MOANing in Numbers

23 cities, 7,702.3 miles, 51 weeks.Whew. That's a lot of MOANing. It's the distance from Fayettevile, NC over the North Pole to Shanghai, China. Maybe Santa will join us.

What's nice about MOANing in a group is that it makes numbers like that seem less daunting. 7,702.3 miles breaks down to 150 miles per week and 37.5 miles per day collectively, which is really only 1.5 miles per day, 4 days per week individually for the approximately 25 MOANers (this nuimber is subject to change). That seems doable. And the more people who MOAN, the sooner we get to our final destination...Las Vegas!

Yes, in a stroke of genius, I decided to have our marathon end in Las Vegas. We should arrive at our final destination around the same time as the mammoth WIR gathering being planned for this time next year. Though I'm not sure how mammoth we'll be from all this MOANing.

To help us keep MOANing, I've worked with our very own GLDNLVLY to create MOANing Moose Mix. This is a snack which will change based on our destinations. There will also be a feature where GLDNLVLY will give a tasty recipe to feed ourselves. Look for the very first one this week.

In order to track how much we MOAN in a week, please post your mileage at the bottom of the entry that details the route, along with the date you enter your mileage. If you engage in an activity that is physical but not measured in miles (aerobics, yoga, fighting crime...sex does not count), please use the conversion chart on this side bar to calculate your mileage. Updates will be done on Tuesdays as often as possible (Mondays are booked as long as Prison Break is on).

I think that takes care of all the formal MOANing business. New features will be added soon. I hope you enjoy them (if you don't, may a giant blister form on your toe!).

What's MOANing?

MOAN stands for Moving Our Asses Now. It's basically a way for women to get motivated to just...move. We spend so much time taking care of everyone else that we forget to take time for ourselves. It's so easy to monitor our kids' (two and four legged variety) activity, our significant other's activity, our parents' activity, etc but when it comes to ourselves, we're very lax. There's always something else to do or, if you're like me, you lack the motivation to actually do it.

MOANing encourages me to get going because I don't want to let my fellow MOANers down for one, and two, it's a pretty cool way to measure the distance. 20 miles in a week means nothing but when you realize that's half the distance from Wilmington, DE to Philadelphia, PA, it actually puts 20 miles into perspective. We already know that women can do anything (well, almost anything...I'm not sure I want to be able to pee standing up). Why can't 20 of us walk across the country (I'm including Canada as part of the US for right now)? Plus, MOANing is really cheap and family friendly. You get to walk across the country, are home for dinner every night and still sleep in your own bed. Just a few more perks to MOANing. Now, if I could just get someone to cook that dinner every night...

Preparing to MOAN

I know, it sounds dirty right? Well, that's the point. If it's not dirty, it's not fun! Truthfully, MOANing is an extension of an online community that I belong to. No, it's not a community of sex fiends or porn addicts; it's a community of women trying to erase their debt, improve themselves and create a better future. MOANing was inspired by many of the wonderful ladies on the no spend/controlled spend thread of the community message board (oh, that's just filthy--get your mind out of the gutter!); I decided that since we do such a wonderful job of supporting each other in paying off debt and controlling our spending, why couldn't we do the same for getting physically healthy? I mean, who doesn't love a hot woman in control of her money? And out of that, MOANing was born.

The concept of MOANing is simple. It's about getting off our butts and exercising. That's all. To make it fun, I've mapped a route that we walk, hitting cities that are closest to the ladies' homes. Along the way, we'll have little interesting facts about the city, inspirational quotes, funny movie lines...anything to keep us going. Some of us will also be searching for nickels. And one bird's life depends upon the success of this walk.

So what happens when we get to our destination? When we (eventually) arrive at our target city, we'll have a happy hour featuring local food and drink favorites and a movie. We will also buy supplies, rest, and barter with the locals. There is a mandatory rest period in each city so no one...well, let's not talk about what may happen. We'll evaluate our progress on a weekly basis and see how far we got and how much longer we need to go to reach our destination. It's a modern day Oregon Trail, except without the dysentery.

Official MOANing starts October 1 in Ottawa, Canada. It's going to be loud, it's going to be messy, and there may be some crying. So, woman up, and MOAN!