Though being a sport enthusiast; love playing cricket, badminton, a small time trekker, and enjoy walking while talking to self. I have not taken fitness as a routine exercise as yet in life. And then came this opportunity (may be a challenge I should call) of walking 100 Kms in 10 days. Thanks to my work place, where people believe in fitness and gives it equal importance if not more while compared to gross profit to the organisation. I saw my colleagues signing up for the challenge, Employee engagement team mailing about event and whatsapp groups speaking about it, some neuron inside my head said; "Saketh why not".
Then came the saga of how things went from "Thinking it is impossible to making it possible".
So we were to walk certain distance everyday, had liberty of recording the activity on any of the fitness apps and upload the screenshot EOD on the event dash board. So the first thought that came to my mind is, how do I manipulate this app? Is there somehow I can cheat the app? How can I report higher no.s while actually not walking that much. Can I stretch my hands to & fro and see if no. of steps increase. Or may be put the mobile on a cane swing (one I love sitting on during the tea time) and give it a hard push, expecting it to keep moving for 3-4 minutes at least. Also thought of asking my neighbor who goes for an early morning walk at 5 AM everyday to carry my mobile along (expecting him to do 2-3 kms).
While one half of my mind was thinking of all these crazy ideas, a quarter of my mind thinking if this is actually possible, a small part within myself said why not just try and see what distance you move everyday under normal walks of life and then decide if this is possible. Even before the event actually flagged off, I checked on my mobile how much do I walk in a day. It was nothing more than 3 Kms. But the math for the event says a participant needs to walk 10 Kms a day to complete 100Kms in 10 days. So I needed to pick up 7 more Kms from somewhere. Task cut out.
End of day 1, my app read a 6.35 Kms. Which meant I'm 3 point something short of my daily average (excuse my quick math). Then when I layed back that night, between closing my eyes and sleeping I started to fiddle with whatsapp and the "Randstad Trailwalkers" group stricked my bubble of confidence which was silently sleeping within in deep corners of my heart. Saw colleagues doing more than 10Kms and giving words of encouragement; this was much necessary. Which is when I started to believe the impossible can be possible.
Next day I have again clocked same 6 odd kilometers. Which meant my deficit went higher up. I have analysed when can I get more time to walk and increase the meter. I chalked out my daily routine, I figured out I watch a 30 minutes stock market show every evening. I shifted from watching the show on laptop to mobile. Plugged in the earphones and started walking while listening to the markets update. The kilometers shot up by 3. Next to add to the list was the morning walk (had to alter my wake-up time). This added another 2 Kilometers. But the catch here was that I had to get back home, get ready and gear up for the morning status call with my team. The call usually takes 25-30 minutes. So I came back home from the morning walk, freshened up, plugged in the earphones and walked around the balcony attending the call. All of this made sure I clocked 8-9 Kilometers for sure. Next was to figure out how to accommodate more time. Thanks to work from home, the client interactions mostly are digital visits over phone. I have started to take them from the lawn walking around by not just sitting in front of the laptop. Holding my evening tea having a lazy walk in the evenings was a bonus. Add to all of that, one of the amazing thing I introduced myself to was Pod-Cast. Post dinner walks listening to great people speak was yet another experience.
The key was to figure out where all you can accommodate walking in your daily life. What all things I could do while I was still walking.
Third day when I clocked 15Kms, though I slept with satisfaction, there was a niggle with my ankle. Poor one, did not know much about the challenge. A quick google search suggested putting my legs into luke warm water for 5-10 mins before the bed time which worked well. However, did not have to do from day 5. I observed my walking speed went up since day 5 and I was able to cover 20% excess distance within the same time. A friend joined me for a walk one, looked at my speed of walking and commented "such aggressive walk...hope you are not up for a protest against the government".
Speaking of positives, while walking you get a lot of time to talk to self, understand deep inside thoughts which are untold to self too. Analyse things in a better way because while walking your brain is absolutely free to think and process anything. And believe me, the processor speed with your brain goes few giga bytes higher when your legs are working. One quote from my favorite movie says "We do not recognize miracles when they happen, and there is no point in recognizing them once they are already happened". Similarly when my fitness app read 100 Kms in 8 days, it was nothing short of a miracle. I was elated and happy because this was something I thought was impossible. But as Sachin on the Adidas ad says, Impossible is nothing.!
While leaders and colleagues on the whatsapp group boosted confidence, the quest to pour something interesting into routine life (considering how 2020 is) was one of the prime motivation. And there is nothing better than a fitness challenge which can add spice to life. I understand 100 Kms is a small thing considering people run marathons and do triathlon. But for a simple common person like me this is something to cherish. Specially that day when I clocked 18 odd kms, I was like WoW.
However, the bigger challenge now is to continue the routine and do at
least a decent amount of walk, if not 100 Kms in 10 Days. Looking forward for a fitter and a happier ME.
Sakethursforever : )
