Million-step Monday – Still challenged?












Gold Shoe reminder



Those looking to win the March Gold Shoe should submit their monthly step totals to today@unmc.edu by Monday, April 7. The next Gold and Silver Shoe winners will be announced on Monday, April 14.




By my count — including today — we have 46 days left in the UNNC 1 Million-Step Challenge, which ends Thursday, May 15.

Let’s see, if one really wanted to push him or herself and walk 1 million steps in that time, he or she would have to walk about 22,000 steps a day.

To reach Chimney Rock in the next 46 days, a person who sleeps eight hours a day would have to walk about 1 mile each hour that he or she is awake.

You might be saying, “Chuck, where are you going with all these statistics?”

Honestly, I don’t know. Just trying to put together another story for this year-loooooooooong series — I only have six left, but who’s counting?

I digress. One of the points behind this challenge was to get people up and moving. Based on the response I have received and still receive from you walkers out there, I would say it has.

But I want to hear you say it. Have you become more active because of the 1 Million Step Challenge? Are you still walking? Have you lost a few pounds? Do you generally feel better than you did this time last year?

I’ll share a bit of my story. Somewhat coincidentally, this challenge started about the same time I started lifting weights again. When I saw that there was a step/conversion for circuit training in the handbook we received with our pedometers, it motivated me to start tallying steps.

There were few days early on in the challenge that I didn’t feel like dragging my considerable posterior to the gym but I wanted to keep up my pace of at least 10,000 steps each day, so I would get out of bed and go.

Honestly, I haven’t tallied a step since Oct. 20 when — following Nebraska’s 36-14 loss to Texas A&M — my pedometer broke in a Memorial Stadium restroom and fell into a … well … let’s just say I didn’t try and retrieve the pedometer.

But by that time, working out had become a habit, one I still partake in. I feel better and even bench-pressed 315 pounds the other day. (Look out Dr. Jim Sorrell – I’m comin’ for you!)

I do believe the 1 Million-Step Challenge helped me form the habit of working out.

So how did the challenge help you? Send your responses to today@unmc.edu and I’ll run them in an upcoming Million-step Monday article.

The following is a list of UNMC employees who have recently reached one of the 250,000-step markers in the 1 Million Step Challenge. Send an e-mail to today@unmc.edu with your name, department and tell us what step milestone you reached and we’ll post it on the list.

3 million steps

  • Peter Iwen, Ph.D., pathology and microbiology

5 million steps

  • Julie Carstens, Munroe-Meyer Institute