Click to ENLARGE. Posts about MY STEPS on this blog. Check the highlighted dates.
I, contrary to what some believe, lead a very simple & modest life — as behooves my modest circustances.
I don’t have fany bucket lists or strive for posh vacations.
Walking at least 500,000 steps a month makes me HAPPY. Very happy. Content too. It doesn’t, however, seem to do much for my health. But, that is OK. I am happy.
So, this was my THIRD full year of walking 500,000 steps a month. It is also my THIRD full year of walking at least 10,000 steps/day — each & every day, without FAIL. That is a 1,095 day streak. This might be easy for some, but it is quite a challenge for I. But, it makes me happy. And in my life that is all that matters. The little things that make me happy.
I am still MAINTAINING my 10,000(+) steps/day & 500,000 steps/month goals.
I am cool as long as I can meet those.
This ALL started when I busted my knee, slipping & falling while shoveling snow, on Feb. 28, 2019. Had major surgery on knee on March 8, 2019. Off crutches in April, 2019.
I then decided I am going to get as FIT as I can via walking — or ambling.
In 2019 I walked 1,736 miles.
In June 2020 I decided I was going to walk at least 500,000 steps each month.
We got a lot of rain. Towards the end we had like 9-days of rain on the trot. It was relentless. I much prefer ambling in the snow rather than rain. Rain just gets me down.
Plus, for a rare change I did NOT have any multi-day trips to Maine — just a quick trip to ‘Kittery’, Maine on Father’s Day. So, getting in all the steps to make sure that my now multiyear streak of always exceeding 500,000 steps/month was not broken was a bit hard. But I kept at it. I knew what I had to do each day. SMILE. It is NOT easy being I. Smile.
28-day Februarys are a BIG challenge when it comes to meeting my self-imposed 500,000 steps/month goal (with at least 10,000 steps each & every day). End of January 2023 I was on a 31-month UNBROKEN streak. I wasn’t going to LOSE that streak without a fight.
500,000 steps in 28 days requires you to average 17,857 steps a day — just over 8 miles a day. It is 1/2 mile a day less on a 30 day month. Yes, it can be done & I have done it thrice now BUT it requires work, especially as February, in New Hampshire, also tends to be COLDEST month.
I have learnt that the easiest way to achieve my goal is to go for a quick 3-day break to ‘Acadia‘. Then, I can get in 90K — 100K in 3-days & that helps a lot. And that is exactly what I did. Yes, I check the weather & picked 3 good days. They turned out to be exceptional. No precipitation, not too cold & not too hot. Goldilocks for ambling. And that is what I did. On the 2nd day, my ONLY FULL DAY there, I got in 17 miles of ambling & that was a breeze. I wasn’t tired. SMILE. Yes, all this ambling does have some benefits. SMILE.
So, another February in the bag. Thanks to Acadia I actually ended up walking more steps in February than I did in January, December or November. Wow.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I am still delighted though I didn’t walk as much as the year before. Two factors: MORE RAIN & me getting older.
This ALL started when I busted my knee, slipping & falling while shoveling snow, on Feb. 28, 2019. Had major surgery on knee on March 8, 2019. Off crutches in April, 2019.
I then decided I am going to get as FIT as I can via walking — or ambling.
In 2019 I walked 1,736 miles.
In June 2020 I decided I was going to walk at least 500,000 steps each month.
In 2020 I walked 2,822 miles.
In 2021 I walked 3,214 miles.
I am HAPPY with 3,000 miles a year — & the 500,000 steps a month.
The picture below TESTIFIES to what it takes to make these goals.
Click to ENLARGE. From my Garmin smartwatch. [Corrected. SMILE. Had pic from 2021. This is THIS year’s. Promise.]
I know. I know. Who cares? I do! SMILE. In my dotage small achievements like this cheer me. Yes, mere bagatelle for some of you. But, in my case, achieving this — maintaining this — takes time & effort. SMILE. At least 2-hours a day of walking.
250 miles a month.
8.2-miles (on average) a day. Try it. SMILE.
I could have walked from home all the way to California, getting pretty close to San Francisco. I wish I had the time (like a couple of months) to try and walk across the country. Would love that.
Click to ENLARGE. [Base topo map from ‘Wikipedia’.]
May 2020 to June 2021 (Left) & then the next 12 months.
Kind of self-explanatory. Right?
Yes, yes. I know. I know. Just another of my self-indulgent obsessions. But, it is ultra-cheap, gets me outside in all weathers & is supposedly good for my health (though I am not convinced of that). Well, I kind of enjoy it too. Plus, for the last 18 months or so I have listened to 2-hours of ‘Amazon‘ ‘Audible‘ books as I leisurely amble (usually with a dog in tow). I have, incredibly, listened to 103 during that period.
