Fit to Print team updates

Shape Up Cape

The Fit to Print team earned 776 points for the past week, bringing our average to 77.6 per person, again beating our goal of just 10 points per day. Our competitors also fared well: St. Andrew's Fit for Eternity team earned 760 for a weekly average of 84.4 points while the Bookin' Team from the Cape Girardeau Public Library earned 406 points for a 58-point average.

Week of May 20

Sam Blackwell 86

Andrea Buchanan 90

Spencer Cramer 73

Heidi Hall 74

Jamie Hall 70

Gabe Hartwig 62

Laura Johnston 99

Heather Kronmueller 69

Bob Miller 99

Joe Sullivan 54

TOTAL 776

Weekly average: 77.6

Sam Blackwell

My initial determination not to let Shape Up Cape dictate my life has given way to questioning whether any of my day's plans will earn points and grumbling about the logic of the point schedule. It awards the highest number of points to aerobics, swimming, jogging and "vigorous use of cardiovascular equipment." Amy, my yoga teacher, says strength training is just as important as a cardiovascular workout if the goal is shaping up Cape. Heather Kronmueller, one of our team members, found a Web site that computes how many calories various activities burn. Doing 20 minutes of aerobics is worth 10 points and burns 162 calories. Walking 18 holes of golf burns 1,252 calories and earns 5 points. Two hours of gardening uses up 777 calories and earns no points. Somebody please do the math.

Spencer Cramer

I've been able to mix the treadmill and weights with yoga the past couple weeks. Before Shape Up Cape, I tended to do one or the other on any given day, but not both. So that alone is an improvement.

The problem with treadmills, of course, is boredom. But I've found some ways to make the time pass more quickly. So over the next few weeks I'll share them with you. The first is perhaps the goofiest.

Tip No. 1 to avoid treadmill boredom: Swing your arms the wrong way. Instead of right arm, left leg forward, try right arm, right leg. One, this is difficult to do; it requires a lot of concentration, on the order of pat-your-head-rub-your-stomach concentration. But while you're concentrating, the minutes slip by. Also, it's fun to see if anyone figures out what's wrong with your gait.

Heidi Hall

Uplifting news: I walked from Arena Park to Route W on the Cape La Croix Trail on Sunday. That's 2.5 miles. I was standing on Route W wondering who the heck was going to carry me the 2.5 miles back when a stranger blew past on her bicycle. "Heidi Hall! Good for you!" she called behind her. What a nice person! I finished my 5 miles that day.

Really depressing news: May 18-24 marked the first time in my life I've exercised for seven days straight. But when I went to Weight Watchers on Saturday, I hadn't lost a single pound. "When you increase your exercise, your muscles retain more water," the consultant said. "Be sure you increase your water."

I didn't exercise at all that day in protest, but I got over it. It's only 2 p.m. Tuesday, and I have consumed 64 oz. of water and made four frantic trips to the bathroom.

Gabe Hartwig

I knew my scores the first two weeks were too good to last. Last week, I somehow fell into a slump and only obtained 62 measly points -- eight short of our team's 70-point goal. The rest of the Fit to Print team is likely conspiring ways to vote me off in a "Survivor"-like fashion.

I am unsure what caused my lack of motivation. Perhaps I simply became overconfident when I saw that I was ahead in the semissourian.com poll last week. Maybe I was avoiding large numbers that I would have to calculate at the week's end. Or perhaps I was just lazy. This week will be better. I promise.

In other news, Friday marked my first visit to an actual gym during Shape Up Cape. The music was bad, but it was a nice change of pace from my usual routine. Next time I'll bring headphones.

Laura Johnston

I've made some progress in the past two weeks of Shape Up Cape though my scale doesn't say so yet. I've gone from doing very little exercise (read none) before the program began to daily walks averaging 30 to 45 minutes. I've been walking so much that I decided to purchase new shoes hoping I'll wear out the soles by the end of September when this fitness contest concludes.

I've even put my gym membership to use (after paying for five months without setting foot in the building) and started attending yoga class on Friday mornings before work. After an hourlong yoga tutorial, I went out to buy a mat, block and strap hoping that would make my workout that much easier. I haven't noticed much difference yet; this stuff is harder than it looks.

My next challenge is to increase my strength training beyond an ab workout.