Odds & Ends

Sunday June 19, 2016

This blog is heavily influenced by Jamie Yuccas, a CBS News Correspondent

I wanted to post this blog on June 12 but the events in Orlando changed that. When the news of the tragedy in Orlando broke, Ms. Yuccas was sent to cover it. I didn’t feel right posting about my ‘40,000 steps in a day challenge’ last week. The purpose of this blog isn’t to comment on current events, but I will say that I am saddened by what happened and pray for the families of the victims and those affected. I also want to commend Ms. Yuccas…can I call you Jamie?…on her fantastic job covering such a difficult assignment; she has provided the facts in an unbiased way and allowed us to see the victims for who they were-people.

Now onto my blog. If you need a refresher on what this is about please go here

They say ‘careful what you wish for’ and I learned that last week. It was June 10 and I was feeling great and decided to tweet Jamie Yuccas. I tweeted ‘pick a number between 20 and 30’. I don’t know why I did it; I honestly don’t. I didn’t know if she’d reply but within moments she did. She tweeted back ‘27’ and I said ‘27,000 is my step goal for tomorrow’ (which was a Saturday). I didn’t give it another thought, finished my evening, and went to bed. I got up the next morning with a thought of ‘WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!?!?!?’

Let’s recap. My best day when I first started this blog was 26,000 steps; I have since completed 31,000. Now I was going to do 27K+. I woke up and it was raining in Ottawa. What the heck do I do now? You don’t tell Jamie Yuccas you’re going to do 27,000 steps and not do it. ‘Oh hi Jamie Yuccas, I’m Keith. I’m not a man of my word.’ Nope, that was NOT an option. I decided to go for a walk…in the rain. I got 6,000 steps and decided to check the weather again, to see what the rest of the forecast was calling for. Fortunately the rain was going to end early afternoon so I decided to go for another walk in the afternoon and I enlisted Ron to join me.

I got together with Ron and we walked. We walked and we walked. We walked for over 4 hours. We chatted, we laughed and we walked. At the end of the day I had achieved over 29,000 steps. 29,000 steps!!!

It’s important to point out I’m not the most physically fit person you will come across. I’m like an actor in the sense that I put on and take off weight quite often…I’m just never called to ‘the set’.  I have a struggle with weight and I don’t mind admitting that. Part of this 40,000 step challenge is a way to leap frog into bigger goals. The reason I am telling you this is as the big day of June 25 approaches, the day where I will surpass 40,000 steps, I am starting to realize I am capable of pushing myself farther than I thought. Typically in a day, I don’t go over 15,000 steps (which are still more than the average recommendation); since this challenge has started I have done it a few times. When I received the ‘27’ Tweet from her I committed to do 27,000 steps. Crazy? Yes. But doable!

Nothing will stop me from getting over 40K on June 25. If it rains? Well, I guess I’ll walk in the rain and hit up a treadmill. If it’s ridiculously hot outside, I’ll make sure I have extra water.

I’ve had a few people come up to me and say that I’ve inspired them with different goals and that makes me happy. It’s nice to have a positive effect on someone, just like Jamie Yuccas did on me.

This week is going to be where I make up for lost time. Here are the blogs I have planned:

• Monday – Meet Keith! An opportunity for my buddy Ron, who will be joining me on June 25, to interview me.
• Tuesday – Meet Ron! An opportunity for me to interview Ron.
• Wednesday – Training – A blog to discuss how does one prepare to accomplish 40,000 steps in one day.
• Thursday – TBD
• Friday – Last thoughts before the big day!
• Saturday – Live blogging on Periscope and Facebook.

You will want to follow me at @cfl_fan on Twitter, as I will be providing updates on the quest for 40K.

Before I sign off, I want to thank those who have reached out with their support and I want to thank Jamie Yuccas for being part of the inspiration behind this challenge. We live in a crazy world and I learned years ago that we need to take times to appreciate the small things (and to never take things for granted).

I thank you all for your support and I hope you’ll be cheering us on when we crush this on June 25!

6 more sleeps!

Whittier out!