Perspective...

Every week, I get a little bit of inspiration from my friend, Sarah. And by inspiration, I mean, weekly dose of terror! I get a little movie with a close-up of up of her crossing off one more week on our count down to the Princess Half Marathon.

I'm not going to lie. While I feel a little bit motivated by this picture, I also feel a lot of panic and usually tell her that.

So this week, she sent me a picture of the entire countdown that she made to prepare for the race. I feel lot better now. This could actually be do-able. I just needed a different perspective.

Life is still it's own kind of busy right now. I spent all my free-time tonight working on Christmas presents, canning blackberries, and tidying up before the holidays hit. Hooray for productivity, but no time for a good walk. Looks like pilates and stretchy bands for me tonight. I have to make good use of the time that hasn't been X-ed out yet!

Today's Motiviation:

Compared to where I was even 11 weeks ago, when I started this whole crazy endeavor, I have come a long way. I can walk 9 miles comfortably. My pace time is up to about 3.45 mph. I love to walk. I look forward to exercising now and I actually want to try to eat better. Just think where I could be by the end of the next 11 weeks!

Back in Step at Krape Park

I've had a lot going on the last few weeks and have not been walking as much. I love walking though and today I got the chance to get some steps back and spend the day at Krape Park.

This is one of the most fascinating parks I have ever been in. There is just so much to do there. In the summer there's a carousel and paddle boats, in the winter there is sledding and ice skating. There's a band shell. A gazebo. At one time in the distant past there was even a petting zoo. It's just so much fun! Here's some things I caught while at the park with my family today.

This is a nice detail on one of the park shelters.

Like I said, you can find anything at this park. There's an old fire engine parked there for the kids to play on, next to a fire house on stilts with a pole down the middle, and a little town for the kids to protect. 

 Ducks and geese are a major part of the park since the Yellow Creek runs through it. Now they have been immortalized.

And there's a nice barn for the ducks during the summer. I'm not sure where they go in the winter. 

Flagstaff Hill is an iconic bit of the park. When my brother and I were younger, there were steps that ran up the right side of the waterfall and you could walk along them to get to the top of the hill. The steps have been closed off now, but they will always be a part of my memories. 

 Here's the alternate way to the top if you are walking and feeling adventurous. You can also drive, but who wants to do that. :)

It's a great view from the top! There's also a nice park up here and a frisbee golf course.

The park is a great place for anything you want to do. My daughter loves to swing and explore and my husband got a chance to work with his new camera today. The video footage he got looks fantastic! It helps when you have good material to work with though.

There was so much to see today and it was a great way to get back to walking.

Today's Motivation:

After going for so long without blogging and walking it's been hard to get going again. I just have to remember that it's only over when I stop. Sometimes, there will be breaks. Life happens. As long as I pick it back up again, I will keep heading in the right direction.

Making time and finding steps

The last few days I have been trying everything I can think of to get 20,000 steps a day. I walk to work. I walk at lunch. I have even convinced the six year old to walk with me in the evening and I am still only hitting 16,000-18,000, depending on the day.

Am I sad? No. I am actually pretty proud of myself. Especially today. Today, I had some time sensitive things going on this evening so I couldn't walk to work. I was disappointed. I get most of my steps in on the walk to and from work. I figured that was it. I would be lucky to hit 10,000 steps today. With a little ingenuity though, I hit 10,000 steps before even leaving work today!

So, here's my recommendations for picking up extra steps during the day:

1. Park as far away from the front door as possible and enjoy the walk to the door.

2. Take the stairs whenever possible.

3. Take the longest possible route to the drinking fountain when you need a drink.

4. Refill your cup often during the day.

5. Take a walk to talk with people face to face before picking up the phone.

6. Find a reason to get up and getting moving about once an hour, even if it is just for five minutes. It's amazing how far you can go on five minutes!

7. Go to places in the building you've never been before... within reason, of course. Don't go into high voltage or restricted areas, but this is your chance to see what happens in some of the other offices.

8. Take a lap of the parking lot before going home at the end of the day. It's a good chance to de-escalate and finish off the day.

Those were some of my favorites from today at least. Along with a walk at lunch, I hit my goal for the day. Not 20,000 steps, but I did get six miles. Not bad for just another day at work!

Today's Motivation:

I honestly surprised myself today at how much I could accomplish with just a little extra effort. I was actually more focused today too because I was keenly aware of my time. It was well worth the effort.

Stepping it up.

So I read an interesting article the other day in Prevention about 5 Things That Happened When I Tried to Walk 20,000 Steps a Day. It was fascinating. This is a girl that lives in New York, so she does a lot of walking to and from work anyway. In fact, hitting 10,000 steps a day wasn't much of a challenge for her; that was kind of her norm. So, she decided to step it up and go for 20,000 steps a day.

The benefits she got from it sounded fantastic. She got more done in a day, she was more optimistic, she slept well. Who doesn't want all that? So I figured I would give it a try. I mean, I can almost always hit 10,000 steps in a day, especially during the work week. I walk to work, I do a lot of walking at work, I walk my parents dog a noon. This would be challenge and I need a good challenge, right?

I started yesterday. It was actually pretty easy yesterday because I had the day off work and took an 8.8 mile walking tour in the morning. That knocked out the 20,000 steps for yesterday pretty quickly. I was sore by the end of the day, but still functioning.

Today, I walked to work, walked the dog at lunch, walked home, and made sure I was getting 250 steps in every hour during the day. Oh my goodness! Tonight, I am at 18000 steps and I am exhausted, I ache, and I am feeling a little less than optimistic. (Granted, part of that may be the election tonight.) I am guessing I will be sleeping well though.

