{"id":434,"date":"2011-10-04T12:25:46","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T17:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/?p=434"},"modified":"2016-03-03T17:48:15","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T22:48:15","slug":"danka-walks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/2011\/10\/04\/danka-walks\/","title":{"rendered":"Danka Walks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Taylor Gills, Graduate Nutrition Student, Sargent College<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Danka<\/p>\n

Typically at the Sargent Choice Nutrition Center we\u2019re focused on food.\u00a0 As a group that is made up primarily of Dietitians and Nutrition students, it makes sense that we talk about cooking, eating, and enjoying food all the time.\u00a0 Today though, we\u2019re going to touch upon another component of an overall healthy lifestyle: exercise.<\/p>\n

552 days, 3 pairs of sneakers (and a pair of winter boots), 3 pedometer batteries, and 5,225 miles later Danka Charland has surpassed her original goal of walking the distance to San Francisco and is well on her way to her ultimate goal of walking to her hometown of Borzestowo, Poland.\u00a0 Danka is currently the Assistant to the Director in the Human Physiology and Applied Anatomy and Physiology Programs here at Sargent College. \u00a0On March 17, 2010 Danka strapped on her new pedometer, got a little help from her Sargent College coworkers to calibrate it correctly, and started recording every step.\u00a0 She has always lead an active lifestyle and walking was already a regular part of her day to day routine. Danka started using the pedometer because she thought it would be fun.\u00a0\u00a0 The plan was to do it for a year or so and just see what happened, but Deb, a Sargent College coworker, put the idea of walking to San Francisco in her head.<\/p>\n

\"Danka<\/p>\n

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Danka reached 3,179 miles (the driving distance from Boston to San Francisco) after just 344 days of recording her steps.\u00a0 After this goal was reached, she decided she should walk the distance from San Francisco to her hometown in Poland, another 7,914 miles, via a route through Alaska and Russia.\u00a0 About 50 miles of this route, through the Bering Strait, is technically under water, but it was land at one point right?\u00a0 At day 552, she is currently a little less than half way towards achieving the total distance from Boston to Borzestowo, 11,093 miles.\u00a0 Over this time, she has averaged over 9 miles each day, with some days walking less and some days walking more than that.\u00a0 One day she actually did 28.2 miles, or 59,566 steps, just to challenge herself!\u00a0 For a frame of reference, the Surgeon General recommends taking 10,000 steps each day to reduce your risk of long-term disease.<\/p>\n

\"Danka<\/p>\n

What keeps her going above and beyond?\u00a0 According to Danka, she is motivated mostly by the goals that she sets, but also from the health benefits of walking.\u00a0 Danka feels that the pedometer itself is a motivator, helping her to challenge herself; she says, \u201cIf I set a goal and don\u2019t achieve it, I fail to myself.\u201d\u00a0 Danka also likes to have fun with walking.\u00a0 She will listen to music, learn French from tapes, go shopping, take pictures, explore new places, and she even graded papers while walking once.\u00a0 According to Danka \u201cweather is a state of mind,\u201d so if she expects bad weather, she will get up early to beat the weather, or just go out and walk in the rain or snow and enjoy the fact that not many other people are around.\u00a0 This level of self-motivation coupled with her easygoing nature is amazing to see and should be an inspiration to everyone around her.\u00a0 Danka estimates that she will reach the distance to her hometown in Poland by July 15, 2013, by averaging about 9 miles per day. \u00a0Her plan to stay on target comes down to one word, a word that Danka loves, \u201cstick-to-itiveness,\u201d or the ability to literally stick to it, when striving to reach a goal.<\/p>\n