2010 Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge

Did you notice that little button over there on the left?

Yes, it's time for the annual Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge hosted over at Run to the Finish!

So you lucky people get to hold me accountable for having signed up for this little deal.
The best part of that is that I know of few of you have signed up for it too, so I'll be cruising your blogs to help keep myself motivated as well!

Basically this is a challenge to rack up points for staying active through this season that is notorious for padding the waistline.  To be honest, I have absolutely no illusions about possibly being the winner who happens to accumulate the most points.  Too many of these people are super athletes who are in the midst of marathon training, I think I saw mention of ultra marathon training on a couple of participants' blogs, and you have the forever training triathletes in there as well.  I am nowhere near putting in the miles and time that these folks are.
I am so ok with that! (probably too much so)

But since I have been working on losing that baby weight (broke my official pre-pregnancy weight!  woo-hoo!), and would prefer not to pack it back on over the next two months of indulgence, I thought that this might be a good motivation.
The random prize drawings at the end aren't so bad either.  Just sayin'.

So, the official rules on this one are:
1 point for every mile run/walked/snowshoed (I don't snowshoe.  but I am tempted now.)
1 point for every 3 miles biked
1 point for every 20min weightlifting/pilates/yoga/abs/stretching
1 point for every 15min other cardio (kickboxing, elliptical, etc)
and 1 point per each day you hit 7 servings of fruits and veggies

Nice and simple.  And very doable.

The challenge officially started yesterday, so I wanted a nice jumpstart in my little world.
My goal for yesterday's run was 7 miles, with hopes of actually running 8.  Thanks to my knee giving out at mile 5, I only eeked out 6.5 miles out on the trail before I had to call it. I did manage to get in another 1.5 of walking on the treadmill last night to loosen up my knee once it started to lock up, so I did end up with my total of 8 miles.  yay!  (darn knee.  probably deserves a whole separate post)
I did get my fruits/veggies in too, so one more point for that.

Day 1 Point total: 9

Good start for me.

With boot camp and toning and the treadmill to keep me going at a slow pace till I can run on the stinkin' knee again, I am aiming for at least 5 points/day.  Especially since one of those points pertains to eating, I should be able to do that.  With Sunday being my complete rest day, that means I am aiming for a goal of 30 points per week.  

For the sake of keeping it real, I'll do a wrap up each week of how things are going.
Considering that pie season is upon us (pumpkin round 1 was yesterday), the Holiday Baking Exchange I decided to jump in on (see previous post), and the fact that I tend to bake daily in the cold weather, I may have to aim a little higher than 30 points/week before we hit Christmas.  We'll see.

If you missed the signups on this one, don't let that deter you!  Rope your friends into a group challenge, or even make your own up.  The holidays are even more fun when you keep moving, because then you can look fabulous in your skinny jeans while enjoying all those tasty treats that neighbors are about to start dropping on your doorstep.

And now if you'll excuse me, the oven is beeping.  The rolls are finished, which means the cookie dough can be pulled out of the fridge and baked.
Good thing I pushed out those last couple of miles yesterday after all....