Week 9 . . . Höllenwoche 😈

Hallo Füsters!

Let GG be the first to congratulate you on making it all the way to the final week of Winterfüste ‘24! And yes, it may be known as the Höllenwoche (if you haven’t Google translated that yet, you probably should, just so you get yourself in the right headspace), but what a glorious way to finish out this event by going all in and leaving everything on the Spielbrett!

• First, there’s six days left and six individual bonuses to score (including the Drachenfüste Allowance, which has been live since Saturday), not to mention you final Fastentag, your Final Exam on Saturday, and whatever you’re doing with your Haus game! Long live Höllenwoche!

• This week you may complete 5 Trippelt workouts and 1 Doppelt/Singelt (there is no rest day during Höllenwoche!)

• Final Fastentag is tomorrow, dawn to dusk. If you did all 9 Fastentags then you’ll score a +9p Completion Bonus when you report on Tuesday!

• While we’re on the topic of Completion Bonuses, remember there are big bonuses for completing the Parkenfüste series, the Mt. Climb series, and the weekly Stairs and LWW series. You’ll also score big on the Haus side if you completed all the Lucky Friend and Scavenger Hunt events too.

• Speaking of the Scavenger Hunt, here’s your last assignment of the game: find a quiet outdoor location from where you can send GG a video explaining how you intend to incorporate some part of the Füste into your daily life. Call it an important reflection on the value of what you just did for yourself since starting WF24 on January 2nd. Too many times a strong and competent Füster will slip off the path in the coming weeks and GG thinks if you just take a moment to express how you might hold strong, you’ll be better set up for success!

• Don’t forget that next Saturday, the Finalefüste, you have your Final Exam. If you remember from when we started, this means you must complete one of the following Homework parameters:

  • 100 Pushups!

  • 200 Situps!

  • 300 Squatenfüste

  You only need to do one (but GG wouldn’t stop you if you wanted to really flex and complete all three). You can split the total up over the entire day, e.g. do 10 pushups at the top of each hour for 10 hours, that would do it. Only complication is that Winterfüste ends at 5pm on March 9th so make sure you figure that into your calculations! And yes, video proof is required!

• And for those who need a little extra motivation this final week, remember that just by completing the full Winterfüste event, you’ll earn your Wahlkampfband Weiß (White Campaign Ribbon . . . formerly known as a Gürtel), which is an accomplishment all on its own. And Wahlkampfbands follow you through your game career . . . once you’ve earned one, whatever the color, it’s part of your Füste portfolio and will have downstream positive effects. So finish strong, even if that mean you only score your daily three points each day of the final week, that’s still amazing work!

Alright, that’s it for GG for now . . . good luck this week and remember to finish strong! You’re only 6 days away from being able to be a lazy long dog again (not that GG would ever condone such a thing) so no reason not to give it your all for Week 9! May the Füste be with you!

GG

Ghost in the Machine

Morning, Füsters . . .

Just a couple things to update you on as we go in to the penultimate weekend of WF24:

• What is (or was, rather) Füstenween? Well, that’s a left over from past Füste events that somehow got left on the DRT. As I’m sure you can tell, GG’s been a bit challenged this go round with issues on the DRT and communications in general. Not sure if it’s his aging brain or what exactly, but he’ll get things cleaned up for future events and apologizes for any confusion this Winterfüste. Just ignore the Füstenween thing on today’s DRT as we did not do that this year.

• Many have asked if they can complete their Drachen starting tomorrow (as opposed to Sunday) and GG is going to allow this. Just understand that you won’t be able to score it yourself until Tuesday’s DRT. So if you take the early slayage option of Sat or Sun, you have to report it directly to GG so he can add the points for you or you have to wait till Tuesday’s report. GG’s fine either way.

• Does the Drachenfüste count as a Trippelt? Absolutely. Okay, so what if I take the early slayage option this Sat or Sun but I’ve already scored all four of my Trippelts for this week? Then what you’ll do is report it as a Doppelt or Singelt or day off (whatever you have left this week) and then next week you’ll get yourself a free Trippelt for any day you want.

