The Messy Middle
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What is the “messy middle” and why is it the hardest part of the 30‑day walking challenge?
If you're doing the thirty day walking challenge Right now we are in the messy middle, which I think is the hardest part of the challenge. I'm going to talk about that today. Hi, I'm Dave. Welcome to Walking is Fitness, a daily 10-minute podcast designed to provide you with a little added motivation to get out the door, take the walk, and more importantly, to build a life-lasting, life-changing walking habit. Today's 10-minute walk starts right after this. I am on my back porch with a box I just got from Topo Athletic. These contain my new shoes. The ST6, these are minimal shoes. Shoes, wide toe box, all the Topo Athletic shoes come with a wide toe box. My shoes have a zero drop. This part of a journey I've been on to make my feet stronger, to move towards a more minimal shoe.
With Topo Athletic, they've got shoes for every need: minimal shoes, maximal cushion. They've got road shoes, trail shoes, recovery shoes, race shoes. All right, let's. Let's open the box and there's a box inside the box and these are nice looking and very light, very light. Let's pull the inserts out, try them on. Boy, I can feel the difference the wide toe box makes instantly.
How did Dave’s new Topo Athletic shoes influence his walking experience?
By the way, Topo Athletic, brand new sponsor of Walking is Fitness. You can check them out. Again, TopoAthletic.com. You can do your shopping online. You can also see where you can pick up Topo shoes at a retailer near you. All right, leaving the back porch. Walking in and yeah, this wide toe box makes a huge difference. So I'm gonna be wearing these and I'll give you an update shortly. In the meantime, check them out, Topo Athletic, T-O-P-O, Topoathletic.com. Welcome to day sixteen of the 30-day walking challenge. We're in the messy middle, got a couple of stories and some thoughts about how to navigate through the messy middle, which I believe is the hardest part of this challenge. But first I want to respond to an email that I got from Joe.
Joe was listening over the weekend, wrote an email and said, You said today you're not a big fan of treadmills and it left me wondering why. Joe, first off, thanks for the email. Thanks for listening. And I am sorry. I was not clear. I used to not be a fan of treadmills.
Why did a listener ask about treadmills and how did Dave change his view on them?
That has completely changed. And the reason I was not a fan of treadmills was because well, let me actually tell you why. It it was not because I viewed treadmill walking as something Less than whether you walk on a treadmill, whether you walk outside as I'm doing right now, whether you walk in place. They've all got benefits. The benefits of of walking in in many ways is location agnostic. Now Walking outside does have some unique benefits. Walking on a treadmill has some unique benefits. Walking in place has some unique benefits. My lack of love really was because of my lack of discipline. I didn't have the discipline to stay on a treadmill when I would get bored, which happened all the time. If I go outside, take a walk and I get bored, well, I gotta keep going because I gotta walk back.
But when I was on a treadmill and I would get bored, all I would have to do and would do is get off the treadmill. That changed a couple of years ago when I got a small walking pad and discovered that I actually really enjoyed walking on that small treadmill. If I was watching live streams on YouTube of people walking primarily through New York City, although I've also watched people walking through Paris and London, and I found that fascinating to the point that I actually looked forward to getting on the treadmill and virtually walking around Manhattan or or London or Paris. But I'm now a huge Huge fan of treadmills.
What lessons did Dave learn from his home‑renovation “messy middle” story?
Because one of the greatest benefits of a treadmill, especially one that you have in your home, is it almost removes all the friction of walking. Alright, Messy Middle. In 2006, Ave and I were trying to figure out what to do with our living situation. We had a small ranch house, rancher. Small rancher, three bedrooms. We bought it, only had one bathroom. I added a bathroom to our bedroom, so Three three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and six kids.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the “messy middle” and why is it the hardest part of the 30‑day walking challenge?
0:02–1:20
2
How did Dave’s new Topo Athletic shoes influence his walking experience?
1:20–2:33
3
Why did a listener ask about treadmills and how did Dave change his view on them?
2:33–4:23
4
What lessons did Dave learn from his home‑renovation “messy middle” story?
4:23–5:49
5
How does the “messy middle” apply to goals beyond fitness, like debt or skill learning?
5:49–7:26
6
What strategies helped Dave push through the two‑week slump of his million‑step goal?
7:26–8:49
7
Why does focusing on personal proof‑of‑ability keep you moving in the middle of a challenge?
8:49–10:15
8
What fun walking fact does Dave share to motivate listeners at the end of the episode?
10:15–11:35