10,000 steps. It'll change your life...

Or at least lower your health insurance premium!

I used to scoff at the 10,000 steppers - that secret clan of weirdos with those Dr Spock watches.

Back in the day, (during one of my incarnations as a frontline schoolteacher) I had a class assistant who never stood still. I’d turn my back for one second and she’d be gone. Like a puff of smoke. Three minutes later she’d burst back into the room, arms full of glue sticks, or exercise books, or staples no-one needed. She’d stack them in the corner and then she’d be off again, huffing and puffing like Thomas the Tank Engine. Racking up 10,000 steps inside a school can be a challenge…but it can be done. She proved it.

Now I’m one of them too. But without the glue sticks.

Health insurance companies will give you a lower premium if you can prove you’re knocking out the numbers and so, with that in mind, I booted up my counting app, and started stepping. It takes a bit of commitment to get there. Mostly time - as 10,000 steps equates to a good 75 minutes or more of marching. Suddenly my local park makes so much more sense. Don’t get me wrong…it made sense before. It’s a park. I didn’t have any problems understanding its parkyness, it’s just that I didn’t go there that much and just getting my kids up to the top playground seemed a bit of a drag. Not anymore. I’m doing laps every chance I get. And it is so beautiful. Yesterday, my tiny tot needed a kip and only wanted to have it in his pram. It was raining, the wind was blowing, storm Darragh was having its way with the UK and I was out pushing my nipper with purpose.

When I got home I felt happier, clearer, healthier and hugely appreciative of the wonderful natural landscape on my doorstep. And slightly uneasy too, as I’d only knocked up 8350 steps! Luckily, the little mite woke up after 15 minutes and kicked off, refusing to get out, demanding more motion. So, with a sense of 1650’ness, I donned my damp coat and headed back out into the darkness. A couple of blocks later (I was a tad trepidatious about going too far away from home this time in case storm Leon kicked off in my Baby Yoyo) and the magic number glowed back at me from my organic, free-range handset.

I did hear of a guy who is so obsessed with hitting the target that if he hasn’t managed to get there by the end of the day, he lies in bed and waves his phone about until he does!

For the last year or two, I’ve been wanting to get out into the hills more - dreaming of the fells of the Lake District, with fantasies of being a shepherd (I know…weird right), or a lighthouse keeper, with the wind buffeting me and my legs firing like pistons as I cover endless ground. It took a flippin’ insurance premium to get me started, but I’m glad it did.

I even have a full set of Wainwright’s Routes on the bookshelf and a shepherd’s crook (ok, it’s just a walking stick) that has been standing by the front door, patiently waiting for me.

I haven’t bought one of those weird watches yet that I know measure everything from your blood pressure to the amplitude of your snoring. I’ve always preferred to avoid the tech if I can, especially when it comes to something connected to the natural world. I find myself not wanting to check my messages or even listen to music, preferring to experience the elements.

I’ve been thinking I might need a dog. To help me with the sheep.

Finally, a shout out to my old teaching assistant - who I know most likely won’t read this, but who I did see in my local sports centre last year pumping iron and looking like the granny version of The Terminator.

If you haven’t already started walking 10,000 steps a day, give it a go. You won’t regret it. The benefits are endless. The downsides…I can’t think of any.

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