After completing 5 km a day in February, I set myself a new goal. It felt challenging, but in one way it was actually easier: I did not have to hit a target every single day. I could get ahead on stronger days or make up for missed progress later. For March, my goal was to reach 500,000 steps and 5,000 meters of elevation gain. I tracked everything with my watch, so it included not only workouts but all my daily movement as well.

Sport Walk organized a February challenge: complete at least 5 kilometers every day, either running or walking, and post it in their Strava group. I decided to give it a try. There was nothing particularly dramatic about it — 5K is roughly where I am right now, so I simply ran or walked it, outdoors or on the treadmill, posted it, and that was it. There were nearly twenty of us doing the challenge, and the really surprising part was that everyone who started actually finished.

Do you know what day December 21 is, Tomorrow? The winter solstice — the shortest day of the year. And this time it falls on a Sunday. How about a little challenge? Let’s call it Midwinter Marathon Madness. :) It’s a marathon walking challenge where you design your own route and take care of everything yourself. The rule is simple: start at sunrise (or after), and finish at sunset. Technically, any distance counts as completion — but since “marathon” is in the name, the real goal is, of course, 42.

Make the change! It’s time if you’ve been putting it off; if you’ve tried and failed many times - give yourself a chance at a better life. I’ve already described how to count calories and how to determine your fat-burning heart rate zone. Let’s see how you can use this information. First, let’s take the simple rules I built (and still build) my lifestyle change on: try it; analyze it; if it works, adopt it; and start over.