How I walked at least 10,000 steps every day in January

Wait, I'm not as smug as you think!

Me, taking steps, in January

I’m working on two excessively long and, arguably, interesting posts at the moment, but life is getting in the way of actually finishing them so, in the meantime, have a short and silly one.

A week or so into January, I noticed that I’d unwittingly walked at least 10,000 steps every day. Therefore, I decided to hastily backdate it as a JANUARY CHALLENGE.

Here’s how I achieved this totally pointless, arbitrary streak (which, along with Dry January, I promptly broke on February 1st and I regret nothing).

• I missed the bus to a destination a couple of miles away, walked instead, got absolutely drenched and spent the rest of the month researching mum coats (you know the sort: long, padded, waterproof, ugly, depressing. I finally have one on its way to me now, from Vinted, so by the time it arrives it will probably be spring).

• I went to Tesco Express four times in one day because I am incapable of remembering more than three items in my one brain but it just doesn’t feel like enough to make a list.

• I sold something on Vinted, took it to the InPost lockers, walked home, sold something else on Vinted en route, took it to the InPost lockers, bought something off Vinted with the money from selling things on Vinted, walked to the InPost lockers to collect it, ad nauseam.

• I walked the 311 steps up the Monument to the Great Fire of London because my daughter is weirdly obsessed with the story, to the point that I’m concerned she may become a twisted firestarter one day.

What she lacks in teeth she makes up for with a keen interest in Tudor architecture

• I left the house to get the kids from school, 30 seconds later realised I had promised in the morning that I’d bring snacks to pick-up, rushed home, grabbed snacks, picked them up from school, but they didn’t like the snacks so we went to Tesco Express and bought… different snacks.

• I thought the bookshop (an 8 minute walk from my house) opened at 10am on a Sunday but it’s actually 11am so I went on an elaborate walk along the South Circular instead of just going home again and waiting.

• I paced around for Lime bikes when I have a perfectly good bike in the shed, but the shed’s a faff to unlock and the bike doesn’t go as fast as those mean green machines.

• I went on a mad dash to Argos at 8.30pm on Friday night because I suddenly realised my daughter was expecting a lava lamp for her birthday the following day (and I’ve just realised this fits with the keen interest in things that burn).

• I popped out for a ridiculous 7 minute run because, 3 days before the end of the challenge, I realised it was 6pm and I was only on 7500 steps.

• Even more nuttily, I jogged on the spot in the kitchen because it was 9.54pm and I was only on 9798 steps.

Oh, and the most transformative and most depressingly January-coded hack of all?

• I sold the car to pay my tax return.

So, will YOU be following my aspirational and inspirational tips to increase your activity levels?

Annoyingly Garmin shows a 4 week, rather than monthly, view, so you’ll just have to trust me about the first three days