This 500,000-steps a month goal came about when I decided that I will no longer take a ‘day off’. In the olden days when I used to jog as opposed to walk (or more correctly, amble), I used to take a ‘day-off’ after 3-consecutive days of jogging. This was supposedly to give the muscles a day to rest & strengthen. Well, I carried this concept over when I started ambling rather than jogging. So, on my days off I didn’t bother with trying to achieve at least 10K steps. That was a MISTAKE.
I stopped taking days off on April 17, 2020.
The following month, May 2020, I realized that could do 500,000 steps in the month. That was COOL. Liked that. Good goal. Cool goal. But, stupidly, I missed that goal by 2,445-steps in June 2020 because I thought I couldn’t do 500K in 30-days months. I was WRONG.
Well, I learnt. I have managed to do 500K steps a month WITHOUT fail since July 2020. Hence, the 2 year anniversary at the start of this month.
I have now managed to sustain the 12K (minimum) steps a day goal for 2.2 years, i.e., 808-days. Not sure how long I can keep that streak going.
OK. OK. I understand. This is only of relevance & import to I. I am sorry. But, for I, it is somewhat of a big deal. 730-day streak; 2 full years. NOT a day missed.
And during those two years we had COVID, I had 3 (yes 3) cataract surgeries & we had a LOT of days when it was bone chilling cold, snowing or raining. So, this took some doing & discipline. I am hoping I can stretch it to 3 years. If I can make 1,000 consecutive days I will be real chuffed. That will be 2 years & 9 months. So, I have ANOTHER 270 days — 9 months ahead of me. NOT SURE I will get there. But, I am sure going to try.
Time, age & health are NOT in my favor. I will be 69 in September.
So this is how this walking at 12,000 steps a day came to be.
In 2020, kind of 2 years ago, after my pivotal (kind of life-changing) knee surgery to repair my busted quadricep I embarked on a whole new walking regime. I set myself two goals: 1/ At least 12,000-steps each & every day without fail or exception, & 2/ 500,000-steps each & every month without fail or exception.
I set myself the 12,000-steps a day goal on April 17, 2020.
I added the 500,000-steps a month goal in June 2020.
So far I have managed to stick to BOTH goals, without fail or exception.
The 12K a day goal & the 500,000 steps a month goal are NOT interlinked. You can achieve each independent of the other.
You need to walk an average of 16.7K steps in a 30-day month to make 500K for the month. For 31 day months it is a tad lower at 16.1K steps. But, then there is February. In February 2022 I walked, on average, 18,000-steps a day to make the 500K goal. The 3-days in Acadia, mid-month helped, especially the day I walked 32,800 steps. SMILE.
In 2020, kind of 2 years ago, after my pivotal (kind of life-changing) knee surgery to repair my busted quadricep I embarked on a whole new walking regime. I set myself two goals: 1/ At least 12,000-steps each & every day without fail or exception, & 2/ 500,000-steps each & every month without fail or exception.
I set myself the 12,000-steps a day goal on April 17, 2020.
I added the 500,000-steps a month goal in June 2020.
So far I have managed to stick to BOTH goals, without fail or exception.
The 12K a day goal & the 500,000 steps a month goal are NOT interlinked. You can achieve each independent of the other.
You need to walk an average of 16.7K steps in a 30-day month to make 500K for the month. For 31 day months it is a tad lower at 16.1K steps. But, then there is February. In February 2022 I walked, on average, 18,000-steps a day to make the 500K goal. The 3-days in Acadia, mid-month helped, especially the day I walked 32,800 steps. SMILE.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I am delighted. SMILE. 2021 was the first full-year of my new walking regime I got into in 2020. Prior to April 2020 I had this notion of taking a ‘Day Off‘ every 4th day; i.e., 3 days on, 1 day off. On those Off Days I walked less than 10K. On April 17, 2020, I decided that I will NOT take any days off. I was going to walk at least 12K steps each & every day. AND I HAVE. I have.
624 day streak, at least 12K steps EACH DAY — & I had 3 eye surgeries during this period. I still did my steps. The surgeon knew, he understood & put EXTRA stitching in my eye to let me walk!
In June 2020 I decided I was going to walk at least 500,000 steps each month.
So, in 2020 I kind of started mid-year. I ended up 2020 having walked 2,822 miles. Nearly 400 more this year.
Not so in 2021. I was hell bent on achieving this goal. I like goals. I like to walk. I like being kind of fit. Smile.
Interestingly, the 12K a day goal & the 500,000 steps a month goal are NOT interlinked. You can achieve each independent of the other.
You need to walk an average of 16.7K steps in a 30-day month to make 500K for the month. For 31 day months it is a tad lower at 16.1K steps. But, then there is February. Well, I managed to beat all of those. Yes, I tracked my steps every night before going to bed. Have I ever said I am NOT obsessive about my disciplines?
As you will also see you can easily achieve 500K/month without meeting the 12K/day goal. You can do 30K on a few days to make up. But, I wanted to achieve BOTH goals — & I did.
