plat. Perhaps ill get a promotion sometime, we shall see.
Exercise: Weight lifting again, and also as light cardio i did some cleaning around the house.
Diet:
Breakfast: Whole grain cereal with fat free milk
Lunch: Chickenbreast with tikka masala sauce and potatoes
Dinner: A frozen vegetable mix with a small sandwhich and quark
Last meal of day: Some noodles
Note: Also drank another red bull, and ate about 50g of candy while watching gsl. I've also forgot to mention that with every meal (execpt healthshake) i also have a glass of non fat milk. I also drink lots of water during the day.
Mood: Excited to see MVP in gsl, woke up feeling energetic instead of tired like the first 3 days.
At the end of the day, still slightly energetic and happy with the new bomber build i do in tvp. I now have a nice macro build in each matchup.
Number games today was 19. 5-2 ladder. Still rank 2 with 227 points.
Todays goal was still the same: i feel like my macro has improved hugely compared to what it used to be on day 1, and i am much more aggressive than i was before. Satisfied and going to switch my focus on another thing tomorrow.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/I025i.png)
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Day 3:
Exercise: 2x 5k runs one in the begining of practice one at the end.
Diet:
Breakfast: nothing
Lunch: grilled chicken wrap
Dinner: spaggetti
Mood:
Start: Meh
End: even more meh
Crash count: 9
Goals: focus on macro
Number of games: 1-5 (5 crash)
practice games:
Isolation Day: n
Notes:
After my series of crashes, I couldn't take it anymore. Closed down starcraft and studied replays all day. Especailly studdied socke's play from the mlg.
Day 4:
Exercise: Lifting weights/ situp/ pushup routine
Diet:
Breakfast: nothing
Lunch: left over spaggetti
Dinner: grilled pineapple and pork
Mood:
Start: Frustrated
End: dissappointed
Crash count: 2
Goals: focus on macro
Number of games: 4-6 (2 crash)
practice games: 3 hours in build order tester
Isolation Day: y
Notes:
I'm starting to get really disheartened by my play. My wins are meaning less as I steam roll bad kids, while my losses are close bitter games that I either crash out of or lose because of one bad engagement. Either way, this challenge is starting to get to me and I loathe playing starcraft. Every fiber of me right now wants to quit. But yet I continue on. I know my mental state right now is affecting my play, but there isn't anything I can do about it, all I know I need to keep practicing.
My biggest problem right now is I feel like I should be playing better than I am at the moment. My fingers are still playing at my normal APM (150-200) but things are either not getting done, or I'm watching myself make mistakes I know are bad. It's like watching myself play in third person in a way as my mind automatically does stuff I do not want it to do. Yet I feel its out of my hands and I'm only a spectator.
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Day 4
Exercise:
- Mowing the lawn? not much to say for this today!
Diet:
- Lots of watermelon
- Ham sandwich
-Culvers fries
- Chocolate Shake
- Cheerios
Goals:
- Experiment with one base play/all-ins.
- Fast max vs toss
Games:
- 10 ladder, went 4-6.  Wasnt too focused on one particular plan, ended up screwing around in a few games.
- Something like 6 custom games. Lost a bunch to LucidDream haha
Mood:
- Not as tired as yesterday, but not as confident. The hours are taking their toll! I took long breaks today to hopefully relax and improve my mentality. I didn't feel like it worked. At the end of the day not much changed; dissatisfied.
Notes:
- Got around to playing customs with LucidDream (or L_Master on the forums). I prefer practicing in custom games, and encourage everyone to join us. No pressure from worrying about ladder points and whatnot, plus we can critique each other's play.
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~Day 2~
1. Practice: Total practice time 5hr 0 min. Same as yesterday, just a busy day and couldn't quite get to 7 hours. Still played a good number of games (approx 10, + 5 in BW) and read through the creatorprime guide as well as watching some PvT VODS. Comfort with the game and macro is improving but still not comfortable enough to have any speed (150apm/90-100eapm currently). That will come with familiarity though. FF quality is improving, but still don't always notice where gaps are and some tendency to overlap or excessive FF.
2. Exercise:
AM - 4M very easy in roughly 31:30, legs didn't really want to move so I was fine to run easy
PM - 6M progression in 43:00, started first mile very slow, second mile slow, then gradually up to 6:30-6:40 pace (roughly MP) for the last two.
Misc: 1.5M walk to class and 1.5M walk back from class
3. Diet
Breakfast: Cup of cheerios, moderate size pancake, small slice apple coffee cake
Lunch: PB&Nutella sandwich, Half of a PB&J sandwich, small slice of pizza, small serving of doritos chips, banana, Dr. Pepper (8oz)
Dinner: Cup of Cheerios, some grapes, small bowl mixed vegatables
Misc: Approx 20 cups water
4. Mood
Start: READY!
