Happy Holidays

As we all know, the holidays are already upon us. Hopefully, those holiday pounds are not yet upon us! In need of a new challenge, I propose having a Biggest Winner Challenge throughout the holiday season. It would happen something like this. A little spin off of The Biggest Loser with a lot of changes. Contestants would be able to earn points through weight loss, exercise, healthy eating, promoting health, and being happy. We would all toss $10 into the pot and at the end of the challenge, winner would take all. The challenge would run from Halloween night* until New Years Day. I know it's a long time, but what else is going to get us through these holidays? We'd also have plenty of time to weed out the weak and see who the Biggest Winner really is!

If you're interested please comment. If we have enough interest, WE'LL GO FOR IT!

*Starting line is being extended to gather more interest. Hopefully we'll start the 10th of November at the latest. Please tell you friends and family who might be interested in joining. I will post a list of Health Habits that will earn points in the next couple of days.

Super Jumper

Here's Jenn with her winnings, an adjustable core balance board with DVD and Exercise chart. I think these little gadgets are great because you can do pushups, sit ups, and all kinds of balancing moves on them. Hope you like it Jenn and that all those jumps were worth it!

Winner!

Jenn was the big jump rope jumping winner! This girl did great all week and really kicked it in down the final stretch with 4,000 jumps on Friday!

Here are the final numbers for everyone:

Jenn: 9,668

Pam: 5,315

Deanna: 4,405

April: 2,848

Hannah: 1,544

Abby: 1,300

Great job to everyone! I'm really glad you all joined in and I hope that you'll all continue to include jumping rope as part of your weekly workout routine.

Last Day

Today is the last day of the jump off! Make sure to get your numbers in. Winner / Prize will all be announced on Monday.

Thanks to everyone who participated. I'm so happy with all of your efforts! I hope that you've enjoyed the challenge and that you'll keep on jumping...especially now that you're over the being sore part.

Interesting

History of Jump Ropes -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Barefoot vs Shoes

In college I presented a speech on running barefoot and the benefits you can gain from running sin zapatos. The human foot is designed to run without shoes on, but these days you'd need a pedi after every session just to keep from looking like a horse. Shoes do protect and cushion, but sometimes to our disadvantage. All of that cushion keeps the foot from developing full strength and flexibility. This is one of the reasons I chose to jump rope barefooted. I jump on carpet so it's soft, but I do use this little bit of time / exercise to strength my feet which can help prevent other injuries in the future. I also like to do yoga and walk around the house barefooted during the day. If you find it uncomfortable to jump rope without shoes, find other times to go shoeless or try doing half of your jumps without shoes.

Mid-week Peek

Here's the numbers as of Wednesday.

Jenn: 5,368

Pam: 2,947

Deanna: 2,200

Hannah: 1,544

Abby: 1,300

April: 1,220


Keep jumping! Just think, you've already jumped 1,000 more jumps than those who never started!

If you're happy and you know it, JUMP some more

Hey everyone! You're all doing great! Keep reporting those numbers each night! I'm so happy with how everyone is doing!

Get your jump on

I'm so impressed with everyone's numbers! Way to go! I'm also missing a few numbers so be sure to write in at the end of the day.

Leading the pack are Jenn and Pam! Yippy!

When you don't feel like jumping, just think, "Unknown prize from Kelly" over and over again!

On your mark, get set, JUMP!

Waiting for numbers!

Busted Stuff

I recently received a comment on THIS post calling me out for plagiarizing the Food Marking Institute website. In reply, I say I do not claim original research for the answers I provide nor an original answer either for that matter. I was asked a question and answered it based on good information that I looked for on-line. I do try to site my sources used and I did not do a good job in this case. The answer was found on THIS site. My goal on this blog is not to pretend I have all the answers or that I know everything, I merely try to find good answers to people's questions and make the language understandable to all. In this instance I do apologize for not siting my source directly.

Last Call

Alrighty then, here are the names of those who are in for the jump off.

Pam, Deanna, Abby, Ellen, Kristen (?), Julie, Hannah, Ryan, Jeni, Jenn, Jake

Go here for all the rules. This thing starts tomorrow, so make sure you write in by the end of the day with your numbers.

Yippy and Have Fun.

PRE

I've just finished reading PRE by Tom Jordan. Most runners know about Steve Prefontaine and his running legend, but I'm not going to be embraced to say I really didn't. For years I faked this knowledge in running circles, nodding my head while listening to "familiar" Pre stories. I wore a t-shirt with his face on it during my college CC years pretending that I was a big fan or something. Come on, if you run at all you have to know who PRE is. Right? As it turns out, he's a pretty interesting guy. He had an amazing running style, always leading the pack as the forerunner. He broke countless American records. He had a charismatic and unique personality that really drew 1,000's of spectators to the sport. He was at the top of it all, then he died. This book is a great one for motivation and inspiration. So, if you are any kind of runner at all, you should probably brush up on your Pre trivia.

New treds

I just bought these new dudes today and cannot wait to wear them! I tripped to Academy to try on some new running shoes because my 3 other pairs have DIED. It was time. I grabbed my usual Addida Adiprene runners that I have loved for years, but then I noticed several other pairs that were the same price. And so, despite my children running wild, ransacking the store, I decided to try my options.

I tried on the Asic Gel Strike, the Saucony ProGrid Guide, and my Addida Adiprene love. Oddly enough, I kicked my Adiprene out of the contest first. Asic and Saucony were both very comfy and I could have gone for either one UNTIL I decided to go up a price bracket (from $39.99 to $49.99) just to see how the "other half" live. OOOO--they live in comfort! My foot fell in LOVE with Nike's Tri-Duel II. I tried to say "No, they're more than I would ever pay," but with a gift card and birthday money in my pocket I couldn't resist pure running bliss.

Hopefully bliss helps at 5am tomorrow morning.

You're in...so far

Jen, Jeni, Deanna, Ellen and Kristen?? are who I have down for the jumping challenge so far. Make sure to comment and get your name in if you want to contest.

Jump up, jump up and get down

Clarifications.

If you would like to be included in the jump rope challenge that is quickly approaching you MUST sign up in comments. I will write out a post of people who have signed up...so make sure you're name is on there to be in the running.

I've had several questions and concerns over the competition.
Answers:

1. You can jump anyway you want. Two feet, one foot, side to side, chris-cross.
2. You HAVE to count your jumps. This seems to be the only fair way to find a winner. If you have a pedometer, wear it and it will do the counting for you.
3. WE WILL ALL REPORT OUR NUMBERS AT THE END OF EACH DAY. Wew! That's commitment, but seems to be a good way to keep people motivated and also be able to judge where you're at in relation to the other competitors.
4. The winner will get a prize. You don't know what it is, but that's half the fun. Plus, it's a prize. Who doesn't like that?


Other problems? Comment.