Florida Trek

The Alachua County Board of County Commisioners, in a effort to make sure that they don't have a bunch of fat slobs working for them, has concocted several health and wellness programs over the years. My favorite since I have been here is the Florida Trek.

This is a personal competition where you keep track of the miles that you log each week and our Risk Management co-ordinator keeps track of them for you on a handy dandy spread sheet.
The miles break down pretty easy, if you do something with distance, say running, walking, biking, etc. you just keep track of the miles. But, if you do something active, like softball, tennis, step class or strength training, 15 minutes = 1 mile.

There are several "points" along the trek and with each one you get your name in a drawing for a fabulous bike at the Employee Health Fair in May. The points are as follows: Alligator point -250 miles, Panther point - 500 miles, Flamingo point - 1000 miles, and Manatee point - 2000 miles! Amazingly enough there are people who do reach the Manatee point, so they just start back over again. These people are cyclists and ride like a million miles on Saturdays and Sundays, so I am in awe of them.

The Trek starts on June 1 and lasts all the way until April 30. Last year, I logged an impressive 713 miles! I was truly proud of myself. Most of these miles were logged during my marathon training. I did take two months off after the marathon (I didn't feel like running or even going to they gym after that) so I know that I could have easily done 1000 miles.

That brings me to my goal for this years Trek - 1000 miles. I know I can do it! I've had a few good weeks, and one not so good week - 2 miles :-( The way I figure though, is 2 is better than zero, right? I have other goals also, last year my goal was to have the most miles in Fire Rescue, which I did, so I'd like to repeat that goal again.

My friend Beth, whom I met because of the Florida Trek has been pushing me to ride with her. (She is one of those amazing bike riders I was talking about earlier.) She took me out to the Hawthorne trail and we rode 24 miles. I thought I was going to die, because I was pedaling my butt off to keep up with her "easy ride." It was fun and I think the spin class might help me to hang with her.

This week has been exceptional! Not including yesterday, when I was at work, and it's not easy to get in a good workout on R16, I have worked out every day! I did a spin class on Tuesday with Leslie and we rode 22 miles! Then after that we went downstairs and did a 30 minute abs and glutes class.

Right now I am sitting on 125 miles!! Halfway to Alligator point!