Trackers

Recently I started the Appalachian Trail Challenge on Garmin Connect and every sstep I take counts towards the goal. The goal is to walk 3,500km, which is around 4.9 million steps. I have walked 652 km out of 3,500 so I have completed about 18 percent of the challenge. I am almost a fifth done.

More Than A Year

According to the pacer app I have taken 4.6 million steps in the last year, 2.6 million in the last six months. My average steps per day is around 15,146. According to this data it will take me just over a year to complete the AT at the current pace. As I look at this data the effort and goal seem futile. It means a year of wearing a Garmin watch, rather than other brands. A year of loyalty.

Connected watches know everything about us. In theory they listen to us 24 hours a day for years in a row. My Apple watch has been on my wrist for over four years, every single day. It has been for swims, runs, rock climbing, via ferrata, office work and more. 

The watch knows how much I walk, when I get up, when I go to sleep, how well I wash my hands, how exposed I am to noise and much more. It also knows whether I am moving energetically or lazily. It knows if I am walking faster or slower. It also knows how rested or stressed I am, by looking at heart rate variability.