 Happy first day of Summer!
That's it, we're done!! Who is silently cheering? Who is thinking without the pressure to write it down they may not do as much (that's me). Either way, if we are all more aware of the importance of daily exercise, this "program" was a success.
And drum roll please.....top ten are Gene C, Katie J, Nico D, Karl S., Sue W., Jean W, Carissa P.,Kaytlin M, Roula A, Terry D. Not really anything surprising here but still quite an accomplishment to stay THAT active the whole 6 weeks. This group obviously does make serious exercise part of their daily routine.
FINAL results can be found here.
A group of us participated in BIG BIKE on Friday - great cause, lots of fun. But some of you put this activity as a level 3!!!! Really?? Did you break a sweat as we glided through town? Did you even pedal the whole time? If I caught this - I moved it to a level 2 (and that is a gift people!).
Sue says she "fell off the fitness wagon" this week - with a score of 137. If that is "falling off" I did a swan dive off weeks ago...
I believe Aaron is only in this challenge for the SWAG at the end - I hope this year's takeaways don't disappoint.
Kim and Alyssa are the champs at pushing just a little more each week, finishing just one point apart- congrats ladies, you can now relax.
Carissa is really the variety professional - with 10 again this week (biking, swimming, exercise class, brisk walk, yard work, rowing, stairs up, activities with young children, walk/stroll, and stairs down). Phew that's a lot.
Karl seems to be the only one roller skiing - probably the only one who OWNS roller skis.
Philip planted trees this week - hard work and good for the environment - extra points for him (well not really).
I don't think I've ever mentioned, but Christine does ZUMBA every week - we should have her lead a lunchtime session...who is in?
Can you believe that the first week of our little fun we had 41 players get their forms in on Monday?....WOW 41....then it went drastically downhill from there. This week we had 25, which brought us just over the passing grade with a 52%. And it was a strange week - the regulars who normally get their forms in (Christine, Kaytlin, Marketa) did not and the forgetful ones (Stephanie, Tim, Rebecca) did. It was a like a Freaky Friday moment on a Monday. (for those of you who do not get this movie reference - google it). Last week's winners were Terry and Jen Wright. Manny picked up the Starbucks card for his better half (hope it actually ended up in her hands). But is seems Terry does not read the blog (gasp!) and did not claim his prize....so I figure for the last week we can give out one Starbucks gift card and two "Jeans for a Week" posters. The three lucky winners to scramble for the prizes are Kim Graveline, Caroline Evans and Minh Vuu. Remember, first come first choice...on your mark, get set, GO.
Thanks for playing, have a fabulous summer all.
See you Monday @ 12:00noon - Boardroom
 Week #5 is complete - can you believe it? With summer right around the corner I hope our little challenge has everyone in the groove to continue being active during those lovely sunny days to come (here's hoping).
So this week....
Top 10 for week #5 :Gene C, Sue W., Nico D, Katie J, Karl S., Jean W, Carissa P., Terry D., Roula A, and Kaytlin M. This is strong group of people – all in the 800+ points. I am inspired by them – but not discouraged. I don’t compare my score to theirs (if I did I would be so depressed…). I know there are some weeks when I could have done better, especially when I see my total score. But there are other weeks when I know I have done pretty well – for my life/schedule. The point of this challenge is to remind us that exercise is important – everyday. The time and intensity is all subjective – what works for you may not work for others…its simple really, exercise is good for you – commit to making it a part of your daily life.
Full results can be found here.
Marketa wanted me/everyone to know how active she was last week, not only did she bike, she went to burlesque (??), had dragon boat practice in the rain, then went dancing and topped the week off with a 5 hour hike! I noticed she was a little sluggish Monday morning.
Apparently it was DIRT WEEK at the Pullen house – loads of dirt dumped and loads of dirt moved. I am sure they were thrilled with the wet raining weather.
Speaking of rainy weather it seems I was the only one who used it as an excuse for less activity (well maybe Sandra Z too). Congrats to everyone but us.
All Jean's points are from walking....wonder how many pairs of shoes she goes through.
Vanessa is addicted to spinning – you know that class where you ride a stationary bike to nowhere. I think there may be music to keep you from falling asleep.
Carissa is queen (again) of the activities – 10 different ones this week!
Hey Shawn if you are looking for an extra ball hockey player – Nico plays – he’s young AND athletic – obvious ringer.
Terry, Sue and Karl rode their bikes to Kingston and back…for FUN!!…..ya, that’s right, they rule!
Karl earned the most points this week 259! (165 of those in biking) Not to be outdone, Sue had a total of 192 biking points alone.
