I was talking last night with my friend Tracy who lives in Washington state. She has recently caught the fitness bug and we were discussing ways to help inspire one another in 2008. We’ve decided to start a 16-week couch to 5k plan on January 1.

As we kept talking, she mentioned she wanted to come up with a location to virtually walk toward during the year. She thought it would be motivating to see the progress of getting closer and closer to some virtual destination, much like my friend Darla who is tracking her mileage in Middle Earth (a la Lord of the Rings).

So, as she’s talking, I got this idea that I thought was pretty darn cool. I checked on Google Maps to see what the distance was between our homes — 1134 road miles (not “as the crow flies” miles) for those wondering. I immediately asked her if she would be interested in completing 567 miles for the year and we could “meet” in the middle. She thought it was a cool idea, too. The next challenge came to figure out where that middle would be located. Imagine our surprise when we found a city that was virtually EXACTLY in the middle — Redding, CA.

Tracy will be covering 568 miles and I’ll be covering 569 miles. In order to meet this goal, we’ll need to both average about 11 miles per week over the course of the year. The distances may be a bit shorter each week earlier in the year, but will most likely be more later in the year as we become more fit. Our mileage will include any time spent walking, running, mileage from the elliptical trainer, or mileage from cycling either on a real bike or stationary bike.

I’ve created a map showing the route I’ll be taking. I’ll create a new box over on the right-hand side of my blog to track my miles through the year. I’ll also plan to post an update at least once per month in a blog entry and/or whenever I reach a major milestone like 100 miles, 200 miles, etc. Here’s my map:

Total Distance From Anaheim to Redding: 569 miles

Total Distance Walked/Ran: 0 miles
Total Distance Remaining: 569 miles

This should definitely help make getting in the miles more fun throughout the year. The cool part is that we’ll actually be able to get in part of our mileage together since we will be vacationing together in New York in October.