On the trail again: a walking challenge
Since I returned from the Camino de Santiago to a heat wave in my hometown, I have sorely missed walking outdoors. Now that fall and…fingers crossed…cooler weather are just weeks away, I have felt the urge not just to walk again, but to make a challenge of it.
I was thinking about challenging myself to walk 65 miles before my 65th birthday, which is just over a month away. For this challenge, I would count every intentional mile…every outdoor or treadmill walk, but not my accumulated daily living steps. I even made this basic chart to track my miles, leaving plenty of room to exceed the goal.
While I was contemplating that mileage challenge, I came across this 1,000,000 steps by winter challenge administered by Run Motivators. You pay for your own medal, shirt, or other swag when you register for the challenge. Then you log your steps online using the honor system.
A member of the Stronger Together by CVG Facebook group was kind enough to create a couple of different options for tracking sheets for those of us who like a daily visual reminder and the opportunity to manually fill in our progress.
Now I’m torn…which do I do? Or should I just do them both? Certainly the mileage challenge would support the steps challenge. Whichever way I go, I am excited to hit the trails again, starting today!
Your turn
- Do you like a good challenge or contest to get you motivated?
- Do you prefer tracking goals online or on paper?
- What else is on your mind? Anything at all; I just love to hear from you.
I definitely prefer tracking goals on paper as I can put it someplace that I can’t help but see and I’m more likely to stick with it that way.
I’m with you Joanne. I like the visual reminder of my goals and also the feeling of accomplishment when checking a box or adding a sticker.
Hi Christie – you definitely enjoy a challenge don’t you? I’m glad you’ve found something to inspire you and I think one (or two) of those charts pinned to your fridge with daily updates sounds like a good reward system. I can’t believe we’re both nearly 65 – where have all those years gone? Still, this is turning out to be a fabulous time of life, so no complaints from my end. 🙂
I agree Leanne. It really is baffling how we got to 65 years old, but I’m glad we did, because this is a delightful time of life. I’m doing my best to savor each moment.
I can see why you are feeling a bit off course as you’d worked so hard for the Camino challenge. I am not one who does well with meeting goals. Give me a deadline, and I’m really good at meeting it. So, if I were doing the first one, I’d be walking 65 miles in about five days (which, let’s face it, is never gonna happen). I’m sure you will excel at either of them with your joy in walking!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
You always make me laugh, Marsha. I guess a goal isn’t much more than a series of deadlines, but perhaps you do better with short-term goals that build on each other to keep from rushing too far down the line.
I think you should do them both! They overlap enough that working on one would help with the other.
I’m with you on this one. I’m going to do the million steps one too. Although I’m going to cheat and not sign up on the site. I don’t need another t-shirt or medal. But I do like the challenge.
Thanks for sharing this with us!
I think you’re right, Trisha. I’m jumping in on both. I’m glad to hear you are taking on the million steps challenge. I hope you’ll keep me posted on how it’s going.
I will keep you posted, Christie!
I hope you share your progress with us here too!
Thanks Trisha! I’m sure I’ll be posting updates here and on my social media.
Good for you! Maybe I should do another walking challenge, but without the backpack!
Yes to no backpack, Cindy! Although I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be in the beginning. Still, I plan to take more mid-length walks that don’t require a full pack.
I agree, it wasn’t bad at all. Sometimes I like to speed walk with nothing weighing me down, other times a longer trek with snacks etc is nice! 🏃♀️
Variety is the spice of life…or so they say.
I’m joining you in the challenge. I like having a paper record to log my results in, too. I’ve asked to join the FB group, and I’m hoping I can download the trackers once I’m accepted.
Yay Charisse! If you have any trouble downloading the trackers, let me know. I can email them to you, if you want. Good luck with the challenge. I hope you’ll keep us posted on how you’re doing.
So, reading over the comments above and your replies, I think you decided to tackle both challenges. Does the million steps challenge allow you to include your daily step total or do you count only steps taken deliberately in a walk or hike? Would steps you take playing pickleball on your pretty new court count when it is ready? I am really struggling to get my steps this summer. Too hot to be outdoors to walk. Praying, praying that we move out of the upper 90s in the week ahead. I need to get back to 10k a day.
Leslie at https://onceuponatimehappilyeverafteragain.blogspot.com/
Yes, Leslie, I am doing both challenges. For the million step challenge, I count all steps as recorded by my Apple watch, so pickleball would definitely contribute. I am in a similar situation as you are right now with the weather, so I have fallen behind a bit, but I’m counting on being able to catch up with some long walks when the weather cools…hopefully pretty soon!