October Challenge statement I need to make...

Seriously? You came in to the Werewolves thread and bragged that you were done with your goal 9 days before the end of the challenge. How does one respond to that? With some good natured ribbing, of course. If you were offended or felt your character attacked, then I apologize. When we meet in person, the first round's on me. We'll poke fun at each other over a beer.

Cheers!

Tom 

As the leader of the Newbie team, I sincerely HOPE no one is accusing anyone on my team of sandbagging. I, for one, am not a runner - never have been, even though I am in otherwise great shape. I pledged 50 miles, which is A LOT for me. Yeah, we have some lower pledges on our team, but we also have people who are just starting out and the fact that they're participating is admirable. The goal, as others have said, is to make a plan and stick to it, nothing more, nothing less. I am proud of my teammates, as they should be of themselves.

Further discussion of said topic means entry in Thunderdome.  Good work on the challenge though, despite the inevitable crumbling at the feet of Black Magic!

Two people enter!  One person leaves!

It's a politically correct Thunderdome. 

Seriously, no one was actually accusing anyone of sandbagging except those that are actually filling actual bags with actual sand. Those people are total freakin' sandbaggers. Otherwise, it was merely smack talk.

I'm proud that everyone in this challenge had the bollocks to step up and make a commitment to start or continue a healthy lifestyle. If only the other 99% of the population had such courage...

Geez, I have never seen someone backtrack so bad in my life.  Are you shaving miles off your total for the pull back here?

I just upped my goal this morning. How about you? Or are you

Id, ego and superego in conference right now.  Will get back shortly.  For the record the id is the dominant generally.  What did you up it?

Why am I picturing the Animal House Angel/Devil scene right now?

10 miles - from 80 to 90. 

It would violate the spirit of the challenge sure but if you and your team hit your personal goals to hit 100% it is a moot point.  I am saying for someone to question someone elses goals with a wide spectrum of abilities, time constraints, a whole season behind them, etc, etc is kind of ridiculous.  People shouldnt feel they have to justify their goals to anyone is my point I guess.  Only they will know if they are pushing themselves and only they know how far they need to push themselves in the context of their life.  For some people (including myself) just getting out there after a long season can be challenge enough.  Thats why I chose to do this challenge this month.  I am capable of more and am sandbagging it vs my max, but in the context of what I was hoping to do this month, its where it needs to be to push me just enough.  I would hope that people would participate in this and challenge themselves, but its not for us to quantify 'challenge' for the individual.

New October Challenge!

This is better than Thundredome!!! 

Stay away from the bobcats!

Actually most of  us are doing well - except we have a fun SoCal people who are house-bound because of the smoke (one doesn't have a gym membership). Were it not for the fires, everyone would be on task.

Sandbagging?  Not Sandbagging?  Finishing 7 or 8 days ahead of time?  Doesn't really matter much, does it? 

The rules are set up so anything beyond 100% of your goal doesn't matter, so if you wanted to set your "goal" to be completed after the first workout of the month, you can.  You should expect to get some ribbing/crap for choosing this approach. 

If you want your goal to be a real stretch, like you've consistently run 35 miles per month and you really want to get 50, you can do so, and your team mates ought to try to encourage you along the way (and your opponents may applaud your efforts too).  If you want to keep your goal at 35 miles, that's fine too (and that's what I usually shoot for in a challenge).  If you want to reduce your goal to 25 miles because you'll be traveling for a week out of the month, I don't have a problem with that.  If you set 25 simply because you know you'll hit it on your way to 35, I might call you (in jest) a sandbagger (but it REALLY doesn't matter with the rules).  Now I'd be disappointed if you got your 25 miles half way through the month and quit working out, as we're mostly about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

I've routinely met my swim challenge goals 2/3 of the way through the month, because we often travel over the holidays and I don't expect to get to the pool when we're traveling.  Have I been accused of sandbagging?  Sure, but I don't worry about it.  I signed up for 30 miles running this month (about average for me) and I've been accused of sandbagging here too.  Given the unpredictability of midwest weather, I still consider meeting my "average" distance a "challenge" this month.  Even maintaining "average" volumes can be a huge challenge given the demands of work, family, etc. 

I eat sandbags for lunch (so long as there is good beer to wash down the sand and all afterwards)

Notice not one mention of donkeys..... 

Thats cuz they know better than to even dream of f'in with a donkey.