496 miles in 31 days: Lessons from a 59-year-old very proud non-athlete

496 miles

31 days

I am not an athlete. Repeat NOT! What was I thinking when I announced on social media that I was going to join the “Calendar Club Challenge” craze and BIKE 496 miles in July. If you haven’t heard about the Calendar Club Challenge, it was started by Jesse Itzler in February (at least I think he started it?) That’s when I learned about it.

I have been following Jesse on Instagram ever since I heard him speak at the 10X Growth Conference in Miami 2 years ago. His book “Living With A Seal” is one of the most entertaining and inspirational books I’ve ever read…  that is until I started reading “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins (THE Seal mentioned above) more about that book later… Anyway back to the Challenge. Jesse RAN the Challenge in February. 29 days (remember Leap Year) of running! Well I knew I could never ever run 496 miles, so I really never gave it another thought. I am about to turn 60, so no sweat, I don’t need to jump on this latest bandwagon. I get a pass, right? Then in June, Jesse’s 10 year old son Lazer BIKED the Challenge! Also, in June, my friend Adam Lipkin did push-ups, pull-ups, sit ups and bur-pees! I started thinking. Biking …. I can bike. I actually like to bike. I even HAVE a bike (this is a big deal during the pandemic; bikes are missing as much as downtown office workers). I like challenges. I like pushing myself. But I’ve mostly done that with work, never physically. The Challenge works like this: you complete the activity of choice respective to the day of the month-ie day 1, you bike 1 mile-day 15, 15 miles, and day 31, 31 miles. I have never biked more than 8 miles ever. But my friend Ivy and I have always talked about taking a biking trip in France one day… I wasn’t sure I could physically keep up, but I hear they have vans, for weaker participants (that would me!)

So, do I do it? I threw the idea out to a few friends, Adam (mentioned above), Josee, my long term, work spouse, my kids and my sister. Most encouraged me. My sister, the worry wort, was worried I’d get hurt. I am not sure how many I mentioned it to actually thought I could complete it? But I decided to do it and then I posted it (not confidently) on social media. Then my client Lash Hairston said he’d donate $1.00 for every mile I finished. I think he was thinking he was committing to $100! Sooooo, off I went. My son Mario agreed to participate with me. We bought a large calendar and I had my trusted red sharpie and off we went on our bikes, day 1. Obviously, day 1 was easy, as were day 1-6. We were marking the pace of 6.5 miles per hour. I thought that was pretty slow, but I couldn’t seem to increase the speed. I gave up on doing that and kept going. Day 4, I went and got a bike helmet. I hadn’t been wearing one and I realized it was something I should definitely get if I intended to keep going.

July 15 was the turning point day. Since July 10, I had been splitting the rides into two trips each day. Half of the miles in the morning and half in the evening. On the 15th I couldn’t do that- I had a dinner that night and had to complete all 15 miles in the morning. Mario and I left the house at 8:15. Around the 10th mile, I started getting dizzy. I had left the house without sunscreen and hadn’t eaten breakfast. I only had 2 cups of coffee. The dizziness continued 3-4 times on the ride. We arrived home at 10:30 and I was spent. I took a cool shower but couldn’t cool down. I drank water and put ice packs on my head and under my armpits. I was done. I was weak all day at work. I canceled the dinner. I was about to cancel the challenge. By now, friends were following my progress and checking in each day. I posted on Linked in that I had a tough day and my friend Chris Ressa commented “you are not quitting, are you?”

