Like Chick 1 and several others, I am doing the 2,020 in 2020 miles challenge. We are each putting our own spin on the distance.
I have a little history with this kind of goal.
In 2016, I aimed to walk / run 1,000 miles in a calendar year. My Big Rule: I had to have my exercise shoes on for those miles to count. (All the steps I took at work or for daily tasks did not count toward the total.) Looking back at my mileage tracker, there were many miles that took me 18 minutes, some even longer than 20. Still, through regular almost-daily efforts, I logged well over 1,100 miles that year.
That was many years and pounds ago. Taking on this new goal…what would be a step forward for me now? Was just doing more miles enough?
When I was thinking about this goal and how I wanted to approach it, I decided to add an extra layer. I wanted a different challenge, so I made a new Big Rule.
That Big Rule has meant a *lot* of time on the Ski Erg and the rowing machine at our box. Sometimes I row five miles at a stretch, which is pretty unusual in our community. After all, CrossFit is based around constantly varied movements. It’s sort of odd to stay on one thing for thirty minutes or more. After walking past me several times, people will ask me what I’m doing.
I’d tell them about the mile challenge, then say:
“I have to do 10% on the ski erg (202 miles), 10% on the hiking trail, 10% running, 10% biking, and 10% rowing.”
At least that’s what I told people when they asked me why I was spending 20 straight minutes on the ski erg or 45 on the rower. I’m doing it because I have to.
But after saying it this way several times I stood back and thought, no one is forcing me to do it this way. I chose this. And I chose it purposefully. I set a big, hairy, audacious, I’m-not-entirely-sure-I-will-accomplish-it goal. I thought of something that made me nervous and DARED myself to do it.
So now, if people ask, I say I CHOSE to do 10% on the ski erg (202 miles), 10% on the hiking trail, 10% running, 10% biking, and 10% rowing.
Or I GET to do it. Maybe I should say I DARED myself to do it. Through my words I need to EMBRACE it – the grand, ridiculous, audacious (im)possibility of all those crazy miles and the long journey they represent.
These little words matter. I am trying to pay more attention to how I use my words. As a word person, you’d think I would be more careful, but I know my negativity and woe-is-me creeps in often when I am lazy or just inattentive. It’s sloppy old thinking and serves no one. These miles aren’t part of some sort of penalty or sentence. They are a challenge I set before myself to stretch my limits. A good thing.
My first month went pretty well. I’ve discovered that in addition to the pages logging each variety of miles, I like a page of stars for every 10 miles I complete. Not gonna lie, though, it’s a long road. I am working on my patience muscles, which will undoubtedly get a workout in the face of a goal that I can’t just speed through. I’m finding my footing and my balance. And if you notice, there’s still 50% of my miles that I can choose to do with as I wish. Don’t be surprised if dancing and cartwheels show up on my log.
2 Chicks and a blog 