Happy Monday, Fitness Warriors -

I hope you had a restful day today.

Please remember that your logs for the first week are due to me by 3 PM tomorrow (Tuesday). Either Kevin and I will then do the maths and makes sure that the info gets to Judy Leitz, our High Overlord of Employee Fitness, by 5 PM. It helps us a lot if we don't have to chase you down, and on foot, I doubt I could catch most of you anyway.

It's a busy week and I'm sorry to say that some of the events for the week transpired today, on our day off. So, starting with tomorrow:

2/14: Healthy Potluck or walk two miles with your team: 3 points. I will be walking / light jogging after school at 3 PM if anyone would like to join me. :) I am going to ask Judy if we can move the Healthy Potluck later in the week - say, Thursday. What say you, teammates?

2/14: CVT Health Screening from 10-3 at JFK. 5 points; contact your benefit specialist to make an appointment. I will work with my classroom staff to accommodate participation if possible.

2/15: CVT Health Screening, 9-2, at H Street. Same deal as the entry for 2/14, above.

2/16: Walk a mile at lunch! With weather, this could be a exercise room / NordicTrak style day; let's play it by ear.

2/17: Wear a SCOE Fitness Challenge T-Shirt - 1 point

Looking around for an article to link, I came across this. Our work is inherently stressful and it's difficult to build in time for decompression. Think hard about how you can make changes; I know I will.

See you tomorrow!

Cap'n Jason

Totally Unfair

Fitness warriors -

A couple of quick updates (thanks, Tommy, for the info):

Team t-shirts can be ordered here; SCOE Fitness Challenge shirts can be ordered here.

A great resource for your daily article (my favorite fitness activity!) can be found at Runner's World, here.

Did anyone remember / manage to hit the site walkaround today? If not, I am willing to authorize an alternative walkaround day this Wednesday from 10:00 - noon. If there is any blowback from the Fitness Challenge overlords for this change, I will take full responsibility for whatever happens to Kevin when I blame him.

Oh, and runners - no messing with the timeline, k?

-Cap'n Jason

Life is Good!

Greetings, Fitness Warriors! Welcome to the 2017 SCOE Fitness Challenge!

Kevin and I will be your team captains this year. As an agile man in tights once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." Or maybe it was his uncle that said that. In any case, we aim to inspire and encourage you as we move forward, making your participation as rewarding as possible.

After extensive negotiations with the SCOE Fitness Challenge Leadership team, Kevin and I have conceded that it's not in the best interests of our team to reward our weekly high-scorers with donuts and cigarettes. Apparently we've been "defeating the purpose" of the activity and "causing more harm than good". We didn't even tell them about the bacon - they seemed pretty upset and I started to worry that maybe that hadn't been the best idea, either.

Anyway!

All joking aside, we really like the theme for this year's Fitness Challenge: "Life is Good". Embedded in this challenge is another challenge: "Make it good for others". Like nesting dolls, these challenges! Still...what a great idea to build a team around. We know that an attitude of gratitude can act as the foundation upon which a happy, healthy life can be built. In a world where so many have so little, we have so much to be grateful for. I know that I count each of you among the many blessings that make my life good. Thank you all for being part of our team! Let's make it awesome. :)

Weekly exercise logs are due to Kevin or me by Monday at 3:00 PM every week (or 3:00 on Tuesday if Monday is a holiday). You all know the drill. The form can be downloaded here; alternatively we will endeavor to keep hard copies available for team members in DHH2.

The list of eligible activities and point values can be found here.

The calendar of SCOE-sanctioned activities can be found here.

For this week, there are a few highlights to be aware of:

Monday, February 6th: Staff Walk-Around, 10:00 AM, 2 extra points plus points for miles walked.

Wednesday, February 8th: Change Management boot camp, 10-12 (register) or 2-4 (register). I will excuse individuals to attend on a first-come, first-serve basis as possible. 10 points!!

Friday, February 10th: Wear a Fitness Challenge t-shirt to work. 1 extra point.

February 7th-11th: Walk 10,000 steps in a single day, as measured on a pedometer. One time only, 1 extra point.

That's it for now - check back soon for more information, or post with any questions or concerns that you may have!

Regards,

Cap'n Jason