a month without triathlon

It’s August tomorrow. The crunch to find a 30-day challenge has come down to the hours. I have my new Muay Thai class, and a wine and food event downtown to mull over it. Then it’s time to work—on becoming a happier/healthier/well-connected/well-rounded/conscientious/compassionate/do-it-yourself kind of person.

Just your average run-of-the-mill August.

I’ve had a lot of suggestions. Sweat once a day? (Already been doing that, thanks.) Call a friend or family member every day. (Good idea but not quite it.) Volunteer. (Feel kind of rushed at this point to find something I’m really excited about.) One of my commenters shared an exhaustive list, chock full of ideas from the lofty to the goofy.

On my bike commute this morning I started thinking about the whole point of this challenge in the first place: simply to do what I miss doing when I’m in the thick of training. It suddenly seemed so obvious. Figure out what I want to do, and do it. So I started throwing ideas around, with no one to judge them or drown them out but the crashing waves along my 12-mile route.

With the help of Wordle, I present my own 30 days of mini challenges. My rules? Accomplish one thing from this personal bucket list per day during the month of August. Some I won’t get to. Some are impossible to complete in a day. All that matters is that it fits within the rules of “something I’ve been wanting to do.” A little vague, but full of things that I want to do. I’ll be posting a short recap every day, which you can find under the “30 day challenge” tab on the main menu. (Despite the sound of the title, I’ll still be swimming, biking, and running, just not with goals, plans, or stress.)

Call it a challenge, call it a mini happiness project; whatever it is, August, I’m ready for you.

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Here’s the list in more traditional form, to which I’ll likely add things I forgot to include in the graphic above. I’m also going to keep a running tally.

Bake
Call an old friend
Call my grandparents
Host more
Start my day by the sea
Volunteer
Be adventurous
Try a new fermentation project
Social media hiatus
Go mountain biking
Swim in the ocean
Be positive all day
Strength train
Can stuff
Catch up on sending gifts and cards
Go to an outdoor movie at Stone
Go camping
Try a Pinterest pin
Make food for someone
Visit friends in LA
Make a week of lunches on Sunday
Volunteer
Do yoga
Read something on paper
Cook something new
Learn French
Try a new food