On January 5, one of my students, Ben Luttrull, tagged me in a Facebook Note. He said he was starting on a program to get into better shape after years of neglect. His goal: lose 35 pounds and reorganize some of his life priorities. He tagged a few people who he hoped would support, cajole and push him in his journey.
That’s a pretty lofty goal he has, one that won’t come easily. I’m not much for motivational speeches (although I am one to talk) so I thought the best way to help Ben out was to join him in his quest. So I’ve declared 2010 The Year of Health, which means I’m going to finally quit smoking after years of talking about that and I’m going to finally try to get back to my fighting weight.
As part of this process, I am going to incentivize our work. Here’s the plan.
My goal:
- weight 167 lbs
- complete 2010 Go! St. Louis Half Marathon on April 11, which is my 23 month sobriety date.
I will set aside one dollar a day, every day that I don’t smoke, for the next 17 weeks and I’ll set aside $.50 for every day I work out. That’s $153 by May 1.
Ben’s goal:
- 9-minute mile by May 2
- weight 250
Ben has his own goals and I will set aside $5 for every pound that he loses (he’s aiming for 35). That’s $175 for Ben by May 1.
By the end of the semester, we should have $328 in our workout plan. I’ve promised Ben that we would do something fun at that point (although with graduation fun might simply be a $328 check for him). Either way, I’ll be posting bi-weekly or monthly updates on our progress.
I encourage you to join. Let me know how you’re doing. Send along a good word. Let’s kick 2010’s ASS.
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