Today is the day we start logging those steps for the Ultimate Community Challenge with our twin community, Windsor, Nova Scotia. Keep your pedometer on all waking hours. Every step counts!

If you still need a pedometer or if you need help with the one you have, call me at 547-2893.

Keep a record of your steps everyday and total them on Sunday night, Jan. 12. Either post your steps on our website, www.stridewithpride.org or report them to me at 607-547-2893. Start again on Monday, Jan. 13. We'll keep going until we reach Windsor, (before the Nova Scotians reach Cooperstown!) Check our virtual progress on the map on our website.

The top ten steppers each week will receive a prize and notoriety! Try to break into the top ten! Remember, this is done on the honor system, so you exercise your integrity as well as your body.

It's not too late to join us! Spread the word around your workplace and have your own interoffice challenge! Call me at 547-2893 to register.

Mother Nature has certainly given us her own challenge as we try to walk around four feet of snow. Do not despair, it's still possible to walk outdoors and there are lots of opportunities to walk inside. Check your registration packet or our website, www.stridewithpride.org for hints on how to add steps.

The Cooperstown Central Schools are open to walkers on school days from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. and the Clark Sports Center has a walking track. If you are not a member, call them at 547-2800 about the free availability to seniors.

If you work at Bassett, you have long corridors, staircases and, of course, the walk from the Clark Sports Center parking to the hospital. Put those winter boots to good use!

The Ultimate Community Challenge, sponsored by The Walking Example Group (WE GO), pitting Cooperstown walkers against those in our twin community of Windsor, Nova Scotia is underway.

Coincidentally, Mother Nature has thrown us her own challenge the last couple of weeks, burying C'town in about four feet of snow. Even with winter at its best, you can still rack up impressive step totals. Below are suggestions for indoor walking. You can still join the Cooperstown effort to defeat Canada by calling WE GO at 547-2893.

The Cooperstown High School is open to walkers on school days from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.

The Clark Sports Center has a walking track. If you are not a member, call them at 547-2800 about free availability to seniors and other walkers. Ask for Nancy Mitchell.

If you work at Bassett, you have long corridors, staircases and, of course, the walk from the Clark Sports Center parking to the hospital. Put those winter boots to good use!

Be a little less efficient. Walk every aisle of the grocery store and double back a couple of times. Once home, unload bags one at a time.

Be less efficient tidying the house, too. Put the clutter away one or two items at a time. This is especially effective in a two-story house. Make sure to get the kids involved!

Skip the elevator and take the stairs.

Use a bathroom on a different floor.

Lose the remote.

Refrain from asking your kids to fetch things for you.

Invest, but not too much, in a treadmill. Get a basic model with a headset plug and watch television in motion.

Deliver messages personally, instead of always using e-mail.

Pace while on your wireless phone.

When shopping, park a good distance from the door for good walking and fewer door dings.

Walk during your coffee break. Get a friend involved and skip the doughnuts. Devote part of your lunch break to a walk, too.

Watching TV? Every commercial should be a signal to get up and MOVE. Have a set of dumbbells handy to do some muscle toning, too.

Never sit for more than twenty minutes at a stretch. Your circulation will appreciate it.

If you have your own tip about adding steps, please share it with the rest of us, either on the website or by calling or e-mailing me at brookebb@stny.rr.com.

Brenda Berstler is founder of the Cooperstown Walking Example group.