FINISH: Satisfied, Tired (mental)
5. Game Number: 10 games ish SC2, 5 in BW and some studying VOD/liquipedia/CreatorPrime PvT
6. Daily Goal - Learn some about PvP, more PvT study, continue refining builds and look for transitions to 3 base play (PvT/PvZ)
I know my mental state right now is affecting my play, but there isn't anything I can do about it, all I know I need to keep practicing...things are either not getting done, or I'm watching myself make mistakes I know are bad. It's like watching myself play in third person in a way as my mind automatically does stuff I do not want it to do.
Be careful about this. Yes, you want to practice but practicing when you aren't there and properly focused mentally is a recipe to get worse. You'll end up ingraining bad habits and actually undoing any progress you made.
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NOTE:Okay, so tomorrow I am here most of the day. I think it would be sweet if we all got together and put down some good practice together. Everyone can give advice and help everyone stay on top of weak points. Let me know what times work for you all!
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~Day 5~
Instead of gsl i watched gstl today. My practice session was the usual 6 hours 25 minutes. I spent some time working on purely macro, and then watching kas's stream for a short while. Also re-read the "How to improve at Starcraft II efficiently" guide by Randy (Cecilskunkure) Gaul, which i would defintely recommend to any of you.
Today was spent mostly in customs, i played a bunch of games against diamonds, which was lots and lots more difficult than the people i face on ladder. Only played 2 ladder games today (both wins), as i focused purely on customs today. So current ladderscore stands at: 20 wins 4 losses. Tomorrow im looking to hold a pure ladder day, and also an isolation day. Im also very excited to watch some dreamhack, and im guessing my time spent in the starcraft 2 world tomorrow will be +10 hours just like every other day.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/YIhY2.jpg)
Time to ladder Empire style.
Exercise: I went for a bikeride again, visited the store and bought some CC for dreamhack. (Chips and Coca cola Zero) I didin't just go to the store though, i biked around a bit so the full hour requirement was made.
Diet:
Breakfast: Whole grain cereal with fat free milk and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice
Lunch: Salmon, potatoes and Salad with fat free milk
Dinner: Wholegrain tortillwraps with guacamole, salsa dip, leftover salad and mince meat
Note: Also ate the rest of the candy today (130g) and drank some of the cola zero.
Mood: In the morning quite yawny, suprised by how small the doms was compared to Day 2, however i am not complaining and will lift weights again tomorrow. After the practice session, satisfied and relaxed.
Number of games today was 18. 2-0 ladder. Still rank 2 with 259 points.
Todays Goal: To perfect the bomer build so i can do it efficiently and without a notepad. I feel like this was achieved very well, and my earliest maxout was at 13:30, beating my earlier record of 14:50.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/c1YTp.jpg)
By the power of macro i shall consume you.
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Due to real life obligations (like work) and fathers day. I won't be practicing as much as i would like. To make up for this I will continue to update you on the days practice, but extend it into monday/tuesday of next week.
Just remember guys, Family, work, and your prior obligations come before games. Cheers!
Anyways on the the juicy stuff
Day 5:
Exercise:
25 mile bike ride.
Diet:
Breakfast: nothing
Lunch: chicken w/ rice
Dinner: Pot roast
Mood:
Start: Unmotivated
End: Excellent, almost rejuvenated and feeling like my old self again.
Crash count: 0 (YEAH!)
Goals: focus on macro
Number of games: 6-0 ( crash)
practice games: 0
Isolation Day: n
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Day 5
Exercise: Usual 4mile run/ab routine
Diet: Lots of watermelon and strawberries. Didnt write the rest down and I forgot
Mood: Content, but bored. No change
Goals: Return to Muta play vs Terran. Worked out quite well
Day 6
Out of town all day, so didn't even log on. Ahhh well.
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Same situation for me. Yesterday was work + 27 mile hike of Pikes Peak and evening 5 miler so I just didn't have the time. With today being Father's Day I doubt I'll get in a ton either. Will be a little extended for me as well.
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~Day 6~
Dreamhack Day 1. Of course there are alot of lesser known players, so the matches arent as exciting yet. So i ended playing some Starcraft 2, also as dreamhack has some looong breaks between games, i got my 6 ½ hours easily while watching dreamhack.
Exercise: Lifted weights again
Diet:
Breakfast: Healthshake
lunch: Reindeer casserole with potatoes and salad
Snack: quark and sandwhich
Dinner: Whole wheat tortea, rest of mince meat and leftover salad. (also quacamole and salsa)
Mood
Beginning: feeling reluctant to play
End: Feeling great, after a couple of games i got the excitement to play back.
Number of games today: 20
Goal was to find time between dreamhack to play, and try out what the pros did, overall fun day.
~Day 7~
Dreamhack day 2. Alot more awesome games (sad about puma though), i spent +6h hours playing, im not exactly sure how long since i kept watching dreamhack and playing and watching dreamhack and playing.
Exercise: only a light walk since i wanted to take a resting day.
Diet:
Breakfast: woke up so late that lunch was prepared.
