Well ... put that way, it doesn’t seem like I’ve made much progress in my walking regimen in 2019, nor does it seem probable that I’ll reach my goal of 1,242 miles (or 2,000 kilometers) before year end.
As to walking, the weather has been horrid the past two months and in April we had 3.72 inches of rain and rain is still on the horizon. Happily, I got out yesterday and today because the rain held off until after I walked. That’s good because I had set a mini-goal for myself to reach 242 miles by April 30th.
Meet Mike Posner.
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So, I’ve been following the trek of Mike Posner, a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who is a Michigan native. While in high school, he ran varsity track and cross-county and he has a degree in Sociology from Duke University.
Mike’s claim to fame is not just his music, but the fact that he is currently walking across America.
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It took seven months for the 31-year-old to prepare for this journey, which began in Asbury Park, New Jersey on April 15th .
He hopes to be in Venice Beach, California by year-end, where he plans to jump into the ocean and celebrate with his friends. He had originally counted on six months to accomplish this trek, but got a late start after injuring his foot earlier this year. Mike also concedes that his original timeline goal will be delayed since he will now be crossing through mountainous regions and there will sometimes be snow to hamper his travel. He has a friend who drives a van and they sleep in it every night, unless folks he meets along the way offer the pair to stay at their home that night.
Hmm – I feel like a slacker!
Mike walks rain or shine, in the morning and evening, and is building his stamina to walk about 20 miles per day. (Yikes – I feel like I’ve accomplished something when I walk six miles in one day!) He begins as early as 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. and often stops at various venues (like parks) and grabs his guitar, sings and does impromptu pop-up concerts. Mike advises his daily progress on Twitter and Instagram – he uses the same handle at both sites: @MikePosner
Mike is asking people to walk along with him when he is traveling through their city or state and by following his daily posts, you’ll know where to meet up with him to do so. If he is nearby, I think it will be fun to join him, don’t you?
So my piddling 242 miles thus far this year, doesn’t impress me too much as I should be further along than that – it is daunting to think I must accomplish 1,000 more miles in only eight months’ time. (Gulp!) My 1,242 mile goal is not impressive next to Mike Posner’s ... he will walk a whopping 2,960 miles before his journey is over! Currently on day 16, he is in Sunbury, Pennsylvania and has walked 182 miles so far.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Mike which is the reason for his journey:
“I hope my walk can remind myself and others that life is now. Life isn’t in five years or after I accomplish some goal. This is it. We have to enjoy each step.”
Those are good words to live by – maybe they shall become my mantra as well.
[Header photo from Pinterest; Mike Posner photos from Mike Posner’s Twitter account]
You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net
