The Challenge of Lent- 2013

Before I get on with the meat of the post, I'd like to take a moment and apologize to those of you who are expecting some sort of Wacky Wednesday report. I would only interrupt such semi-hilarity for special occasions such as natural disasters, birthdays, or Alzheimer's. Today being the kick off of Lent, and with me having a tradition of being Lental, I will have to postpone the Wacking for later on this evening when I'm alone another time.
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Happy Lent to you. For those of you who are new to the show, or for those who have just plain forgotten, or for those of you who simply don't care, I am a big fan of Lent. I have absolutely no idea why. Let's try and find out...

Lent 2011
This was my first year blogging and I came up with this great idea of giving up 'not working out'. I called this extravaganza the 40 Days of Working Out. I created some rules that qualified and quantified working out.

1. I must swim, bike, and/ or run daily. Other forms of exercise do not count.
2. For it to count, the total duration must be more than 30 minutes.
3. Intensity is not important.
4. I may not work out extra in one day to make up for another day.
5. I may excuse myself from exercise if there is a legitimate risk to my health, including injury.
6. I may excuse myself from exercise if there is a legitimate obligation to the Wife.

It wasn't until well into the season that I learned how to count and came to the conclusion that Lent was actually 46 days, not 40. I worked out for 45 of those days. Quote from the conclusion of that season, "I might have been better served by taking a day off and really attacking my workout versus stringing together a few of mandated sessions that my body wasn't interested in."

Lent 2012
It's amazing what a year will do to your brain cells. The further you are removed from the incident, the more appealing it becomes. Lost to the wind are the bad times. Gone is the hatred. Absent is the negative. The only thought that remains is the calling that lead you to the original conclusion. Therefore, I decided to try again. "I promised that I wouldn't do that again. As it turns out, I am a complete idiot."

I failed. But, the Lenten Challenge leave me alive, with only a couple of scars down the sides of my cheeks as reminders of the experience. It went so poorly that I didn't even report my progress, or lack there of. I completely glossed over the fact that I was a Lenten Loser. I blogged as if the Challenge didn't even exist. Sorry about that.

Lent 2013
Starts today. And, since I am obviously a short-sighted bloke with poor long-term memory skills and a lower-than-average cranial capacity, I am officially starting the 2013 46-Days-of-Working-Out.

Given my Lenten history of bitterness and failure, why in the world would I do this again?

Well, for the exact same reasons I annually sign up for the Ironman (which may not be too far off from now). For 1, it's hard. For 2, I hate failing. Even though I biff it repeatedly, that doesn't mean I appreciate the fact that it won. Every year I have a rotten IM. Every year I have a rotten Lent. But, I think I can beat them both. I have no evidence for this. The data actually refute that hypothesis. Doesn't matter to me. I'm quite stubborn on most aspects of life and I'm not going to let this one a pass.

With each subsequent failure, I grow stronger in my desire to prove to myself (and to you if you care to read about it) that I have what it takes to actually be a success. Just because I sucked in the past is no reason to predict that I will suck in the future. (Okay, that may be bad reasoning. But reasoning intelligently has also not been one of my strengths.)

Hear that Lent. I am not afraid of you. I may despise you, but I am willing to tackle you head on. Face first. You may win again this year. I won't be easy. I refuse to go down without a fight. If you have any hope of beating me this year, you had better bring it. Because I am ready. (Plus I also have a few extra pounds I need to lose. I'll add that to the list of incentives to beat the system.)

Goals of my Lenten Challenge 2013

• 46 Consecutive Days of Working Out
• Following the rules and procedures established in 2011
• Lose 8 pounds by Easter  (official weigh in this morning, on my off by 5-pounds scale, was 172.2)

Anyone else with me? Goals for you?