So this blog was initially conceived with the idea of biking, Strava, and pushing myself towards goals. Then something happened last December. I noticed that there was a free app installed on my phone. Fitbit. My phone had an accelerometer on it compatible with Fitbit. My sister had a Fitbit, so I thought, “What the heck. I’ll give it a try! It’s just a pedometer, and it is totally beneath me and Strava, but I’ll give it a shot!”
Amazingly, the Fitbit gets just the same competitive juices flowing as does Strava. Maybe even more. Now I don’t just compete with the guys who ride my routes, I compete against 68 year old grandmas. And they regularly beat me! I get beat by grandmas!
Something crazy has happened since that December day and today. Fitbit has taken over my families!
Fitbit is forcing all of us to become our own KOMs and QOMs.
First, it was just me and my sister, MH. Suddenly, in the same way that Strava became a part of my daily life, I found myself checking my steps on my fitbit! And suddenly, I was in a competition with my sister, who I would have never in my life imagined would ever be in an athletic competition of any kind, with me! But she started walking more and more. And I couldn’t let her beat me!
BF, my wife, is a marathoner and has her own competetive streak. She would see me checking my phone and wanted to know how many steps I had compared to my sister. She wanted me to beat my sister. My 68 year old mom goes walking every day, and her grandma friends have Fitbit, but she hadn’t gotten herself one yet.
So for Christmas, I needed gift ideas. I love fitness. I love technology. Fitbit!
I had previously asked my mom why she didn’t get herself a Fitbit. She said, “I don’t need one. The walking ladies have them, so I know how many steps I get because they have Fitbits.”So, I got my mom a Fitbit. When she opened it, her jaw dropped. “Is this really a Fitbit? Did you get me a Fitbit?” She couldn’t wait for me to hook it up to her phone so that she could show the “walking ladies.”
