The first of some ponderings while training for my million step challenge this summer.
While thinking about my signing up for the challenge this summer, I have been thinking about how to measure the steps so as not to rob anyone of steps - and not to make my feet go further than needed. At the moment, I have a Huawei smart phone that has an app that give all sorts of health information, including the step count. It is from this that I know how many trips down to the shop I need to make or how far the old dog has to be dragged around the fields. But the news tells me that the Chinese are busy tracking my movements (along with my music choices and who I have in my contacts). Well, I'm not sure that I want the Chinese secret service knowing what time I go past our local Tesco or how long I stand outside the bread shop! The other thing is they will know what time I get out of bed, when I finish work and so by default, how many hours I go to work for...ummmm. And another thing, when I'm in the middle of the challenge, I will be out of the country for some of the time, so the data usage will cost an absolute fortune to keep my phone alive in foreign parts. And do we know if the phone will know I'm in India and will it know how to display the map and route for me? Questions, questions...
So, what about a Fitbit (other fitbits are available!)? Well, according to the chap on "Have I got news for you" last night, these are not always accurate. The other issue is that I already have a very nice watch on. Where am I supposed to put this piece of electronic genius? Is it 'cool' to have two watches on one wrist, would it become a matching pair with a watch on each arm, or could it be wrapped around my ankles? The problems of it knowing where I am remains as well, and how much will this data all cost as I tour the Taj Mahal? I would like to know how many times I have to go round there on any particular day!
I hope you are getting a flavour of the conundrum? Should I risk the wrath of our MI5 / 6 and Johnny English by giving sensitive information about the cost of half a dozen free range eggs that are for sale down the drove just down the road from me to foreign powers, or should I adorn myself with excessive jewellery based equipment more suitable to Mr. Bean? Should I believe Ian Hislop and Paul Merson and their teams from the BBC about the accuracy of this watch? Are my ankles thin enough to wrap a watch around? Am I supple enough to be able to raise my ankle high enough to read the fitbit - will my knees bend enough for me to see it?
Plenty to ponder on as I gear up and pick up the pace for this fab chance to walk the million steps - equivalent to 19 marathons or walking from Dover to Edinburgh. Please sponsor this effort to help; it is something I need to do now I've been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. No cakes, ice creams, chocolate or anything else scrummy, but I will get a great sense of achievement by doing this.
https://step.diabetes.org.uk/pages/brendan
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