We'll have to see how the rest of this week goes. Apparently, I am going to have to step it up still though. 20,000 is definitely a challenge!

Today's Motivation:

As tired as I feel tonight, I feel healthy. I did not need Mountain Dew today to keep moving in spite of the exhaustion. It really is a good kind of exhaustion. Maybe there is something to this.

Excellent Customer Service

So I got my new Fitbit Alta tracker this week and I am pretty excited about it!! Before I get started talking about it though, I just wanted to share this little disclaimer. This is just the experience that I have had with the Fitbit company. This is unsolicited and purely because I was impressed with the service I got. Nothing more.

So a few years ago, I decided I wanted a good pedometer. The idea of tracking my steps and challenging myself sounded cool, but I wanted a reliable pedometer that wouldn't just track steps because I shook it up and down vigorously. My solution was the Fitbit Zip. If you are looking for a pedometer that you can just slip on your bra strap or clip to your pocket and forget about, this is the perfect solution. It tracks steps, and, it links with MyFitnesspal and SparkPeople and several other internet tracking apps. It does not have Bluetooth connectivity, but if you just want something low maintenance, this is perfect. The downside is that it runs on a watch battery. The battery would last for about 3 months and then I would have to buy a new one. The problem was that I didn't always remember to get a new one. So, once the battery would run out, I would go for months before I remembered to buy a battery and so, went months without tracking anything.

Last Christmas, I decided it was time to step up my game. I would get a tracker that was rechargeable so I wouldn't have to deal with batteries. I also wanted one that would conveniently show me my steps. It gets a little embarrassing looking at a tracker that is clipped to your bra. I went back to Fitbit because I already liked the brand and found the Fitbit Charge.

There were two things that I loved about this tracker. One was that I could always see how many steps I had taken so I knew how many I had left. It was on my wrist and I just had to glance down instead of looking down my shirt. Second, it had a silent alarm. This was amazing since my, then five year old, was getting up whenever she heard my alarm clock go off. She was killing me because I couldn't wake up early for a little quiet time. The silent alarm totally foiled her. Best thing ever!! I also liked the Bluetooth feature that allowed the tracker to sync with my phone. That meant my step and calorie totals were always current and synced with MyFitnesspal too. The Charge also tracked sleep. That can be a positive or a negative. I always knew how much sleep I wasn't getting.

My problem was that after 4 months of constant use, the tracker started falling apart. I was a bit upset. I really feel that mechanical devices should last at least a year, so I did something I almost never do and actually wrote to customer service. I sent them a letter and some pictures of what was happening and hoped for the best, but expected not to hear back from anyone.

Not only did I hear back from someone in just a few hours, but they were really polite!! They asked me a few questions about where I had bought it and within 24 hours they were shipping me a new Charge. They were out of stock on my original color, but hey, I was getting a new tracker and didn't have to worry about sending back my old one. Sweet! Excellent customer service!!

I was delighted to get my second tracker and used it everyday and continued to be delighted with it, but then I noticed I was having to charge it way more often. Instead of going 5-7 days between charges, I was going 2-3 days before the battery would be completely dead. "Really?," I thought! I have only been using this new tracker about 4 months and it was already dying! So I decided to try customer service again. Honestly, it hadn't even been a year since I had bought my original tracker.

I checked the FAQs first. Tried a couple of things, then sent an email off to Customer Service. Again, I got an email back within 24 hours and after answering some questions, I had a new tracker on the way... or so I thought.

After two weeks, I wrote back to the company because my tracker hadn't shown up and it didn't even look like it had shipped. A few hours later, I got a nice apologetic email. The Fitbit Charge had apparently been discontinued. After my experience with the device, I can see why. They were offering me an Alta though which was one of their newer models and would I like one? Yes!!

So that is why, I am still a strong supporter of Fitbit!! My faith in them is a little shaken by the quality of the Charge, but their customer service has been EXCELLENT!! I can't wait to see how the Alta does now!

Right now, my favorite thing about it is the reminder buzz at 10 min to the hour if I haven't walked 250 steps during that hour from 9:00 am to 6 pm. I love it!!!It reminds me to get up from my desk and move during the day! Plus that's 2500 steps that are just built into my day that I get reminded to walk! So cool.

Today's Motivation:

The Fitbit Alta - with the little buzz that is reminding me it's time to get up and move!! See you in 250 steps.

Fall has come to Freeport.

I went out for a walk today without the earbuds in. I just needed to get out. I hate to admit it, but I was actually a little nervous about walking without my headphones. I was worried I would get bored. And, now that Halloween is over, that I wouldn't have anything to look at to compensate.

I was so wrong. I was struck by the colors that Fall seems to have painted everywhere. I have been so busy looking at decorations that I have missed what Mother Nature has been putting up.

And the colors that are sticking it out till the snow comes.

This was my favorite though. There are a lot of Burning Bush plants in the neighborhood, but this one has been the brightest so far. 

I am looking forward to walking my way through the rest of fall and into winter now. And I think I will be taking more walks without my headphones in too.

Also, tonight I did the drawing for the Haunted Freeport Walking Tour Challenge that was started a couple weeks ago. Carolyn Duede won a pair of hand knit socks made by me. These are my favorite kind of socks to walk in. I hope you enjoy them too.

I've have another challenge planned to start in a week or two to help get through the holidays, so stay tuned and keep walking!!


Today's Motivation:

The colors of fall that made for a very entertaining walk.