Anyone doing the Walk 1000miles in 2018 challenge?

[GandolfBold]

[[https://www.walk1000miles.co.uk/ challenge website]]

I am signed up and off for my first walk this morning.

Do you have car? I would think most people do that just in their normal day to day life! unless they drive absolutely everywhere. Or is this extra walks?

You've got me quite interested though, just in adding up what is normal to walk in a year.

Hadn't heard of this but sounds like a great idea! Think I'll try and track my walks with ddog. Good luck!

I may have got this wrong.
2.75 miles a day which is about 6,000 steps?
Please tell me most people do more than this.

Not much of a challenge!

actually, just looked at my phone and find I can! It records how far I've walked whilst it is switched on every day, I've only had it since the end of November - in December I walked 125 miles with it whilst it was switched on. However, In December I worked 20 days when I was on my feet all day at work with my phone switched off, so I'm guessing 250 miles in total, at least which makes approx 3000 per year!

that sounds quite impressive doesn't it!

OP I expect you do 1000 per year very easily already, but I guess this is an extra 1000 for fun and fitness, so good luck, and enjoy!

I've just finished the Virgin Pulse Challenge which is 10000 steps for 100 days. I don't think most people do this as a rule each day. Drive to work, sit all day at a desk and drive home. Eat dinner, watch TV, bed. Of course you can introduce exercise into your day but lots don't. There are lots of people who can easily do 10000 steps based on lifestyle but for others, you need to plan more for it eg going for walk at lunchtime and just walking more in general rather than using transport.

Please tell me most people do more than this.

well, if you do less, than this is a worthwhile challenge for the level you are currently at, and we all need to challenge ourselves at our current level.

And if you do more, then this is extra, on top of normal walking, so still very much worth doing.

Drive to work, sit all day at a desk and drive home.

I think it s the driving that does it, people who walk to the bus or station are going to top that easily, most likely, but if you drive door to door everywhere its easy to miss out.

I’m not fit at all but do a minimum of 20 miles a week - usually closer to 25. 1000 miles really isn’t much of a challenge.

Why do people have to be so bloody superior about these things?! I remember a poster in the Summer posting about doing 10k steps a day and loads of posters jumping on her about how pathetically easy it was .

If you think it’s easy it’s not for you but thousands of people don’t do this level of exercise and need to do so cut the exercise snobbery and be supportive.

I don’t know anyone who does 10k steps a day as normal routine or even 6k probably.
Most of them drive and those who work, work sitting down. They’re not lazy and it’s good to have challenges like this to make people aware that we all should be fairly active.

I think that walking 20 miles a week is a reasonable goal for someone who is currently living a very sedentary life, however 20 miles a week is suboptimal in terms of the amount of activity required to maintain health.
So if we're talking about the goals for a year I think 20 miles a week might be a good starting point but after a month or so you would want to be adding in some more intense cardiovascular work coupled with some resistance training.

Thank you for the link Gandolfbold. I find that working at a desk most days and driving to work I don't walk much everyday. This will be a great way of boosting my steps. Good luck everyone!

so you would want to be adding in some more intense cardiovascular work coupled with some resistance training

YOU might want to do that, the OP hasn't said anything about wanting to do that. That is entirely up to you.

I bitterly regret taking the "advice" I was given to do resistance training, it led to massive weight problems for me. I wouldn't tell anyone else they "would want" to do it.

I thought the challenge was more about 'deliberate' walking rather than just adding up all the steps you did in a day?

So you wouldn't necessarily count walking around the office etc or normal 'steps'.

It’s not about being superior EveningShadows - I do in excess of this and I know it isn’t anywhere near enough. The 1000 mile goal is far too low to have any impact on general fitness or overall health and really shouldn’t be something to aspire to.

Well when I said 'you would want to add some resistance exercise' that was a figure of speech if you want me to rephrase it I will say in general for optimal Health it is a good thing to do some strength training.

Most people know what they need to do to be healthy and if they don't know they can easily do a bit of research and find out
exercise or don't exercise it's your choice and it's no skin off my nose if you don't

I'm doing it. I did it in 2017 too.

I don't think it's that easy for a lot of people. Personally it's required a bit of thought to get it in, because I drive to the cm, drive on to work, stay in one room most of the day (I walk round the classroom, but have to keep stopping to help kids), don't even leave the building at lunchtime as there's always someone who is on detention or needs help with homework, etc. Then I drive home via the cm again. There's not much more than 3/4,000 steps in my average day unless I'm thinking about it.

In 2017 I counted fitbit miles, and got to 1,200 miles, even though I had forgotten to charge/wear my fitbit sometimes. This year I'm going to just count my intentional walks, which will be more work but I think I can do it, or at least get close.

The 1000 mile goal is far too low to have any impact on general fitness or overall health and really shouldn’t be something to aspire to.

it is if you are doing less than that at present.

A lot of people doing the 1000 miles in 2018 are doing it ‘boots on’ so intentional hiking miles rather than day-to-day walking round the house or to the shops - it’s started by Country Walking Magazine.

Well actually I was talking about extra walks, rather than steps every day, however not everyone has that level of fitness or time.

Its a challenge that can be adapted to suit the person, surely.

I'd love to do this, but don't think I can just yet. My dh works away and walking an hour after work would be no problem....but bringing my 7 year old along would be! Plus oldest ds (who obviously wouldn't need to come) has GCSEs and is going to need me present to make him do some work. I could probably do it 4 days a week (my non working days) and a shorter walk on the other days...my steps on a normal day are about 7-8000. Is it worth signing up knowing I can't really do it properly?

why is taking a 7 year old a problem?

@Oldbirdy, without a doubt any exercise that you do is better than no exercise👍😁
If time is limited then you could increase your mileage and challenge yourself by aiming to walk at a faster speed or maybe you could have a minute of slow jogging and then a minute of walking?
That would give you a bit more distance in whatever time you have available

For me, taking my 7yo would be a problem because she's knackered by the time she gets home. So she would moan and complain, and she's already done more moving/walking/running than I have during the day, as she walks to/from school. I wouldn't be able to walk at any sort of pace.