The Wrinkled Runner
The Wrinkled Runner
The Medal That Moves You: The Conqueror Challenges
Conqueror Challenges offer a flexible alternative to traditional races, allowing runners to earn medals while virtually traveling famous routes around the world at their own pace. These self-paced virtual challenges provide beautiful medals, environmental impact, and motivation without the pressure of specific race dates or competition.
• Virtual mileage goals you complete at your own pace with no specific date requirements
• Perfect for base building (to keep you consistent) or setting mileage goals
• Automatically syncs with most fitness trackers including Garmin and Apple Watch
• Environmental component: plants trees or removes ocean plastic as you progress
• Great for non-racers who still want to earn medals
• Options range from 20-mile beginner challenges to multi-thousand mile routes
• Any distance-based activity counts: running, walking, cycling, swimming
Check it Out! The Conqueror Challenges
I talk about it on YouTube and also wrote a post about it over at The Wrinkled Runner.
If you are looking for a coach to help you reach your running goals, even if it's just to start to run, take a look at my Coaching Services page on the website. I do virtual, in-person (Buffalo, NY area) and also offer single zoom sessions for those would just like to chat with a coach one time.
I am also a Personal Trainer, and offer virtual training as well, in addition to Nutrition Coaching.
Find my additional outlets over at the YouTube channel and at wrinkledrunner.com. Sign up over on the blog for the once-a-month newsletter! If you would like information on utilizing a running coach, check out what I can do for you here.
If you have any running-related questions, please send an email to sherry@wrinkledrunner.com…I answer every one.
So today we're going to talk about something that I've referred to in the past and have talked about, which is the Conqueror Challenges, and this is a virtual race, but it's a race that you're running against yourself.
Speaker 1:It's not on a particular day or a particular time. You pick your challenge and you get a medal at the end of it. The medals are really cool. A lot of times I like to use it in if I'm base building before marathon training, I'll pick how many miles that I want to cover before I start the actual training. So, for example, in January I had taken a little bit of time off and was going to be running the Buffalo Marathon, which I deferred till next year because our weather was so bad it was all ice all the time. But before that happened I was going to pick that I wanted to be up to 30 miles a week by the end of my base training as I went into marathon training. So I kind of worked it out and figured out what my runs were going to be, what each you know, what each mileage was going to be, and then went to this Conqueror Challenges site and picked a challenge that covered the miles that I wanted to cover and then had the date that I was going to end my base training on as the date for when this was completed. So you may have done virtual races before or other virtual fitness challenges, and this is along the same lines. But, like I said, this is against yourself, and so if you're not somebody who's big into racing or big into like having to run something in a certain you know, you've got a lot of times you have like three or four days to run a virtual marathon or half marathon or whatever race is also doing it virtually. I've never done a virtual race as far as like an actual event, like a marathon or 5k. I've only done these challenges virtually, which they're not really races.
Speaker 1:So anyway, in this particular virtual challenge, this allows you to travel famous routes around the world. So, for example, I did the base of Mount Fuji as one of my challenges because I lived in Japan for a few years, so that meant something to me. I did the road to Hana, which is in Hawaii, because I've driven on that road before. It allows you to either pick something that you know and love or pick some place that you haven't been before, and so you're going to log your miles by running, walking, cycling, swimming, anything that covers a distance. This challenge actually will allow you to use, and a lot of your fitness trackers will automatically upload your information to the app that you use for these Conqueror Challenges. So I have a Garmin watch. I also have an Apple watch. When I was doing it in January and the winter was starting to get really, really bad, I also logged some cycling miles on my spin bike and had that upload as well to this Conqueror Challenge.
