2013 Holiday Running Challenge!

[Parrot Head]

I'm in, but I'm not expecting as much this year as I have no race kicking off the new year to train for. And wasn't there discussion a year or two ago on equivalency of running and riding and I thought the suggested conversion was 8:1 riding:running and in this thread, we've seen 4:1 and 3:1 and it's at 3.5:1 now. And in case there's any confusion, I added an "El" to the beginning of my moniker on the spreadsheet.

[Moliere]

General Guidelines
There's been a number of questions on what to count and what not to count as far as the spreadsheet goes. This is a fitness challenge and the goal of it is to get people out/up and moving during a time of the year that exercise sometimes gets pushed to the side or totally forgotten. If we get everyone doing something fitness wise then the main goal of the challenge is reached. The second goal is to compete against each other (in a friendly manner) so as to make it more motivating and interesting. At the end of the day it's really a personal choice on what to count and what not to count, but I figured I'd give some general guidelines on what might be acceptable/not acceptable.
- Everything has to be trackable in miles and/or meters. We aren't doing calories or minutes or hours or joules. If you have a smartphone then you likely have a gps that can track your distance. There are plenty of free apps out there and many work very well.

Running
- Anytime you are running would be acceptable to count including long distance, sprints, races, speed work, etc.
- I'd also count walking, especially the way happyone walks. Walking is very good exercise, it just takes longer to get in the same miles as running
- I wouldn't count all the walking we do in a day. This means getting up and going to the fridge, printer, store, whatever is not really the goal of the challenge as you would do that anyway as part of your day.
- CJF's post about counting his walking would probably be fine because he's taking a conscious effort to be more active and has a baseline against which he can measure the increase in activity. It sounds like a lot of work to track but if it gets him doing more walking/running than he does on a typical day then by all means count it.
- I'd personally not count just the regular walking done during the day (the 1.5 miles CJF is backing out) mainly because we probably all walk around the same distance so having one person count it and another not count it would seem off. If you make a conscious effort to walk/run more (like CJF) then by all means count the extra miles. However, if you feel like you should count all miles walked during the day then that is your decision.
- Treadmill miles are definitely fine, although I'd prefer running in freezing rain as opposed to the dreadmill.
- Football, basketball, baseball, softball, cricket, soccer, volleyball, and whatever other kind of sport are out. Sorry but the line has been drawn at triathlon type sports and I've never seen a guy dribbling a basketball while running the final leg of a tri.
- Parkour? Sure I guess if you are tracking miles but no extra points for flips.

Cycling
- Road/Mountain/City cycling are all great and fine
- Trainer/exercise bike should be fine as well as long as the resistance and distance are all pretty close to what you'd experience on the road.
- Spin classes? I have no idea if they track miles but as far as I'm concerned you should count it. I walk by a spin class everytime I swim and those poor bastards look like they are all going to kill over so I figure it must be tough.
- Family bike ride around the neighborhood where you stop and chat up the neighbors? Sure, count it.

Swimming
- Lap and open water swimming are definitely in.
- Messing around at the neighborhood pool is not in.
- Running in 100% humidity doesn't count as swimming even if it feels like swimming
- Waterslides don't count as swimming

Other items that are generally out
- Weightlifting
- Dancing
- Pilates
- Stretching
- Sex (unless it's on a moving tandem bike in which case you can count the miles as cycling)
- Jumping rope
- Climbing up the walls

Hope this helps. Like I said, I think we'd prefer that more people participate rather than less people so count what you think should count.

[ERCougar]

I don't want to open a huge discussion on this, but just noting that in the past, we've had a different multiplier for mountain biking, which is the only kind of biking I'll be doing for this (I'm not driving south to road bike, ugh...) I usually end up averaging in the 7-8 mph range, but of course that would be all over the place, depending on what people consider "mountains". I think 2:1 is more fair, but I'll just use the road multiplier if you want to avoid the discussion. At the very least, I get to explain why I have a bunch of what would otherwise be wimpy 10 mile rides logged.

[Moliere]

I don't want to open a huge discussion on this, but just noting that in the past, we've had a different multiplier for mountain biking, which is the only kind of biking I'll be doing for this (I'm not driving south to road bike, ugh...) I usually end up averaging in the 7-8 mph range, but of course that would be all over the place, depending on what people consider "mountains". I think 2:1 is more fair, but I'll just use the road multiplier if you want to avoid the discussion. At the very least, I get to explain why I have a bunch of what would otherwise be wimpy 10 mile rides logged.

