The FitBit Is Trying To Kill Me

It really is.

So now I've had the FitBit for a little over a week and I have sustained more injuries from walking than you would have thought. Walking, y'all. This is something you do every day.

The day after Christmas was the first day I really focused on meeting my 10k step goal with the FitBit. After the whole day of trying to get steps in, I dragged The Man out to walk with me at night and we both rejoiced when my wrist went all nutty with vibrations and lights letting me know I had reached my step goal for the day.

Unfortunately, I awoke the next day with my right ankle throbbing in pain. I don't know if I twisted it or if my poor ankle was just in shock from increased physical activity, but I could barely walk all day. It wasn't until almost 11 pm that I realized if I walked in place it didn't hurt. So I marched in front of our bedroom TV and watched reruns of Family Guy until midnight, getting in at just under 7k steps for the day.

On Sunday my friend, N, got herself a FitBit, too, and the next day we started a Work Week Challenge.

See, FitBit has these challenges where you can link up with your other FitBit wearing friends and compete against them. So N and I ventured into a challenge with W, our super competitive FitBit wearing friend (it's cause she's Asian - kidding, not kidding), to see who would get the most steps from Monday until Friday.

Monday we were meeting at F's house (another bestie) to celebrate her son's birthday and decided we would walk at the park across from her house after dinner. Everything was going great and I calculated that I only had to walk around the park 3 more times to meet my daily goal when N decided she had to use the potty. We figured we'd walk back over to F's house and it would just be more steps and she could use the potty.

Except when leaving the park, my right foot found a parking stump and my ambitious forward motion was not to be stopped in time. I ate pavement, so to speak. I really didn't injure my legs too much but I scraped up my hands enough that it kind of put a damper on me wanting to walk any longer. I know, I know - walking doesn't require your hands. Tell that to my bruised ego.

On Tuesday things really got serious, y'all. I ran. Running happened. It was almost midnight and I was just trying to reach my 10k goal. I hit it in time but then it got into my head that if I just kicked it up a notch I could hit 11k by midnight. So I ran. RAN. I haven't run in years.  And you know what happened?

Wednesday was New Year's Eve and W and N were totally kicking my butt in our challenge. We were planning a quiet night at home like we do every year so I figured I'd have some time to get in some steps. When about 10 pm rolled around I decided to run up to the little gas station near our house and fill up our water jugs. We're on well water and we don't think it tastes yummy so we fill up big 5 gallon jugs for our water cooler at home. It's a pretty common practice out where we live so there are little filling stations all over the place. The gas station was closed, but you can fill up your jugs at any time, so I rolled up there and started filling. I discovered it takes 3 laps around the walkway area there to fill up one jug. Score more steps!  Before I left the gas station, I synced my FitBit and noticed that despite all of my extra steps, W had pulled ahead of me once again! A renewed sense of determination overtook me.

I walked in the house, snapped a leash on the dog, and told The Man I'd be back before it was time to kiss him for the New Year. I didn't even give him time to think, just walked out the door. It's creepy walking in our sub-rural area at night, by the way, and the addition of fireworks going off all around me from various locations didn't make it any less so. But by the time the New Year rolled in, I had clocked over 17,500 steps. Not too shabby. 

But still not enough to overtake W, who evidently is a freaking machine. I literally didn't stop my legs from moving until the ball dropped, but I couldn't pass her. I resolved to get her the next day.

New Year's Day N and I made a game plan. But first it was time to procure FitBits for F and another friend, J. Our competitive obsessiveness was catching on. It's a FitBit revolution, y'all. 

Armed with new pink bands, N and I walked around a preserve while our girls rode at the barn. While we were there we not only passed W, but we checked her Facebook notifications and saw she was at the movies! That's great, W, you just sit down and take a load off and enjoy your movie. 

We both got our crazy "you met your goal" buzzes just at the end of our walk, but I couldn't stop there. After dinner I dragged The Man out for another 2 miles, thinking for sure I'd be able to lengthen my lead in front of W in the process.

She's like the Energizer Bunny, the Little Engine That Could, and the Road Runner all wrapped into one amazing, competitive, Asian package, y'all. Not only did she bridge the gap N and I had created, but she passed it. Every time I got a few thousand steps ahead of her, she'd run out and walk five thousand more steps and overtake me.  

Yesterday I decided not to kill myself. Okay, today my incredibly sore body and slightly blistered feet decided not to allow me to kill myself. I went on a walk with my dad earlier in the day and he got me clear over 7k steps by the end of it. Later that evening I knocked out the rest of the steps by taking a little walk here at home. I conceded to W in our challenge, but let me tell you what - nothing has ever motivated me to get out and walk more than this. My body is tired and sore and I'll still push to walk just to get those five little dots to light up. Who would have thought?