Congratulations!
You’ve completed the NYC 3.1 miles.
You are one urban athlete!
You just stepped your way through the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K in NYC.
Wow! Are They Talking About Me?
The email elicited a small smile and set the tone for my day.
After all, I am an urban athlete capable of meeting any challenge!
The cheapest trip to NYC ever…all on my smartphone with a fitbit* challenge.
I walked the streets of my Portland, Oregon neighborhood with my faithful dog Ginny listening to podcasts on NPR One.
Some favorite podcasts are “Modern Love”, “The Hidden Brain” and “How I Made It”.
Going Postal
“Going Postal” brings up terrible images of postal and other workers shooting their co-workers.
My experience has been very different.
I went “postal” years ago.
I swam a mile everyday which was an accomplishment for me as a working mother of small children.
I left home around 5:30 every weekday and swam from 6-7 at the local pool.
It was simultaneously gratifying, boring and lonely.
I sang to myself to pass the time and keep a steady, rhythmic pace.
I was surprised and embarrassed when the swimmer in the next lane asked me, “Are you singing “Silver Bells”? I felt like such a nerd!
So, to make it more fun, I signed up through the mail for a 30-day postal swimming challenge. Nothing was on-line back in the day!
The organizers sent me a log sheet with a signature block for my coach/lifeguard to verify my distance and time.
I mailed my signed log sheet in every week.
At the end of 30 days, the organizers sent me a certificate…suitable for framing!
I was hooked and signed up for more over the years that I swam.
The Moral of the Story
Looking back, I shake my head that I would leave my warm bed, drive across town year-round to jump in a chilly, chlorinated pool for an hour.
Where did that girl go?
Now, I consider it an accomplishment to leave my house at 7 A.M. to drive to yoga in a nice gym, chatting before class with my buddies and enjoying the sauna or hot tub afterwards.
I am not an athlete…but I will work for praise and a sense of accomplishment.
I guess I could frame the email from fitbit
My New Challenge
My new fitbit challenge starts today. I am walking to Vernal Falls in Yosemite…15,000 steps. In this challenge, I will “digitally walk along a path over several days with the intent of enjoying scenic landmarks, learning new facts about health and fitness and reaching …Daily Destinations….” (fitbit).
Being a competitive overachiever, I will most likely finish this challenge in two days time at the most.
It’s only 15000 steps.
Gotta get walking!
Cheers!
Lori Greer in Portland 
I never jumped on the Fitbit bandwagon, but this kind of makes me want one. I average about 12k steps a day – around 16k per average workday – it would be fun to imagine myself hiking around Yosemite while schlepping through PDX each day!
But I really appreciated your analog story about fitness communities prior to the current digital/app age craze. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
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I broke down and bought the fitbit Blaze about a year ago on sale at Verizon & like it alot. My niece who lives in Florida & I compete on miles. She beats me in the winter and I walk more in the summer due to our reverse climates. I am amazed at the technology involved in the phone & the app. Of course, I could do the almost same thing with a $10 pedometer! The main thing is to keep walking!
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Lori, if you’ve never been to Yosemite before, prepare to be amazed – it is incredibly beautiful. Every step is its own reward. Your physical and mental health will be well rewarded, and you’re gonna love every moment you spend in that glorious place. With snowfall and rainfall California experienced this past winter, it ought to be even more spectacular. I await your photos. Travel safely.
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If you use your $10 pedometer, and set the pace length to 50 inches, you could beat your Niece every time!
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I once walked from coast to coast! I think it only took about 10 minutes. (All you need to do is find 5th street in Key West) LOLOL
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Delightfully fun post. You go!! : )
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Work it, girl!!! He he…I really have to have some kind of routine like that again…
I’ve not been here in a while. Nice to read you again 🙂
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I read this with a huge smile. Oh yes, could I relate to this one! I’m really a couch potato at heart but over the years I’ve managed to train myself to get out the front door … quite frankly, the most difficult part of any exercise, regardless of what it is.
… but I need a tangible challenge to make it happen. I simply cannot do anything remotely athletic for the *joy* of it. A couple of years ago I discovered the challenges on the weight loss website loseit.com
This is my second year participating in the 10,000 hours challenge which is to log at least 10,000 hours of exercise during the year. I kind of slid behind my targets this winter and soggy spring, so now I’m on a serious mission to catch up with where I think I *should* be at the end of May 😉
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I’m a sit down and not want to move sort of time of life but it always helped when dogs needed to go for runs. Now no dogs but I must, must take that daily walk. How many steps ?? How long about 15-30 minutes. I find there is joy in it if I look (with camera ready) for something unique. It may be just a touch of colour in the middle of a space of ugliness. Cheers!
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