Do you know that MapMyRun logs all kinds of physical activity and that includes housework? (It even logs the indoor sport “intimacy” but there’s no way in heck I’m recording that!) So when I cleaned house for nine hours on Friday to get ready for a surprise party for my husband’s 42nd birthday, I burned over 1,500 calories. When I cleaned for another two hours on Sunday morning to get ready for the kids’ book club discussion (Wonder
— awesome book!), I burned another 340 calories. It’s no wonder (ha ha) that when it came time for me to get in a “real” workout on Sunday afternoon, I was pretty pooped already. I simply did not want go out for a run. I knew I’d feel better if I went, so I laced up my shoes and got going. Mind over body. It’s a powerful thing. But I spent the entire run coming up with a bonus points system for runners.
You get 75 points for going for a run, any run, any distance, any amount of time. If you ran today, you’re a super star. But you get extra points for the following:
+10 for running when you really really just did not feel like running but you did anyway
+1 for every mile you ran (round up to the nearest mile!) (or +1 for every 10 minutes you ran, whichever is greater)
+1 for getting up with an alarm to run
+1 if you didn’t even press snooze when your alarm went off
+5 if you set your gear out the night before
+1 if your gear was clean (washed and dried)
+2 if you had no clean gear and threw on smelly clothes because you are just that dedicated to running (and willing to prioritize it over, you know, doing laundry instead)
+1 if you ran before 8 a.m.
+1 if you ran at lunchtime
+2 if you ran after 5 p.m. (guess who loves a morning run?)
+1 more if you ran after dark and took proper safety precautions (minus 80 million if you didn’t wear reflective gear, didn’t run with a light, and/or didn’t run in a safe location, preferably with a partner)
+1 if you had to pay someone to watch your child(ren) while you ran
+2 if you had a child run or ride his bike next to you
+10 if you pushed any children in a jogger
+5 for the lady runner who carried any children in her womb! (Yes, I give mad props to the pregnant runner, but I gotta give more points to the runner who pushed the jogger plus any child who can vocalize his protest at going for a run)
+2 if the temperature on your outdoor run was above 80 degrees
+3 if the temperature on your outdoor run was below 50 degrees (yes, I think that’s cold)
+5 if the temperature was below freezing
+5 if you got rained on
+2 if you ran on a treadmill (make that +3 if the treadmill didn’t have a television screen or iPod dock)
+5 if you didn’t poop your pants or puke
+/- 3 points (I can’t decide) if you pooped beside the trail or behind a neighborhood bush — anywhere besides a bathroom or porta potty
+5 if you had a head cold (minus points if you had a fever or chest congestion or flu and you ran anyway)
+1 if you said hello, waved, or gave a thumbs-up to anyone along the way (minus points if you used any finger other than your thumb)
+1 for every piece of trash you picked up on your cool-down walk (am I the only person who does this? I hope not).
What else would you add? How many points did you get on your latest run? I earned 100 points for yesterday’s 5.75-mile, hard-fought I-didn’t-wanna run through the hills.
Who said ‘intimacy’ has to be an indoor activity? JK..
A year ago, when I first moved to Oregon I cleaned houses while I looked for work. It was great exercise! Especially when you’re ‘on the clock’ because you gotta ‘go go go’. No breaks!
There should be bonus points for looking forward to running (having a good attitude about it, rather than dreading it), and points for sticking to the training plan, including taking scheduled days of rest.
Great list!
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I agree on all points — +5 for looking forward to running, +2 for running with a smile on your face, +3 for checking off a workout on a training plan, +75 for not running when the training plan calls for rest, and finally, I’m gonna throw in +50 for outdoor intimacy LOL!
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Ha!! You made me laugh! I am in recovery and not supposed to be doing a whole lot of anything. I am happy to know I am gaining points every day anyway! ๐ Thank you!!
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Fun running point system – I will have to remember it!
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I think it’s a good thing to give ourselves full credit for every run, right?
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Thanks for a great laugh! I look forward to reading your posts every day.
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Thank you! As I said it helped me to “write” this to entertain myself on my run. I’m glad it entertained you too!
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[…] I read a great post by Fit Fun Mom about the bonus point system for runners. And at the end of the post she asked if there should be any more points that she […]
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I love the points ๐
I should add points for every pile of coyote poop I DON”T step into and lose points for the ones I fail to avoid… ๐
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Funny how running involves so much talk about poop. ๐ We have coyotes here in SoCal too.
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[…] overheating. Three to four slow(er) miles is better than no miles at all, and in fact I give myself bonus points for completing a tough run. Those late-day and hotter-temperature runs might not be building speed, […]
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