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1/3/09 3:09 P

JAMESNW:
Great answer!!

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1/3/09 12:54 P

Interesting topic, Bill. This reminds me of the Air Jordan football BCS commercial: "Success is not calculated. It's earned."

Posts: 629
12/30/08 5:43 P

Not up UNTIL but up AT midnight. I have been going since then. :D I'm not your ordinary sailor. I am even farther from being a weenie but I guess you can attribute that to the Marine Corps. I doubt that I will get in bed too late tonight. I have to fast and then wait until medical opens tomorrow to do blood work. I hate fasting blood work. :P Well we will see you on the road and I hope you bring your appetite for dust. Take care.

SparkPoints: (157,715)
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12/30/08 5:29 P

Sparty:
That's pretty good for a Navy Weenie. Up until midnight? What in the world were you drinking?

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12/30/08 5:07 P

Hey Bill, I was up at midnight EST and I even tried to huddle so you would see it when you got on. It posted it to yesterday for some reason. Well I just wanted to tell you that I was on pretty darned early today. :D

Posts: 847
12/30/08 11:30 A

Congratulations, Bill! Ambitious goals set and met. Reminds me that I need to get more specific about my goal setting and tracking for biking in 2009. I admire people like you that set quantitative goals and track your progress. Hope you have a good reward for yourself planned!

Posts: 9,609
12/30/08 8:17 A

Way to Go Bill! You're right, sparkPOINTS do not guarantee sparkSUCCESS

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Posts: 629
12/30/08 5:03 A

Exactly what I was thinking. Today I'm taking time to write out some goals in addition to the other things I need to get done. I'm putting together my workout and inspirational music that helps me to meet my goals. I don't know about other people but if I didn't have my music I would go crazy sometimes. I have been told often that people can tell what kind of mood I'm in by the music I'm listening to. Good luck to everyone in their daily, weekly and monthly goals. Make today that day that you get back on track to where you want to be.

Posts: 94
12/29/08 9:51 P

Bill60: Congrats and thanks for the inspiration!!

SPARTYJR3000: It's not so much the goal itself but the journey towards the goal!



Edited by: NORMAVI at: 12/29/2008 (21:52)

Posts: 629
12/29/08 5:15 P

Way to go Bill. That's a very difficult goal and you did great. I need to sit down and create some goals for 2009. I have a bit of a problem in that I am out to sea so often and the space is limited that I'm not sure how many I will be able to keep. I guess it is better to set goals and not meet them then it is to not even set goals and fall without making the attempt.

SparkPoints: (157,715)
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12/29/08 3:50 P

Drum roll please:
Two challenges conquered:
1. 1100 MILES BIKING IN DECEMBER - MET AND EXCEEDED.
2. GOAL WAS TO DO 45 RIDES OF AT LEAST 100 KILOMETERS FOR YEAR 2008 - MET TODAY WITH A 62.3.

HOOOAAAAAAA!!

Edited by: BILL60 at: 12/29/2008 (15:51)

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12/29/08 1:30 P

M you are absolutely right. It used to be that people would go out to the end of the month. They would never LOSE the points if the did not do the exercises, even if they took them off. I could not keep up and it was really disheartening to start adding up points or leading out the team for a day or two and then have someone surpass you with outrageous numbers. I would get a few minutes or points and edge out the other members then a group of people that never seemed to post or care about anything else would drop thousands of points. It drove me nuts until I realized what was going on. After that I never really looked at those points again. I may again soon but not for a while still. :D

Posts: 2,125
12/29/08 1:17 P

I have to agree that the sparkpoints are a big motivator for me! I like to see my progress, the number of minutes I did each week/month. I also make goals for myself to do more minutes each month. But I only add my points after my workout. And I don't look out other people's numbers. To each his business, I am competing for myself, not against other people. If they want to cheat, then I don't care, they are only cheating themselves. Maybe they are just planning ahead like others have said? But you have to be honest and take them out if you did not complete it. I like the idea of adding only one minute if you want to plan your workouts ahead.

Spark took some action on this subject, they only let you add your foods and workout for one week ahead. Previously you could add them for the whole month I think. And Spark members complained because some people would start their month with 2000-3000 points already! It made no sense! So anyway, to each his own way of doing it, you just have to be honest with yourself!

