when you sign up for a challenge to walk a million steps you certainly need a way of counting every step you do. In my practice weeks, (remember the blisters?) I downloaded a pedometer app for my phone. It was fabulous. Counting every step, converting them to miles and telling me how many calories I have used. Perfect I thought. For everyday checking on your fitness this would be great, but there are, as I discovered, some difficulties in a phone app.
Firstly you have to have your phone on your person at all times or steps are missed. I often walk in clothes with no pocket, so tucking a phone into my underwear was the only way forward. It is quite difficult to check your step count when your phone is hidden in your undies and you are in a public place. Secondly your phone needs to be charged. This is not usually a problem, but the battery died on me halfway around a country walk. When you really want every step to count this becomes a problem. So despite it being easy to use I was seeking another method of counting steps. Now I have a whizy wristband holding a lovely little pink counter, I love it. Every step will count, and I can get all sorts of information on my laptop too.
It has made me think about just what I am counting, and why. Clearly to complete the challenge I will need to prove I have actually walked a million steps, but there is so much more to count.
There is no gizmo that can record the energy I am feeling, or that can count the benefis of the freedom of movement I now have and the joy of being able to walk everywhere. There is no app to count the fun to be had chatting and laughing when walking with friends. The support for each other on the steep inclines and the help when coming down again counts for everything, taking care of each other we are making memories all the time. I can see my weight decreasing on the scale, but there is no way of counting how good it feels to wear jeans again. I have found a whole new world. When I walk to the supermarket I am bumping into old friends, stopping for a chat, patting their dog and catching up on news. I am noticing things so much more. Most of all I am noticing me and I am making every step count.