Mid Year Goal Update

July 2nd, the mid point of the year. 182 days down, 182 days to go. Seems like a perfect time to reflect on my 2023 walking goals!

2022 I started walking. A lot. My goal was to walk 5706km. According to an extremely brief google search and some quick maths, I decided that three times the amount of the average person was a good amount to walk. It took me right down to December 31st to make it.

So, for 2023 I wanted my goal to push me farther but still be manageable. A large portion of my consideration went towards walking approximately 5.5km/ph. I also wanted to beat my distance from last year and I like round-ish numbers.

My first walking goal in 2022 was to “walk the distance from my house to Vancouver during the month of February” which is approximately 350km. I beat that with ease.

So, with speed, distance, and round-ish numbers in consideration, I thought 6000 km breaks apart evenly over 12 months. 500km a month seemed like a good distance compared to last year.

I started over thinking things a bit at this point of figuring out my goals given the months don’t all have the same number of days. I figured the easiest way for me to sort this out while avoiding my brain from imploding (hehehe imploding…) was to add two more walking goals.

So, that is how I got my 4 walking goals sorted. 6,000km for the year, 500km per month, 115.39km per week, and 16.44km per day.

I was DELIGHTED to find that works out almost perfectly for 3 hours of walking a day. I knew with out a doubt I can do 3 hours of walking a day. Good days I can do it faster and go farther if I want, bad days I can slow down or cut my walk short without worrying about losing too much ground.

So, how did I do?

January, I got off to a pretty good start. I hit most of my daily goals and finished a few days ahead of schedule on the month. I was very happy to get off to a good start. I was surprised to get so much good weather.

· Monthly Total: 565.22km

· Annual Total: 565.22km

· How many days hit goal: 24/31

· Longest Day: January 13, 28.22km

· Shortest Day: January 17, 8.10km

· Pace: 500km

· +/-: +65.22km

February, by all likelihood, this will be the shortest month I walk all year. The weather was pretty brutal, and I got a little lazy. I knew I would have time to make it up later in the year. I figure I will be far enough ahead by the end of the summer that I can slow down a bit when the weather turns.

· Monthly Total: 410.20km

· Annual Total: 975.42km

· How many days hit goal: 12/28

· Longest Day: February 11, 31.14km

· Shortest Day: February 22, 3.68km

· Pace: 1000km

· +/-: -24.58km

March, what can I say about March? I really don’t know. It was a pretty quiet month, I think… I went to a few toy stores in Vernon with a buddy, that was a fun day. Slamloops was awesome. Warmed up a lot.

· Monthly Total: 512.15km

· Annual Total: 1487.57km

· How many days hit goal: 17/31

· Longest Day: March 12, 26.57km

· Shortest Day: March 31, 7.90km

· Pace: 1500km

· +/-: -12.43km

April, it was a pretty good month. Started off with WrestleMania. Some of my nieces, nephews, and brother came over to watch night two and play games. Nothing special walking wise. I just didn’t walk as far as I had planned to. Late April is when I started to buckle down and get back on track.

· Monthly Total: 468.39km

· Annual Total: 1955.96km

· How many days hit goal: 12/30

· Longest Day: April 25, 43.59km

· Shortest Day: April 3, 2.96km

· Pace: 2000km

· +/-: -44.04km

May, I was moving pretty good. I wiped out my deficit and got caught up on my pace WAY sooner than I had expected. I just had a few days where I felt really good and just wanted to keep moving. A couple bad days that made me want to do the same thing. I got over a week ahead of schedule for my annual goal.

· Monthly Total: 643.06km

· Annual Total: 2599.02km

· How many days hit goal: 24/31

· Longest Day: May 4, 32.08km

· Shortest Day: May 23, 12.17km

· Pace: 2500km

· +/-: +99.02

June, I went hard. I could have walked from my house to Vancouver and back. I actually would like to do that some time. I should check The Trans Canada Trail. I’ve been trying to plan a walk from Kamloops to Merritt for a long time now, a lot of that is finally coming together. A few more big steps and I’ll be ready to go for mid September.