I Do Not Know How Shifter Does It

I know that most runners top this number every week, but I'm shooting for walking 60 miles this week, and my feet are killing me. Perhaps I should explain.

At work, we've had this walking competition going on for a couple of months now. Everyone got a pedometer (which many of us promptly lost and had to replace) and we all count how many miles we've walked each week. There are prizes for the team with the highest total and I think for the most improved individual walker, etc. My team is pretty good, but there is no chance that we will win, because none of us are accountants.

I don't know whether you've worked with accountants. They seem perfectly normal, but the second you mention a competition of any kind, they're consumed with the desire to win. Maybe it's because accounting draws in people who are ever so slightly OCD. Maybe it's because winning is just an extension of their natural desire to quantify things. I honestly just get the hell out of their way when there's a contest, because they get quite cutthroat.

Still, I joined the competition with the certainty that although I would not win or even place, I would enjoy it. I did a walking tour earlier this year for my vacation, and it was fantastic. Besides, I need the exercise. I had been logging 25 to 35 miles a week, which I thought was pretty awesome. Then I had a couple of pedometer accidents--I left the first one on a plane (it fell off and I didn't notice until the plane was on its way somewhere else) and the second one was a slacker (as I see it, if I can take the steps, it had better count them). On the advice of a coworker, I started looking at Omron pedometers, and now I have a new favorite gadget.

This pedometer has software that gives you feedback on your performance--how many minutes of aerobic activity you've logged, how many calories you've burned, as well as the obvious numbers of miles and steps. It rates your performance against goals you set, a lot like the habit tracker on Everyday Systems or Joe's Goals. The best thing is that it just hooks to your computer with a mini USB, so you don't have to do much to get the feedback, and then it presents you with color coded ratings. I'm a sucker for a frowny face/smiley face system.

I set my goal as 7 miles a day, because this is just a little more than I walk on a good day, and why shouldn't they all be good days? Then I went on a five mile walk on Saturday, followed by a trip to the zoo, for a total of 12.5 miles. Yesterday I figured out that with barely any effort (I just have to do 8 miles either today or tomorrow, and meet my 7 mile goal the rest of the time) I could get to 60 miles this week. I'm really excited about the idea, but my blisters, toenails, and arches disagree vehemently. I realize that runners may have better shoes than I do, but other than that, how on earth do they get past these issues enough to keep running? I know many runners have nasty feet, but there must be some trick to getting past the pain.