Winding down.....

The Fiserv sponsored "Pedometer Challenge" comes to a close this Friday. It's been overall a fun time, showing that a little teamwork can go a long way. When our 5 man team (my co-workers Scott Campbell, Chris Megginson, Craig Noss, Carl Young and myself) started this contest, we had pretty poor Week 1 results, with ~223,000 total steps recorded for the 5 of us. After seeing that we lagged behind a lot of other teams, we decided we needed to start stepping it up and the game was on :-) We increased our step count every week, finally surpassing the 1,000,000 step mark in conjunction with our team Walkathon. Shown are a couple pics from the Walkathon. Now we have victory within our reach!

Some might say all this walking is kind of crazy for what amounts to very little reward (an iPod and some gift certificates). I prefer to think of all the other benefits this has provided. I think this little exercise has brought us closer together as a team at Fiserv. We know each other a little better, spent a little more time together, etc. Some of the team members have also reported health benefits from all the walking, e.g. losing some weight, feeling better, more energy, etc. For me this has all been great for my health overall. To this point I have lost 24 lbs since this contest started, back down to my lowest weight since I have been here in the Sunshine state. Aside from an occasional blister and maybe a bit of stiffness or soreness on occasion, I have suffered no negative health effects.

In addition, having been out and about walking more often after work and on weekends, I have met more of my neighbors, some of whom I have found to be very nice and friendly folks.

To people who might tell you walking is not a worthwhile activity for your health...well, they are full of bunk. So get out there and walk, meet your neighbors, breathe the fresh air and smell the aromas of summer in this great country we are all privileged to inhabit....and God Bless America my friends.