• Many are taking the walking/hiking option for their Drachen slayage and GG is reducing that specific requirement to 16 miles total. As that will be 5+ hours of walking, GG feels this is an appropriate amount of time to reflect the “5 workouts” requirement of the standard Drachen. He still feels strongly it would be more fun and def more interesting for a Füster to do multiple different kinds of exercise as part of their Drachen but if you just have to walk it out, 16 miles is the distance you’ll want to target.

• What’s the afore mentioned “Drachen’s Tail”? This is a little extra bonus for Week 9 but it’s not strictly tied to your Drachen so GG’s not giving up details on that until Sunday night’s update.

• So far, GG only has a handful of Drachen proposals and remember, before you start your slayage, you need to get approval from GG on what you’re planning on doing!

Okay, that’s it for Friday. Have a great final full weekend of WF24 and good luck to all those going on the hunt for their Drachen!

GG

Week 8: Worth the wait?

Hallo Füsters!

Our ranks are slimming down as we approach this penultimate week of WF24. But what matters is you’re still here, putting in your all and taking the fight to your flank meat! GG is in incredibly impressed by your dedication and commitment to this never ending battle and is happy to tell you that we’re just under two weeks of game play to go . . . but what a two weeks it’s going to be!

• New Individual and Haus Bonuses have been posted. And you’ll note this week we have the second of our tri-series bonuses coming to completion. The first was the three Park hikes last week (complete all three and you earned a +5p completion bonus) and now it’s the three Mt. Climbs (complete all three and earn a HUGE +10p bonus). But this final climb bonus is not for the feint of heart so prepare yourself for 3072ft of pain!

• Homework, as always, has been updated. And remember, your Final Exam on is on the Finalefüste and it’s either 100 pushups or 200 situps or 300 squats. Pick your poison!

• Tomorrow is your next to last Fastentag so only two more hangry Mondays to go. Clear liquide only from sun-up to sun-down. You got this!

• Probably the biggest news for you to think over tonight is that we’re now less then one week from open season on your Drachen! More information will be released later this week but for those of you who are new here, “slaying your Drachen” means completing one continuous workout that is equal to FIVE Singelts and earns a monstrous +15p bonus! So you’ll want to start thinking about what you want to do here as all Drachen Slayage must first be proposed to GG for approval. Are you going to do 5 Singelt runs for a total of 15 miles? 5 Singelt bike rides for a total of 75 miles in the saddle? Or maybe a combo event like a two Singelt swims, a Singelt bike and a 10K run? Figure it out and let GG know! Drachen season opens next Sunday, March 3rd and goes through the FInalefüste!

• And there’s a lot more to come during Week 9, affectionally known by those who survive it as Höllenwoche (use Google to translate that if you don’t already know)!

Alright, that’s it for this week’s update. No time for slacking now, Füsters! Around here we charge to the finish line!

GG

PS: This week’s Scavenger Hunt is to film yourself completing a 90 second Wall Holden (not sure what that is? Go HERE and scroll down to the video example) where you’re leaning against something and making it look like you’re holding it up with your effort. Be creative cause it’s late in the game and GG needs a good reason to sit through your whole video! Good luck!

Week 7: Isn't the back half supposed to be downhill? 🤔

Hallo Füsters!

Let GG be the first to congratulate you for making it all the way to Periode III! You may or may not have noticed that about 25% of those Füsters who started the journey with us back on January 2nd have either officially retired or just straight up ghosted GG (always a fun experience)! And so, as a thanks for being dedicated to both the game and to your own self improvement, GG awards you with TRIPPELT WORKOUTS! That’s right, they’re finally here! What’s a Trippelt? It’s either 3 seperate Singelts (e.g. a 5K run + a 1500 yard swim + a 7500m row) or a Singelt plus a Doppelt (e.g. 15 mile bike ride + a 10K run) or you can complete one of the Trippelt workout parameters as defined on the Schmerzenfüste page (go HERE to review because there are some changes to some of the Doppelt parameters too, as well as updated info on how to shorten a walk/hike by now carrying 25 pounds) . . . pro tip, the Trippelt workout parameters are traditionally a little less intense then doing three seperate Singelts or a Singelt/Doppelt combo.

On to this week’s update:

• First thing’s first . . . here’s what you can do for exercise points this week: 3 Trippelts, 2 Doppelts, 1 Singelt and 1 day off (also now knowns as a “Lazy Long Dog Day”).

