Getting off the couch
Updated: May 28, 2021
"Why do you always try to make me go on a walk?" bellows my tween daughter. This usually comes with a fair bit of eye rolling to complete the package. Rah. Motherhood can be a challenge, particularly when talking to my daughter about any form of exercise.
But I have a sneaky trick up my sleeve: the Conqueror Virtual Challenges. I discovered this magical motivator last year during Circuit Breaker. My son was driving me a bit batty. He has so much energy, but wasn't all that motivated to go for a run.
So I signed him up for the Inca Trail and off he went, happy to go on a walk or a run, all to earn the world's coolest medal. I even went with him most of the time which meant the challenge was getting me off the couch, too.
Hudson was motivated by the medal, but I thought it was super cool that we could use Google's street view to actually see where we were on the trail. It was like I was really hiking the Inca Trail. Amazing!
Now? The American Association is taking on a far bigger challenge: the iconic Route 66.
Wow. This is a really long challenge so we're doing it as a team for the month of June.
I signed up the whole family without a single eye roll. The challenge is even getting me off the couch and anybody who knows how much I struggle with Singapore's heat knows that's saying something!
Here's how it works: everybody signs up through AAS and is registered for our team. Then each team member logs distanced-based exercise. This could be swimming, running, walking etc.. You track your distance either using a device such as an Apple Watch or FitBit. Don't have one? No worries. You can add your information manually, too. Each team member's distances moves the entire team down Route 66.
Along the way, we can take a look around our path. Each team member gets a few postcards, too. And we even help plant trees along the way. When we finish the 3,669km route (gulp), each team member gets a medal! So if you are one who only did 1km, but somebody else did 300km, no worries, Everybody get a medal.
Coolest. Thing. Ever.
I'm just praying we get a big team together! We have a long road to conquer in 30 days and I want a cool medal, too, this time!
