Sunday, January 15, 2006

New Horizons, Same Themes

Yesterday I was checking some stuff for work on the internet, and I came across something that I thought was quite interesting. Apparently, there is an award for aerobic excellence that I can earn. Hey, no problem, right? I'm in decent shape, I could get that. What do I have to do? Earn 2000 points in under two years? Whoa, this is starting to sound a bit much - two years of anything is a lot. So, what earns me a point? Why should I write this all day when it is already on the internet. Copy...paste...

QUALIFYING UNITS

2. Qualifying units may be earned as follows:

ACTIVITY

PERFORMANCE

VALUE

a) Swimming

400 meters

1 Unit

b) Jogging

1 kilometer

1 Unit

c) Snow-shoeing

1.5 kilometers

1 Unit

d) X-Country skiing

1.5 kilometers

1 Unit

e) Skating/Ice & Roller

1.5 kilometers

1 Unit

f) Walking

3 kilometers

1 Unit

g) Aerobic classes

10 minutes

1 Unit

h) Cycling & Stationary Cycling

3 kilometers or 7 mins

1 Unit

i) Rowing (canoe / kayaking)

500 meters or 7 mins

1 Unit

j) Stationary rowing

500 meters or 7 mins

1 Unit

k) Stair Climbing

7 mins

1 Unit

l) Rope skipping

7 mins

1 Unit

m) Martial Arts ( karate, judo,
tae kwon do, etc..)

10 mins

1 Unit


WHOA. So you mean I would have to run TWO THOUSAND KILOMETRES in order to earn this award?? Wow. That doesn't sound very easy at all. And that is for the initial level of the award. You are supposed to go for six years. Check this out:

The primary level of the program involves the completion of the initial scroll and six seals. This signifies that 12,000 units of physical activity have been accumulated.

That sounds like craziness. But apparently that isn't enough for some people:

For members who require a higher and continuing challenge, six additional levels can be achieved. Completion of all seven levels will signify the accumulation of 84,000 aerobic units.

Are you KIDDING me? That is a lot of kilometres. I hope I don't move 84000 km under my own power in my whole life. I don't even know how far that is. That's far. Farther than I have driven my truck in the 4 years I have owned it. Really far.

So the question becomes...should I try for the first level? 2000 points in 104 weeks breaks down to over 19 points per week. Since I tend to get lazy at some times in the year (i.e. summer and Christmas vacation) I would definitely have to get more than 19 per week. I ran 5km today, I suppose that is a start. I do biking on Tuesdays, and I am going to try to get back to kickboxing on Thursdays. That makes 13. I warm up before my resistance training 5 days per week, that makes 18. Maybe I could make my warmup 2km instead of 1. Or maybe I could measure how far it is to Subway, I walk there fairly often. I wonder if I can stay motivated for two long years...

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my god. That is ludicrous. LUDICROUS I SAY!

I also say go for it. You're the guy who gave up drinking for a month cuz you wanted to see if you can do it. Time for a new challenge, challenger-boy.

I did my 2000 points this morning. It was a good warmup run. Little late for work, but whatever.

Snides said...

A month? Are you kidding me, that was almost 6 months. No thanks to YOUR peer pressure, of course. Then you made me drink on Freshies. So I pushed you into Jenormous, and we are even. Ha, oh man, I almost forgot about her. Too bad for you, I remembered!

Joel said...

I'm not sure I'll attain 2000 in my life let alone 2 years. At least you don't lose points for stuff like 24 marathons (not as healthy as it sounds) or drinking pitchers of beer during hockey games (exactly as healthy as it sounds).

We have Jenormous on video, so I'm sure that at least once in each of the next 5 years someone will remember once again.

Unknown said...

God DAMN you Snider. I blame you for the whole Jenormous incident. You, and booze.

Seriously, it was 6 months? Snap yo. Snap. I have a poor memory. That's why I forgot your birthday too.