On the other hand ...
At my "home" YMCA at the beginning of this year, they announced the "1000-Mile Cardio Club," which is a deal whereby you pay in $20 and turn in, each day, the "mile equivalent" of that day's exercise activity, be it running, treadmill, elliptical, spinning class, swimming, etc. If you've turned in a cumulative total of at least 1000 miles by year's end, you get a fabulous prize package that includes a water bottle, a "regular" T-shirt, and a "dri-wicking T-shirt." I'm not clear on what that last thing is, exactly, but it sounds cool, so I know I must need one. The guy who's running this thing sends out a weekly email with a spreadsheet attached, in which you can see how you're doing against schedule (as it turns out, I've built up a 45-mile "cushion" already -- aren't I good!). He also tracks average cumulative miles per person by age group. Guess what the results show?
Age 50 - 59: 98.45 mi/person (I have 127.5!)
Age 40 - 49: 75.12 mi/person
Age 60 - 69: 70.69 mi/person
Age 30 - 39: 70.10 mi/person
Age 20 - 29: 61.92 mi/person
Age 19 and under: 50.40 mi/person
Hmmmmm ... see a trend here? Maybe there is a little something to be said for people my age, after all. Now, if we'd just start dressing decently when we go out in public ...
3 comments:
I assume the dri-wick shirt is made of some sort of synthetic material that, unlike cotton, wicks sweat away from your skin.
I'm not clear on the "1,000" mile part though. Is there a multiplier of some sort? Because, say, running 83 miles per month is kind of a lot.
Yes, Doug, there is a multiplier ... actually, a set of multipliers, and some of these "miles" are rather dubious. Example: for a cyclefit ("spinning") class, you're credited 1.5 miles for each 10 minutes of class time, which is lavish, I'd say. Similarly, lap swimming: 10 minutes = 1 mile. Now, I can swim a mile, but not in any ten minutes; I'm slow, and it takes me more like 40 minutes to swim a mile. For treadmill or elliptical, you get 1 mile / 10 minutes. But, for actually running, you get "straight time:" one mile credit for one mile run. So, basically, the runners are getting shafted. Nonetheless, the guy who set this thing up told me that he got the credit-equivalence system from the official national YMCA organization, and that's the way it is. My mileage is tainted, because I get three spinning classes every week (four most weeks); add a half-hour on the elliptical on the off days, and I'm up to my butt in credited pseudo-miles.
I think I'll wear my dri-wicking T-shirt next time I go to Chops.
I want a dri-wick shirt! Wait, I may have one - from my old personal training days ...but I want a free one - without having to run 1000 miles *laugh*
I'll hike it - in the mountains - that should cut off some of the mileage, huh? since I have to climb? I go up 1000 feet - incline - yeah? yeah?
Anyway - good luck - go go go!
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