February 2012 articles

Today is Shrove Tuesday and as well as remembering to buy lemons and eggs many people will be thinking about what to give up for Lent. This year how about doing something different and instead of giving something up, promise to be more active. I am going to make sure I walk for at least 30 minutes a day all through Lent. That should mean I can eat as many pancakes as I like tonight.

Do you know how fast you walk? Most of us walk at about 3 miles an hour but it depends on lots of factors; where you're walking - how good the surface is, and the gradient of course; why you're walking - we walk faster if we're on our way somewhere than if we are just strolling and enjoying the scenery; then of course we all have our own pace. Suddenly though I've become a bit more aware of my walking speed as new research has linked walking speed to likelihood of suffering a stroke or dementia in later life.

January was our busiest month ever! We had over 80,000 visits last month. The number of walks on the site, and the number of people signing up keeps on increasing, we're delighted! It just goes to show that a lot of you must have made New Year Resolutions to walk more - and we're here to help you keep them through February, especially you under-55s who we know are not keeping up with your elders in the activity stakes.