Well, I'd say the first reason to not use a different multiplier is that the challenge is more aligned with triathlons instead of just cycling, so road biking should take precedence. The second reason would be having to change the spreadsheet and finding someway to differentiate between road and mountain biking. It can be done but I don't want to do it.

I don't mind having a discussion around it and you bring up a good point.

[ERCougar]

Well, I'd say the first reason to not use a different multiplier is that the challenge is more aligned with triathlons instead of just cycling, so road biking should take precedence. The second reason would be having to change the spreadsheet and finding someway to differentiate between road and mountain biking. It can be done but I don't want to do it.

I don't mind having a discussion around it and you bring up a good point.

Eh...don't worry about it. Not worth discussing. I mostly just wanted to get my excuse out ahead of time.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[creekster]

Well, I'd say the first reason to not use a different multiplier is that the challenge is more aligned with triathlons instead of just cycling, so road biking should take precedence. The second reason would be having to change the spreadsheet and finding someway to differentiate between road and mountain biking. It can be done but I don't want to do it.

I don't mind having a discussion around it and you bring up a good point.

Having not been part of this before, I don't want to overstep my bounds, but I think the triathlon model is pretty good. Three aerobic sports. All realte to mileage. Very simple to do. That said, this is all honor system, so if you want to apply a multiplier to your mountain biking miles because they are harder, then go ahead and do it. But why cheat on some thing like this?

I think we should treat this like tithing settlement. You just put down the miles. The truth of it is between you and the Lord.

[Pheidippides]

SHW is in. I told her she had to post to be in and she said she would post that she is in and maybe nothing else. Baby steps.

[PaloAltoCougar]

SHW is in. I told her she had to post to be in and she said she would post that she is in and maybe nothing else. Baby steps.

There was a time when I wanted Mrs. PAC to participate on the board, but then I came to my senses, realizing that worlds would collide. I opted for Independent PAC and now wheel out the missus only at live CS events. It's best that way.

[Moliere]

Having not been part of this before, I don't want to overstep my bounds, but I think the triathlon model is pretty good. Three aerobic sports. All realte to mileage. Very simple to do. That said, this is all honor system, so if you want to apply a multiplier to your mountain biking miles because they are harder, then go ahead and do it. But why cheat on some thing like this?

I think we should treat this like tithing settlement. You just put down the miles. The truth of it is between you and the Lord.

You are wise and well spoken. I wish I were both...

SHW is in. I told her she had to post to be in and she said she would post that she is in and maybe nothing else. Baby steps.

I'm curious to see where it all shakes out this year. I was pleasantly surprised last year when I placed in the top 5, but was obviously second tier. I'm assuming PDiddy and Happyone will continue to be the first tier, but I'm shooting for top 3 finish this year. I've added biking and swimming to the repertoire so that might help, plus I'm training again for the marathon in March. If I stay healthy and find the time to do my exercise plan I might be in good shape.

[PaloAltoCougar]

So this ends when the ball drops New Year's Eve, right? Last year we piled up cumulative miles that took us from the Golden Gate Bridge to Times Square, finishing just before midnight EST, and we ran past some interesting bits of Americana along the way. Shall we run/ride the same way this year, the opposite direction, a different continent, or blow off the venue altogether and simply rack up the miles?

I'm going to take a few days off for travel at the end of this month, but my target is 140 net miles during the seven-week challenge. You young'ns had better top that. If you do, we can finish a transcontinental run. That said, it'd be nice to conscript a couple more.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

When does it start?

[creekster]

When does it start?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...=sharing#gid=2

the linked spread sheet shows dates. Itr starts oni 11/11. If you could exercise at 11 that would also be appreciated.

[happyone]

I want to know if Phei..., phei... ph... ah to heck with it - the greek guy, is preparing for a marathon this time. If not I might have a chance to win


FTR my milage is appox 1/3 jogging and 2/3 walking ( sub 14 min miles..l think that will count)

[Pheidippides]

I want to know if Phei..., phei... ph... ah to heck with it - the greek guy, is preparing for a marathon this time. If not I might have a chance to win


FTR my milage is appox 1/3 jogging and 2/3 walking ( sub 14 min miles..l think that will count)

I am. I'll keep my training mileage under wraps for now but it will be decent.

[happyone]

I am. I'll keep my training mileage under wraps for now but it will be decent.

Oh well - the race is now for second place