My husband is a runner. For years he has used a Garmin to track his mileage, heart rate, and various other details about his daily runs and, of course, the races he participated in.  Running is a sport; I understood the need to know those details.  But I knew other people who weren’t into running as a sport and they still liked to keep track of the daily  steps they took.  I didn’t feel the need to do that. Until recently, that is. Until I realized how many hours per day I sit, mostly at this computer.  

I use a program named RescueTime to keep track of my time on the computer. The free version of the software asks you to divide your time spent at the computer into 3 categories. You have choices like social media, work-related tasks, etc. The paid version allows you to get more detailed in what you do at the computer. I just wanted to know how many hours per day I sit at the computer, in general, so went with the free version.  I receive a weekly report with a summary of this information.

I wasn’t surprised when I got my first report. I had an estimate in mind of the time I spend here every week, and the report came back within 2 hours of my guess. I sit a LOT!  I committed to sitting less and moving more.  But things don’t always happen the way we plan though. No surprise here, I’m sure.

So I finally got a Garmin myself. It does more than I need it to do, but it looks like a regular watch, rather than a fitness tracker, which is the look I was going for. So now I keep daily track of my steps. I’d like to say I meet my 10,000 steps-per-day goal every day. I don’t. But at least I know how close or far away I am to my goal. And that can be a motivator in itself.

Our 6-year old grandson, Owen, has been saving his allowance and, just a few days ago, bought his own step-tracker. He sees his Mom and Dad (who are runners) track their steps and he also knows exercise is very important.  And, of yeah, by the way,  he’s quite competitive.  At the end of the first day with his tracker, Owen asked his Mom and Dad how many steps they had for the day and compared their answers to what he had. He was in “2nd place,” so started running in place. 

Early tomorrow, I’m headed out to Brian’s to take care of Owen, and his sister Ella (aged 4) for the weekend. I have special snacks packed, a kids video chosen for “movie night,” and some craft supplies to take with me. 

Brian posted this on his Facebook Page yesterday:

Click on this link if you would like to see the 22-second video.

So I’m thinking my weekend is going to be one of comparing steps with Owen, to see who is “winning,” rather than the crafty weekend I have planned. 

If he’s easily logging 15,000 steps, I’m in trouble!