My Journey Begins
I’m not even sure where to begin with doing a blog, but I didn’t know how to put a website together either, and here we are. I guess I’ll start with how this journey began and go from there. I’ll give some details on how I got to where I am today and then daily updates as I get closer to the day of the event. It has been a journey of pain, accomplishments big and small, setbacks and times where I wanted to say f-it, I can’t do it. Then the desire to succeed takes over.
The journey really began at the end of 2023, while having a conversation with my two sons, Nick and Gabe, about what I was going to do when I turn 65 in a little over a year. I think I kiddingly said I was just going to do something like I did when I turned 50, after a really good laugh by all of us, the thought creeped into my mind, “hey why not.”
1/2/2025
(Back Journal)
So once the thought crept into my mind about possibly doing the same type of fundraising event as I did when I turned 50, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I silently started to plan it out in my mind. First off, what would it take to get into the shape I would need to be in to do the four sports I did then: surfing, waterskiing, skateboarding, and snow skiing?
I look back and know I didn’t get really serious until about a month out of turning 50 but again, that was 50. It’s now 15 years later; I would surely need an entire year to get in that shape.
I wasn’t in bad shape at the beginning of 2024, but apparently, I was getting a beer gut, according to my wife. I was at the heaviest I had ever been, 168, so maybe there was something to that.
I was walking 2 to 3 miles a day with my wife walking the dogs, and I was always doing push-ups. Well, occasionally doing push-ups. We rode bikes, and I surfed whenever I could, but it’s hard being 3 hours from the closest beach. I guess it just wasn’t enough to keep up with the 8+ pints of IPA’s I was drinking a week. More to come.
(Current Day)
It’s now 37 days until event day. I started my planned simulation training. Every morning, I will do for each sport, 15 to 20 minutes of sport-specific training in the order that I’ll do them on Feb. 8th.
For example: surfing - 4 minutes of simulation padding (paddling out) then 1 minute of fast as-possible paddling (catching the wave) 3 sets each. Then, finish with 25 pop-ups. ( popping up into a surf position from the ground)
Gymnastics - strap pull up’s, wall press to a handstand, handstand holds 2 seconds. I’ll still be working out at least 3 nights a week at Carolina Stars gym center.
Then Skateboarding - start outside on my street board doing slalom runs down my hilly street. That’s fun; the workout is skateboarding back up the hill. I do that twice. Today it was 29 degrees while doing it. LOL The rest of the time is spent working on tricks and working on my skateboarding in a handstand.
Next up is waterskiing - for now it’s mostly simulating the back-and-forth slalom motion with a resistance cord. Then finish up dumbbell work, squats, and lunges.
Finally, snow skiing. More arm strength stuff, squats and lunges.
15 to 20 minutes for each sport. It’s a fun morning.
02/07/25
Tomorrow is it. I’m ready to go but a bit nervous. I got it
I will finish my past plog and also talk about the day in the current blog. I promise.