Just Keep Walking
By Frank Buch
Another health challenge was announced in the last week of August. This time the goal is to do 10,000 steps each day for 5 days. This will end up in 50,00 steps for a whole week.That sounds quite a lot to me. Usually I do between 3 and 4 thousand steps per day. Now doing 10,000 each day for 5 days is a real challenge. I prepared myself mentally and set the goal to go running (on a treadmill) each day of the week.
Day #1:
While in the office, I managed to get around 3,000 steps in. So, I had to go to the gym and take my plan into action. I went on the treadmill and used a pre-set routine that is 5 miles long. (I never ran more than 5k which equals 3.1 miles).
I knew if I finished 5 miles, then I would hit the 10,000 steps target for the day. My calves started hurting just a few minutes into the run and then around 20 minutes later my feet started to slowly get numb. Nevertheless, I wanted to get my steps in for the day and hit my personal goal of running 5 miles. After 62 minutes, I finally reached the goal and was happy to finish the run and get some rest.
I completed day #1 with a total of 14,514 steps!
Day #2:
Getting up in the morning, I knew I would get some soreness in my legs as I have never run 5 miles before. Usually it takes around 20 – 24 hours for me to become sore in a muscle. Using this information, I decided to start my day off running first to avoid any kind of muscle pain in the late evening.
That means I headed into the gym right in the morning, before work. I accepted the challenge and went for another 5-mile run. This time it felt even more difficult, but I had my phone with me and distracted myself from the pain by watching some motivational YouTube videos. It worked out great! I even finished the 5 miles two minutes faster than the day before.
After taking a shower I went straight into the office. Having on-site client meetings on Tuesday led to even more steps that day. I was able to finish day #2 with an all-time high of 17,788 steps!!
Day #3:
I was planning to run again, but this time the soreness from the last two days took over. After work I was able to do a little bit of running, but I couldn’t reach my personal goals to complete the 10,000 steps on Wednesday. Therefore, I ended up with only 9,062 steps! Still a high number and having in mind that I finished the first two days with a lot more steps I had built myself a buffer.
Day #4:
On Thursday things went somehow worse. I felt some pain in my left foot. My body was not used to this kind of intense training and running for an extended period. I still wanted to get the 50,000 steps by the end of the week. Therefore, I took it slow, did my usual 3-4k steps a day and headed into the gym after work. There I only took some slow walks and did a usual full body workout (leaving out the legs).
That day I was only able to get up to 8,598 steps. This lead me to a total of 49,962 steps by end of Thursday. At this time, I knew I am safe and can easily finish the 50,000 steps by end of the week.
Day #5:
Fridays throughout the summer we had Summer Fridays in the office, that usually included outside activities. The 3rd Friday of the month was special as we had a BBQ party after work in a park nearby. There we had lots of fun playing cornhole and soccer. This helped me getting my steps up again for the final round.
At the end of the day I reached another 9,265 steps. Finally, the challenge was over, and I hit my goals!
Verdict:
It was fun and really challenging to get up to 50,000 steps in a 5-day week. I knew I could do it and believed in myself from the beginning. In the end it’s all about the effort that you put into it. Same with every other aspect of life: the more time you dedicate to your goals, the more likely you are going to achieve them.
I was happy I participated in the challenge. Next time I may pace myself in the beginning to stay strong until the end. Next goal: Spartan Beast 14+ mile run this weekend 😊
Thanks for reading!
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