by Chris Anders, Contributing Writer
As we have all said, “the year just flew by so quickly”. This year will be no different. Before you know it this year will have passed us by, again. So let’s plan out our paddle strategy now so that we can complete our goals.
I joined a group on Facebook last year which many of you may know called “The 100 Paddle Challenge”. What is great about groups like this is that they have challenges throughout the year. Some challenges might be, complete 100 miles in a 100 days, or a 100 paddles in a 100 days. You get the picture. Basically the theme of the group is always 100 of something. The great thing about this group is that you get motivated by others. Everyone posts their progress in the challenge and at the end of completing the challenge you get a reward for doing it. Nothing big but an acknowledgement of your success and everyone congratulates you on FB. What I got out of the challenge is not just reward of finishing the challenges, but I met so many new friends in the paddle community. I have also had people from all over the U.S. come down and paddle with me from the group. I recently went on a group paddle to Wekiva Springs which was all inspired by the 100 Paddle Challenge and we have many more planned.
Some of you may not like to be in groups or on social media and in that case I propose some challenges for you to do on your own that have been inspired by the 100 Paddle Challenge.
100 miles in 30 days. This is a challenge that I did last year in my own group, Palm Beach SUP Club. It doesn’t seem like it is hard to do because you think to yourself, “3.33 miles per day, that isn’t far”, and it’s not. However, going every day for 30 days is very difficult. It takes a lot of planning. I had to look at my work week in advance, then you have to check the weather and if you have kids you will need to check their schedule for picking them up and taking care of them (kids need to eat). You might have to double or triple your miles just to keep up. This is an advanced challenge. To make it easier, try 100 miles over 60 days.
Other Challenges could be 100 paddles in 100 days. 50 miles in 1 week. My favorite, which we are starting this year is to paddle 12 Florida Springs over the year. Paddle on my friends.