December's "Get Your A$$ On The Trainer" challenge!

Well, this is my plan for the month of December, to get back into some sort of decent level of fitness.  I'm going to have to use my trainer, and anyone is welcome to join along.  If you live in a climate that lets you ride outdoors, that's way cool too...either one will work.  We will be counting hours in the saddle instead of miles, that way you can ride at your own pace and everyone stays on an equal footing.

Now, here's the fun part.  There probably isn't a soul on here who wouldn't like to lose a pound or two (or ten!) so I'd like to work that into the challenge as well.  If you're shy about publishing your body weight on the web for all of us to leer at, fear not.  You can simply report in with pounds lost (or gained....perish the thought!) instead.  I'll keep track of everyone on a spreadsheet.  I think it might be a bit cumbersome to line up teams, so how about trying it individually instead.  The goals are to build some aerobic base AND to keep an eye on body weight, what with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays approaching.  There's nothing like accountability and having someone else doing it along side you.  With that in mind, here's the plan:

1.  Ride your bike (trainer or road) and keep track of the total time ridden each day.  One point will be awarded for each minute that you ride (60 points per hour).

2.  5 Bonus points will be cumulatively awarded for each successive day that you ride after the first day.  If you miss a day, you start back from scratch so this promotes consistancy.  Example:  you ride on Monday for an hour = 60 points.  On Tuesday you ride another hour = 60 points plus 5 bonus points.  On Wednesday you ride for 1 hour = 60 points plus 10 bonus points.  On Thursday, you skip riding, but ride an hour on Friday = 60 points but you lose the bonus and are starting over again!

3.  Weight loss bonus...We'll start on Monday, December 1st and weigh yourself on that day and keep a record of it.  On each successive Monday (8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th) you'll weigh in again and report the number of pounds lost or gained for the week.  100 bonus points to be awarded for each pound lost...50 points deducted for each pound gained.  So there is a premium for burning off the fat calories!

Everything is honor system as usual.  I'd prefer that you check in here and post mileages daily so I can keep track of the bonus system.  I'll update the spreadsheet as needed and post it often.  Weekly weight loss/gain can be posted here, or send to me in a PM, either way, and I'll factor it into the scores.  If you sign up for this challenge, please make a concerted effort to check in daily as it will be easier on me to keep track of all the scores.  And feel free to drop into each other's blogs.  Posting notes of encouragement, sarcasm, good natured hazing and bits of humor are all highly encouraged!

I hope this all makes sense...I haven't tried it out to see if it's going to be a colossal nightmare or something really simple.  LOL...wish me luck.  If you're on board, let me know and I'll get you plugged into the spreadsheet!  Let's ride those pounds off baby!!