The JFK50 Challenge
The JFK50 Challenge
A 50-Day Journey to Unbreakable Vigah
After last year's 50 mile march, I didn't write up a reflection as I usually do.
There was something too raw about it at the time. Before my body had fully recovered, I was back in the boatyard welding up an old steel boat, breathing toxic fumes and trying to keep up with my work.
Plus, it felt superfluous—and a little gratuitous—to pat myself on the back for limping (literally) across the finish line, later than scheduled, on account of a nagging ankle injury that I had acquired somewhere around mile 22 while walking past strawberry fields in Moss Landing.
This was in stark contrast to the previous year, when I ran 5 out of the last seven miles to cross the Bay Bridge in time. And the first year, when I sprinted the final 200 meters in compliance with the original directive from Teddy Roosevelt to the Marine Corps. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order requiring all Marine Corps officers to be able to march 50 miles within 20 hours, as a test of their physical fitness and endurance. This order, though forgotten, technically remained in effect until 1963, when President John F. Kennedy famously brought it back into the spotlight.
There are 50 days between now and Memorial Day, the weekend of the 5th annual 50 mile march.
Whether I limp or sprint my way across the finish line depends on how I train over those next 50 days.
When I first completed the march in 2020, I was still a 20-something (alright, fine – I was 29).
Five years and 200 marching miles later, I am almost 35. I feel stronger in many ways than I did at age 29, having schlepped around carrying my 3 young kids an even greater cumulative distance (in much shorter chunks) than I've marched.
My body composition is the same if not improved.
Yesterday I ran 5 hilly miles in under 40 minutes – all while breathing through my nose to avoid crossing the aerobic threshold.
But most importantly, I wake up earlier with more energy, and sustain that energy throughout the day. Having focused energy, and the ability to get out and do stuff with my kids, or work on the property, in addition to dedicated time for exercise, is one of the great blessings of fitness. It's what I meant when I defined my beneficial-stress—based approach to fitness in Hormetics as "physical fitness for free people."
It hasn't been through time-consuming or boring exercise regimes, expensive supplements, gyms, or trainers that I've maintained above-average health. Instead, it's a basic, well-rounded physical literacy that I've applied with discipline and consistency since I first discovered the joy of nutrition and nutritious outdoor movement in my early 20s.
However, after last year's experience of nearly having to drop out of the march due to my ankle trouble, I am determined to add another layer of rigor to my training program. My goal is not merely to finish, but to cross the finish line with great vigahhh (vigor), per the spirit of the JFK 50 mile marching challenge.
As I develop my personal program, I am also codifying it in the form in a new book – tentatively titled JFK50 – to inspire fellow citizens to once again become a nation of doers, rather than mere spectators.
I invite anyone who wants to join me in training over the next 50 days to become part of an informal beta reader community.
Following Benjamin Putano's Agile Editorial writing method, I will enlist your help in answering the following questions:
1. What's the most painful problem you need solved relating to the topic of health and fitness?
2. Am I solving that problem?
3. Am I grabbing your interest and attention enough for you to care?
I employed a similar approach with The Benedict Challenge community and found it easier to iterate within a smaller, focused group.
So, if you are a mission-driven individual who is interested in peak performance with a purpose, and you're eager to learn how to take your physical and mental game to the next level, I encourage you to sign up.
As the economist and author Tyler Cowen warns, the age of "average" is over. Most people who aren't taking responsibility for their health and striving for year-over-year improvement are declining – slowly or rapidly – into a state of metabolic or physical malfunction.
While I don't claim to have a crystal ball, nor predict impending doom, there does seem to be an increasing probability of a real-world crisis that will demand exceptional health and vitality. The same overall fitness required for a 50-mile march will be an asset whether or not the proverbial dung hits the fan, but I'd rather not be caught unprepared.
That's why I'm doubling down on my training from previous years and adding a 5th column to last year's four pillars of preparation:
1. Metabolic flexibility (i.e., optimizing nutrition through natural hormone enhancement to lose fat and build lean muscle)
2. Metabolic conditioning (i.e., enhancing the body's strength and respiratory capabilities at a cellular level)
3. Biomechanical conditioning (i.e., injury-proofing, walking form, posture & technique)
4. Endurance/Grit (i.e., getting used to being uncomfortable - cold exposure, fasting, hormetic stress)
The fifth pillar will relate to mental and spiritual conditioning, perhaps the most foundational of them all.
My protocol will also add a fifth day of training to the ancient Greek "Tetrad" – which was a four-day cycle that balanced rest and skill days with higher intensity strength and conditioning workouts.
Unlike other fitness challenges that take a “bootcamp” approach - attempting to brutalize you into shape - my approach is to gradually build tolerance to increasing doses of stress, while rarely crossing the threshold of extreme exertion. Most days of the week will be about active recovery rather than hard effort.
Who should do this?
This protocol is for anyone who wants to stay fit for life, in both senses of that phrase – remaining healthy into older age and being fit in ways that make your life better. Fitness should enable you to be more capable, more useful to others, and better equipped to accomplish the things you set your mind to.
I like to say that the 50 mile march is training for life, and life is training for the 50 mile march. There aren't many sports like that. Endurance walking is one of the few activities where you can continue to outdo yourself year in and year out. I plan to be stronger at 40, 50, and 60 than the previous decade.
If you're located in the NorCal area, you're also welcome to join me physically for the march on Memorial Day weekend. We'll be starting in Bangor, CA, and making our way to the Sutter Buttes – a route that promises both breathtaking beauty and a fitting challenge to mark this milestone event.
Regardless, let's make the next 50 days count, and let's cross that finish line stronger, wiser, and more alive than ever before.