Speaker 1:So the goal is to cover the distance of the chosen route, which they let you know, and this is in a self-set time frame. So you pick what you think you're going to be able to complete this challenge in and it doesn't really matter. Like, I took a lot longer to complete it because it was just so icy I couldn't really get out for runs, so I went for probably two weeks over what I had said that my goal was going to be. So it's more of a self-imposed goal, but if challenges are something that you like to do, then I would say pick something that's a little bit challenging but, of course, very doable for you in order to get this medal. They're really, really nice medals and they show you a picture of them with each challenge on the website and you can pick to do like maybe two challenges. Some people will pick like a 20 mile challenge or a 36 mile challenge and it corresponds to whatever it is that you are running. So I don't quite remember what the base of mount fuji, the mileage was, but it's the actual base of mount fuji and so they're going to send you virtual postcards in your emails of where you kind of are on the map based on how many miles you've run. So whatever is like five miles from the start line. They're gonna send you a virtual postcard about what's around there and then pictures and things like that. So it's really cool, it's really fun, it's a, it's a good way to learn about something around the world.
Speaker 1:If you pick a challenge of area that you don't know, and the finishing metals that you get, they come really quick, like I always get mine within a week. So it's actually it's a very legit, very cool challenge. And then if someone's doing a smaller challenge, they can also do like a really big challenge like the Pacific Trail, and so people will do both kinds of things at once and you can apply your miles to both things. So you know, if you run a five mile, that will apply to the smaller challenge and that can also apply to the bigger challenge, which might take you a year, two years. It depends on how big that bigger challenge is that you pick. Depends on how big that bigger challenge is that you pick.
Speaker 1:Also, within the app, they do either tree planting or they do getting plastic bottles out of the ocean, also for some of the challenges. So I think it's every 20% that you cover that's what they do. They plant the tree or they recycle the bottles or get the bottles out of the ocean. So you're also having an environmental impact along with being able to complete a challenge. And also, you know it helps with motivation that you have accountability. Yes, it's self-imposed, but still, if you have something written down or something like this app that everything is uploading to, it can give you the extra little push to get out there and get those miles in.
Speaker 1:As you see yourself kind of moving along and other people who are doing the challenge. You're going to see their little avatar on the thing, even though you're not actually racing against them, but you'll still see yourself moving forward and moving along on the little map that they have in the app and so you know when you get to the end of it and they send you your medal. It's just a real cool reminder and a real cool motivator and tells you that that goal that you had was something that you completed. So I love telling people who don't actually like to race that they can get a medal. You can also pay a little bit more to get a t-shirt as well I usually don't actually like to race that they can get a medal. You can also pay a little bit more to get a T-shirt as well. I usually don't do that. I have enough T-shirts, but I do like to get the medal.
Speaker 1:So if you find yourself needing this motivation, this is one way that you can have a goal. That is sort of a race, but not really, but it can encourage you to get out there and do the run, get the miles in, you know, add an extra day, those kinds of things. If you find that you're somebody who maybe doesn't have the discipline yet to roll out of bed and just get, you know, just go out for a run, just because some people need to have these end goals, and this is one way to do it. That's actually a lot of fun, and if you have to break down a bigger goal for example, if you are going to be marathon training or half marathon training and you do need to base build, like I said earlier, that is, this is just one way that I really like to get out there and do it, because I'm not quite into the training yet, but I do need to make sure that I hit a certain level of mileage per week before I jump into marathon training, especially now that I'm. I'm finding that I'm having a lot more issues with injuries and things that are hurting, and so I'm not able to just jump right in like I used to be able to do if I took a few weeks off or a month off. So this really helps me to get into that mindset and develop the discipline I'm going to need for that training by doing something fun, doing something that gives me a little reward at the end of it and just kind of breaks up the monotony of this base training idea. If you do longer distances Beyond the medal, beyond you know just this reward that you get at the end.
Speaker 1:This is actually a really good way to develop consistency in your running, if something like this they call it gamification appeals to you. So my husband and I and my granddaughter and my daughter and one of my sons, we are doing Duolingo. So if you've ever done Duolingo, you're practicing a language. But it's all about the gamification, it's all about points. You get points, you get bonus points, you get all this stuff. That doesn't really motivate me and so I just kind of do one or two lessons a day just because I'm in this group and so I don't want to disappoint my granddaughter. But my husband is heavy into gamification, so I'm always hearing this Duolingo going on and then he gets like other XP and then they'll give him oh, you've got 30 minutes of free XP or whatever, and so he'll do it. So it can get kind of annoying, like I'll hear this, this ring that happens when you get something correct, and I'll hear it for long stretches of time, because he just loves the gamification.
