Fall is my favourite time of year. There’s often no humidity to deal with. The temperature is pleasant and the wind is manageable. I like to walk in the fall — it gives me a chance to see the changing landscape and to think about what my plans are for the year ahead. (The calendar may say January is the start of the new year, but in my head and heart, the new year always begins now.)
I usually like to walk with purpose — let’s go from Point A to Point B and collect the mail, or get some milk, or feed the ducks. This past summer, quite a number of my friends started virtual challenges: crossing the province, walking the Camino in Spain, traversing South America.
It’s similar to Fitbit’s equating various steps achieved to having walked all of London’s tube network, or crossed the Sahara desert. Unlike Fitbit, the virtual challenges are set before you start out, instead of being award after the fact.
Given that travel is still a no go option for me, I have thought about choosing one of these challenges as a way to travel virtually with minimal risk and (hopefully) maximum benefit (yay!).
I’ve discovered over the past few years of consistently training that I like things explained or set up visually. I can remember exercises or movements if I associate them with a creature or a place.
Consequently, I can act like a sphinx, a pelican, or a tree one day and the next I’m waving my arms like Spiderman throwing webs all over the place or I am carrying all the groceries in one go for my farmer’s walk. When it comes to deadlifting, I have balanced seals, mountain lions and a few deer for excitement.
The appeal of a virtual walking challenge is that I have a goal (beyond getting the mail or milk). So I’m checking out a few apps, many of which can be synced to my Fitbit. I can be on my own or I can join a team. There are lots of options — do I want to walk the Ring of Kerry, hike along Hadrian’s Wall, or follow in the steps of ancestors along the Camino?
I’ll let you know next month. Have any of you tried these challenges? let us know in the comments.
MarthaFitat55 lives and walks in St. John’s .
I also walked the whole of the Camino in Spain. Took a long time, but I made great new lifelong friends and had a cultural experience that I cherish still now.