Another sign of summer.....Philip has joined the beach volleyball craze..…
Carissa, Alyssa and Kim are the three left improving each week. I think Carissa took my advice about keeping pace with small jumps, as she only increased this week by 1.15 points…very strategic…
Okay, one more person has fallen of the participation list - bringing our total to 48 players. We had 24 rock stars hand in their form on Monday – not an improvement from last week but then again not worse either…but in the math world we are now at 50%. Which I guess is statistically good but if you think of what we are measuring…still kind of sad. Anyway this week’s winners of our weekly bribe are Terry Dean and
Jennifer Wright. Terry must have some sort of good luck aura this week, as I believe this is the first time his name was even in the draw! Terry, go buy a lottery ticket now. Poor Jen, she will have to rely on her hubby Manny to read the blog and find me before Terry – as I am not sure the “jeans for a week” is approved at her office. Oh well if that’s what she wins – she can give it/sell it to Manny!
Here I thought the public shame of the printing a list of those no namers would help my cause…it seems this group is totally unfazed, even recruiting more for their club.
Perhaps my font last week was a little too kind…how is this… here are the people who forget put their name on their form (again I can’t stress this enough…this is not personal, I like all of these people!)…AARON, CAROLYN, DOMINIQUE, DAVE, JEAN, KARL, KIM, ROULA, STEPHANIE/NICO. Another observation .. these are all HSF people. It seems the CCS crew excel at name writing.
As always, weekly forms are so appreciated on Mondays (maybe this lovely kindness will help.)
Don't forget the fabulous SummerActive round up - prize giveaway on June 24th - 12:00! - Boardroom. See you there.
 Week 4 is over – just two weeks left. Who can’t wait till the end? Who will miss this little “game”?
Our top 10 – seems to be the same crew...but a little shifting each week. Gene C., Katie J., Sue W., Jean W., Roula A., Terry D., Karl S., Carissa P., Kaytlin M., and Nico D. Let's note that Nico is in the top ten even without including his week 4 scores.
You can view the results here.
We have 7 people still improving each week. These high achievers are: Carissa, Alyssa, Julie G., Colin, Kim, Nico and Rick. I think Alyssa is going about this the right way – she just does a little bit more each week. Some of the others are jumping 20 points a week – that is hard to keep going...but good luck . How many will be left standing at the end?
Gene is so honest – he puts down 57 minutes when he runs..I’d be rounding that up to 60 myself if I ever ran that long.
Odette did some yard work and she has two teenage sons to do those jobs – good for her.
Melissa and Minh edge out Carissa for top spot in the variety category with 9 different types of fun last week.
Caroline E and Colin are getting in some beach volleyball – I hate volleyball but put “beach” in front and hey, it now sounds fun. There’s a little discrepancy in intensity level...Colin apparently does not work as hard as Caroline and puts his time down as a level 2.
Roula is still doing the stairs – everyday – up and down.
More people getting points by playing baseball....sigh...I’ll let this go now.
Marie Claude and Chantal seem to be keeping their children active – lots of points for activities with the young ones. It's nice to see the physical activity beginning early.
Those who know me will understand why I believe Katie J. should get some extra
points just for her taste in celebrities......she is such a smart smart lady – my new best friend really. Check out her profile.
Speaking of profiles, thanks to all who participated so far - I really enjoy reading them - hope others do too. I was surprised at all the avocado lovers. I tried them once (force fed by a colleague) and to be honest I don't see what's to love....and whoa do we have a lot of people who enjoy their eggs (well not Christine). It's fun finding out a little more about each other....such as ..I would have never guessed sweet Caroline E's favourite movie would be Kill Bill Vol.2! And so pleased to know Terry watches Glee - this opens up a whole new area of kitchen chatter.
Well, as the weeks go on, it seems to get harder and harder to get those darn forms in on Mondays. So hard that I figure a few people have just given up – and I will assume they are not playing anymore. This makes our participation numbers drop a bit. We now have 49 people – which is still pretty good. What is not so good, is only 24 people were able to meet the challenge of the Monday submission request. My dream of hitting 60% (barely a “C” in school terms) was not to be…and this week we slumped to a new low of 49%. But on the up side this increases the winning odds for the weekly draws……and who benefits this week? Kaytlin Mullen and Philip Bale. Who likes coffee? Who likes wearing jeans? Let’s see who finds me first. (PS I am off tomorrow - so the race is today or Monday...)
Remember my issue with no names on the forms? I promised to publish a list of shame…wow that sort of threat works ! I had only 5 people submit a nameless form – which is significantly lower than previous weeks. I did promise to expose their lack of attention to detail, and I really hate to do this, because I do like all these people. But a promise is a promise..so here are the faltering five : Dominique, Karl, Kim, Carolyn, Roula.
Have a great weekend all - Forms to me on Monday June 10th!
 Week 3 is done – do you know what that
means? Our little challenge is half over – my how time flies right?
