Tag Archives: step streak

5-Year Anniversary Of Busting My Knee & Needing Surgery — THE BEST THING That Happened To Me In 17-Years! You Should Bust Your Knee Too.

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by Anura Guruge
on February 28, 2024

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5-years ago TODAY. Coming home from ER after over a 6-hour stay.
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I am so, so, so GLAD that I slipped, shoveling snow, on February 28, 2019 & SNAPPED my Quad-tendon. I did NOT know I had a quad-tendon.

Today the temps were in the 50s Fahrenheit. 5-years ago we had had a MAJOR snow storm. Ditto last year. This weather, CLIMATE CHANGE, is crazy & scary. I know we will get WALLOPED before this winter is over. Of that I have no doubt.

I postponed surgery for a week, because we had a mini-vacation booked in the Cape, & had it done on March 8, 2019.

CHANGED MY LIFE — for the better.

I am so glad I busted my knee. I am a new, better man because of it.
I am 30 pounds lighter than I was 5 years ago!

It was a wake up call. I was, prior to it, exercising daily & watching my diet. But, I had become lazy & complacent.

My pre-surgery blood work said my blood glucose was 102. I started crying. I was so distraught. All the nurses are saying it is FINE. It is FINE. You don’t have to worry till it gets close to 125. Heck with that.

From the very day of the surgery I changed my life.

I went on a much, much, much stricter diet. I lost 20 pounds. I STILL NEED TO LOSE ANOTHER 25. But, losing 20 was a START.

And I started AMBLING, each & every day, even while I was on crutches. They had me on crutches for 6 weeks. The day I was allowed to ditch them I started ambling in anger.

The rest as some of you know is history.

In the 1st year after surgery I walked 2,250 miles.

I now walk at least 3,000 miles a year. SMILE.

I have walked at least 10,000 steps, EACH & EVERY DAY, since April 17, 2020.

That is an unbroken 1,412 day STREAK.
3 years 10 months.

So, each February 28, in particular, I thank my lucky stars that I busted my knee.

Getting 500,000 Steps In During What Was A Very Rainy June Was A Challenge — But I Scraped Through.

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by Anura Guruge
on July 1, 2023

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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.

Getting 500,000 Steps In A 28-Day February, In New Hampshire’, Requires Special Pigheadedness & A 3-Day Trip To Acadia.

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by Anura Guruge
on March 1, 2023

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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.

I Busted My Knee 4-Years Ago & Needed Surgery — THE BEST THING That Happened To Me In 15-Years! You Should Bust Your Knee Too.

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by Anura Guruge
on February 26, 2023

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I am so, so, so GLAD that I slipped, shoveling snow, on February 28, 2019 & SNAPPED my Quad-tendon. I did NOT know I had a quad-tendon.

I postponed surgery for a week, because we had a mini-vacation booked in the Cape, & had it done on March 8, 2019.

CHANGED MY LIFE — for the better.

I am so glad I busted my knee. I am a new, better man because of it.

It was a wake up call. I was, prior to it, exercising daily & watching my diet. But, I had become lazy & complacent.

My pre-surgery blood work said my blood glucose was 102. I started crying. I was so distraught. All the nurses are saying it is FINE. It is FINE. You don’t have to worry till it gets close to 125. Heck with that.

From the very day of the surgery I changed my life.

I went on a much, much, much stricter diet. I lost 20 pounds. I STILL NEED TO LOSE ANOTHER 25. But, losing 20 was a START.

And I started AMBLING, each & every day, even while I was on crutches. They had me on crutches for 6 weeks. The day I was allowed to ditch them I started ambling in anger.

The rest as some of you know is history.

In the 1st year after surgery I walked 2,250 miles.

I now walk at least 3,000 miles a year. SMILE.

I have walked at least 10,000 steps, EACH & EVERY DAY, since April 17, 2020.

That is an unbroken 1,046 day STREAK.
2 years 10 months.

So, as February 28 nears I thank my lucky stars that I busted my knee.

Last Night Was Brutal, But Today at 1.4F (-17C) It Was BEAUTIFUL — Ambled Lazily For 1 hour 46 minutes.

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by Anura Guruge
on February 4, 2023

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Click to ENLARGE. No special gear. Just what I have lying around.

Last night when the temperature plummeted to -18F (-28C) & the wind was HOWLING, it was BRUTAL. Scary. I was worried we would lose power. That would have been dangerous & not too much fun. But, luckily we didn’t. So relieved.

We had been told that the temps would start rising as of Saturday morning & they sure did IN FRONT of your eyes. -13F when I woke up (at 9am (SMILE)). They said it would be 4F (-16C) by 3pm. It never got to that, BUT we are also at a 800′ altitude.

It was 1.4F (-17C) at 3pm & that was PLENTY WARM ENOUGH for I.

After my first decade in New Hampshire (& I am now in my 3rd), I always maintained that anything above 0F (-12.2C) was a breeze. I am FINE with above 0F. 1.4 was bloody balmy.

Had a great amble. Good book on ‘Audible‘. NO WIND. Nothing.

I had a blast. I feel sorry for those who don’t go out in beautiful weather like this.

I sure had fun.

I have walked at least 10,000 steps, EACH & EVERY DAY, since April 17, 2020.

Today was day 1,023 if my unbroken 1,022 STREAK.
2 years 9.5 months.

And I had 3 eye surgeries during that time. I got in my steps before & AFTER the surgery. The surgeon knew of my need to walk & put in EXTRA STITCHES!

I Did Go Out In The Cold (& Wind Chill) This Morning — Had To Get In My 10K Steps/Day (Or Die Trying).

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by Anura Guruge
on February 3, 2023

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OCD & discipline are terrible things. I will NOT wish them on anyone.

I have walked at least 10,000 steps, EACH & EVERY DAY, since April 17, 2020.

That is an unbroken 1,022 day STREAK.
2 years 9.5 months.

I couldn’t the cold defeat me WITHOUT a valiant fight.

Plus -5F (-20.5C) is my nominal cut-off.

This morning it was 3.4F (-15.8C). So, I had NO EXCUSE.

Dressed up as much as I could. Use a face warmer. It still did a job on my LUNGS. SMILE. What can I say.

Wasn’t too bad. I even built up a sweat. Might still get a lung infection.

Well, another 18 hours to go. Keep your fingers crossed for I. I need it.

Not thinking about tomorrow. Need to get tonight out of the way.