Exercising

Later today, the state government is supposed to announce what our path out of lockdown might look like. Five weeks ago, we went into a six-week, hard lockdown, with a curfew and limits on outdoor time and shopping distance. Our daily rate of cases of covid-19 has come down from nearly 1000 per day to under 100 per day, but on the other side of this curve we're on, it didn't take long for under 100 to become nearly 1000. So the lockdown is working, but doesn't seem to be working as fast as everyone would like. I feel bad for the state government. Whatever they say at today's press conference, there will be people very upset. Continue the lockdown a few more weeks? Nooo! Remove restrictions? Nooo! 

From a personal perspective, the only variable in our lives is the high schooler. He studies from school or from home depending on what the government tells him, and he makes it work either way. Tim and I are just home, full time, online. 

Anyway, to change the topic somewhat, for the last four years, I've participated in a step-counting wellness event at work every spring. That first year, they gave us all a step counter, and challenged us to achieve 10,000 steps daily. So for about four years, I've kept that little counter in my pocket, and I've been counting my daily steps. Even when the challenge isn't on I've done a pretty good job of keeping my daily count near 10,000 on average, aside from travel days and sick days and lazy days (mostly Sundays). 

When we went into stage-four hard-core lockdown five weeks ago, that changed. With only an hour of allocated outdoor time, I found that I could only cram in about 8000 steps, and that was if I power-walked for the whole hour. 

So when work sent the email about this year's step challenge, I jokingly forwarded it along to the folks on my team last year, commenting that we'd all have to take up Olympic race walking to meet the step challenge goal this year: 

To my surprise, they all wrote back and said, yeah -- we'd better sign up this year because we're not getting exercise otherwise. So my joke email turned into a commitment to take 10,000 steps per day. In lockdown. 

How is it done?

Most days, Tim and Jonathan and I take our one hour of outdoor time together. Since we can only be out in public with one other person, we switch walking partners. I walk for 20 minutes with Tim, then we meet at the back gate and switch, and Jonathan and Tim walk together while I'm on my own, and then we switch again 20 minutes later, and Jonathan and I finish up the walk for the last 20 minutes. Tim and Jonathan are not into running, but I tried running for my 20 minutes alone, and speed walk with them, I get 9000 steps. Not quite there.

So early last week, I actually tried the racewalking thing for a whole hour. It was a serious workout! My legs were sore! Not to mention my abs, from twisting the hips around like on that video. You start out by trying to keep the pace of your steps as fast as possible. You realise quickly that you can walk faster if you reach out with your hips for every step. And so super-speed walking naturally turns into that freakazoid walking on the video. 

Anyway, I did that for a whole hour. A whole hour! By the end, my legs were burning, I was breathing hard, and sweat was dripping from my body. 

And then I checked my step counter. It had recorded a measly 7000 steps. 7000! There was no way that workout was only 7000 steps! Not when I get 8000 from a fast walk. What was going on?

The step counter counts steps by counting bounces. Each step bounces the counter a bit and it ticks up. Guys, freakazoidal race-walking is too smooth! It doesn't bounce the step counter appropriately! So I didn't get ... maybe 1/4 or maybe 1/2 the credit? I have no idea! 

I counted it as 9000 steps.