1,000-Point Challenge

So I first got word of the 1,000-Point Challenge from an e-mail sent out to the Princeton University Band (which I’m not really a part of, but I promise to return the flute to you guys). Basically you have to do 1,000 minutes of exercise in five weeks, which equates to 200 minutes per week or about half an hour every day. I’ve always been meaning to exercise but never really got around to it, but with such prizes as a T-shirt, pedometer or water bottle, how could I resist? I’m going for the T-shirt, because it’d be cool to walk around with “I did the 1,000-Point Challenge” emblazoned across my back, and 1,000 is just an awe-inspiring number.

It started Monday, Nov. 16, and runs until Sunday, Dec. 20. (That's the week before Thanksgiving break until the end of the year.) I sort of came late in the game though, filling in my first entry on Sunday, Nov. 22. Thanks to my good friend Katie and the promise of a T-shirt, I ventured outside the gates to take a run through a trail around Lake Carnegie. It was remarkably refreshing, as we got to run past trees holding up brilliant yellow leaves and jump over puddles on the ground as if they were hurdles. Sweaty and ruddy-cheeked, I went down to Stevens Fitness Center to get 60 minutes signed off.

The next day was spent down in Stevens: 30 minutes on the elliptical, five on the treadmill until I got bored, and the rest of the hour doing random workouts and stretches. Already distraction was getting the better of me, and I was exercising only to fill up time. Two hours down, 880 minutes to go in four weeks.

Then the week of Thanksgiving break hit. I think I got in a good amount of anti-exercise.

With the third week of the 1,000-Point Challenge upon me and little to show for it, I went to badminton practice yesterday for the first time in more than a month. I came in for the last hour and then spent the next half hour crashing Sympoh practice. Yes, doing handstands against a wall counts: 210 minutes down, 790 minutes to go in two and half weeks. At this rate, I need to exercise a little more than 300 minutes per week, which isn’t bad considering that it’s only about five hours a week, but which is bad considering how I’ve been doing 84 minutes a week on average.

As much as I would love to run outside more, the onset of rain is a bit of an inconvenience. But I’ve never been one to go to the gym and run on treadmills, as I hate the feeling of running and going nowhere. How’s a sedentary person to complete the 1,000-Point Challenge? I’d love to hear about what you guys are doing, or how far you’ve gotten, and what incentive is motivating you to do 1,000 minutes worth of cardio and squats.

Link: http://www.princeton.edu/campusrec/stephens-fitness-center/special-events/HF-Ev-Web-1000PointII.pdf