Hey this is Ben from RDAUG - I posted this to my group, I wanted to post this here too...

So, I was in the mall yesterday helping my wife pick out swimsuits for our trip to Jamaica next week.  I got bored....standing out by myself while she was in the dressing room trying on clothes.  I started thinking that I need to get up to speed on Flex 4 (Gumbo), Flash 10, jQuery, Aptana, and everything else.  My thoughts kept being interrupted when she'd come out of the dressing room saying "I look too fat in this"....and then my mind would wander to...."Jeez you know, I'm kinda tubby myself....I'm kinda.....'gumbo'".

And of course that's when the switch came on in my head.  I'm always trying to learn new things, but I feel guilty for spending the time not exercising, or vice versa.  Or I get fed up with the whole thing and just plop down and watch TV.

I say - why not combine the two guilt trips into one major guilt trip and both learn new technology and get some exercise at the same time.

Here's what I propose.  And please let me know if I'm completely crazy, or if its a great idea and you have suggestions or want to participate....

The Gumbo to Flex Fitness Challenge: Go from Gumbo to Flex in mind and body. 

It's March 1st, almost spring - and Flex 4's launch, as hinted by Adobe is Q4.  And honestly, who wouldn't guess it would be at MAX 2009 at the beginning of October.  So we officially have 8 months to get Flexxy.

So while we learn Flex, we get in shape over the next 8 months.

How do we do this?

Well, I'm on a website called Gyminee, I have a Wii Fit, and I like to go on bike rides on the Tobacco Trail when the weather is a little better.  Maybe we can use a social site like Gyminee to set up a "fitness challenge" and track as a group.

We could also meet places to learn and discuss Flex on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, and get to a common location to discuss from a nice long bike ride.

Or maybe we organize some basketball, floor hockey, or other outdoor games, and discuss Flex afterwards at a bar drinking light beer and eating salads.

My other idea is that when we learn something, someone makes a 15 minute instructional podcast.  Cap the beginning and end with a song or 2 from a local unsigned band that'll get you in the mood to exersize - and then share the podcast with each other to listen to on our bikerides, jogs, etc, to learn the subject matter and get the heart pumping.

So there it is - if you dig the idea, we can firm it up, and I could get some other user groups across the country involved so we can have a huge selection of podcasts to choose from.

Whaddya think?

thanks for listening!

ben