My Covid-19 non-haircut!
On May 1st, 2020, I was walking the dogs and realized that I was now walking half the distance I was last year. My i-phone keeps a record of my activity and let me know my average distance walked this year versus last year. That hit a nerve! I know that this is a progressive disease but am not ready for the reality that my ability to walk was going to be reduced at that rate. That would put me below a kilometre a day next summer and perhaps a few hundred metres a day before I turn 70! We are often reminded that things will continue to move in one direction unless acted upon by some force to change the direction.
I have worked hard to manage my symptoms over the last few years and during this time of isolation let some things slip through apathy. It was time to change something because the direction things were going was no longer acceptable and this awakening was just what I needed to dig into a new challenge with built in motivators and a raison d’etre to benefit to others in my community. So this is my plan and I hope you will join me on the trail this summer as a walker or supporter as I post my progress on Face book, Parkinson Canada SuperWalk and www.joewithpd.com.
As I mentioned my i-phone tracks my walking and the daily total is then entered into a spreadsheet that produces a chart for me to monitor my progress against my ultimate goal of waking 800,000 steps (467 km) before September 12, 2020, the day of our SuperWalk Event (more info to follow). So how am I doing so far you may ask. Well it would seem that my normal daily walks would not get me to the final goal and I would need to walk more. So an afternoon walk is now scheduled between 2-3pm to close the gap. As you can see by the chart, I still have to close the gap with a few longer walks and set a pace which I can keep and reach my targets! On May 15th I hope to have reached my first milestone of 100,000 steps and ask my followers, friends and family to make a small donation at these milestones to push me along on the trail as well as meet my personal goal of $2,000 for SuperWalk 2020. I will send the donation instructions out with my announcement of reaching the first 100,000 steps.
