Thank You
To All,
Last night (9/27) at approximately 6:30 pm EDST the 2018 JeffHatesBurpees mission ended in success – 100,000 burpees. (I’d add Mission Accomplished but that didn’t go well for the last guy who said that.) More importantly we accomplished our goal of $20,000 raised for DSACO.
I’ve learned much over the past 9 months. The burpees taught me a few things but mostly I found friends and supporters I never expected. Without all of you this would not be a success.
Because I have aspirations of writing a book someday (tentatively titled “Random Thoughts From A Random Mind”) I thought I’d share few a few missives and other fun facts.
Frequently Asked Questions
· How do you keep track of your burpee count?
o Seriously - I am a recovering CPA! I use Excel and track my training twice a day AM & PM. Ask Matt Youngner – he has the only copy. In addition, if I lose count in a set I go back to the last number I am sure of and I always do extra burps at the end of every set. My theory is if you cheat you only cheat yourself. I may have OCD as well.
· Why did you do this?
o I was drinking and my daughter Kari took advantage and gave me a great WHY.
· What is the most burpees you’ve done in a row?
o 800 in 83 minutes (small water breaks)
· What is the most burpees you’ve done in one day?
o 1102 – weird number but always do a couple extra.
· How much time do you spend doing burpees?
o Burpees take me slightly less than 10/minute or 100 in 10 minutes. Using that math I’ve spent about 167 hours doing actual burpees not counting any rest breaks.
· How many beers have you drunk since I started the burpee challenge?
o Too many. If I had to guess I’d say 100,000.
· How many burpees do I do per day?
o It varies since I took rest days so anywhere from zero to 1102. Over the 269 days of this endeavor the math works out to 371.74/day if I did them every day.
· What is your next crazy idea?
o No idea but I seem to have no trouble coming up with them. I was never a great athlete when I was younger. My goal has always been to outlast everyone. My ultimate goal is to be 80 years old and able to drive at night – I’d be a STUD! (like Rick Bateman).
Where do you do your burpees?
Pretty much every room of the house, innumerous hotels in too many states, on beaches, in the snow, and on our dock. I estimate my home the re-carpeting bill at $5,000!
· Other data points not asked but might be:
o Drop and do 10 burpees – that equals 1/100th of 1% of the total.
Through this I learned the importance of breathing. When we are stressed – either by physical exertion or life in general – just BREATHE and it somehow gets better.
The fact is most of the above is NOT what I thought about while during burpees. Like life, I just set small goals. If I was shooting for 500 I started by marking a 5 count and thinking I’m 100th of the way home this morning and even I can count to 100. The start is always the tough part. It gets better as the workout goes on. As in life, little goals eventually turn into seemingly big achievements.
The truth is that EVERYONE on this e-mail could do what I did. I truly believe that. The WHY just has to be good enough. Find your WHY.
I am truly astounded and very humbled by your support.
Thank you.
Jeff Jones