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.
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.
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.
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, I was, of course, aware that I had made two long trips; one, 2,700-miles, to Iowa to pickup ‘Rowen‘ our Newfie pup & the other, in September (as is my wont) to Shenandoah (for the second year running). Then there was my usual trips to Maine & in 2021 all the numerous trips to Boston to do with my cataract surgeries (& follow ups). But, until I got Google’s annual summary of my timeline I had no idea that I been by 85 cities. I sure know I didn’t visit that many. But, if Google says so, I guess I must have been through them. Neat.
What is pretty amazing is that I assiduously adhered to all the prevailing COVID protocols! So, during the January Iowa trip, we did not stay overnight in NY or PA so as to honor their COVID requirements.
By the time of the other trips, I had been vaccinated — as of March 6, 2021. So, that helped.
Wonder how 2022 will pan out. Haven’t travelled any, even to Boston, this Yikes.
Click to ENLARGE. I did my 10K in 3 lots just to minimize cold air intake into lungs. This, as you can see, was at 11:07 after the 1st walk. 2 miles. This was the coldest. It was a BALMY 3F when I did another 1.7 miles at 2pm.
Click to ENLARGE. From our local ‘WMUR’.
It was -3F (-19.4C) when I woke up this morning at 8:10am. That was discouraging. I have a self-imposed 5F (-15C) limit for going out on my full 2-hour jaunt. NOT so much the cold per se BUT the supposed damage the cold air can do to my ancient, fragile & abused lungs.
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.