New Year, New Challenge

Last year without intending to I ended up walking 10,000 steps every day. In an effort for full disclosure, I was sick for a couple of days in January so my challenge did not really start until January 28, therefore I have nine days left in last year's challenge.

I decided to up the ante this year. 10,000 steps a day was fairly easy for me (I did miss one day while crossing time zones), but with running a couple of half marathons and going to Disneyland Paris, I also had some days well over 30,000 steps. That got me to thinking. This year I wanted a different challenge. I did not want to have to walk 10,000 steps every. single. day.Trust me, with snow and ice, I don't always want to walk that much. Plus sometimes my legs are just plum tired.

Friends were posting they were going for the Run the Year Challenge -- 2,018 miles over the course of 365 days. Blindly calculating 10,000 steps a day into 5 miles (thinking 2,000 steps equals one mile) I thought this one would be a slam dunk. What I wasn't counting on was that my phone is smarter than I am. It uses GPS to figure out how far I have traveled that day. On the surface that sounds fair, but in reality many days I am stepping in place in order to reach goal.

Let's use the past two days as an example. Thursday I had 10,273 steps, which it calculated to 3.8 miles. Today I have 10,002 steps (thus far) at 4.7 miles. Huh? Today's steps included a 3.1 mile run (around 5,500 steps). I need an average of 5.5 miles a day to be successful with this challenge. The plan is once the snow melts, and I go on longer runs, I will make up for the distances I have not been achieving so far, but it is hard to be starting a challenge like this in the hole.

My last year-long challenge was the photo challenge. By the end of the year, I did not care if I ever saw a camera again.

Organizers are quick to point out this is a personal challenge. Some do it by running all 2,018 miles (*gasp*), while others do it by creating a team of four people and making it a group event. Walking and running are allowed, but this is a foot challenge, so cycling and swimming miles don't count. Some say it has to be miles with the intention of getting exercise (as opposed to running errands or walking around the house). It is completely on the honor system, though.

My goal is a combination of running and walking, just like my goal for finishing a race.

My prize for completing this challenge already came in the mail.

I think the logic behind mailing the bling early was to make it easier on the organizers -- one big mailing instead of lots of tiny mailings. To make runners feel a sense of accomplishment, the medal has a flip up tab to show we were successful (stating Finisher). I'm still hopeful I will be able to flip that tab by December 31, but it will be close.

84.9 miles down. An average of 4.7 miles a day. Too many to go! Come on Spring!! Come back!!