2013 New Year's Challenge v. the 10,000 mile proposition

[Ħ]

Sup mates.


Now I know not all y'all are New Year's Resolutions people. And even of those that make resolutions, studies show that only 12% of resolutions succeed. But there exists an excellent countermeasure to falling behind, and that is working together with others toward your common goal. 


That is why this year I'd like to extend my own resolution challenge to DTF. During the year of 2013, I would like to run 1000 cumulative miles. Though it seems like a lot, it's very doable - a little less that 3 miles per day. By the end of it, I know I'll be in much better shape.


I invite you to join me on this journey. Here's the challenge - 10,000 miles from DTF.


You can change the quality and course of your life in just a year. Think of all the benefits that come with being healthy. You feel better, look better, are significantly less prone to obesity-related diseases. Not to mention the psychological benefits! With a year's dedication, you'll enjoy all those benefits for many years to come.


Not all of you may be into running as your exercise outlet. You might be into biking or swimming, or other cardio machines like stairclimber and elliptical. Some of you might be starting out in great shape, some might not be.


The way I was thinking this would work is that this thread could serve as a log book for all of us. Each time you run/bike/swim/whatever, you'd post both your mileage for the day and the cumulative DTF total. A mile in your shoes is a mile on the bike is a mile in the water (but not a mile in the car ). By the end of the year, if we have just a few committed members, we can surely reach 10,000 miles.
So...who's in? 

[rumborak]

Weren't you also the one who wanted to read the Bible in a year? IIRC that effort never went past a quarter of it.

3 miles a day is pretty unfeasible IMHO. That's a 5k, every day of the year.

[Ħ]

[theseoafs]

H has a point.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

This is not a totally awful idea....
I like running but haven't done it in a while so this my be the trigger i need. I'm in!! 

For us km friendly folks it's 16093km to be precisly....*Sigh

[Ħ]

Weren't you also the one who wanted to read the Bible in a year? IIRC that effort never went past a quarter of it.

3 miles a day is pretty unfeasible IMHO. There's this thing called life that gets in the way.

OK. To respond seriously,

1) The BIAY thing actually lasted quite a while. I think we made it to June. And some of us did keep to it. While it didn't stay hot past the first three or four months, it was a solid community effort IMO.

2) 3 miles running a day is for me, but not necessarily everyone else. You bike, right? So if you biked 10 miles or whatever, you could add it to the cumulative total. And you don't have to shoot for a certain goal, just add to the community total as best you can.

[rumborak]

Just FYI, the most common reason for failed New Year's resolutions is an unrealistic goal.
Why not try to run a cumulative marathon (44km) per month or something?

[Ħ]

Just FYI, the most common reason for failed New Year's resolutions is an unrealistic goal.
Why not try to run a marathon (44km) per month or something?

10,000 miles for all of DTF is pretty realistic, IMO. We already have some pretty fitness-ey people here, and with a collective effort, this is very doable.

44km on one day a month is MUCH worse than a mere 5k each day. There's an enormous amount of training that goes into that, not to mention marathons basically break you down to your core and immobilize you for weeks. I suppose it depends on your experience level, though. 5k/day is good for me, as I already run more than that anyway.

[rumborak]

Cumulative. Not the 44k on one day.

But, feel free to do what you want obviously.  The only other thing is that you're treating a bike mile the same as a run mile. I did a quick napkin calculation just now, and I easily ride 1,000 miles per year through my commute and errands.

[Ħ]

The only other thing is that you're treating a bike mile the same as a run mile. I did a quick napkin calculation just now, and I easily ride 1,000 miles per year through my commute and errands.

You're right, that might be a problem. Let's see how many people are interested and then we can work out conversions and things like that. I'm thinking something like 1 "swimming mile" = 2 "running/other cardio mile" = 4 "biking miles". Something like that.

On the other hand, if there aren't enough participants, perhaps 1 bike mile should be equivalent to 1 running mile so we can reach our goal. So what if you biked 1000 miles? You still made a very healthy decision. Surely that counts as exercise.

[rumborak]

If you want to create a "common currency" between running and biking,  I would suggest looking up the calorie equivalent of a run mile. After all, that's what it is about in the end, right?

[Ħ]

Right. Well, based on that, a 2:1 ratio is right. Not sure how swimming plays into it. Well, are you in Rumborak? According to your commute mileage, you'd already contribute 500 miles.