• Next, new bonuses are posted and remember that as Periode II just ended, so did all those bonuses that were available for the last three weeks. If you didn’t knock em out, well, better luck next Füste! Now it’s time to concentrate on the final 3 weeks of bonuses! What’s past is past (unless it’s a pseudo Leap Year 🧐). Go HERE to review the new bonuses.

• Your homework requirement has been updated (and don’t forget, we’re a couple weeks out from a 3 minute plank AND your Final Exam etc. so time for one last big push!). Go HERE to check out your assigned homework for Week 7!

• Tomorrow’s your 7th Fastentag. Only three more days of being hangry and having a veriafiable excuse for being terrible to your co-workers on Mondays! Remember, clear liquids only from dawn to dusk.

• Scavenger Hunt #7: Get a stranger to say “For the Füste” on camera (while making whatever hand gesture you feel is appropriate to represent this experience) and send to GG to earn your +1p Haus hunt bonus!

• Did GG mention Trippelts are now in play?

Finally, as GG mentioned in one of last week’s texts, because there was a mess up around the Weighted Walk #2 bonus (30 pounds over 3 miles) during Week 6, GG is allowing you to complete it this week if needed. But since it won’t show up on the DRT, you need to let GG know you did it so he can score it for you.

That’s it for tonight, Füsters! For those in NorCal, enjoy a couple more days of rain and Winter weather. Spring will be here before we know it (and so will Sprungfüsten . . . 😎).

Have a great Week 7 and may the Füste be with you always!
GG

Week 6: Periode II's closing out . . .

Hallo Füsters!

This week we’ll finish out Periode II of Winterfüste. Remember, this means that all bonuses from Week 4 and 5 (and 6) must be completed by next Sunday, Feb. 18th (excepting Paid Event and Snow Angel). After that, we’re moving on to Periode III and the final three weeks of game play and most importantly: Trippelts!

Updates:

• New Individual and Haus Bonuses released (go HERE).

• Homework has been updated for Week 6 (go HERE).

• 6th Fastentag is tomorrow, Feb. 12th. Time to get hangry once more! Clear liquids only from dawn to dusk!

• Scavenger Hunt #6: To celebrate the Year of the Dragon, head out and find a dragon of your very own. Picture, sculpture, lawn ornament, whatever you can find . Send a selfie to GG to score this weeks +1p Scavenger Hunt.

Short and sweet update this week, Füsters! Have a good one and those playing in NorCal, try and stay dry during the back half of the week!

GG

Week 4: One down, two to go . . .

Hallo Füsters!

Periode I is officially behind us (to include the Polar Plunge; GG will miss the amazing videos of your suffering!) and on to Periode II and the introduction of Doppelt Schmerzenfüste game play! Let’s get it on!

• First and foremost, yes, Doppelts have arrived (go HERE to review the parameters)! What’s a Doppelt? It’s either two separate Singelt workouts (e.g. a run and a spin) or the completion of one single workout within the defined requirements of a true Doppelt (e.g. a Doppelt swim is 2500 yards; if you did two separate Singelt swims it would add up to 3000 yards so clearly completing a true Doppelt comes with a little benefit of reduced yardage . . . for some workouts, not all). Complete a Doppelt to score +2p for that day’s exercise!

• For Periode II, Week 4, the overall workout availability is a little different:

  • You must take one day off from exercise this week as a rest day. Doesn’t matter which day, totally up to you, but you must take one day off for recovery. For that day, on the DRT, you’ll just report exercise as a “Nope, I’m a lazy long dog” (for you unstoppable maniacs, this doesn’t mean you can’t exercise on that 7th day, it just means you won’t get any punkte for it . . . so do whatever you need to do).

  • For the six possible workout days during Week 4, three of them may be Doppelts. The rest must be Singelts.

  • Remember, completion of Doppelts is 100% voluntary. You can continue to just do Singelts everyday but you’ll fall behind in points pretty quickly.

• One important thing to note for Periode II exercise, if you’ve been using the “weighted” option for your daily walks/hikes, the new weight requirement is 20 pounds (up from 10). That’s right, you heard GG. You don’t get to rest on your Periode I accomplishments! It’s time to level up!

• New bonuses are available . . . remember, bonuses from Periode I are no longer valid (except for the Snow Angel, which is good till the Finalefüste). There’s one new bonus this week that will also be available through the end of the game: The Siegerfüste Allowance (Paid Event). Go HERE to review the available bonuses.

