A week before 2013 started, I decided two things:
- Walk for at least 15 minutes or more every day for the entire year.
- Do a live webcast everyday for the entire year.
Well, one out of two ain’t too bad, right? Sunday, 10/27/2013 marked the 300th day that I have walked for at least 15 minutes. But I’ve learned a few things about myself while going on these walks, but before I get into that, let’s talk the broadcast.

Chronicle365, the webshow featured on this website ran for more than half a year. We actually made it 275ish, broadcasting live every night at 10pm EST. We covered current topics, music, movies and a bunch of random nonsense. There was about 5 of us who regularly came on each night sharing thoughts on this or that, and often stepping into some risque territory (most of it I refused to delete for posterity sake). Then I moved across country to Oregon and everything changed a bit. And by everything I mean our schedules. While stuck in that blasted hotel for a month, I recorded solo episodes of the show that ranged from 3 minutes to 15 minutes long. The hardest part was getting them uploaded in a timely matter. And we have the Econolodge’s upload speeds to thank for this. And honestly, I had every intention of continuing the show, even though I ended up behind in uploads by about 2 weeks… and then it happened. My lovely Galaxy S3 decided that, “ya know, those 2 weeks worth of uploads that you haven’t bothered to upload yet? I think you really don’t want to upload them… so I’ll delete em for you, k? Aren’t I proactive?”. More than likely what actually happened was when I was cleaning out my folders, I accidentally fat fingered the video’s folder and deleted them all. Every last one of those musings about sitting in a hotel for another night, looking for a house, thoughts of looking for employment… gone forever. That’s right, I lost 2 weeks worth of broadcasts and I was then faced with a decision. Do I continue and start doubling up days to get back up to the number of days missing or do I just let it go and put Chronicle365 to rest. Well, if the lack of posts from the youtube account is an indicator, Chronicle365 is a walker and I’m Daryl from The Walking Dead. Chronicle365 is done. We had a good run and I’m very proud of some of the conversations we had. Thanks to the regulars that participated and thanks to E. Parker for giving me the idea in the first place. I wanted to stay consistent with something this year and that just wasn’t in the cards for C365… but that’s not to say I wasn’t COMPLETELY inconsistent!

If you look at the hash tag #Walk365 on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll see me… a lot. Over 300 times in fact. That is the one thing that I followed through with this entire year thus far. And you know what? I’m damn proud of myself. I decided that I wanted to make sure that, even if I didn’t exercise in other ways, that I would walk. I would walk every day for the year of 2013. Rain or shine, sick or well… I’d walk. And save for the one day where I literally could not get out of bed and was delirious (here’s the recap from 99 days ago), I have done it. And there are 65 days left in this year for me to divide and conquer. I’m still using a plethora of fitness programs like Runkeeper, Myfitnesspal, Gympact, and more to help me keep track but I have to say that the thing I’m loving the most is the fact that I’m getting time to think. It’s much needed really because with the hustle and bustle of life, taking time, even 20 minutes to just get alone with your thoughts, zoning out and putting one foot in front of the other works wonders on ones mental state. Whether I’ve listened to Podcasts, Spotify, taken pictures or just walked quietly and didn’t listen to anything… it has helped keep me centered and focus. And I really recommend it to anyone that is busy.
We are constantly giving something else every moment of our time throughout each day. Family, friends, work, etc… I encourage all of you to take some time for yourself. My evening walks have turned into afternoon (or after work) walks with the family and I have my “me” time at the gym 5 days a week at around 5am. Which also means, no longer am I finding myself awake at 1 or 2 am just mindlessly surfing or watching netflix. I’m feeling healthier, my waistline is thanking me, and by the time work rolls around, I’m super energetic. And it simply gives me time to think. I’m not saying waking up at the buttcrack of dawn is for everyone. I know some people that are simply NOT morning people. And that’s okay.
What will next year hold in the form of exercise or a “365 day challenge”? I won’t commit to a broadcast again, the time in the day is just too limited. Will I walk everyday? Probably so and I’ll include my family in it as usual. Until then, let’s enjoy the last two months of 2013!