The prodigal son has returned…with news.
I am now a Million Step Man!
One of the things I have been striving to do in my quest for better health and fitness is to decrease the amount of time I spend sedentary, especially at work. It is not uncommon for me to get caught up in paperwork and meetings and end up sitting away and entire work day. As they say, “sitting is the new smoking”.
As a way to keep myself movement-conscious, I followed my wife’s example and became a part of the Fitbit generation.
I opted for the Fitbit Charge because I wanted to be able to get instant feedback on the device itself and not have to synch with my phone or computer to check my step count, etc. I fired it up just before bed on January 23rd, and reached my first million steps on Wednesday, April 15th.
I must admit, running regularly really helps crank up the steps. But beyond that, it truly has made me more conscious of just how long I spend sitting, not only at the office but at home as well. Having a goal of hitting 10K steps every day has kept me movement-conscious on a consistent basis. It has also encouraged me to use my standing desk more often at work. I generally start the day standing for an hour or two, which also gets me into the get-things-accomplished groove.
I have been very absent of late, in part because of helping a friend of mine who has recently had major surgery. He is recovering well, but still needs a lot of assistance throughout the week. I feel privileged to be able to be available for him. Between that, Spectrum Fantastic Art Live prep, and a more intense focus on my running, I’ve not gotten much fiction reading done and have significantly decreased my time online. I suspect that will continue to be the case throughout the month of May, or at least until SFAL4 is over at the end of Memorial Day weekend.
So for those wondering where I’ve been, all is well. I’ve been enjoying a renewed passion for trail-running, as the picture of my shoes above can attest, and I’ve signed up for some sure to be fun runs here in the near future.
I am doing the Run for Rachel 10K on May 16th. On Saturday, June 16th I’ll participate in my 4th Summer Intro 2.8 mile trail run. This was not only my first ever official run, but also my first Trail Nerds event. It is a great course. On our vacation trip to Minnesota in June to see my sister, brother-in-law and niece, I am going to do the Midnight Sun Midnight Run 5K and I’ve made the decision that I’m going to run the 10 mile loop at Psycho Psummer this year on July 11th. I have volunteered at this event on two occasions and this year I am going to screw up my courage, load up with water, and head out on the trail.
Hope everyone is doing well, that you are enjoying your Spring (if you happen to be having Spring), that your reading is adventurous and pleasurable, and above all this I hope you are getting up, moving around, and thinking about your health. It is never too early, or too late, to get health conscious.
Congratulations on the millions steps. That’s an amazing achievement!
I have a fitbit too, and I have to admit, I love it. It’s a great little motivator. I don’t make 10k steps a day, but I am aware of how much I am or am not moving, which has really made a difference to my work habits.
thanks Kelly! It is great, isn’t it? I find myself being very aware of getting up and moving right away in the morning and it stays in my mind throughout the day. It has also helped me make choices to take more walks on days when I either don’t have exercise already planned or if it is not convenient to get out and run. Mary and I have even taking to doing the occasional mall walk just to get steps/fitness in when the weather is bad.
Good to see you back on-line Carl, I’ve been wondering if my email filter needed attention since I haven’t seen a recent post.
I was thrilled to see you will be visiting Minnesota and participating in the Midnight Sun Midnight Run 5K in Duluth. I wasn’t aware of that event, it sounds like a lot of fun.
My wife and I spent our honeymoon traveling through Duluth and up the north shore, and ended by spending a couple of nights in Boundary Waters camping on an island. The time of year was the same as your run, we were there June 21st – 28th. One of my favorite things about living in Minnesota is experiencing the “almost” midnight sun. Up in the Duluth area the twilight lasts well past 10pm, and on a clear evening the sky never gets completely black. Absolutely beautiful – I really hope you have clear skies and can experience this yourself!
This makes me even more excited about the trip! My sister lives west of Minneapolis, so when we go up we are all going to stay at the Inn on Lake Superior for several days before heading back to Minneapolis to hang out. Should be really fun, and this run just sounded like too much fun to pass up, plus it gives me a chance to do a run in a state I’ve not done one in.
It looks really lovely up there and I can’t wait to check it out.
Good to get an update from you, Carl.
Thanks Tracy! 🙂
Super! Keep it up. Sounds like you have a lot of events coming up between now and Labor Day. Hope you can work in some reading and some posts.
Thanks Richard, it has been busy and is going to keep being so through the end of May. I did manage to finish a non-fiction book and started a couple of fiction reads this weekend, one being Goldfinger. I’ve been in both a 007 and Star Wars mood lately, so I’m starting to read in both universes.
Congratulations on those Million Steps! My wife wears a pedometer around the house and averages about 15,000 steps per day. She’s got be closing in on a Million Steps, too!
That is great, George. 15K isn’t easy to get, that is a lot of moving in one day.
Congrats on the milestone Carl. I got a pebble smart watch for christmas and it comes with a pedometer/fitness app yoke so I’ve been tracking my activity on that. I was using th phone, but so often I’ll go off somewhere without it. Now I *know* that I’m not getting my 10,000 steps regularly enough without trying to weasel out by saying “oh but I didn’t bring my phone with me ” 🙂
Hope your friend recovers well, and that you enjoy your runs
Thanks Fence. I’m going to look up that watch, it sounds cool. I do like having something that is a constant reminder to move.
Our friend is slowly but surely getting better, thanks so much for the well wishes.
Congratulations! That is certainly an impressive accomplishment! I will admit to being more than a little jealous too that your Fitbit does a good job motivating you to stay active. I wear mine every day, but I can’t say that it makes me get up and walk around any more often. I really need to change my mindset on this one.
Have a great week, and enjoy all that running!
Next thing you know they will invent ones that give you a small electric shock to help with the “motivation”. LOL. It is indeed a mindset thing, but as I haven’t worn anything on my wrist consistently for years it has been fairly easy to remain conscious of it being there, and that gets me moving.
Yay – glad to see you back online and well done with the steps! I’m excited to see more of your running adventures making an appearance too.
Thanks Tanya. I’m pretty jacked up about running again, so this should be a fun Spring/Summer running season.
Congratulations on reaching such a milestone!
I had no doubt that once you decided to do this that you would!! Congratulations!!!!!!
Congratulations Carl! I constantly struggle with movement vs. reading. At work, I get more movement than I used to now that I’m in a building with a cafetria, so I go there to get my water instead of at the fountain. That includes a flight of steps and at least once a day, I walk up and down all five flights. Then I walk around the complex twice at lunch. But at home, I hunker down with my books and only get up to get water and go to the bathroom. If I had enough quilts, I’d build a fort, too. LOL