From Homer to Fairbanks

I don't watch the major networks much, so I didn't know there was a new show on called "Fat March." I caught it last night when it was on. The premise of the show is that 12 overweight people walk from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. That's 570 miles. They do it in 10 weeks. They eat 5 mini meals a day, and two snacks.

Out of curiosity, I map quested how far it is from Homer to Fairbanks, Alaska. For those of you that don't know, Alaska may be the largest state in the Union (YES, we are a part of the United States and not Canada), but we don't have many road systems here. Most villages like Nome, Kotzebue, Barrow and just about everywhere off the main highway system isn't accessible by road. Homer is the southernmost point on a major highway that can be reached, and Fairbanks is the northernmost point on a major highway that can be reached. Anyway, from Homer to Fairbanks it's 579.54 miles. That's only 9.54 miles more than those folks are walking on their Fat March.

I've decided to do my own little Fat March and see if I can't walk the distance from Homer to Fairbanks. I'm going to shoot for doing it in 10 weeks, which means I would complete the mileage by my birthday on the 24th of October, by starting tomorrow. I've been wearing a pedometer to determine how many steps I take a day, and I've been attempting to get to 10,000, though I rarely do. Alex is wearing one too, and we've got a little contest going to see who walks the most steps. Activity outside of walking also has a step equivalent that he's got a chart for. Walking 579.54 miles in 10 weeks would be 57.95 miles per week, and about 11.59 miles a day if I walk 5 days a week (9.6 miles a day for 6 days a week; 8.28 miles a day for 7 days a week). I can walk. I can get up in the morning and walk at the gym or in the neighborhood. I can walk at lunch downtown or along the Coastal Trail or at the gym that's only a few blocks from my workplace. I can walk after work at the gym or in the neighborhood or on the myriad of hiking trails in Eagle River. The show encouraged me that I don't need to spend all day in the gym, or eat snail food, or kill myself with intense workouts. Nor do I need to live in a mansion and have trainers yell at me to run up a hill, do 200 more sit ups or cry on camera in front of a whole nation.

I'd like to lose 30 pounds in the next 10 weeks. I know that it's advisable to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, but I'm convinced that is for skinny chicks who want to lose 10 pounds in order to fit into their size 2 jeans instead of their size 5s. I haven't seen a size 5 since I was 5. I've got a lot to lose, and 30 pounds would get me into my snow pants with room to spare, help me snowshoe without getting terribly winded, allow me to buy lower weight rated snowshoes and XC skis, and really get me motivated to lose the rest of what I need to lose by next summer. Plus, we are planning on going to Hawaii the end of December for a winter vacation. I'm not going to have people trying to harpoon me on the beach in Hawaii! Other goals I have will only be helped by losing the weight: running the mayor's half marathon in Anchorage next June; running the Nike half marathon in San Francisco next October; biking the Sonoma wine country next summer; biking from Eagle River to Seward next summer; camping and hiking and biking my hiney off next summer and fall.

No one ever intends to become overweight. I didn't hit my teens and think, "WOW, now I can get a fat ass and wide hips!" Life handed me food on a silver platter, and I ate every bit of it and asked for seconds. But, I know I don't have to stay like this, so I'm not going to.

If those 12 folks on Fat March can do it in front of a nation, all of us seeing their rolls, tears, attitudes and accomplishments, I can do it here in Alaska. I'm not doing it for 1/12 of 1.2 million dollars, but I'll feel like a million bucks when I'm done! And, as I've said before, being fat sucks. I don't like it any more now than I did when I first posted that.

Wish me luck.... the fat march begins! I've created another blog and attached it to this page. It's called My Alaska Fat March... read my progress, pitfalls, pity parties and panderings about it there!