• The daily parameters for Homework have increased again (sensing a theme here?). Next weekend will be your “Mid Term” so hopefully you’ve been keeping up on things and haven’t let a Long Dog eat your homework.

• While were on the topic of next weekend, believe it or not, that’s the halfway point of the game and as such, you will have the option to take a "Cheat Day” on either Saturday or Sunday. That means (if you really want to), you can eat or drink anything you like, as well as laze around on the couch and do nothing at all for exercise. If you’re going to take this option, you must let GG know in advance which day you intend to get gross . . . and you’ll still score yourself all three daily points for the day!

• Fastentag #4 is tomorrow so don’t forget to keep away from your mouthhole until the sun sets!

• Two more big events this week as well:

  • If you made it all January without a single drop of alcohol, you’ll get to score yourself the Dry January Bonus when you report for the 31st!

  • Ground Hog Day is Friday and many of you know what that means: get ready to go in circles until you feel like you might be losing your mind (“Don’t drive angry!”). GHD is a one day bonus and only available this Friday.

• Some of you may have noticed there’s a pattern to GG’s daily responsiveness. Yes, he’s got a full time job just like you. So he tries to check his game phone in the AM and then again in the late afternoon and evenings but don’t be surprised if your question or comment goes unanswered during business hours. He does his best but he’s only one Grolarbär with a lot of responsibilities.

That’s it for tonight. Hope you all have a great Week 4 and finish the first half of Winterfüste strong! You’re all doing amazing work so keep it up! And even if you haven’t been performing to the level you hoped, you’ve got 6 more weeks to put that flank meat under duress which is plenty of time to do it some serious damage!

May the Füste be with you!
GG

Week 3: Closing out Periode I

Hallo Füsters!

Week 3 is nearly upon us and that means that game Periode I is coming to an end next Sunday, Jan. 28th (basically the first third of Winterfüste will have been completed!). As you move into Week 3, ask yourself if you’ve been performing to the level you had hoped and if not, time to double down. There’s still 7 weeks of the game left and that’s plenty of time to put a significant dent in your flank meat! If your game has slipped, time to re-engage for the win!

Updates:

• As game Periode I is ending next weekend, that means you have only this week to complete the following Individual Bonus Allowances: Parkenfüste #1, 3 in a Row aka Class Time, Wanderungfüste aka Climb #1 and most importantly the Polar Plunge (that’s right, this is your final week to get cold and wet and earn that big +5p personal bonus!). After this week, these four bonuses will disappear and will not be available during Periode II or III. And don’t forget there’s also the weekly Stairs and Long Winter Wog to take care of as well as a couple new bonuses just for Week 3. Go HERE to review what you can do to finish out Periode I in a position of power!

• Just a quick comment about Haus Bonuses . . . GG may not have made it clear but Haus bonuses play a little different then Individual bonuses. All weekly Haus bonuses are due by the end of that week! Unlike the Individual bonuses, there’s no carry over for any of the Haus Bonuses. For instance, Week 1 had Dekorationfüste as a Haus Bonus. That bonus was only good for Week 1 and did not carry forward to Week 2 or 3. This week there’s the Sponsorfüsten Haus bonus and it’s only available through next Sunday! The Haus bonus game is designed to be more immediate and contained week over week . . .

• We have a special bonus opportunity this week with the first full moon of 2024. Don’t make plans for the night of the 25th cause GG will have something for you to do after dark! More details coming later this week!

• And while we’re on the topic of special bonuses, you only have 10 days to go to earn that Dry January bonus so keep it together, Füsters! And just to remind yourself why you’re doing this, go ahead and palpate your liver (just stick your fingers up under the right side of your ribcage). Hey, look at that! The pain and swelling are gone and your overused liver is once again happy, pink and healthy! Imagine that!

• Homework parameters have gone up slightly again so get on those pushups, situps and squats! We’re not far from the Mid Term!

• For Scavenger Hunt #3, here’s your assignment: find a blue or white car (parked) and knock out 30 squats next to it. Send GG video proof to earn that bonuspunkte for your Haus!

• Fastentag #3 is tomorrow. No food from sun-up to sun-down . . . after that, only 6 more hangry days to go!

