THE FACTS
- I burned a total of 67,094 calories.
- It took 175 rowing workouts.
- The cumulative time rowing was 2 days, 18 hours and 6 minutes.
- The longest I rowed in a workout was a half marathon (13.1 miles) on August 8th. I rowed 21,107 meters in 1 hour and 23 minutes.
- The shortest I rowed in a workout was 3,000 meters which took 12 minutes. I did this on multiple days.
- My average row came in at 5,714 meters per rowing workout.
- I lost 18 pounds during this challenge.
- I started on January 2nd and finished on October 2nd (9 months to complete).
- I typically rowed in the morning, sometime between 6:00 – 7:00 AM.
- 975,000 meters were completed in my home gym (@JohnnyQuinnUSA, click on Quinn Gym story).
- 25,000 meters were completed at The Breakers gym.
- I used a Concept 2 Rower and the ErgData Tracking App to complete the Million Meter Club Challenge.
- I had an accountability partner, Michael Streight, who will be at 1M soon!
- I rowed all 1,000,000 meters at a 1:59 / 500 meter pace (or faster).
THE STORY
I rowed a little bit in 2021.
621.37 miles to be exact, or 1,000,000 meters.
To put that in perspective, it takes 664 miles to drive from Dallas, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee.
So, I almost made it to Nashville. I probably stopped in Franklin, TN.
On January 1st, a friend introduced me to Concept 2’s Million Meter Club and the goal was to row 1,000,000 meters in a year.
Quick math says you need to row roughly 3,000 meters a day to finish on December 31st.
If I held a 1:59/500 meter pace, that is only 12 minutes of rowing a day.
I can commit to that.
My quest to row 1,000,000 meters in a year at 1:59/500 meter pace began on January 2nd and I got out of the gate strong.
As a U.S. Olympian and former pro football player, understanding the importance of a consistent workout schedule has been easy for me.
All I had to do was dedicate a minimum of 12 minutes to rowing during my workouts.
This was easy, until March.
In March, my wife and I were thrilled to find out she was pregnant with our second child, a baby boy due at the end of October.
It didn’t hit me until probably a week after finding out the wonderful news that I did not want to be rowing with a newborn.
If you are a parent, you understand the immense joy of welcoming your newborn home.
You also understand the lack of sleep and chaotic schedule that comes with the transition.
Instead of rowing 1,000,000 meters in a year, I needed it done in 9 months!
For this to happen, I had to up the ante to 5,000 meters a day, a 2,000 meter daily increase.
On another note, I am a keynote speaker and navigating out of the pandemic with travel opening up, I began hitting the road for speaking engagements.
My new travel schedule and increased daily row count escalated the intensity to this challenge.
With any goal, it is never a straight path to accomplishment.
As I cross the 1,000,000 meter finish line just shy of 10 months, it is a bit nostalgic.
I guess I could go for 2,000,000 meters but I think I am going to take a break from rowing…
We have a baby boy to welcome to our family!
(Come join me in the one-million meter club)