Stephanie’s 12 year old son Nico has joined our fun. His 206 points this week are all in the level 3 category –just proving that 12 year old boys have endless energy. Why doesn’t Stephanie look more tired?
Nico knocked someone out of the top ten by coming in second. Now don’t all
get angry – have you ever met him? He is delightful.
You can find this week's scores here.
Week 3’s top ten are: Gene C, Nico D, Jean W, Katie J, Sue W., Roula A, Karl S., Kaytlin M, Terry D., and Carissa P. The Caroline/Carolyn duo is just waiting to catch someone on an off day. Caroline E even inquired about some extra points because she played volleyball in the rain – sorry you’d have to play in a blizzard for extra points.
This week – let’s give props out to those in the middle of the pack. What a great
group, making that extra effort to add physical activity to our daily routine. Here’s hoping it will turn into a habit like the fabulous fanatics/people at the top.
We are down to 12 people who seem to have the energy to increase their activity each week – very impressive. Gene C in first place is one - can he improve on FIRST PLACE?
It seems that Manny could not take others grabbing his “Most Punctual” title and his form was in first this week – all is right with the world again.
Minh went up the stairs 5 times in one day! How many coffee breaks does this man
take?
Things that make you say “hmmmm?” ....Last week Dave requested injury points…yet this week he seems to have been able to play baseball. Interesting, yes? (See my last week’s comment on the cardio activity level of baseball.)
Another week of many points in the yard work category – even with our rainy weather.
I think a SA Committee road trip is in order to view these apparently impeccably groomed yards.
Carissa edged out Kaytlin by one to win the most variety award with 10 different
activities.
Nick completed the half marathon on Sunday – big congrats to him. Did anyone else
participate in Ottawa Race Day?
We had a few people drop out, some join and some who I am not sure if they are still in to the end or not, so our total number is currently sitting at 53 – will probably be less next week. But the number of players who got their form in on time (you people rock!) was 29 – a slight improvement from last week.
Let’s do the math again…
55%
Still not stellar.
A passing grade if you were in school…but this is not rocket science…a 60% should be easy…maybe next week.
Anyway this week’s winners of the Starbucks gift card or the privilege of wearing jeans for a week (plus you get a lovely poster for your office/cubicle)….are Vanessa Ogg and Alyssa Pelletier… congrats ladies. Prizes are given out on a
first come / first pick basis. Vanessa may have the edge here, as I am not sure Alyssa even knows where I sit.
Still some forms being sent in with no name…how can we fix this? Shall I begin docking points on forms with no name? No, that doesn’t seem fair does it…how about a published list of shame in next week’s blog..yes that’s it! So beware…I will be taking notes.Week 4 forms to me by end of day June 3 - Thanks
Have a great weekend.
 Here we are reflecting on week 2 already….
The long weekend sure put a lot of points in the
newly approved yard work category. You’re welcome everyone.
Roula takes the lead this week. I think being a mom to 4 kids keeps her active – lots of biking and walking happening with her brood.
Liz – take notes!
Top 10 for week 2: Roula A, Gene C, Jean W, Katie J, Sue W., Karl S., Kaytlin M, Terry D., Caroline E, Carissa P., and Chantal HN
Chantal is only 0.23 points behind Carissa – so I count her in too!
You can find this week's results here.
It goes without saying that just being in the game is a good thing – top ten or bottom ten. If we are all out there making an effort to be physically active it doesn’t really matter where you are in the challenge. But I must admit I do admire the commitment of those very active people near the top – it sort of motivates me to get out and do a bit more…
19 of us did more this week than last week – who will keep this up until the end?
On the heels of Sue’s new word “canyoneering” of last week – she has now created a new high intensity sport of “mountain hiking”. Her pitch included the phrase, “hiked up to 6200 ft about sea level in 100 degree heat”. I say doing anything is 100 degree heat is high intensity. Well done.
Dave is requesting sympathy points this season because he is injured…but really it’s not like if he wasn’t injured he’d be out there running with Karl, …so the panel says NO.
Marketa logged 4 hours of walking everyday while on vacation in Prague – is Prague truly THAT interesting? Or is she confusing “walking” with “sitting a pub”?
Carolyn is the Queen of Variety – with 8 different activities last week, she had the usual suspects but added kayaking to put her over the top.
We have a couple of people playing baseball – yes that good ol’ summer pastime. Every time I see someone get 10 points for playing I really want to watch these games and see if their heart rate is raised…if they actually move around for a few consecutive minutes. I know what I am talking about; my son has played baseball for years. I have had to sit through HOURS of watching this game and have yet to see
a player (who is not pitcher or catcher) break a sweat…but I'm sure lots of fun is happening which is important as well...so...play on.
Kaytlin seems to be the only one playing tennis – and I was close to removing this
category.
