Endurance II

[Takeda Shingen]

It seems the soldiers in your camp are still soft. Your lordship wishes to change this! This time, a distance running course has been set up as a form of endurance training for the men. But this is going to be a different kind of running course, as it will put your physical prowess to the test, as the course runs through a forest, up a river, even climbing up a small nearby mountain, and twists and turns at random points. Those who can make it the farthest will be rewarded!

Objective: You must run a distance course with full body weighted gear on. Your lord is watching! You must reach at least 20m, if you want to look good!

Rewards: Up to +3 Con

Prerequisites: 15 Con. You must have completed Endurance Training.

Location: Any forest, river, and mountain in your faction's country.

[Sanada Yukimura]

Despite his men's previous success at proving their stamina, Lord Shingen still was not convinced they had toughened up, and as such, had commanded them to complete another training exercise, this one putting everyone's physical prowess to the test, including Yukimura's. A distance running course having been set up that ran throughout Kofu, standing at the entrance of a forest, which marked the start of the course, Yukimura's face was set as tough as flint, more so because of the full-body weighted gear that was mandatory, not to mention sitting and watching nearby, his banner fluttering gently in the wind, was Lord Shingen. Already feeling the effects of the full-body weighted gear on him, as soon as he was told to start, Yukimura would take off at a controlled and regulated pace. If he tried to move as fast he could to get it over with faster, he would tire himself out, and end up not getting far at all. Starting out through the forest, though he nearly fell over as soon as he started moving, after a few minutes of moving along the forest path, he grew somewhat adjusted to the weight, though he was sure even a light breeze would knock him over.

After reaching about 10 meters along the course, with wooden signs stuck in the ground every 10 meters along the course, to mark the distance traveled, already Yukimura felt like dropping straight to the ground from exhaustion, but if he gave up now, not only would he disappoint Lord Shingen, but he would be disappointed in himself, for giving in so quickly. With renewed determination, he would soldier on, and after a long, agonizing 10 minutes or so, with the path twisting through the forest every so often, causing his muscles to scream at him in agony, eventually he reached the 20 meter mark, but would not stop there, and continue onwards, and another agonizing 10 minutes later, reached the 25 meter mark. Proceeding to the river at a quick but steady pace, he would cautiously dip on foot into the river, to literally test the waters out. Thankfully the temperature wasn't bone-chilling, and the current wasn't as fast as he thought it would be, and he would proceed to wade into the river and make his way upstream, though this would be no easy task by any means.

Remaining focused on the task at hand, it wasn't easy the first time he had been commanded to go upstream through a river, and it certainly wasn't any easier the second time, and each step taken felt like a mile. The height of the river and the current wasn't helping either, as it started out at his knees, and had steadily risen to his his thighs, and it felt like he was fighting against Ryujin, the God of the Sea himself with this current. Though the remaining three quarters of the river were absolutely exhausting, with the halfway point of the river marked with a 45 meter sign, but with each step taken, the mountain path drew closer and closer in sight. By the time he reached the final stretch of the river, his entire body, particularly his arms,and legs, were on fire and ached, and he just wanted to curl up into a ball and die, but the end of the river marked the 60 meter mark, and he would trudge onward. Once out of the river, Yukimura felt much better, but he was done. As much as he wanted to prove he was capable of getting up the mountain path, he just couldn't run any further, and would collapse in front of the mountain path, his breaths ragged, as he just laid there completely exhausted, and after regaining some strength back, would stick a small banner with the six coin crest of his family on it into the ground at the 60 meter sign, to mark the distance he managed to cover, before picking himself up and make his way back home.

[Mōri Motonari]

Sanada Yukimura: +3 Con

[Yamabara Shou]

Shou looked out into the distance ahead of him. Basic poles with flag on them lay out on the landscape ahead of him. Well this wasn't going to be too hard. Yeah it looked like it was a long way, but he was used to long distance running. It didn't even really tired him out these days. This was going to be a breeze and out of the men gathered to do the task he was easily going to be on of those at the fore front of the event. Well, hopefully he wasn't going to show any one up too badly. A slightly smug expression on his face. 

