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Hey everyone, Ryan from Canada here, well, I went from battling two Achilles tendon injuries, wait, ruptures, (both feet), to currently embarking on a 1,000-day walking challenge documented over on YouTube.
Now approaching 2025, a big thank you to everyone who joined the YouTube channel. (YouTube link). To sum up how all the walking works, I started the YouTube channel in 2021, and anytime I post a vlog on my YouTube channel, that counts as a walk day. So, when I get to 1,000 walking videos, there you go, this challenge is done, lol. As for this website, it's been a struggle to keep up, but it's definitely an evolving process. In saying that, I'll post when I can over here, anything from walking stories, walking gear reviews, photo walks—yeah, it might be a bit random.
Let's go back in time and figure out why I'm walking so much.
Achilles tendon rupture number one - left foot - (2010)
It all started with my confident self challenging one of my family members to a fun game of squash. The day was wintry, and the squash court was quiet. There we were, warming up to the sound of a loud, tiny rubber squash ball hitting the side of a wall between the two red lines. On either side of us, there were others hitting tiny squash balls against walls with red lines.So, we began playing a game to eleven. I was down by a few points when the ball was served. I lunged to the left, and then – wham! – it felt like my good-old family member accidentally clocked me in the back of my Achilles tendon with his racket. I shot him a look that spoke volumes (let's just say "WTF, MAN!"). I tried to take a step forward on my left foot, but the pain was so confusing and intense that I almost stumbled forward in a strange way.
At first, I thought my ankle was just sprained, so we went home, but after a few days, my spidey sense kicked in, and I ended up going to the hospital with the doctor making it official by saying I ruptured my Achilles tendon, and also saying, in a very stern voice, "You gotta take it easy."
Achilles tendon rupture number two - right foot - (2017)
Let's now fast forward to 2017 where I was playing my most favourite game on the planet called basketball. There I was, confident as I could be playing a group of kids in their prime, while I was thinking I could hold my own after an achilles tendon rupture years before. What could possibly go wrong...The basketball gets checked at the top of the key. (Just a heads-up, a check is the official way the game starts in half-court basketball.) One player bounces the ball to their opponent, then the opponent bounces the ball back. Side note: I've seen gladiator-like players who do nothing but bounce the ball back and forth yelling, "Check, double-check, triple-check," all game long.
Anyway, back to the game. The ball eases its way to the right side of the court, then fires back to the left just as quickly. While this ball drama was happening, I lunged hard to the right and suddenly heard a pop sound that felt like it echoed across the northern hemisphere. The only difference from the last rupture was, I knew I ruptured my right Achilles tendon this time.
And there I was again, back in the hospital, but with a different doctor this time. A glimmer of hope flashed before the doctor walked in. "Maybe it's not ruptured, Ryan!" I thought. Well, the doctor performed the rupture test on my calf muscle and delivered the news that nobody wanted to hear: "Yup, it's ruptured."
I'll never forget my family's reaction, it went something like this, "Hi fam, I ruptured my Achilles tendon."
Family: AGAIN!!!!!
Achilles tendon Recovery
Between 2010 and 2017, I've unfortunately collected four crutches and two specialized boots designed for Achilles tendon ruptures. These are not the "collectibles" I wanted to keep, well, I did keep one pair of crutches.
For my left Achilles tendon, I underwent surgery but I rushed the outcome. As the Achilles tendon healed, I noticed a decrease in its elasticity. In contrast, I opted against surgery for my right Achilles tendon, and I've found it to be more elastic than the left.
Fast forward nearly eight years, and the left Achilles tendon still feels less elastic than the right. Both calf muscles are weaker now compared to before the injuries.
I attribute the struggle to my "Let's go!" drama for a quick recovery and rushing through the healing process. If I could go back in time, I'd prioritize rest, gentle stretching when necessary, and a gradual strengthening regimen.
Lessons learned.
Now what?
So now, I cut out all the lunging sports and started walking as one of my main activities. And that's how all this walking started.So, what's up with the 1,000 walk days?
When I started the YouTube channel, I was looking to find a simple way to document my walks while simultaneously creating enough motivation to stay in shape almost every day.
I picked a high number to stay motivated in the long term, but not too high. So, how it works is, when I upload 1,000 walking vlog videos, then that will be considered a done deal for this challenge. I also number each walk day. It's usually found in the YouTube description, for example, 'Walk Day 575/1000.' Or, 'five hundred and seventy-five walk days out of one thousand walk days.
If we do some math here, currently I'm at about 575 filmed walk days, and I'm uploading once a week. If we take 1,000 days and subtract the 575 finished walk days, we would have 425 walk days left. If I divide the 425 walk days by 52 weeks (assuming I'll keep uploading one video a week for the next year), and if my math is right, it would take me about 8.17 years to finish this challenge lol.
But this number can come down if I increase the walking vlog videos. For example, if I walk every day and upload a walking video every day for the next 365 days, then I could get the challenge done in about (425 divided by 365 days), 1.16 years.
lol, so, it'll take me about a year and a half to eight years to finish the rest of my walks.
In the end, any walking is good.
How does my walking routine work?
I try to walk around 30 minutes at least, but it really depends on how my legs are feeling. Usually, if the legs have had it, I'll just take a rest day or two. Rest days mean I'll still go about the day-to-day activities like groceries, etc., but not big long walks. If the legs are good, then the walks can be all over the place, like treadmill walking, outdoor walking, urban hikes, cruise ship walking – yeah, all that.
Whatever type of walking is going on, and I document it on YouTube, that walk will count as a walk day, and get a number, for example, 45/1000 walk days. The keyword here is "walk day," so if I go out and do five walks in one day, the five walks only count towards one walk day.
Wait wait, so does that mean you only walk when you make a video? Good question... Whoever that was, the answer is no. I enjoy walking almost every day, but I don't really want to upload videos to YouTube every day unless there's a purpose for it.
How are those walking gear videos going?
Not bad, the walking gear reviews have been an interesting experience. The main goal is to get up and walk, and the walking gear is just tools in the shed to help while I walk, so to speak. It's more of a "go with the flow" approach when getting walking gear. If I'm done with a product, I'll look around and buy a new one. I try to keep things organic, but, at the same time, I do love all the interesting new tech with all these fitness trackers and smartwatches, and it will probably get more interesting.
My biggest issue with the activity trackers I got the last couple of years was the size of the display. That's been my number one issue. I had a tough time reading tiny step counts while walking outside or even on the treadmill.
I did move to a smartwatch, and the display has been big enough to read inside and outside.
I don't know what the future will hold for my fitness trackers or smartwatches, but I can say fairly big displays are good.
Ok, back to the question about the reviews, I found creating side-by-side comparisons of fitness trackers and smartwatches has been fun. I also enjoy taking the trackers out and about in the wild and talking about some of the pros and cons. That was fun. Overall, it's been okay, but I find my reviews need some work. I've also discovered the world of user manuals. Stuff I now read all the time.
Disclaimer stuff
The steps converter is for fun and estimation only. Actual results may vary. Please note that while this tool and I don't collect or store any of your information, Google Blogger, the platform this website runs on, may collect some information in accordance with their privacy policy.
You may see links to products in my blog. If you purchase through them, I might earn a commission (at no extra cost to you). Now, onto the walking. I'm just a regular person here, sharing my journey to get in shape. I'm definitely not an expert, so please be sure to consult your doctor before starting any new exercise routine. By the way, I sometimes use AI for grammar. I'm using the Google Blogger platform.