Speaker 1:So if something like that is appealing to you, then this also can kind of be in that category, because you are watching yourself on the map, go forward, you're watching your progress. It will. It will tell you how, what percentage you are at in and towards completion, and you know you get these little postcards and little rewards. So it can help with consistency, because if you really want to see yourself moving along and you really want to hit that goal, whatever date that you put for your end goal then maybe you are going to go for that run on Tuesday when if you didn't have anything, you wouldn't necessarily go because you're tired or whatever. We come up with all kinds of excuses, but. But whatever the thing is that's holding you back from being consistent. This can help with that.
Speaker 1:It's also a variety, which I like variety. Again, there's a difference between my husband and I. He knows the route for his three miler and his five miler and his six miler. He might have a second route depending on if it's in the wintertime we do not run towards the water, but basically I have to really steer him away from running the same thing every time, where I will run a different route all the time because I really like variety. And so the these challenges because there's so many of them, so many different areas around the world that you can pick to do, and different mileages. I mean you could be virtually running these challenges all the time if you wanted to and just pick something different once you reached the last goal, once you got the last medal, you know, pick something else and and run that one. So if you like variety, that can also. This also can really help with that.
Speaker 1:It's also great for people, like I said, who don't race. If you do race, it's also great, but if who don't race If you do race, it's also great, but if you don't race, this kind of gives you accessibility to what racing is like without having to drive to the race, the logistics of getting your bib, having a specific date that you have to be there. This kind of gives you an idea of what racing is without actually having to have all those details that races entail in with the mix. It's super easy you sign up online and you're in. You download the app, you're in.
Speaker 1:Make sure, if you're going to choose a challenge, that you pick a distance that's challenging but also achievable for your current fitness level, so you could go from 20 miles to Thousands of miles. Like I said, if you're a beginner runner, the 20 mile ones are like in that in and that frame would be a really good mileage for you to start with. But just remember that, whatever your current fitness level is, that's what you need to be looking at as far as what the challenge should be Something that is going to encourage you and not discourage you. So it's pretty easy once you get the app and you have picked your challenge to sync up, your whatever you're using to sync up, and they just take it, take you through it step by step. Once you do it once like I haven't done this a challenge since january if I do it again, then it it just will automatically do it. It's, it's super easy. So I don't have you don't have to reset it up every time. Your Garmin or your Apple Watch will just automatically, once you have that app going, you'll be able to select it and then it will just automatically do it. So if you're doing challenge after challenge after challenge, you only have to do that process once.
Speaker 1:You can also do a manual entry if you don't have something like that. And you know, just make sure you're being honest. You know there's no point in saying you ran six miles if you ran four. This is just on you. It's not a race. Nobody else is probably seeing it, except for maybe the people around you on the app, their little avatars, and you don't know them. So just be honest.
Speaker 1:If you're going to do it manually, if you like to do other things besides running, you can make sure to mix it up with this challenge. So if you are doing a cycling class or a spin class, or you bike or you go for a walk or you're running or you swim, make sure that you upload it to the app, because it all counts. It can help you to get that cardio in, whether you're running or not. If you're nursing an injury and running is non-existent, but you can walk, do it for walking. Obviously, in the show notes I will send you the link to the Conqueror Challenges so that you can see what it's about.
Speaker 1:I would love to hear about your own experiences if you do these, so you can send me an email. If you do them, go to the Facebook page. Let me know that you're. You know what you picked, picked what your goal is. That way I can encourage you to keep on going, get that medal and then, you know, send me a pic of the medal that you get, because they are so pretty and I can't remember how many I have, but I have a long way to go before I get all of them.