That’s it for now. Keep up the amazing work, Füsters! You guys are really killing it so far this Füste!

GG

Week 2: The one where you start to hit your stride . . .

Hallo Füsters!

You’ll be glad to hear that GG doesn’t have a lot for you tonight so he’ll keep this update short and to the point. Here goes:

• Tomorrow (Jan. 14th) is your second Fastentag of the game so clear liquids only from dawn to dusk.

• New bonuses are available on the Bonus page. Remember that some bonuses are only good for the week, others are good through the end of the Periode and the Snow Angel is good for the whole game. But you can only complete each bonus once (whether it’s once that week or once that Periode). Please make sure to read the rules associated with each Bonus so you don’t get confused when reporting on the DRT.

• You can earn your second card of your poker hand this week . . . check the Bonus page for more details!

Overall, GG is very happy with how this Füste event is going so far. While there’s been some mild hick-ups in reporting, overall things are going very smoothly. GG really appreciates that everyone is listening to GG’s feedback and being very pro-active in their gameplay. Thank you all so much!

Have a great Week 2 and may the Füste be with you!

GG

Week 1: The one where things start to get real . . .

Hallo Füsters!

Hope you all appreciated easing into Wintefüste during Week 0 but now it’s time to start ramping thing’s up! Here’s a brief summary of what’s coming your way in the AM:

• Right out the gate, tomorrow (Jan. 8th) is the first Fastentag of WF24. Yeah, you might have let it slip your mind but it’s here now and yours to suffer through. As a reminder: a Fastentag is a fasting day, no solid food, clear liquids only, starting at dawn and going to sunset (for NorCal that’s 05:35pm, for SoCal that’s 05:18pm and for those not in CA well, GG’s sure you can figure out when the sun goes down in your locale). You might know this concept under its currently fashionable label of “intermittent fasting” and it actually works pretty well. So every Monday for the next 9 weeks will be a Fastentag and you will be grumpy and irritable and hangry. Sounds great, right? Earn a +1p personal bonus for each successful Fastentag and +10p completion bonus if you knock out all 9!

• There are new bonuses, both individual Füster and Haus, available here. Pay close attention to assigned dates. Some bonuses are only available for their assigned Week and some are good through the end of that Periode (as a reminder, Week 1 starts tomorrow and is part of Periode I which goes to January 28th).

• Hausaufgaben (homework) starts tomorrow as well. For the neo-Füstes, “homework” is body weight conditioning (e.g. pushups, situps, etc.) meant to help you build some strength while you’re waging caloric war on your flank meat. This Füste we’re doing things a little differently and will be putting an end of the game goal out now so you know what you’re working towards. To earn the +10p Drachen Tail’s Bonus during Week 9, you must pass the Final Exam on March 9th by completing at least one of the following regimens:

  • 100 Pushups

  • 200 Situps

  • 300 Squatenfüste (or a comperably ugly Wall Holden; length to be determined later)

  The idea here is for you to have this waiting for you at the end of the game and that knowledge should drive you get your homework done each day. More to come here but for now you can go here to review this week’s homework.

Now for some feedback from Week 0 . . .

• Why might you be missing on the Bestenliste on any given night? Well, most likely it’s because you either forgot to report that day or GG missed you when he was manually inputting the 100+ Totemfüste names into the Bestenliste that evening. Usually it’s that you forgot to report but don’t worry, you’ll be back the next day no worse for the wear.

• While we’re on the topic of daily reporting . . . GG has to ask that if you accidentally put in two or more reports for the same day (or you even suspect this may have happened) that you let GG know so he can check your scoring sheet. For example, if you report off at 9am but then later you realize, krapfenfüste, I forgot to report the Long Winter Wog bonus so you enter a second report . . . well, that screws a lot of things up for GG. But if he knows in advance that you did that, he can go in and easily fix it. So, please be proactive with your communication around reporting issues as GG is always happy to correct any errors.

