10,000 Steps Per Day … For A Year

Today is my 365th consecutive day of at least 10,000 steps. I’m kind of impressed with myself. Not long ago, being this consistent seemed almost impossible. Now, missing a day seems inexcusable. I have made 10,000 steps non-negotiable in a way I wish I could apply to a few other things, winter bike trainer rides in particular. The key really is to break up the 10,000 steps into smaller chunks: 30 minutes here, 30 minutes there, or maybe just 1 mile at a time. For me, it’s roughly a 90-minute commitment every day. It could be done with one big effort, but it’s better as a series of shorter efforts that break up long periods of sitting. And I sit a lot for my job. Fortunately, working from home gives me many opportunities to pace around the house when work is slow. This freedom has made it fairly easy for me to hit my step goals.

There was only one day in the last year when it looked like I wouldn’t hit 10,000 steps. On December 3, I was driving back to West Bend from my mother’s house in eastern Pennsylvania. The drive is approximately 1,000 miles and takes nearly 15 hours to complete. I took a lunch break in western Pennsylvania and got some of the steps I needed, but halfway across Indiana it occurred to me that I wouldn’t get back to Wisconsin in time to get the rest. It was almost 9 p.m., dark, and cold. I needed a place where I could get the last of those 10,000 steps indoors. I knew there was a shopping mall and a collection of “big box” stores in Mishawaka, just off the Indiana Toll Road. I missed closing time at the mall, but Walmart would be open until 11 p.m., so it became my destination. I walked half a mile inside the store to reach my goal. If people noticed me at all, then they saw only a man taking an unusually long time to locate and purchase a loaf a bread and a box of breakfast cereal, things that wouldn’t spoil during the 5-hour drive that remained.

As goofy as that was, it said a lot about my commitment to 10,000 steps. I didn’t want to give up on my streak … and I still don’t. It’s more than just the foundation of a lot of Garmin Connect challenges; it’s also a foundational health and longevity commitment, not unlike daily vitamin supplements. It sets the floor not for athletic performance, but for general wellness.