A fitness challenge with a twist---Hejaz Railway Fitness Challenge

After a week of no run, I'm baaaack! Yes, I'm back to my running workout. I have been following a personal running workout at Adidas miCoach site for over a month now and I kept a log of my workout history on that site too. I also downloaded the Adidas miCoach application on my iphone and I used it on my running workouts by way of GPS (Global Positioning System). GPS enables your speed, distance, calories and location data when using miCoach mobile outdoors as it works best when you have a clear view of the sky (with matching voice coaching too!).

sample running workout

Today is ALSO the start of the fitness challenge that was organized by the Nursing Department of the hospital that I'm working with.

The Hejaz Railway fitness challenge is an 8 weeks fitness challenge designed to promote a healthier lifestyle and nurture teamwork within the different nursing discipline. Each team is comprised of 4 members and the objective of the challenge is to complete 1,302 kilometers---YES! You read it right. We had to accomplish a total of 1,302 kilometers for the 8 weeks or 41 kilometers each member for a week in 8 weeks' time which is equivalent to the total distance of the Hejaz Railway that ran from Damascus to Medina! A big challenge eh? Imagine my dismay upon knowing about it. By that time, my head nurse had already signed me in on the challenge and just informed me when he already submitted my name (same goes with my other teammates). hahaha!

I was a bit relieved upon knowing the mechanics of the challenge was that a certain exercise or activity has a corresponding number of kilometers--- which means, we don't really need to run the whole 1,302 kilometers! Whew!

Anyways, here is some of the sample Kilometer-earning Activities:

Sit-ups/Crunches         100= 1 km

Abs training 15 mins= 1 km

Hash/Hike         1 km= 2 kms

Push-ups         40= 1 km

Pull-ups         5= 1 km

Run/Jog 1 km=3 km

Walk         1 km=1 km

Swimming         1 km (40 lengths)=4 km

Sports (Tennis, Soccer etc) 30 mins of play=1 km

Pilates/Yoga 30 min= 2 km

Aerobics         1 hour= 4 km

Weight training 30 mins of activity=2 km

Stepper/Elliptical         15 min= 1 km

Cycling         1 km= 1 km

So I guess I have to stick on what I do best---RUNNING! Even if I run only 5 kilometers on alternating days (3-4 times a week) I would meet the 41 km/week challenge! Plus, bonus kilometer is added if you accomplished the bonus points given weekly (this week's bonus point is: 2 pieces of fruit per day for the entire week is equivalent to 2 bonus kilometers).

So there, I have 2 purposes for my running workout. I will keep a log of my workout in my Adidas miCoach application because I wanted to be as honest as I can be on my workout challenge since they said that they wouldn't provide us with the GPS enabled sports watch ( I am not sure about this) until next week. It's also a good thing that the challenge is not a "Biggest-Loser-kind-of" challenge because I'm pretty sure I will be of no use for my team since I don't loose weight even if I run 10 kilometers a day (I got stuck on my 47-48 kgs weight with or without training).

Anyway, today I logged in 6.1 kilometers---which is equivalent to 18 kilometers for the fitness challenge. A nice way to start the week! Hopefully I would be able to blog my everyday fitness challenge (if time permits!). 

   

Wish me luck and the rest of my team for this Hejaz Railway Fitness Challenge! =D