Weekend warriors can still compete in meaningful ways

The question arose in a sauna: How fit do you actually need to be to row across an ocean?

I was contemplating this with my sweaty future crewmates when I wiped the salty drops from my eyes and gazed down at the most muscular, well-formed... feet... I had ever seen. They were attached to "Barefoot" Ted McDonald, an ultra-marathoner who once regularly ran 100-mile races.

McDonald was celebrating his recent transition from competitive athletics into what I now call "thrill athletics." Well into his 40s, he would never beat the field again.

Thrill athletics, he told us, have a higher purpose: Catch the person in front, hold off the person behind, and reconnect with your authentic self. Feel the breath in your lungs, the earth underfoot, the water splashing your face, and the wind in your hair (if you still have any).

"I train and race like a surfer," McDonald explained. "I just need to be fit enough to get out there. I just need to be fit enough to catch a good wave!"

That's when it struck me: To experience adventure and make memories that last a lifetime, you don't need to be the fittest person in the world. You need to be a warrior who shows up on the occasional weekend. You need to be just fit enough.

When I was training for the Olympics my crew used to say, "It doesn't hurt any less; you just go faster!" Now that I'm no longer training for Olympic competition, the phrase has changed: It doesn't hurt any less; you just go slower.

But that doesn't mean I can't win. When you're just fit enough, you can beat other old farts who have slowed down more than you have. I recently raced with an eight-man boat full of 50-, 60- and 70-year-olds at the San Diego Crew Classic. The guy in the bow of my boat? He was 71 and loved that we came from behind to beat the rest of the field by a whopping 0.15 seconds.

Which raises another question: Which medal is more valuable? My Olympic gold medal, or my weekend warrior medal?  

I've done more than embrace masters sport since Beijing 2008. I've taken rowboats on day trips, weekend trips, month-long trips, and one Trans-Atlantic journey that lasted nearly three months.

Sixty days into the trans-Atlantic row, I was tired. Obviously. I was sleeping in the cabin. On deck, Markus Pukonen and Jordan Hanssen were hooting and hollering: "It's so beautiful! You gotta see this!"

What was it? A moonbow. In the distance a rain cloud reflected light from the full moon onto a starry sky. Below the ocean glimmered with green phosphorescence. I simply could not believe that the world could be so beautiful. "This," Jordan said, "is why I row across oceans."

I trained for rowing across the ocean by biking my son to daycare, doing bodyweight exercises in my living room, and having the occasional weekend adventure. I recovered from masters training by comforting a screaming, puking toddler. To be just fit enough, I now spend between two and 10 hours per week being physically active, depending on the demands of family, work and life.

I take my family on mini-adventures whenever I can. When Jefferson was three I took him out to the Trial Islands off Vancouver Island in a Whitehall spirit rowboat. The weather was perfect, the sky was blue, the Olympic Mountains towered overhead, poking through the clouds. A sea-kelp forest swayed below and eagles soared above. Gorgeous! Then the seals came. They were pupping. Probably 80 swam out to our boat. They kept popping up their heads like a whack-a-mole game. I looked at my son. "Isn't this incredible?" He looked back at me and said, "This is so normal, dad."

Of course it is. And my hope is that it stays normal.

This is why, for the rest of my life, I want to be just fit enough. I want to share adventures with my children. I want to feel the thrill of a weekend warrior.

Because when you're just fit enough, you can still get out there. Because when you're just fit enough, you can sweat yourself into a new epiphany. Because when you're just fit enough, you can still catch a wave.

How are you staying just fit enough? Send Adam Kreek a message at @adamkreek. You can also find more tips to get physical on the Don't Change Much website.