Webwalking USA

Today's Results

The scale reads: 143 lbs. (Digital scale) Goal: 127 lbs.

Image courtesy of
Rick McCharles

Webwalking USA. USA A-OK? A chance to traverse across America, the beautiful, without toughing out the elements and setting aside an $18,000 budget for the adventure? Where else but in America, or possibly Canada, could our family find such opportunity? That's why, whenever I see the Stars and Stripes, I will always be reminded of that wonderful word: flag! Ambulating across U.S. soil should instill greater appreciation/patriotism for the country, yes?

OK, I'm rambling senselessly because I'm awfully excited. What is the new ambitious undertaking adding a sudden verve in my steps?

It is conquering the challenge of (virtually) walking across the continental United States (from the Atlantic to Pacific) along the American Discovery Trail. That's 5,057 miles - one way - taking the southern route that goes through St. Louis.

Image courtesy of about.com

To truly motivate myself, I will walk the full 5,057 miles. I will not base it on 5,057 minutes, 505.7 miles, or even 505,700 steps. This challenge will help me focus on getting at least 10k steps/day. That means:

• Every week, I should log no less than 28 mi.
• Conservatively, I should finish this endeavor in a little over 180 weeks at this pace.
• In other words, it should take me no more than 3.5 years.
• Uh, that means I need to gradually log in 12k-15k steps/day so I don't get impatient with this endeavor.
  • This could end up being a 2.7 years endeavor instead.
  • I would need to walk 35 mi./week.
• I will not let this become a misadventure!

I'll report my weekly progress on Sundays. I'll follow the normal week by starting the tracking on Sundays and ending on Saturdays. For this week, I'm already at ~19 mi. Yes! The awesome pedometer will report 28 mi. by the end of Saturday.

I'll be using this as a marker for achieved milestones on maps. Isn't achieving a milestone like 1upin' yourself?

I'm inspired by this retired couple in their 50s that actually hiked the entire trail in 231 days (~20 mi./day). After the adventure, they created some kind of blog. To maintain my interest in this program, I'll scour the good ol' WWW for images and information about the major milestones I've reached and chronicle it on this blog. The trail connects 5 national scenic trails, 10 national historic trails, 23 national recreation trails, and many local/regional trails, and passes some 10,000 points of historic, scenic, cultural or natural significance. Being the foodie, museum, and aerospace junkie I am, I'll definitely highlight locales related to these topics near and dear to my heart.

As Lao-Tzu says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Here goes my first 70 thousand steps this week!