New toy

I have purchased a pedometer. This set me back £16, and for this I get a small digital lozenge that clips to my belt and counts the number of paces I have taken over a given period of time, the distance covered, the time taken and the calories burned. I have just returned from a walk at the beautiful Cambus o’ May forest on Deeside. I can now tell you that I took 5379 paces on this walk, covered 2.71 miles, took 57 minutes to complete it and burned 154 calories. To some of you these will not be very impressive statistics; to someone living with stroke who was discharged from hospital in a wheelchair almost exactly 10 years ago, these figures represent something of a minor triumph.

I shall go on recording these statistics on a daily basis and will bore readers of this blog with them from time to time – you may wish to unsubscribe now.

Archie loves this walk at Cambus o’ May because

a) it is a slightly different route each time, therefore a host of new smells

b) he often meets new dogs and new humans, therefore a host of new biscuit-eating possibilities

c) he can rush around off the lead

He easily covered five times the distance and probably burned ten times the calories that I did in the same time.

On Thursday I have to attend a meeting at Glasgow Caledonian University. The travel directions I have been given tell me that it is 826 paces from Queen Street Station to the university – I shall check to see if that information is accurate.

This recording of walking statistics could easily become a compulsion, but I’m not complaining.