Day 1- Monday

At 6 am, Lorelai's alarm clock started barking. Anytime she had to get up this early, her usual response would be to slam the snooze button and fall right back asleep but instead she popped up perkily and simply switched the alarm off.

"What are you doing?" Luke mumbled groggily. Today was one of the rare mornings when he was not opening the diner or receiving an early delivery, so he got to 'sleep in', but his version of sleeping in still usually meant getting up earlier than his wife.

Lorelai had already gotten out of bed and was gathering up some clothes, "I'm walking to work today, and I planned enough time to take the long way. That should get me about two miles in," she replied casually as if this was a common occurrence.

"Aww jeez, this is about that dumb watch?" Luke responded, clearly disgusted by the control technology could have over people, "Come back to bed," he muttered tiredly, his words slightly muffled by his pillow.

"As appealing as that offer sounds, no can do. There's no predicting what the competition will do so I've got to start out strong. Set the tone, you know?" Lorelai responded far more cheerily than was natural for her at this time in the morning.

"You do realize you're letting a piece of metal manipulate you into happily waking up at 6 am. That isn't at all concerning to you?" Luke replied, his voice still muffled.

"I know, but I don't care as long as I win," Lorelai said unfazed, "And look, I came up with a really cute outfit that's perfect for walking and working," she gave a little twirl to show it off even though Luke's face was still buried in his pillow. His only response was a short grunt.

Lorelai finished getting ready and made herself a breakfast of champions to fuel for a long day of competition: a pop tart and most importantly an excessively large to-go cup of coffee. Just as she was about to head out the door, Valerie walked downstairs, "Mom, what are you doing ready to go already?" she asked confused as she checked the time on her watch, "You don't have to be at work for like an hour, right?" The only time Lorelai got up earlier than necessary for work was to stop by Luke's for breakfast, but that was only on days when she didn't have to be in until later.

Instead of answering, Lorelai responded with her own question, "What are YOU doing up? It's your winter break," she scrunched her face in disgust at the thought of being a teenager and choosing to be up at this hour over a school break.

"I'm always up at this time," Valerie replied casually as she grabbed a box of cereal and a bowl, "But you on the other hand, never are," she added with a smirk.

Lorelai just shook her head, "How are you my child?" she responded with mock bewilderment, "There are very few things in life more precious than every minute you get to sleep in past 6 am, cherish them, don't let them go to waste or get stolen by the guy who's cat you agreed to watch before he told you that it needed to be fed at sunrise every day," she started seriously but her tone turned annoyed as she went off on her tangent.

Valerie gave her mother a strange look, but knew better than to question her, "So, who's stealing your precious minutes today?" she asked instead.

"Rory, but it will be worth it when I kick her ass," Lorelai justified.

"Oooh, so the competition's getting serious," Valerie replied with amusement.

"Serious as a heart attack," Lorelai agreed, "Speaking of which, I really better go so I still have time to walk the long way," she said as she began moving towards the door.

"Good luck, Mom," Valerie called after her as she sat down with her breakfast, still amused by the fact that her mother was actually putting this much effort into the competition.

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A few hours later, the alarm of a much less enthusiastic Gilmore girl started ringing. Rory groaned as she forced herself out of bed even though she knew she shouldn't complain; the beauty of working remotely meant being able to get up at 8am for an 8:30 meeting. She slowly made her way downstairs to find Marcus and Laila just about ready to leave.

"Good morning, Mommy," Laila called cheerfully as she noticed her mom enter the kitchen.

Rory smiled, "Good morning, baby," she replied, "Excited for another day of no school to get to try out all your new toys?" she asked as she made a beeline for the coffee pot.

"Yes!" Laila nodded enthusiastically. Rory had always felt like breaks were too long and been eager to get back to school when she was little, but it was already clear that her daughter did not share these sentiments.

"Speaking of which," Marcus interjected, "Do you want to go with Papa or LaLa or stay here with Mommy? Because if you want to go, why don't you pick two toys to take with you."

Laila scrunched her face in thought, "Hmmm… Papa!" she finally decided. Rory was sure that debate had been between spending the day with Luke or Lorelai. Laila loved spending time with her grandparents, and it was a lot more fun to be at the diner or inn than stuck in her own house all day, especially if Rory was busy in meetings or trying to finish an article.

"Ok, well hurry up and get your stuff. We've gotta go," Marcus told his daughter as he grabbed his computer bag and keys.

Once her husband and daughter had left, Rory made her way back upstairs to get dressed and ready for her meeting. She was just about to sit down at her desk when she remembered her new watch, which greeted her with an immediate buzzing of notifications the second she put it on. As she scrolled to see what the notifications were, her mouth shifted into a frown. Her mom had already completed a workout!? A 2.36 mile walk? Lorelai had actually gotten up early to exercise!?

