I Will Walk 500 Miles

Yesterday while I was walking at my treadmill desk and working on my computer a message popped up from my fitbit.  It flickered in a small box in the upper right hand corner of my screen and before I could read more than “500 miles” it was gone.  My curiosity was perked and I was looking for an excuse to abandon what I was working on so I logged into my fitbit account to see if I could see what that message meant.

It was a congratulatory note telling me that I had just gone 500 miles.  I looked at the whole site and determined that I had been wearing my fitbit since November 1.  Wow, 500 miles in three months.  Suddenly a Peter, Paul and Mary song from my childhood came flooding back, 500 miles.  I guess all the reminiscing about the life of Pete Seeger had folk songs on the brain.  I started humming their 500 miles song, but could not get all the words right.

I went right to You Tube and there it was along with another 500 miles song by the Proclaimers.  Totally different, yet folksy song about walking 500 miles and in theirs they go 500 more “to be the man that gets back home to you.”

Apparently going 500 miles is quite something, at least to folk singers and the fitbit company.  I certainly agree.  I seriously doubt I have ever walked 500 miles in three months before.  If you do the math it is just a little more than five miles a day, but when you look at my actual stats I have really picked up the pace in the last month.

Yes, we all know I have a treadmill desk, but I also was in a walking competition with some other people that go to the same trainer I do.  For the month of January all her clients wore pedometers and we turned in our step totals every week.  The one man in the game did a lot of trash talking in the beginning and was sure he was going to be the big winner.  He had never met me.  Needless to say I came in first and he came in fourth.  It was not really a fair game since I think all the other people who were in the contest had real full time jobs, but I still got the most steps.

I started November with the 10,000 steps a day goal.  Then after Christmas I upped it to 15,000 steps and now I am averaging 20,000.  It is a lot of time, but hey it’s winter and what else is so important for me to do?  I’m not going to write a song about it since that has clearly been over done, but I am going to try to walk 500 more miles in the next two months rather than three.  I like a little game in my work out routine and since I already beat my trainer’s people I need some new cohorts.  If you have a fitbit and want to be on my “friend” list send me a message.  You don’t have to commit to any number of steps I just like the company.