10,000 Steps

My hubby came home the other night with a special little gift for me (he actually got it for free at a seminar, but hey, I'll take what I can get!) - a pedometer. I have been wanting one of those little gadgets for a while, because I'm very curious to see how much time I'm making for the exercise my body needs.

I'm not normally one for gadgets. While training for my half marathon in 2008, I was always baffled by people's obsession with their Garmin watches. I thought it would take away from the experience of running to be constantly checking my time, distance and calories burned. I thought it a much better idea to concentrate on my breathing and rhythm, and it seemed to work - I finished the half in just over 2 hours. Not to mention the fact that the Garmins (and other devices) are so expensive!

However, a little pedometer can cost around $20 (less if you find a sale!). We all know how unhealthy we are as a society, and even us skinny people are at a higher risk for things like heart disease due to a lack of exercise. Many of our children are getting less than half the time of physical activity that they would have 50 years ago. So, sometimes a pedometer can give us a fun little push towards achieving a goal.

In my case, the goal is 10,000 steps per day. It sounds like a lot, but it only works out to be about a five mile walk. There is not much scientific evidence behind the number 10,000, but it does seem to be the magic number amongst people who promote this kind of regime.

So far I have been achieving the 10,000 steps, but I have to make a conscious effort to get out for one longer walk per day, or I don't even come close. It's also serving as a reminder to me to get up and move around during the day - it's surprising how much we find ourselves sitting on our butts.

In the spirit of my new project, here is 500 miles by The Proclaimers (except I'm only walking 5 miles...and I'm not a man):