Turning back, suddenly something came up, that seriously brought his mood down with a crash. The men gathered ready to under go the task seemed to be putting on weights. Surprising him, Yamada Hideki came up beside him. "Here your set Yamabara-san." Yamada said dropping a armful of weights in front of Shou. "Damn." Shou simply muttered to himself. No one had told him about the weights. All of his confidence that he would breeze through this drained away. However a small amount clung on. He was still a lot stronger then most of the men here, with his own gear. "Oh and Lord Shingen, told me to give three times the weight to those of decent ability." Yamada explained placing a hand on Shou's shoulder. "Sorry." He added with a smile, making Shou grunt annoyed. The way Yamada said that no doubt meant that he wasn't going to be carrying more weight then the rest of these lot, and still would look bad if he didn't preform just as well if not better then them. Who wants a courier that a normal solider could out pace. Wouldn't be very good at keeping messages safe would they. Shou crouched down, and slowly put on the weight he had been given. He wasn't sure how much they weighed but it was differently a lot. Enough to over power his near perfect endurance when it came to running. "Damn it." He muttered once more, angrily pulling the ring he knew normally helped him run long distances, off. With this among of weight on it would doing a single thing to help. 

Dragging his heavy body to the start of the course, Shou made off at a jog once he was ready. He let other, pass him. There was no reason to try and out pace them. It was all about how far he could go not how quickly. And at the speed that some ran off at he knew that they would tired after the first 20 meters. Even if they were carrying less then he was. The first leg of the course was simple, while not flat ground, it wasn't steep and even jogging Shou managed to stay ahead of quite a few people. He got into the rhythm of it, making use of the simpler part of the course to conserve energy to tackle the rest of it. 

Eventually though the simple part of the course came to a end. The not too uneven ground of the forest, opened up into a river. Flags ahead quite clearly pointing out that they had to go through it, but high banks meaning that they would have to run up it against the current for a bit before they could come out again. "Damn It!" This time it was a shout, in order to keep his blood pumping. HE really, really was starting to get sick of Takeda training always ending up with him getting wet. Nevertheless, Shou jogged into the water, before letting the power he had been holding back out. Powering forward against the current's as hard as he could he managed to make distance while not easily, it was quickly. That was what he was aiming for. The quicker he got through the river, the better. Long times fighting against the water and weight would be much worse then using that bit of extra energy to cut the time down. 

Breaking out the water the other side. Shou unlike training and task of the past. Didn't wring the water out from his clothes. The extra weight compared to what he was already wearing wasn't that much. Plus it would mean either stopping, or wasting energy trying to lift his arms weights included and do it while running. HE felt better putting up with the little bit extra weight, plus the coldness it brought was actually quite refreshing compared to the burning feeling of heat from all the activity and exertion.

Shou could see the final hurdle.  The flags would go up the bank of the river, and head towards a steep, steep path up the side of the mountain that the river also went up. Taking a quick look back, Shou would see just how far that he had come, as well as those who had already given up behind him. Ahead where some who had managed to do better then him. However looking at what they wore, it seemed they were some of those to have lesser weights then him. Shou wouldn't stand for the embarrassment. He train constantly to be the best in order to serve his lord. And that was what he was going to do. Using all of the energy he had left. He pushed himself to a full out sprint. A impressive feat, considering the weight. Chest heaving, panted breaths, and burning legs. Filled him, but pain was not a barrier. It would not be to him. Shou would tear passed those who managed to be ahead of him. Unknowingly screaming from the sheer amount of effort he was putting in to out do them. Even causing one of the to fall to the floor out of sudden shock. Ending with a almost falling dive, he let himself roll across the ground of what was a plateau on the mountain, and pass the last flag of the course. 

[Mōri Motonari]

Yamabara Shou: +3 Con