Rory had expected her to forget about the stupid competition by the next day, but apparently Lorelai had been a lot more serious than she realized. Whatever, Rory thought to herself. There was no way her mom would keep this up all week, she would easily have time to catch up. She noticed she could reply to the workout and found a list of preset random messages she could send. Rory decided that the 'So not cool' with the sunglasses emoji was the most appropriate response. After staring at her watch for who knows how long, she eventually actually checked the time and realized she was already a minute late for her meeting. "Crap!" she exclaimed, hating to be late for anything. She would have to make plans for how to overcome this early setback later.

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Lorelai admired the Christmas decorations still covering nearly every building in town and appreciated the cool breeze that brushed upon the exposed skin of her face as she walked briskly through the town center, or at least she attempted to. She was trying very hard to convince herself that all the things people said they enjoyed about walking for exercise were actually enjoyable, but it was not working. The truth was that while she didn't mind walking when she had a destination in mind, she was already bored of walking just for the sake of walking. She was extremely tempted to give up on the idea of walking through her lunch break and stop at Luke's instead of scrounging for something to eat when she got back to the inn, but she was determined to reach the 600-point maximum on her Apple Watch so there was no chance for Rory to finish the day ahead of her.

She was still focusing on using all her willpower to keep going when she walked past the dance studio and caught the attention of Miss Patty, "Lorelai," she called, "Did the CIA call? Because you sure look like a woman on a mission," she said, noting her quick pace and intense focus.

"Oh, hey Miss Patty," Lorelai responded, happy for a distraction, "I guess I am in a way. See, I got this Apple Watch for Christmas," she held up her wrist, "And now I'm in a competition with Rory so I've got to get some exercise in," she explained.

"So that's why I saw you out so early this morning while I was teaching my sun salutations yoga class. You know, I tried to convince you to give that class a try many times over the years, but your excuse was always that it was too early," Miss Patty responded, giving Lorelai a look.

Lorelai smiled sheepishly, "Well, this is really a onetime thing. The competition's only a week and then I'm back to getting my precious beauty sleep," she explained her excuse, "But it's only the first day and I'm already so sick of walking. Who willingly chooses to do this everyday?" she asked, baffled.

"People who want to torture themselves or have been torturing themselves for so long that they have convinced themselves they like it," Miss Patty responded immediately as she blew out a long puff of smoke from her cigar, "If you need to exercise, at least do something fun. Why don't you come to my salsa dance class tomorrow night?" she offered.

Lorelai thought about it for a moment, unsure if she really wanted to be a part of one of Miss Patty's classes, "Hmmmm, I don't know," she said hesitantly.

"Oh please, don't tell me walking mindlessly in circles like a restless tiger at the zoo is better than creating art through the beauty of the human body," Miss Patty replied, not taking no for an answer.

"Well, I…" Lorelai started, still not thrilled with idea of most likely making fool of herself while attempting something that required coordination, but unable to come up with an excuse.

"Good, it's settled. I'll see you tomorrow at 7pm sharp," Miss Patty interjected, "Oh, and you'll need to bring a partner," she added as she raised an eyebrow and smiled happily at the thought of who she assumed Lorelai's partner may be.

The thought of dragging Luke along with her made the whole idea sound a lot more appealing to Lorelai and she finally conceded, "We'll be there," giving up on her attempts to get out of it.

"Great, I'll see you guys then," Miss Patty replied with a satisfied smile on her face.

Lorelai waved goodbye and was just about to continue on her walk when she looked up and her eyes locked with someone across the street.

"You already did your walk today," Rory said unhappily.

"Did you learn nothing from Rocky?" Lorelai replied in mock horror, "Gotta put in more effort than that to be a winner," she shot back.

Rory rolled her eyes, "Oh please, you're comparing yourself to Rocky now? You went for two walks, let's not get too ahead of ourselves," Rory responded.

"More than I can say for you," Lorelai defended.

"How was I supposed to know that this stupid competition was going to be the thing that Lorelai Gilmore finally deemed important enough to wake up earlier than absolutely necessary for?" Rory answered.

Lorelai grinned, "Eye of the tiger, baby."

As Rory shook her head, she noticed her mom's gaze drifting towards Luke's and felt her own stomach grumble. She had told herself she would use her lunch break to at least get some sort of exercise in and then make herself a quick lunch when she got back, but a big, juicy cheeseburger sure sounded a lot better than the cold, boring turkey sandwich she would probably be stuck with at home, "Have you had lunch yet?" she asked, attempting to sound casual.

Lorelai just gave her a look and motioned to where she had been walking and clearly not eating lunch.

"Me neither," Rory replied with a shrug.

Both girls were silent for a moment as their gazes were drawn back towards Luke's. When they turned back towards each other, their eyes locked for a second before they promptly began making their way towards the tantalizing aroma of burgers and fries.

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Current Standings-

Lorelai: 600

Rory: 486