7 years ago I was grabbing lunch with a friend in NYC.
We were recent college graduates and were discussing plans we had to round out our 20s.
We agreed that the year we turn 30 we would do a triathlon.
This was the year.
Continuing with the theme I wrote about in 2020, doing hard (physical) has things tremendous side effects:
- Competence leads to confidence. As you overcome a new challenge, you walk a little taller in the world.
- You train your mind to overcome resistance. This is especially true in endurance sports; you need to override the voice in your head that is telling you to slow down or stop. Overriding the comfort setting will take you far in life.
- It adds zest & flavor to your days. As we go through adulthood, days blend together. If your life is punctuated by intentionally doing something new and difficult, you will have more fun.
Doing a sprint triathlon with a friend was 10/10 fun.
We will do it again.
If you end up doing one, send me your time – especially if yours is better than 1hr 28 mins (for the record, my friend, Guido, did beat me). Some photos from the day are below.
(We’ll pick up next week on the history of the shipping container)
Examples of this type of “hard things” overhaul from my past:
- 2016 – running far; for me this was a half marathon in D.C.
- 2017 – camping in below freezing temperatures in the Delaware Water Gap.
- 2018 – The Maryland Challenge
- 2019 – 70 mile hike in Ireland along the Wicklow Way
- 2020 – 1,000 Burpees
- 2021 – BJJ Competition
