[Wk15] Improving in Fitness, Gaming & Music

About this blog/diary:+ Show Spoiler +

I'm a professional musician and (very) amateur gamer.
Blogging about improving and sticking to a program is very effective for my overall progress!
Having been inspired by Haulvern, I hope this humble blog can motivate another someone in need of positive change.
Thanks for checking this out and feel free to leave any comments or suggestions!

Week preview: Kickass audition month! Taking requests if anyone is interested in grilling me in a Skype mock audition or critiquing a recorded session. Revamping my diet a bit and upping protein/fat calories while continuing my 5/3/1 Program.

Goals for the Week

Fitness Goals:
4 Weight-lifting sessions (log)(program): [image loading]

(opt.) Running or Cross-training sessions (log)(program):
Hit 180lb by Dec 20: + Show Spoiler +

Gaming Goals:
Log Write-Ups of OCC Blood Bowl games (Current Standings): [image loading]

                  Log Write-ups and session prep for my DND 5E Campaign (wiki):
                  (opt.) Log games for CSGO and Hearthstone:

            Personal Goals:
                  Daily Mental Discipline sessions: ( [image loading]

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Log daily food intake: (log) (

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Quality challenge-seeking practice session: (

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Weigh-in regularly (log): ( [image loading]

)

Previous Weeks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.

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Monday 10/6: [image loading]

Kicking butt and taking names!! Perhaps this is just the three cups of coffee I've had today, but I'm feeling super energized for the coming month of preparation! A coworker and I had a heart-to-heart about improving on the instrument and it helped refocus my daily preparation. My nuts and bolts practice (fundamentals, pattern work) have been not up to code so I need to challenge myself on that front. This needs to be separate from my audition practice and equal in proportion as this is what expands my audition envelope while reinforcing solidity. My audition prep is 100% confidence- and enthusiasm-building. Whatever few technical issues are approached from a point of musicality and in-the-moment flow. Today's sessions have felt great and my mental prep session was also very nice!

This morning, while watching some of World's (which was as interesting as LoL gets, let me tell you!), my Blood Bowl opponent and I attempted to play our match for last week. It was a complete pommeling.... I couldn't roll a darn 5-6 and it seemed like all of his blockless players were nailing Defender Downs/Pushes... He broke my av 8-9 6 times, killing one player, and Miss Next Gaming another. It was ridiculous... I couldn't buy a timely Defender Down. Oh well. I rode out the bad luck and was positioned to at least tie the game on Turn 14 when the game crashed for my opponent. God damn is Cyanide worthless... We have attempt number 2 scheduled in 2 hours!

The Walking Dead season 4 is really really good! My down time yesterday and today has been spent catching up and I'm absolutely loving the plot lines. The plot lines and characters seem more engaging than previous seasons. Looking forward to seeing how it wraps up!

Also, my main CSGO acct has been leveled up to Silver Elite Master! After the accidental TK and demotion, this is very reassuring... Feels good!

My opponent's luck in the re-take of the match didn't hold. I ended up stymieing his first half assault and knocking out a Black Orc in the process. At the turn of the half, he crashed again and couldn't stay up to attempt a third match. This is why no one should attempt to game on a Mac with Wine... Oh well, what can you do?

Tuesday 10/7: [image loading]

Full disclosure: it felt pretty good that my weight today was under previous benchmarks. The last month of eating 1600-2100 calories and not seeing consistent improvement has frustrated me somewhat. The seeds of frustration and despair were beginning to settle in. I'm still going to commit to eating 1800-2k a week with 150g protein minimum for the next two weeks and see what happens. There will be no change in my diet nor value judgments about progress until that time.

Just finished knocking out Press day which was undermined somewhat by the aching pain in my delt left over from my flu shot. I was a bit weaker on the final sets because of it, but other than that it went ok. Full form on the pullup definitely has me hitting my head against the ceiling however. The last several weeks I've been quasi cheating with some kip motion and only getting my neck to the bar. This week I went back to basics and recommitted to doing it right from the start. If I'm going to be chinning twice a week, I should do it right. Dips were also quite nice! It's going to be some time before I hit 5x10 using my dip belt. 5x5 I had up to 20lbs, but this is a different experience.

But it was nice to get a free flu shot at work today. I stayed and organized my practice day around the appointment, knocking out quality practice and also completing my self-hypnosis. A good day all-in-all!

Tonight we're christening our new pizza stone! Should be fun!!

Wednesday 10/8: [image loading]

Just walking up the stairs from nailing deadlift day! That was fun! I'm definitely liking the change to the Bodyweight 5/3/1 over the Big but Boring program. I feel like it fits with my overall fitness level much better.

I had a relatively heavy lifting day at work today as the combination of the other co-principal not wanting to play first and the sight-reading of new music combined to create a challenging work environment. The opportunity wasn't wasted though as I felt I was able to keep my focus on efficiency throughout the rehearsal. That being said, I won't say I played especially well... I played mediocre, but I played with ease :-D. Oh well.

First couple sessions at home already knocked out, I'm looking to do one more session and some confidence-focuses self-hypnosis before calling it a night.

Also, after last night's crappy rogue draft, I've decided to completely forego the HS improvement section. If I draft later, I'll draft in the thread, but for now it's just not something on which I want to expend any energy or concentration.

The Kentucky Mule is such a good relatively low-calorie drink... Oh man do I love it. Yes, I know I probably shouldn't be drinking for cutting persay, but it's just too good to pass up a mule at the end of a long day.

Thursday 10/9:

Friday 10/10:

Saturday 10/11:

Sunday 10/12:

uuuugh... going to finish off this week and this blog with a late addition... The last several days I've been fighting back getting sick while catching up on sleep. A work gig on Thursday went insanely late and I ended up getting home at 3am. The next day I had to drive a long distance to work while still knocking out my squats day and getting some practice in. I did it all, but it set me back energy-wise. Saturday, after getting in after midnight, I had to wake up at 6 to drive 4 hours to a friend's wedding and after that, drive another hour roundtrip to pick up some more custom insoles for running and general use (damn my high arches!). The Sunday drive back was extended an extra 2 hours from traffic alone. This was on top of a trip to an hour detour to a large mall my wife wanted to visit. Uuuugh, I'm exhausted... but ready for the next week.

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CS:GO Reference Section: Loot Timer: [unparsable timestamp format]

Original Silver Elite Master Account: Weapon

Nova 2 Alt Account:

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Hearthstone Reference Section: Drafting according to LawrenceJames guidelines. 6-7 2s, 3-4 3s, 4-5 4s, 2-3 5s.

10/7 Rogue Draft:+ Show Spoiler [Reactions while drafting] +

1: Perdition's has so much upside I'm grabbing it over belcher.
2: Great row! Thinking Deadly is too valuable to pass up for right now.
3: Bad row but taking abusive for combo opps and the bonus.
5: Eeek... through 5 and I'm full on weapons for the whole draft.... mistake probably.

Lost interest in charting this halfway through... This draft blows really... trying to mid-game it and stay alive with weapons before that... but it doesn't really work out. no quality 2 drops this game.

[Wk15] Improving in Fitness, Gaming & Music

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