In April, the Sun reported that Seal Beach resident Jim Akers accomplished the ultimate Fitbit daily badge for taking 100,000 steps in one day.
From Oct. 25, to Oct. 31, Akers, 74, walked his way into a personal best by accomplishing 204,488 steps (97 miles) in one week. Here is his account.
“Now that I had achieved my April ‘Everest’ of one hundred thousand steps, I had some recovery time to think about what’s next, if anything. Thirty days later the number two hundred thousand steps popped into my mind. I knew there was no way I was going to accomplish that number in one day. The next best thing to do is make it in one week. It would definitely be an ‘Everest’ achievement. I had never met anyone who accomplished 100 steps in one day and certainly never met anyone stepping two hundred thousand steps in one week.
“My years of marathoning, half marathoning, Camino training and hiking gave me the experience to know my body well enough of what I could accomplish with proper preparation for such an undertaking. The hundred thousand step accomplishment was still fresh in my mind too. Diet and proper sleep was also a factor that would be a complement.
“Right away I knew the timing was going to be tricky. Accomplishing two hundred thousand steps at my age, and juggle a busy daily schedule in seven days means I’d have to come up with a plan. I decided to break down the task and walk in the cool of morning and late afternoon. I either rearranged my commitments or stepped around them as they say. My goal was to walk thirty thousand steps a day. Easy arithmetic- 30,000 steps times 7 days is 210,000. Most of my steps and miles were accomplished in the morning when I was fresh. Whatever I was short in the morning, I finished off in the late afternoon. Bedtime was from eight to nine-thirty pm. There were times during the week that commitments got in the way which meant walking several times in the morning or afternoon. I also stole steps by making reasons to go to Pavilions or CVS. I would take the garbage out two or three times a day. I’d park the car at JoAnn’s or Michaels at a good distance. Anything that required more steps I found a way to add on to the total. The short walking tasks add up over a week.
“I wore Velcro light reflectors for early morning walks and either shorts or long loose fitting long pants along with a three layered top ending with a sweater. A hat to protect my bald head was essential too. There would be times during the week that I would be drenched with perspiration. I kept the washing machine busy on a daily basis.
“I chart everything, weight, beats per minute, systolic and diastolic pressure, calories, steps, miles, time of day and time in general. Monday to Thursday I accomplished over thirty thousand steps every day. I peaked in daily steps on Thursday with 32,074 steps (15.71 miles). At the end of the day I had built up a nice four day cushion of steps. I knew if I stayed focused, I would accomplish my second Everest.
“The last three days was tough mentally and physically. I was so done with this. It was getting tiresome and not fun anymore. I had a good physical base to start with and mental toughness from past experience carried the remaining days. The thought of not making it pushed me to keep on. I was thankful that I only suffered one injury which was a blister on day one. I popped that sucker and I never had any problem afterward. I had two Fitbit watch failures due to my not properly powering up my watch so it gave out on two walks. Oh well, it happens.
“On Sunday, I walked before church and still had about eight thousand steps to go. After breakfast of eggs, bacon, mushrooms, green peppers and onions, my wife Rita, who is also an experienced marathoner and a daily 3-5 mile walker, finished the 200,000 steps with a nice two scooper with hot fudge ice cream cup on Main Street around 3 p.m.
I am done with serious running and stepping, twenty years plus is enough. As a former tennis player, pickleball may be something I might try.
Rita and I have not visited all 50 states—that would be quite an Everest achievement.