• GG has been seeing a lot of very confusing things on the STRAVA group feed. Please remember that in order to earn your exercise point, you need to complete a workout to the defined parameters on the website. That means if you’re going to do a walk, you need to walk all four miles, unless your weighted. And if you are weighted, please make a note on STRAVA, either in the workout title itself (“Weighted Walk!”) or in the little note section below the title where it says “How’d it go?”. This will be a huge help for GG. Also, if you’re going to do your Long Winter Wog bonus all by itself, please note that in the title as well (otherwise GG sees you doing a very short walk or run, which doesn’t meet the criteria for a point). Also, remember that all home or gym based workouts are required to be one hour and you must provide heart rate data to that effect. A home or gym workout can be a combination of different things (e.g. 10 minutes of jump rope, 30 min HIIT segment, 15 min weight work, 5 min stretching) but it must add up to 60 minutes or it doesn’t earn you the point. Basically, you need to pay strict attention to the daily workout requirements. Go here to review. And if you ever have a question about what you’re doing, just hit up GG to get some guidance. And lastly, a workout CANNOT be broken up over the day. That means that a 5K run is done all at once . . . or a four mile walk . . . or 15 mile bike ride. You cannot do half in the AM and then half later in the day. It’s all or nothing when it comes to Schmerzenpunkte!

• Bonus game play has been a bit of an issue too. The biggest mistake being made is around frequency. Each bonus may only be taken ONCE each week or Periode (as defined on the bonus page). Example, the 1 mile Long Winter Wog from Week 0. You were allowed to earn that once last week. If you took it more than once (i.e. you scored yourself that bonus on Tue, Wed, and Thur), then GG has gone back and erased those extra points. The bonus descriptions are very specific about when and how often you might complete a specfic bonus. For instance, this week you can do the 20 flights of stairs one time. You can do the 2 mile Long Winter Wog one time etc. etc.

• While we’re on the topic of bonuses, please note that GG has cancelled the “Class Time” bonus for WF24 and replaced it with something else. All details are on the bonus page for your review.

• For those very few players not using an iPhone, GG has relaunched his Whatsapp account so that you can send video and pictures through that app. Please use Whatsapp only for video and pics though and communicate everything else through normal text to GG’s phone (GG will just suffer the green text bubbles, it’s fine). GG does not have a good process to check Whatsapp on a regular basis and so if you’re using that as your sole way of communicating with GG, you’re going to be frustrated with delayed responses.

Alright, Füsters. That’s plenty for Week 1. Keep up the good work, get your exercise done each day and leave that mouth hole alone! We’re on this journey together and GG’s very excited to see what you can accomplish this Füste!

GG

WILLKOMMEN TO THE STARTENFÜSTE!

Hallo Füsters!

GG’s aware you’re probably on information overload after perusing the WF24 Rule Book and Quick Start Guide (for the Neo-Füstes) but as tomorrow’s the start of Winterfüste, GG just wanted to touch base and set you up for success . . .

• Remember, nothing to do tomorrow but play the game. Stay away from your mouth hole, get outside and exercise (for those in NorCal, you might want to plan on a morning workout as rain is supposed to start after noon). First report off to GG using your Daily Reporting Tool is due on Wednesday by noon.

• Week 0 has few bonus opportunities so you can concentrate on easing into things. But that’s not to say there’s nothing extra to do. You can start your Stairs training with 10 flights and your Long Winter Wog with a one mile run or walk or anything in between. On the Haus side of the game, you can earn your first card of the Poker Run by simply turning in your Startenfüste Assessment and weigh-in (more on that below) . . . and you can always score bonuspunkte for your Haus if you happen to be lucky enough to see a long dog in the wild! You can click here to go direct to the Bonus page if needed.

• Click here for the link to the Startenfüste Assessment. This is required on Day 1 as it will set a number of the parameters that each Füster will work with for the game.

• Don’t forget to weigh-in first thing in the morning and then send GG a pic of the scale (if your feet are on it, please, for the love of Gott, wear socks . . . ). You’ll want this number to compare with on the Finalefüste cause it should be at least 15-20 points lighter.

• If you didn’t notice in the Rule Book, The Füste is now going to be broadcasting from a new app called “Threads”. It’s basically Facebook’s take on Twitter and all you need is your Instragram log-in info to get on board. Search of GGROLAR or The Füste. GG will be using this as the primary nightly communication venue.

Okay, that’s more than enough for tonight. GG’s happy you’re here and he’s looking forward to the amazing things you’re going to accomplish over the next 9 weeks of Winterfüste! Have a great night and we’ll catch you in the AM for the Startenfüste!

May the Füste be ever with you!
GG