The Penguin Chronicles

Today, December 16, is day 350 of 2011. That means that for the past 350 days I have moved, intentionally, for at least 30 minutes. It started as an idea to move for 100 days. That turned into a plan to invite others to join me. That turned into a phenomenon where 10,000 people signed up on Facebook. That turned into a habit, which, at day 101 turned into an obsession.

Some would say obsession is a bad word. I don’t agree. There are certain people in our lives that we want to be obsessive. I want my dentist to be obsessive. And the guy who works on my motorcycle. I want the pilot and first officer to be obsessive. You get the idea. Being obsessive has gotten a bad rap.

Once I got to the 100 day threshold I think I became obsessive. But not in a way that paralyzed me. In a way, the obsession liberated me. I no longer had to decide if I was going to exercise on any given day. I no longer had to wonder if I was going to find time to move every day. I was liberated from all the doubt. I was going to move every day. That’s all there was to it.

I’ve been honest with my movement. There have only been a couple of times all year where I jumped off the treadmill at 31 minutes. [yes, I always put in an extra minute] Most days I’ve done between 40 minutes and an hour. By my rough calculations I’ve covered about 1,000 miles. That might not be much for an elite marathoner, but, it ain’t too shabby.

In a little over two weeks I will have moved, intentionally, every day for an entire year. At 64 years old I will have done something that I’ve never done before. And, to be even more honest, it’s something that I may never do again. Or so I say today.

In the end it will come down to which emotion surfaces. If I feel satisfied and want to savor that satisfaction then on January 1 I’ll take the day off. If, on the other hand, I feel content, then I may very well just keep going.

You can join in for 2012 by searching for the 100 Days Challenge page on Facebook or by going to http://www.100dayschallenge.org What I can tell you for sure is that it will be one heck of a journey.

Waddle on, friends.

John

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What others are saying: Because of runners like John, the wall of intimidation has crumbled, and tens of thousands of Americans are now believing in themselves. John has helped raise self-esteem and self-confidence in people all over the world. Nothing is more important to a person’s well-being.– Dave McGillivray, Boston Marathon race director

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist
Author, The Courage to Start,No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

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Filed under: Bingham, John "the Penguin" Bingham, Training | Tagged: Bingham, new year resolution, Penguin, running, walking |