[Heretic]

I think if you made it 500 miles per person, it'd probably be a bit more realistic-- you've got to count days of horrid weather, tragedies, busy days, sick days, etc. You can't just count on being able to run a 5k every day, and trust me, I'm a cross country runner, so I don't think 5k runs are hard at all, but they are time consuming, and being a college student with tons of exams and projects, it's just a bit unrealistic to be able to find the time to do that much running every day. One mile a day? Sure, easy. If you get sick or can't do it, you could just pick a day to run however many miles that you missed.

[JayOctavarium]

I already can walk anywhere from 3 - 10 miles a day at work  depending on the situation... Does that count? (I can't really log them though )

[Cedar redaC]

I'll be doing plenty of walking soon. I'll be going on an LDS mission next summer and I'm sure that I'll be walking or riding a bike a lot.

[Ħ]

I think if you made it 500 miles per person, it'd probably be a bit more realistic-- you've got to count days of horrid weather, tragedies, busy days, sick days, etc. You can't just count on being able to run a 5k every day, and trust me, I'm a cross country runner, so I don't think 5k runs are hard at all, but they are time consuming, and being a college student with tons of exams and projects, it's just a bit unrealistic to be able to find the time to do that much running every day. One mile a day? Sure, easy. If you get sick or can't do it, you could just pick a day to run however many miles that you missed.

Hm perhaps I should clarify. There's not an X miles/person type of goal. One person might get 2000 miles on the bike, another might decide to jump on the ship at the end of next year and only get 300 miles. But both would be added to the DTF total. So every little bit from each person helps.

To clarify even further, there are no sign-ups or anything like that. Just update the total if you feel like contributing, even if it's only 20 miles or whatever. That means that there is no commitment for any individual per se. This thread is merely a "post your workout" thread, only we are adding up our miles.

[Ħ]

I already can walk anywhere from 3 - 10 miles a day at work  depending on the situation... Does that count? (I can't really log them though )

Yeah, I think so. One mile walking is a little less intense than one mile running, but they're close enough to be equivalent, IMO.

[lonestar]

Cool, you can add my five miles a day to it too. Walking that is.

[JayOctavarium]

I already can walk anywhere from 3 - 10 miles a day at work  depending on the situation... Does that count? (I can't really log them though )

Yeah, I think so. One mile walking is a little less intense than one mile running, but they're close enough to be equivalent, IMO.

I'll dig out my pedometer and try to get an average distance per day over a week or so and report back with that. (or will just add in my numbers if I just remember to bring it with me every day )

[kári]

I bike at least 1500 km per year just to get around.

[jsem]

I can easily do a 60km ride, but running a similar distance would be much more difficult... I can easily do 10,000 miles = 17,000 km ish? of bike riding on my own 2013, and probably will. But whatever, I'll be in on this challenge.

[ReaperKK]

Weren't you also the one who wanted to read the Bible in a year? IIRC that effort never went past a quarter of it.

3 miles a day is pretty unfeasible IMHO. That's a 5k, every day of the year.

I did the Bible in a year 2 years ago, got 3/4 of the way there.


I don't think I could do 3 mile a day run, I just don't have time for that but I should set up some fitness goals this year. I already work out but I want something more.

[Sigz]

I walk between 12 and 20 miles a week just in commuting, so that at least 240 miles for the year.

I need to start getting more cardio exercise in though, simply for health reasons.

[Perpetual Change]

I walk between 12 and 20 miles a week just in commuting, so that at least 240 miles for the year.

I need to start getting more cardio exercise in though, simply for health reasons.

Yup, especially since point one stopped being true for me too when I moved back to the states.

[JayOctavarium]

I downloaded an app to track my routes when I walk.

[lonestar]

I downloaded an app to track my routes when I walk.

What's the name of it?

[crazyaga]

I'm all chubby and horrible at sports. so count me in....
ill try to do 2km per day... (though I probably wont stand it)

[JayOctavarium]

I downloaded an app to track my routes when I walk.

What's the name of it?

My Tracks. It's made by google

[Jirpo]

I run 6-7k a day where possible (ends up being 5ish days a week), I'm in

[jsem]

Where is this going to be logged and how?

[rumborak]

I downloaded an app to track my routes when I walk.

What's the name of it?

My Tracks. It's made by google

MyTracks is cool, but also very basic. For workout logging I rather use Endomodo.