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...