Walkies?

I'm a proud Colony employee, and there are some things my company does that just really turn me on. 150% charitable matching is one, but the wellness programs are a big hit with me as well. Face it, when you look at your co-workers, quite a few of them could use a wee bit of movement now couldn't they...

So Colony has a $40 a month gym benefit and really pushes people to do things. Several times a year they pick a running/walking race and push for teams to sign up. Colony pays for the entry fees and matches the contributions to the cause. I know in the San Antonio office they do MS rides as well, but so far I haven't been able to get that going in Richmond. It will happen.

The latest challenge? An 8 week Walking Challenge. Office against office, dept against dept. You get the idea. Everyone signs up on a team, and gets a cheap pedometer. I've dropped mine so many times that I'm surprised that it shows any numbers.

Oh, is this competion F'd. There is this cute thing called "activity converted to steps." Yep, biking to walking. So one night, I converted mine and got more step points from one ride than my whole team did for the day. I ran it up the flagpole and the powers that be say, yep, thats how it works. For someone who comes in early in the morning and pretty much doesnt move from my desk until I leave the biking will be a blessing. As long as I don't get stabbed by some of the more competitive people around here.... A 5 hour training ride... equals 60,000 steps. For a company thats pushing people to try to do 10,000 a day... Wow.

Ok, so what do you win... a water bottle, a trophy and the everlasting thanks from the company. Looking around at how many of my co-workers who have had gastric bypass surgery and then gained much of the weight back, I can understand the thanks part.

So if your company doesnt have a good program, maybe you should suggest one. A little spirit of competition now and again is a good thing. As long as a cyclist doing 4 and 5 hour training rides doesnt screw the competition!