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12/29/08 11:12 A

I haven't looked at the points on our team page--I will see if I can figure out how to do it out of curiousity. But, on one of my other teams, there is a thread where people post their daily point totals, and most are posting over 100 points per day. I can't figure out how they do it! I just decided to set my own goals and track my progress against myself, rather than making it a competition with others to get points. That way, the points are meaningful to me, and a means to making progress. Otherwise, I could spend an hour at the computer trying to get points, rather than an hour at the gym trying to build stamina for my riding!

Posts: 629
12/28/08 8:48 P

Well that is a good idea then. We are referring to the points that get logged on our team's page. So that is all I'm saying. I don't want you to have to know how to find them if you don't want too. I rarely look at them any more either. They just seem to be way to inflated.

Posts: 94
12/28/08 8:43 P

I don't even know how to look at other people's points. And I think I want to keep it that way ;-)
N.

Posts: 629
12/27/08 10:00 A

Magellan1, wow long time no see. I hope all is well with you. Keep posting those great posts.

Posts: 629
12/27/08 9:59 A

Lying to yourself only hurts you or so it's said. I believe that the impact reaches far beyond yourself and Bill you have proven that. You have been touched by other people's lies. I used to work really hard to get points for working out and so I would do all my exercises and add them to my profile. Then I would see people with huge numbers and feel saddened by the fact that they were so much farther ahead of me. This lasted for about a month until I made the realization that many people were faking or not completing what they had added early. When I worked out in my group with the Navy I rarely added my workouts because they were so involved with many different workouts. I was less obsessed with numbers on the computer and more with what I was doing. I wasn't able to do extra workouts and add to team goals so I was even less interested in adding them to the site. Now I'm on my own for working out and so I will add what I do and keep myself honest by doing so. I hope that others will realize that the numbers do not always reflect the effort. What you go out and do will show in your energy levels and eventually will show in your weight. Feeling healthy is far more important than a competition with people that do more for numbers rather than their health. Good luck everyone with our health goals.

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12/17/08 6:20 P

Yes, honesty is the best policy. This whole healthy lifestyle committment is all about getting real. (being honest)

There is that old adage about the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

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12/16/08 10:37 P

Sometimes training IS a part time job. I have doing a lot of training while I have been out of work between contract jobs. It's the only thing that has kept me sane. That being said, I know better than to track work I have yet to do - too many other things can come up or I might have a down day where I don't feel like doing anything.

Posts: 1,235
12/16/08 8:58 A

Mine goes up when it is finished, which is still low. I do really good if I get in 300 minutes a week, people that do alot more than that it almost has to be a job I would think.

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12/15/08 8:26 P

i dont really look at the point leaders, do you really think they are making things up to have more points and get thier name up on some board? i don't believe these people have ill intentions of misleading anyone. i think am guessing they are just using the cardio tracker as a planner. I am not one of the leaders on the point board (i havent checked). but i am guessing that is what is going on.

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12/15/08 8:02 P

I think it is a shame to make things up just go get more "points". But I am responsible only for me, so I will only report what I do and use this as a tool to help me, not impress anyone else.

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12/15/08 8:01 P

i used to plan my week out by putting in the activity i was planning to do each day for the week. i would put in one minute though, not the actual time i was planning to do an activity. maybe they are just using the cardio log as a planner and adjust as they go (usally i do more than 1 minute lol)

the extra points don't earn anyone a prize. i am guessing that they are just planning ahead, like meal planner. activity and minutes, then stick to it.

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12/15/08 5:45 P

I think when they record that which they have not done the only cheat themselves, but I'm hoping that they are just being efficient and putting in what they intend and are actually following through. I forget to put any in for weeks to months at a time so I dont have a record at all - maybe food for thought for a new years resolution. But I think it is more important to be active than loggiing a the computer.

Posts: 289
12/15/08 8:18 A

Yup, I wonder too. I don't record mine till I'm done, I know what I'm like, I'd just have to be taking it off. But maybe some of the people are motivated by knowing they promised to do it.

In any case, I'm glad snow shoveling counts. Today, it was -33 windchill, so I only got in 10 shoveling minutes.

SparkPoints: (157,715)
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12/15/08 7:40 A

As I looked at the Team Statistics for the month, I couldn't help but feel sorry for those who say they have but haven't. I even looked at several Spark Pages and noticed that several alleged Team Point Leaders have not done any Cardio whatsoever for the week yet, write themselves up for the maximum points, 7 days ahead. At the same time, I marvel at those that do what they say.

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