I was recently asked to take part in a pedometer challenge and my first thoughts we’re along the lines of ‘counting steps? Really? Where’s the challenge in that?’ But never to turn down a mission I signed on and got amongst the action.

Our team of four were tasked with walking a minimum of 10,000 steps each per day. Apparently the average person completes a mere 3,000 – 5,000 a day. The first week was used to set the bar to calculate your ‘standard week’, and to be honest there just wasn’t anything to grab my spirit of adventure.  It was a bit dull.

So when week two rolled around I challenged our team to walk a million steps in a week – 250,000 steps each in just 7 days… and so began the real challenge. On the surface it seemed like a very achievable goal, but trying to fit in the steps around an already busy work/project/training lifestyle wasn’t going to be easy. After day one my numbers were already falling behind. What could I change to squeeze my steps in? My commute.

The bike was left at home and the shoes were ready. I thought I’d start fairly small and walk a few train stops and then get a lift the rest of the way and build up from there.

The walk in went well so I decided to walk home from the office after work. A 13mile/21km wander over the South Downs through lush green fields and farmland. It was quite a stroll. At this speed you really get to take in your surroundings and become part of the landscape.  However during this trip I had a sudden realization, with my stride length of near on exactly 1 meter. I would need to walk 250km in one week. My stature was putting me at a disadvantage as my somewhat shorter colleague was racking up the steps next to me at about 3:2. This was going to be tough.

Excellent.