Mid-Year Review

I'm sitting here enjoying a nice whiskey (Oban) and got to thinking. It's mid-year review time at work (which all went fine).

Figured I should have a think about the goals I set myself in relation to my hobbies/interests...

The goals are here in this post.

So... how am I going? Am I off track or on track...

WARGAMING

Okay, so painting...

FoG Mid-Republican Romans = Done!

Small Dust Force = Done!

Malifaux and Empire of the Dead were supposed to be next.

They've kinda been superseded by painting up a Bolt Action German force which is currently underway. Will painting the Bolt Action force be able to count for both of the Malifaux & EotD forces? :)

Although the painting is tracking slowly, I think I am on track to do a decent bit of painting this year (compared to what I normally get done anyway :) ).

Tournaments wise, well I did get to Battlecry. I had hoped there would be more FoW Snapshot tournaments, but I know the organiser is pretty busy. So... I haven't got to any other tournaments. I will aim for the Battlefront organised FoW tournament. That makes 2.... I'm still aiming for 3.

New gaming systems wise... well umm... whoops...

FITNESS

Well, what a story here. 

The year started so well. I was at the point of hitting all my goals. Yeap, there is an uh oh...

Got out 1 rep of bench press at 100kg. Comfortably doing a few sets of pull-ups with a 5kg weight. Fitness levels all good and I was building nicely. Everything was awesome.

I was looking good and feeling fit/strong leading into Tough Mudder. What a fantastic event!

But it all went downhill from there....

I hyper-extended my thumb during Tough Mudder (no break or fracture luckily) and my shoulder muscles tensed up putting my neck out.

That got all sorted, but then, too much, too soon, too heavy. I strained my bicep.

So then that came right. Things were starting to look good and get back on track. But.... there was a timebomb waiting.... Unbeknownst to me my hip flexors were working too hard and other supporting muscles were not working at all. 

End result = compressed disc in my lower back (L5 - S1).  8 weeks later after lots of massage / dry needling (sometimes with electric current) / manual adjustments / stretching / some strengthening.... things are finally settling down and the muscles / nerve in my lower back / hips are releasing and are feeling a lot happier. To the point today, where the Osteopath has said I need to do more running to get everything moving and working.

All in all a good sign. The only other bad news that my PT for the last 3 yrs who was helping me through my rehab and reach my goals has moved on. We still train together at the moment, so that's all good.

Anyway, from a fitness perspective, I think the focus for the rest of the year (or certainly the next couple of months) will be rebuilding slowly and carefully. If things go well, then I think a set or two of the 100kg bench press will still be on the cards. We'll have to see what happens here, but I'm pretty determined to get back into some decent training. Have been missing it a lot!!

OTHER

Reading wise... I have actually read a book. This one.

Being a Kiwi, my main knowledge and focus of WW1 has always been from Gallipoli on-wards. I had a basic understanding of how the war started and the various political craziness going on. It was a bit of an eye opener reading some more detail on what was happening during that time and the losses in a lot of the 1914 battles! Very sobering. Definitely an interesting read.

I'm currently reading this. It's okay. Has certainly had some interesting info, but it jumps around a bit. I find I'm a bit up and down on reading it which means it hasn't really engrossed me (if it had I would have finished it by now). 

That leaves 2 more books to be read. This could go either way. If I find the right couple of books, then they will be read very quickly. I think I need to try one of my fiction ones next.

Photography wise, I'm pretty happy with what I have taken so far this year as you'll have seen on here. Quite a variety and very enjoyable getting out and about. Would just like to do it more often.

So overall, I think things are going well. If I was my boss I think I would be happy :) Maybe I should give myself an early bonus. Speaking of which...where is that bottle of whiskey....