The Reasons and Rules

Once I'd worked out in my head that I probably walked an average of 500 miles a year already, I started thinking about challenging myself to double it. I thought that more walking would help me to keep fit and would also be good for my mental health. Last year was a difficult year at work for many reasons, and I found that walking home occasionally helped to get rid of some of the stress that had built up during the day. I deliberated it for a little while, because I was wary of setting myself an unachievable goal and making myself feel worse for not being able to reach it, thereby taking all of the pleasure out of something I enjoy doing, but I don't think that's going to be a problem unless my circumstances change somehow during the year. I already go walking once a month with friends, but I'm hoping that another benefit of this challenge will be that it drives me to explore some of the many walking routes in London that I've wanted to try out for some time and somehow never found time for.

So, those are my reasons. Now for the rules:
1. Any kind of walking counts, whether I go out for the sake of walking, or whether I walk to somewhere (e.g. work or the shops)
2. Wandering does not count (e.g walking round the shops or walking to the kitchen to get a cup of tea at work!)
3. It's meant to be fun. I shouldn't stress about the challenge or the blog. It doesn't matter if the only people who read it are my mum, my girlfriend and possibly my girlfriend's mum, depending on how well the translate function works.

I've got my fancy new pedometer so off I go...