October: Going the Distance Challenge

A little over a month ago I panicked because I didn't think I was doing enough to prepare for my friend's wedding.  So I decided in order to get serious, I needed to set a serious goal for myself.  100 miles on the elliptical in September sounded about right.

As it stands, today I will finish that goal with the final 8 miles.

Looking ahead, I want to do 120 miles on the elliptical in October.

I want to challenge all of you to set yourself a serious goal for October as well. 
(**Disclaimer: please talk to your doctor(s), trainer(s) before taking on any new exercise program or challenge to decide what is most appropriate for your ability and health.**)

As the focus of my journey isn't necessarily about the weight, but how much I push myself this will not be a weigh-in type competition.  Heck, I don't even know if this is a competition at all.  This is about going the distance, and reaching the goal you set for yourself.

So sign up! I will be tracking all of the particiants' miles on a spreadsheet but feel free to print out an individual participant chart to track your own statistics.

If you want to do 2 different modalities (such as Run + Bike) please refresh the form and enter a form for each!

The Twitter hash tag will be #OctGTD if you want to follow along.
Please EMAIL ME your weekly distances (broken out by day, each Friday) so I can update the official chart.

I will post any updates HERE.

29 comments

100 miles sounds awesome to me! Congrats

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100 miles for me! I'm so excited! I chose the recumbant bike, but is it okay if it's a mix of walking, bike, and elliptical?

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Brittany :

I think for purposes of the challenge, the miles should be logged doing one type of exercise, not a mix.

For instance in the 100 in september, I did some treadmill work and bike work, but only the miles i did on the elliptical counted towards my total.

It would have been much easier to set a goal of 100 miles on the ellitpical, but then to add in miles walked (I walk a lot, but it's not exercise walking where my heart rate goes up) or the miles on a recumbent bike (which add up much faster).

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Awesome challenge! I picked 160 miles on my bike! It's getting cold here so most of that will have to be indoors on the trainer and I wanted to keep it realistic. Being on a trainer is so boring! Off to find some good movies to watch while I cycle.

Thanks for being inspiring as always.

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Suzanne: there are tons of great movies out there, but make sure you're breaking a sweat!!!

I'm glad i can inspire....

like i always say, badass is as badass does.
Glad to see you all are deciding to be badasses!

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boy i wish I had a recumbent bike at home.. I am not sure how many miles I do.. I am going to figure that out tomorrow on a cardio day today is a training day.. when I get on the bike tomorrow I will be mindful of the miles and see if I am ready for 100 miles.. that is such a cool idea!!

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I've been needing motivation to get back into a regular running routine...this is just the thing I needed! I'm in!

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So my "official" goal will be 100 miles on the recumbent but I'm already skeptical since time is already tight AND I'm trying to squeeze in Turbo Jam regularly now as well ... but I'm super excited about my chosen reward to the point where I'm still going to give myself one regardless of if I hit the 100. For every mile I'll give myself 50 cents towards my new wardrobe fund :)

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I'm so proud of everyone for pushing themselves AND coming up with such great rewards.

Karen -- i might have to take up your idea.... that'd be $60 bucks for me. Not a bad chunk of change to add to the fund :)

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I like the idea of this challenge. I have just started at the gym, so i will review my progam tomorrow and see how far i usually go and then sign myself up for a multiple of that. It will keep me focused at the gym!

Great stuff!
x
lesley

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Oooooh you totally reminded me that i didn't put a disclaimer on there about not taking up an exercise program without talking to your doctors/trainers first!!!

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OMG,OMG,OMG! I'm so excited about this! While I do walking on the regular I'm doing this challenge for my elliptical. I was just going to do 50 miles, but my great co-worker said I'm selling myself short and I can do much more than that. So looking forward to this.

BTW - will be in DC this weekend tending to an injured sister. Will you be around?

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I always say figure out what you think you can do and tack on 10-25% more so you're pushing yourself. If you think you can do 50, you can probably do 60.

I won't be in DC this weekend -- I'll be in NYC for Nancy's bachelorette party... and no, i still don't have a dress :(

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Just signed up. Definitely needed something to push me this month. I'm going to get those miles on the treadmill and the elliptical.

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If marathon training goes as scheduled, I should have no trouble meeting my 120-mile goal. My race is 10/31 and I want to stay healthy, so I didn't want to set the bar any higher ... but if I'm feeling good I hope to exceed it!

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Merry--120 miles on the ground is an impressive goal.... I bow to everyone who has selected that as their target.

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I'm down girlie.
100 miles running (yeah I'm totally in awe of the 120ers...phew!)
xo

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I am excited about this challenge, 160 on the elliptical for me. Let's GO!!!

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I think this is a wonderful challenge!
There are plenty of 'weigh-in' challenges out there in the world,
But I personally do not need to lose weight, but I REALLY do need to get into shape. Thanks for this :D

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Oopssss, I meant I'm doing 120 on the elliptical.

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Robby- for your dress this weekend, if you are a near a Nordstrom- try there, and go to the ENCORE section. They have really cute stuff for people like us :)

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Karen @ Muffin Fixation sent me over. I love it! I'm committing to 100 miles which for me is about 160 kms....walking. I can totally do this. Right?

Looking forward to doing this along side y'all.

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AC--hehe, glad you caught your typo. A 40-mile difference is quite a lot.

Sava -- I like non-weight challenges, as not everyone has the same ability to lose. The focus of this challenge is to set a goal you can achieve and really commit to it!

Brittany -- I'll keep an eye out!!

Maggie -- welcome to my blog! -- I hope you enjoy your stay and kick some total butt with the challenge. I did 100 miles/160km on the elliptical in september. It's like standing on a mountaintop right now.

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I really thought this over and wasn't going to do it but I recently found a 5K (my first) that I want to do in 11 weeks so I said hey why not.

This will definitely give me the push I need to stay on top of my training!

I'm super excited I pledged 50 miles and it seems so overwhelming but I will do it!

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Ok my friend, I joined. I am just progressing from walking to a combo of walking & jogging so that is how I will be doing this. All on the ground unless the weather goes apocolyptic then I have a treadmill to fall back on.

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Way to be Randi and Patrick!!
I'm glad to see you both taking on new challenges!

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Great idea!!!!! You rock girl! :)

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<3 Robby