On walking...a lot

I have a goal of breaking 20K average steps per day for an entire calendar month. That's essentially ten miles per day. If I can do that for an entire month, I will have a set a physical goal. I haven't set any physical goals in a long time. And I'm getting to an age where they're starting to feel necessary.

When covid hit, I was certain that being forced to stay home and say no to things and be focused would save me from myself. And in many ways it did. My anxiety vanished, my focus returned, and my confidence in myself and my abilities restablished itself. These were things that I knew I was capable of experiencing, but had failed to, due to manic days in the office, the social anxiety that came with that, the endless distractions, and the crippling exhaustion I felt when I returned home...if I returned home and didn't go out after work to an art show, a reading, a dinner with friends.

The flip side of that is that I became stagnant, inert. My daily commute went from miles to feet. I gained weight. In fairness to myself, I won't chalk it up to just immobility. I am also getting older and gaining weight comes with the territory. But I needed to find ways to be outside. It started with commuting to a coffee shop every morning, just to get out of the house, something I would do on the way to work anyway, but this time I was going out of my way to do it. When spring hit, I went to a coffee shop that was further away (mostly because I found a better one). But none of this was enough. In spring 2024, I started to do the Prospect Park loop. And that was life-changing.

The Prospect Park loop is close to 4 miles. From my apartment, round trip, it clocks in at 5-5.5 miles per my steps app. Kicking off my mornings with the Prospect Park loop proved to be a great way to start it off. When I finished back at home, I would change quickly, grab my journal and my book, land at a coffee shop for about 30-45 minutes to write down my thoughts or pre-compress (the opposite of decompress...I just made this up), head home, and be ready to start my day.

My days started off with a lot of energy. But they ended with considerably less so. So I started doing the loop in the evening as well. I bought gym shorts and better sneakers. I wore sunscreen to protect my tattoos. I made a thing of it. And it felt great.

Before I knew it I was doing anywhere between 15K and 25K steps per day. In fact, June 2024, my biggest month ever, landed at an average of 17,322 steps per day, amounting to 519.7K steps that month or 257 miles, the equivalent of over 10 marathons of walking that month. I'd lost weight, was eating better, and felt amazing, both physically, and mentally. When I went to Greece, I felt like a god (okay, bad joke, just indulge me here).

Unfortunately 2025 dropped off. Lifestyle decisions I made proved to challenge my physical and mental prowess of the previous year. And that was frustrating. I can't let that happen this year, particularly in light of other physical challenges I'm encountering (specifically, my teeth).

Spring 2026 has started strong. Winter was particularly long and cold this year with lots of snow. That forced reclusiveness has sent me charging out my front door every morning and evening. It's working. I'm about to land April at around 11K steps per day, my strongest April ever (April 2024 was 10.7K).

Most importantly, I'm feeling the joy of progress. Something that feels harder to feel, the older I get, particularly in a world where progress is moving backwards. But I digress...