Shooting for the moon

“How many miles do you think you have completed over your life?”, my boss asked me years ago, leaving me thinking that he was asking about my lifetime flying miles on my United Airlines frequent flyer card.   And then he clarified,  “I mean, how many miles do you think you have run, biked, swam, walked, … you know propelled yourself in some manner without the use of an engine?”

I imagine a spreadsheet with the numbers sliced and diced by year and activity.  And then the large highlighted grand total; my official odometer.  

Would I have run enough miles to make it around the world by now?  Or cycled?  or skied?  What percentage would be cycling vs. nordic skiing?   Which year would have the most total miles?   

Today would not be record day.  Out paddling on my SUP on the ocean, out on swells, chop, current and wake, I bet I am not averaging more than 3 mph.  My guess would be I paddled 5 or 6 miles, down past the big hotel then on to the orange buoy.  Then straight across a bay, headed  for a huge yacht that is easy to line up.   Then back to the pier.  

But still the question intrigues me … just how many miles would be on that official odometer?  How far would I have traveled?

Earth’s circumference is 24,901 miles.   Which if I ran 5 miles a day for the last 36 years (figure from 0-15 I didn’t cover much distance) I would have averaged 1,820 miles a year or a lifetime total of 65,520 miles.   That would easily allow me to have run 2.6 times around the earth.

I’m celebrating the thought until I ask myself if I could have made  it to the moon?  The moon is 238,900 miles away from the earth.  That means I would need to have averaged 18 miles a day over the past 36 active years.

Wow, that’s a long way to go on a SUP, through the swells, current, chop and wake! But if I bump my average up to 10 miles a day, well, I would be reaching the surface of the moon when I am 80.  

Let’s just hope I am not like a car in that after 150,000 miles I start to fall apart.