All Nick’s points this week were in the high intensity level – just as there are some whose points are all in the low intensity level…I won’t single them out…
We had a few more Sunday night submissions – Manny’s better half Jen got hers in before him..what is happening here?….he is slipping.
We now have 51 people participating – a few were on vacation or sick last week and wanted to join the fun. So, out of 51 players only 27 had their form in on time.
Shall we do the math people?
53%.
Pitiful.
Perhaps people were still in long weekend mode and just not back to the high efficiency manner of last week. Oh well, on the up side this increases the odds for the weekly draws… and the two people who benefit from this are Dominique Mongeon and Chris Gray. I know these two enjoy their coffee – it will be a race to see who gets here first for that Starbucks card. “Jeans for a week” is a good prize too – a little visual bragging around the office.
Friendly reminder still needs to go out about names on forms…
Week 3 forms to me by 4:00pm, Monday May 27th please. Thank you.
Have a great active weekend.
This week’s words of wisdom……
We do not stop exercising because we grow old - we grow old because we stop
exercising. Dr. Kenneth Cooper, Cooper Institute.
 The summer- like weather (at least in Ottawa)
last week certainly helped to kick start our SummerActive challenge – lots of walking, running and biking logged.
We have 49 players this year (so far, we usually we get some stragglers who join in week 2). We even have a few of our remote national staff participating this year, as well as some family members. Welcome ALL!
Results from week one can be found here.
This week’s highlights/observations...
Well, we have a new Sheriff in town... Chris G has taken down Manny for the
“Most Punctual “ player. Manny has held this elusive honour for years...but his new hire has just taken over...yes, Chris’s form was emailed in Sunday night, a few hours before Manny. Other Sunday evening submissions were Mark B and Sandra Z so they get an honourable mention.
You would think our long distance submission would have come from our colleagues in BC (Gene, Stacey, Julie) but no, Caroline E. sent hers in from CALIFORNIA while she was on vacation! And it made it in on time! Sue, do you see where she wins here?
Rick B added quitting smoking to his form, which gives him a million points (that don’t count) but does get him our ultimate respect, and support (which is worth more right?) and a call out – CONGRATS RICK!
Is it possible that Aaron is being strategic this year – setting the bar so low in week one, making it easy to improve each week to win the Most Improved Player Award?
A few of the CCS ladies went to Yoga on the Hill last week (every Wed. at noon for those interested) – I am sure they returned to the office feeling centred, calmed, and
all Zen like. Maybe they could bring Dave with them next time….?
Liz was hoping to somehow add the 20lb baby she is carrying as weight lifting but
that would be unfair as her extra weight is only temporary and some of us carry
extra weight ALL the time… nice try though.
Sue added canyoneering to her activity sheet – not even sure that is a word (spell check doesn’t think so) but she claims it is very hard – like an extreme sport – that is how hip/cool she is.
Minh, Carolyn P and Roula (probably in heels!) seem to be the only ones tackling the stairs going up here at our office. Gene in BC is doing some stairs too – what floor are you on? Chris G went up ONCE early last week, and then it looks like he figured the 2 points was just not worth it. On the flip side Manny went down once and seems to have had the same thought...not worth it!
Jean is our leader once again this year...and brisk walking is her thing. She did 1100 minutes of walking last week. I’m kinda thinking maybe she is part of some research study?
Kaytlin does weight training every day– I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side – she could probably take me out in a second.
Chantal is making good use of her gym membership – exercise classes every day – what a commitment!
Odette! You are playing??? And look at all the walking everyday – yeah!
Top ten to watch for week one are Jean W, Katie J, Sue W., Gene C, Roula A, Caroline E, Kaytlin M, Chantal HN, Karl S., and Terry D. I’d watch out for Carolyn
P only one point behind Terry and Julie D., only 5 points out and the long weekend ahead – she’ll be out dancing!
Variety point leaders this week are Gillian, Alyssa, Julie D and Minh – all had 7 different activities logged – variety keeps it fun.
So for week one, we had 41 players get their forms to me by 4:00pm on Monday making them eligible for the weekly draw. Don’t worry people; the odds get better as the weeks go on…This week’s winners are: Colin Sell and Marie Claude Mallet.
First one to find me gets to choose their prize - $10 Starbucks gift card or the fabulous "Jeans for a Week" poster to hang on your door/cubicle.
On your mark, get set, GO
Some housekeeping issues:
Please put your name on the form – I do print them out to read and if there is no name I may steal some of your points.
Please use the updated form attached here. There was a formula glitch on the yard work sections (corrected on those who had time inputted last week – don’t worry) and you can now input your activity on the “other” line.
Due to the holiday on Monday May 20th...forms need to be in by Tuesday end of day (4:00pm end of MY day).
Thanks all for playing...unit next week...
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