Measurements

Good evening, fitness warriors -

A couple of quick tidbits. First, please make sure that you weigh yourself and take weigh measurements - tonight, if possible, or tomorrow morning at the latest. Write these numbers down and set them aside; we will measure again and record at the end of the four weeks. 

It seems worth mentioning that your weight is likely to fluctuate over the course of the challenge, and you may actually gain in the first couple of weeks as you increase water intake and start adding muscle. Try not to feel discouraged - we're aiming for better health and long-term results above all else.

Next: Please feel free to identify and read health and wellness articles that interest you; I will try to provide links as often as possible with a focus on mind / body health. My first suggestion can be found here.

Finally: Tommy had provided updated links for the RunDHH t-shirts over on Zazzle: here and here. I will update the original post as well. 

Good luck everyone! Remember the walkabout tomorrow and I hope to see you there!

Jason

To Serve Man

Pop quiz:

How many Fitness Challenge points will the T-Rex depicted above earn for catching and consuming the fleeing human?

Some points for discussion:

1) Do we classify this as "Run/Jog", or "Other Fitness Activity"?

2) Is the "Junk Food" penalty incurred?

3) Does the human contain less than 20 grams of saturated fat?

4) Does the human contain 25 grams of fiber or more?

5) Does the human contain less than 2300 mg of sodium?

Welcome back, team Run DHH!

I am actually feeling excited about the challenge this year. I personally have a number of bad health habits that I'd like to tackle, and I always find that it's much easier to make these changes with the support of a team. :) Just as I will look to you for support (and patience, doubtless, as I cut back on the caffeine), I hope to be able to offer you all some support, encouragement and inspiration, as well.

Please subscribe to this blog via email (if you haven't already) - on the main blog page, check the right hand column, near the top. This will be my primary means of communicating with the group. If you have any questions or requests of me, please either post comments here for the benefit of the group or try to grab me in person at work. You can also reach me via telephone / text at (209) 613-9977. My work email is jgillespie@stancoe.org.

If you think you would like to get together with other team members for workouts, running or other activities, let me know and I will try to get a "directory" together for the team.

The theme for this year's Fitness Challenge is "LIFE IS GOOD". I challenge you all to make life good for your teammates. This comes naturally to all of you, I think. Go out of your way to make it happen. We are strong together.

Some important links:

SCOE Fitness Challenge 2016 Home 

SCOE Fitness Challenge Point Record Form

(blank forms can be found in my classroom, below the Fitness Challenge poster)

SCOE Fitness Challenge Events Calendar

SCOE T-Shirt Orders

"RunDHH" T-Shirt Orders - link coming soon (?)

WEEK ONE

I welcome your ideas for a team activity for the first week - we can earn 2 points each for participating in a team-building, "Life is Good" activity during the first week!

Monday:

Walk-Around 10:00 - 11:45 AM. We will stagger this to provide coverage for interpreters who wish to participate. Kids from both classrooms are welcome to join us on this walk. Rain or shine!

Wednesday:

Working to get a copy of the Zumba video for on-site viewing. :)

Friday:

• Complete Fitness Challenge survey (mandatory)
 • Wear either a Fitness Challenge shirt, something red ("Heart Healthy"), or a college logo
        (mandatory)
• 11:30 - 2:00 - free chair massage at H Street. I will work with Cheryl on this; would like for everyone to have an opportunity to attend.

All score sheets due to me by 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning, February 9.

Good luck, everyone! I'm here if you have any questions or if I can support you in any way.

-Cap'n Jason

Failure: It Surrounds You

Sorry, team, for the lack of updates over the past several days. I'll try to do better moving forward.

Tommy provided a useful link to Runner's World, where you can find a lot of low-hanging fruit helpful and informative articles about running that will not only improve your life and make you a better human being, but which will also earn you your daily article-reading points.

We're moving into the final week and I wanted to encourage everyone (myself included) - make this one count. Watch your diet, park your car farther from the classroom / store every day, run and play with the kids whenever possible.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Cap'n Jason

Week One results

Fitness Warriors -

Our point totals for the first week have been submitted. I will confess that, much as I feared, my own scores have been an anchor around our collective neck for this first week. I will strive to do better moving forward.

Total average points for Week One: 75. Our two powerhouse players this week were Tommy and Marion, with most other team members putting in a solid effort as well.

I'll continue to try posting an article a day so we can each pick up a few extra points. Click here for a link on managing work-related stress. 

I contacted Judy at SCOE to ask about the absence of our team name from the website. She responded that she's been out with the flu and apologizes for the delay, but assures me that it will get straightened out as soon as possible. 

Keep up the great work! - Cap'n Jason

Exercise prevents oldness!

Here's your fitness article for the weekend.

Tommy also posted a link to a RunDMC video on YouTube:

Fair warning: the video is so 1980s that you might feel an urge to dress in neon and wear loosely-laced white high-top sneakers. Also, there was an unskippable advertisement for a very scary movie when I clicked on the link. So, two scary things. ;)

Tommy reports that our team is not yet listed on the SCOE website, although I submitted our roster on time and received a confirmation email. I'm worried that our names might have been left out of the drawings last week for a Fitbit watch and free goodies from the health fair. :( I will keep everyone updated.

Please get timesheets in to me by 10 AM tomorrow. Thanks!

Friday Bulletin

Friday, February 5th

Today's Article - Clicky Clicky!

WELCOME FITNESS WARRIORS!

For the next month, we’ll be working together to better ourselves while publicly shaming the other teams who dare to compete against us. J

I will endeavor to share a fitness / exercise-related article with you each day; if you come across any gems that you’d like me to share, please let me know!

Special Notices:

Tommy has created an awesome RunDHH shirt for us using the old RunDMC logo - it's available for purchase here:

Zazzle Shirt Order

SCOE has their own fitness challenge shirts available for sale here.

• Friday, February 6

Wear a SCOE Fitness T-Shirt (from previous years OK) or red for Heart Health Day - 1 pt.

• Friday, February 10

Self-defense class from 12:00-1:00 PM at H Street (Patterson Rm) - 1 pt.

Captain's goals:

Please make sure I have contact email / text phone # for all team members by the end of the day. Also, I strongly encourage you to fill out your point sheets daily – from past experience, I’ve learned that it can be very hard to remember if you let it slide for a day or two.

Thanks guys! Support each other and let’s rock this thing!

Cap’n Jason

Let's Get This Show on the Road!

Hello teammates!

I've set up this blog in the hopes of "centralizing" information for the 2015 Fitness Challenge and making sure that I get everyone the information they need in a timely fashion. Please note that you don't have to visit this page every day in order to get updates; just "follow" the blog using the links to the right and any new information added here will be sent to you directly via email. 

For starters, it seemed a good idea to provide you with some links:

2015 Fitness Challenge Home Page

2015 Fitness Challenge Forms

I would encourage everyone to take the time to explore both of these links - most of the common questions regarding scoring, etc. are answered here. 

It is my hope to provide daily links to informative health and fitness related articles (easy points!) online, as well as reminders about upcoming events. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions by responding to blog posts. The more we all participate, the more fun it is likely to be. :)

Good luck everyone! Remember that your first score sheets are due in to me no later than 10 AM on Monday, February 9th.

-Jason