Announcing the Winners of the Spring Training Challenge:

The Washington State Department of Transportation Shares it Secrets of Success

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is a great Participating Organization with which to affiliate in the Healthiest State in the Nation Campaign. Why? Because it’s 76 Champions pulled together to win the 2007 Spring Training Challenge!

Today, the WSDOT team has logged more than 80,000 miles this year.

How did this group of people arrive at an average of over 1000 miles each? The answer is as varied as the Champions themselves. But, WSDOT team leader Mike Sacco says there are some factors that each of this winning team’s members have in common:

Staying motivated is a key for WSDOT Champions to stay active and fit. Sacco says, “Of all the devices and tools we use to stay motivated, perhaps the most common and effective is logging our miles. The Washington Health Foundation’s (WHF) tracking system makes this easy. It only takes a few seconds and as many mouse clicks to log our mileage. Watching the miles accumulate is really motivating for many of us!”

Setting goals helps this team on the path to staying motivated. Sacco says, “Many of the Champions on our team are motivated by specific event goals such as triathlons, organized bike rides and runs. With a little help, it’s not difficult to set a goal like this, and then plan training toward that event. And what a fun and healthy way to meet like-minded people!”

Goals can also be set without an event to work toward. Here is another place where logging miles comes in handy for many on our team. The WSDOT team focuses on increasing individual mileage goals. So, if someone did 200 miles in June, his or her goal for July might increase to 220 miles. Or a Champion may focus on beating his or her total mileage from the year before. Once you’ve joined a team, using the web based tracker at HealthiestState.org can even help to foster friendly competition by one person setting a goal to surpass a teammate. “I believe there are at least a few people here at WSDOT who have a goal of staying ahead of me!” exclaims Sacco.

Many WSDOT Champions are people who simply value an active lifestyle. They enjoy hiking on weekends or walking during their lunch breaks. Some are disciplined about nutrition and staying hydrated. It all counts in the Healthiest State Campaign. Many of the WSDOT team’s miles come from the sleep, nutrition or weight trackers. And there are other tracking programs on the web site as well. For example, WHF recently launched a new tobacco cessation tracker—the first of its kind in the country.

Athletes and people who stay fit know that goals should be measurable. If my goal is to “be in the best shape of my life”, that’s going to be hard to measure. How will I know? But if my goal is to bicycle 1000 miles this year, it’s easy to measure and the feeling of accomplishment when hitting the 1000-mile mark inspires the motivation to do even more.

“Setting goals that are achievable also helps us continue to move toward improved fitness,” says Sacco. “A goal of 40 minutes in the gym, twice each week is achievable. For most of us however, a goal of 12 hours of workouts each week isn’t achievable. And if that’s our goal and we can’t reach it, we can become discouraged and ultimately quit working out.”

Small wins can also help maintain confidence and motivation. If you’ve not worked out for a year, start with a goal of going to the gym once a week. Once you’ve met that goal increase it slowly. By focusing on small, achievable goals, you will maintain the stamina to better your health.

So try what so many on the WSDOT team do: Set an achievable, measurable goal and get started! You may be surprised at just how quickly you can meet your goals — and your organization may even be the next winner of a Healthiest State challenge!

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