THAT was the message I needed at that time. I had also gotten ideas from friends re Gatorade, hydrating the night before, eating bananas, and joining a gym to ride the bike in AC if it was too hot! I joined the gym near my house for one month the next morning and did 8 miles in the AC. Even though I continued to feel weak during that day, I rode my bike to the gym that night, rode 6 miles in the gym and rode home. I had a new strategy! The gym plan also delivered a Plan B when the south Fla weather storms appeared. I was scheduled to go on a quasi-work/fun trip on July 23-26. Even though I would have tried to find a bike on the “island”, I completely thought this would be 3-day break for me! Since I was on a roll by this time, I was actually conflicted about fulfilling on my “commitment”. The trip got cancelled. LOL– OK then, LETS GO! As with many goals one sets, as you get near the end, it really gets easier. NOT with the Calendar Club Challenge! The last 7 days are the hardest! You complete 220 miles in the last 7 days! I was very lucky on the weekend that I thought I’d have a reprieve, that my BFF was in town. Ivy Greaner rode with me on the 24th and 25th splitting the miles into 4 rides of 49 miles/7 hours of riding! We got to catch up and it was a great distraction to help me begin the last week of Hell. During the rides I listened to audible books. The first one was “Little Black Stretchy Pants” founder of Lululemon. In it the author spoke about “Atlas Shrugged”. I had always wanted to read “Atlas” but could never get thru it. So that was the next book I listened to. The last book was “Can’t Hurt Me” by the Navy Seal mentioned in Jesse’s book, David Goggins. THIS book made my last 3 days ALMOST a breeze. What Goggins goes thru, makes my rides seem like a walk in the park! It was THE perfect book to finish my rides with (Mario got a job on July 16 and decided he couldn’t keep riding with me. Our schedules didn’t really jive.)

So…. What did I learn?

SOOOO MUCH!

I learned mindset is unbelievably important. I wanted to quit on the 15th. But once Chris challenged me, my determination locked in. My mindset told me “I could do it”!

In “Can’t Hurt Me” Goggins talks about the 40% rule. That, at most times when you think you want to give up or quit, you are only at 40% capacity! 40%! I found this out all thru the month during the Challenge. There was always MORE in the tank. Always!

I learned that you can use embarrassment as fuel. I didn’t want to be embarrassed, if I didn’t finish. I guess there is some insecurity with that. Ego? But who cares? if its fuel-use it! That started when I put myself out there and started posting on social media. If I would have kept the Challenge to myself, then I’d have nothing to prove to others, just myself. By posting on social media, I got an entire platform of accountability partners.

Distractions are good! Riding with Mario, Ivy and listening to books was awesome-it stopped me from focusing on the miles.

Compounding effort. “it’s only one more mile than I did yesterday was a mantra I repeated a lot I the last 10 days. It is truly amazing when I think I accomplished 496 miles, but it was the compounding effort that made it happen.

Adapting -as I rode, I learned so many things. I learned I need a towel for sweat, I learned about bananas and Gatorade. I learned to leave before the sun came up to beat the heat. I learned that rain clouds sometimes don’t deliver thunderstorms. I learned I needed a bell (Thanks to Lindsay Swart) and lights. I learned that my wonderful town of Davie has a bunch of very cool bike paths.

I learned that I loved having cheerleaders and accountability partners, and how important their roles were with me finishing! For sure without the Chris Ressa push-I would have given up.

I learned I had a lot more self-discipline than I thought.

The pandemic has brought so much uncertainty in our lives. Work from home? Small businesses opening and closing? Schools opening? And more! The Challenge brought certainty to my life during a time when there was none. I knew I was going to bike every morning and every afternoon. I had to work it into my schedule. I had to plan ahead. My time management skills improved a lot during this time.

The Challenge also added control back into my life. The pandemic removed a lot of control out of our lives. This may surprise you, but I really like to be in control. This Challenge also did this for me!

After 31 days I listened to 50 hours of books (I LOVE books!) I achieved what I never ever would have thought possible! I love achieving, I love accomplishment! I am proud of this almost 60-year-old -that I rode 496 miles in 31 days!

My good friend Laura once told me, If you aren’t doing something you’re scared of, you’re not growing. Boy did I grow during July 2020 (summer of COVID).

A lot of people are asking if, and when, will I get on that bike again? Now that’s it a week later, I shockingly do miss it. I am considering December. Its cooler, and the last week will be a slow work week to squeeze in the hours. The only challenge will be daylight savings, and riding in the dark?

But for next month, I’ve decided to swim laps in my pool. Again, not anything I’ve ever done…. 465 laps in September – Wish me Luck!!

Maybe I am an athlete after all.