Mairi's story: proving to myself I can do one million step challenge

I first saw the 1 Million Step Challenge being promoted on Facebook. I was interested but, at first, I didn't do anything about it. Over the next few days, I kept going back to the event page & wondering if this was something I could achieve. I talked to friends and family most of who thought I must be crazy to take on such a challenge, I have some problems with my feet & ankles which means at times walking can be quite painful.

Eventually, I decided to give it a go nothing ventured nothing gained. I had just retired and thought this could be a way of keeping me active while at the same time doing something worthwhile. Knowing myself, I knew that once I had taken on the challenge I would complete it. I found ways to add in extra steps to my daily activity by never taking a shortcut and always finding the longest way to my destination. Walking on my own gave me time to think and just enjoy my surroundings.

Joined by family and friends

My daughter Dawn walked many of the million steps with me giving us lots of time just to catch up & enjoy each others company. On some of the walks I enjoyed the company of friends. Most of my walking took place in my hometown of Thurso and surrounding areas. On one of these walks to Scrabster I saw Prince Charles. He had been visiting a local restaurant and I would have missed this photo opportunity had I not taken on this challenge.

I also had the opportunity to walk in Dumfries, Eastleigh, Devon and  Antwerp. These walks were enjoyed in the company of my family.  

Determination to finish

I got blisters on my toes and instep, I wore out a pair of trainers and on the odd occasion I got very wet. The most challenging aspect for me was remembering I had other things I should be doing, like the housework (not my favourite activity). Everything came second to the number of steps I could get done in a day. The online tracker allowed me to see how others were doing and added a bit of harmless competition. I enjoyed every bit of the challenge, raised over £300 for a worthwhile cause, increased my fitness levels and lost a bit of weight. So all in all a very worthwhile experience. These feet were made for walking.

Think you can take on the 1 Million Step Challenge?

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