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I’m not an athlete. Quite far from it, in fact, unless you call turning pages in novels hardcore activity, because for most of my life, that’s been my favorite hobby.
As a mom, I’ve tried really hard to be as healthy as possible and to build activity into my schedule, but it’s always been difficult.
Enter the Conqueror’s Challenges.
My sister gifted The Road to Hana to me for Christmas, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
What is it? The concept is simple. You join a particular challenge – there are both real places, like the Road to Hana on Maui, and imaginary ones, like Harry Potter – and then put the app on your phone. The app contains a map of the route you’ve chosen. As you work out, in whatever activity you choose (think walking, running, rowing, swimming, dancing, etc.) your avatar moves along the map until you reach the end, at which point you’re mailed a medal that’s super personalized towards that particular challenge.
Sound crazy? It did to me at first. I was skeptical about how much fun anything could make running, but everything about this company is super positive. The app sends you in-app messages congratulating you for your achievements. It gently lets you know if you’re behind schedule or cheers for how far ahead you are. On many of the challenges, you can settle in to the street view and actually see what those real places look like.
That’s been a gamechanger for me. When I had mono last year and running – my then-exercise of choice – was just too much, the desire to keep my avatar on the move kept me heading out for short walks around my neighborhood. It wasn’t much, but it was more than I would have done otherwise. While I waited for needed dental surgery and again couldn’t handle running, I hopped on my bike and rode with My Little Man. The handy activity converter can change lots of activities into distances, and again, the idea of watchingi my avatar move, even for small distances, kept me moving when life tried to prevent it.
There’s even a private Facebook group, where you can ‘meet’ people from all over the world. Many post pictures of where they’ve exercised that day, the challenges they face, the success they’ve had, but all are positive, and it’s fun to see what’s happening elsewhere. A woman in Oahu posts pictures of beautiful flowers every weekend. A truck driver in the American Midwest posts about his adventures and where he walks when he’s out driving. A guy in Scotland posts pictures of where he runs in Glasgow. One Hobbit-loving guy dresses up, complete with big, hairy costumed feet, and posts about his adventures – his posts are really creative and funny. For this work-from-home person, the opportunity to see what others are up to makes me feel connected to people all over the world.
Conqueror’s Challenge is environmentally friendly, too. For each challenge you choose whether to get plastic out of the ocean or to plant trees; then as each 20% of your challenge is reached, the Conqueror’s Challenge company makes that happen through partnerships with environmental advocates.
Put all of that together, and I look forward to watching my phone update my current challenge and seeing those miles get logged. I like seeing my avatar advance along the route, and watching that number of miles per challenge drop is exciting. For this athlete wanna-be, receiving those shiny medals in the mail is a total high. (I may or may not have danced around my house with 500 Miles blaring through my earbuds for a week after completing the Scottish North Coast 500 challenge.)
Are you in? If you need some movement accountability, some inspiration to exercise, or just enjoy a reward, give a Conqueror’s Challenge a try! Even better, if you choose a challenge based on a real location (not a book, movie, or TV show), you can save 10% by using this link.
If you have questions, drop them in the comments – or if you decide to give them a try, let me know what you choose! If you’re already a Conqueror, what’s your favorite challenge so far?
