Walking the walk

I’ve been a walking fool lately. I said I wouldn’t enter any more Health Miles challenges and of course I did the first chance I got. What is it with me? I get my usual 12,000 steps a day whether I’m in a challenge or not what with my usual morning workouts and normal walking throughout the day, so why do I enter and try to rack up more steps on my pedometer? And I know full well that I’ll never get enough steps in a day to even get close to winning. The winners – and there are many of them – all do the maximum allowed which is 30,000 steps a day for 30 days. And since there is more than one winner they are entered in a drawing to see who winds up winning the big bucks.

So what’s in it for me? I won’t win. I’ll end up with about 400,000 steps for the 30 days – worth three entries in the loser’s drawing. And the chance of winning that drawing is slim to none. Well, for sure, I’ll get a t-shirt. But, you guessed it, I won’t even wear that. It will go straight into my giveaway bag. I always hate the t-shirts that come with these challenge events.

But, I don’t hate the walking and I always love the personal challenge.

This time I’ve been walking in a variety of venues. Besides my once a week big, long walk from my house to the beach and back – a walk that takes me about an hour and a half, I’ve been walking around my local mall. I worked off-site for the last couple of weeks in a high rise building near the mall, so I would at least walk over there after work – and sometimes for a short pick-me-up walk mid-day. Believe me a little walk is way better than taking a 15-minute nap. I also park as far away from wherever I’m going every chance I get. Even today, in between the endless meetings, I did a walk-about my office building – up and down the hall a few times.

Now, you’d think with all that extra walking I’ve been doing in the last couple of weeks – I’m averaging about 15,000 steps a day – I’d have lost a couple of pounds. But, no. I’m gaining instead. Well, only time will tell. The challenge has 15 days to go. Maybe the pounds will go by the end.

Yes, you’re right. The whole thing probably makes no sense at all. But, I know it’s all about walking. I like to walk, it perks me up in the middle of the day, and it gets me to places I don’t normally go. I’m not totally out of my mind. I’m just walking the walk.