Lunch: Poatatoes, sausage and pork beef
Snack: Sandwhich and quark
Dinner: Healthshake
Snack: Healthshake
Mood
Beginning: Neutral, got excited and ready to play after watching dreamhack for a bit
End: Great, was a really fun day again just watching and playing starcraft 2 all day long
Number of games today: 33
I played some marine split challenge, made my own lategame TvP and TvZ challenges, as i felt my engagements sucked and cost me alot of games when i was ahead by economy and supply with a fair bit, only to lose the game due to really bad engagements. At the end of the day i was quite happy with my splitting, alot alot better than it was before i started.
End of challenge thoughts:
So here we are, 1 week later, 153 games later. An average of ~22 games a day. Youd think id be exhausted and ready to give up Starcraft 2 and exercise for a while. Quite the opposite, i have never been this excited to get back online and play some starcraft 2 again, and watching starcraft 2 is as enjoyable as ever. The change of diet and exercise part i like alot too, its easyer to sleep when your more tired, my mood is even more happy than before. I even lost a couple kgs of weight. The morning of Day 1 it was 2,5kg more than The morning of day 8.
So what has this week done? Well, it makes me want to continue along this path, play more and exercise more aswell as eat healthyer. I would definetly suggest to anyone to try this, it has its ups&downs, but in the end you're happy you did it. There were a few moments when i was ready to give up, however i decided to stick it out to the end. It was enjoyable keeping a diary type progress log, aswell as read all the other ones. Im looking forward to what the rest of you think after your week of practice. But now if youll excuse me, im off to watch more gsl and then play some Starcraft 2.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wcybq.jpg)
(MVP fighting!)
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Day 6-7
Cause of it being fathers day, (and actually spending time with my father) And working 3 8 hour shifts durring the weekend. I didn't get full (traditional) days in.
But overall here we go.
Exercise: Lifted weights, went on a bike ride (~18 miles), and went swimming for a bit.
Games: No idea on the total amount, allot of practice games, allot of ladder games, some 2v2's and defiantly some crashes.
Mood:
Start of each day: Excited
End of Each day: Relieved and Ready to go
Conclusion of the PltPW:
Overall I had a rough start. Losing games, getting demoted, and worst of all crashing out of games I have nearly won. But once I came to the conclusion that each ladder game wasn't a battle that I had to have an epic struggle with each time, but a new solution and a new chance to make myself better. I completely got over my ladder anxiety. The crashing still sucks but overall I don't have the fear of logging on and losing anymore. A loss is just one more experience to look at. Learning new situations, and overall a new gameplan for the games i played.
As for inspiration, you guys that actually did the challenge with us really kept me motivated to continue on and try my hardest to push through and have the perseverance to get through cause of it.
As for the exercise and diet, they are great. Not that I was ever overweight, as most of my friends would tell you if i turned sideways i would disappear. But getting back in shape has been one of my goals since graduating from high school. Now that I have got over the first week of hell, I feel I can keep up with the goals, rides, and runs to keep pushing to better myself not only physically but mentally.
Once again I want to give a big thanks to lloydp, nafa, L-master, and callmeLukas for actually recording and playing along with my little experiment. Hopefully in the near future I will have some video up documenting it, as well as telling others about it. This is just one out of the many more steps it is actually going to take to get to masters, but I am confident with a little practice, allot of determination, and maybe a little luck, each one of us can get there.
Guys keep up the good work!
Also ps: find a way to watch Symbol vs MKP from last nights gsl. I might be a protoss player but his zerg play is sexy.
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Days 7
On Saturday I was out of town literally all day, so no chance of getting substantial practice time in.
I combined Sunday and Monday as my 7th day, due to being busy on Sunday as well.
Exercise: Went to the gym, 8 miles of running and ab workout.
Diet consisted of a large slew of leftover steak, chicken, and potatoes. Had a lot of fruit and water as well.
I also splurged on a hefty bowl of ice cream.
My goals for the two days were geared towards effective mutalisk play and off-racing. It is pretty rare that I play any other race but Zerg, so I played about 15 games with Terran.
Total games for the two days was about 28 (there were a few I forgot to add to the tally).
Conclusions:
Phew!
Overall, I found the experience taxing as well as rewarding.
In the early stages of the challenge I found myself more eager to start the day, and I often ended the day fairly satisfied. About the 4th and 5th day was when I started to just feel tired, and more obliged to play instead of eager. I figured that was normal.
My changes in lifestyle didn't change very much (besides the obvious excessive Starcraft playing). I'm already fairly active in a physical sense, and my diet didn't change at all (though I am more conscience of it now). I think the biggest affect the challenge had on me was mental. I became more easily irritated when other obligations came up. Now I conclude that a person cannot both lead a traditional lifestyle and that of a progamer (as if I needed to do the challenge to tell me that). It could be possible if sleeping wasn't necessary, but unfortunately it is. :p
I also feel I could have done a lot more with the practice time. I could tell I got lazy towards the end.
Total game tally: 132
Total game time: Unsure of the actual number, but I barely scratched 40 hours. I feel as if I did not try hard enough, but maybe thats just me.
I look forward to attempting this challenge again sometime. Also, I'm glad to see we got a couple of community members involved as well. Props to Nafa and LucidDream! Hope you guys are well!
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EPT
