With en emphatic ’sorry’ and a mouthful of humility, I’ve finally managed to piece together the ABC Recap. I owe it to you - all of you - for giving me one of the best days of my life. Together, you all have raised $1,128.24 of your hard-earned money for the Nashville Rescue Mission, where, no doubt, lives will be changed. And, with your help, I completed a grueling physical and mental challenge for myself.
Starting with the Birthday Challenge in January, the past weeks have been action packed. Here’s a glimpse:
- Gambling away my travel money in Las Vegas’s airport (well, only $3 in quarters)
- A failed summit attempt of Oregon’s Mt. Hood at 3am in the morning
- Bicycle commuting and pickup Ultimate frisbee game in Portland, OR - with snow on the ground
- Eating Voodoo Doughnuts while reading in Powell’s bookstore
- Driving up and down Hwy 1 (twice) along the Pacific coast with stops for sunsets (please, please, please make this drive once in your life)
- Visiting the beautiful Stanford University campus and decision to go there for school (for what I don’t know, but I must go)
- San Francisco night life, 2am pizza, magnificent public transit, and a hidden (well, less touristy) beach with views of the Golden Gate Bridge
- Transocean flight to Hong Kong only to stay in a dingy “guesthouse” before heading to Shenzhen, China the next day.
- 5-day stay in elegant Sichuan Hotel (Karmic reimbursement for “guesthouse” stay)
- Poking and prodding by Chinese “doctors” as part of a routine health exam to get a visa
- Bus rides that seem more like roller coaster rides (in fact, if I ever open my own theme park, I will have a ride called the ‘Shenzhen Tong’ (Chinese for transportation))
- Trying to buy things for my apartment while the only words I’ve mastered are “thank you” and “don’t want.”
- Eating chicken feet and the spiciest meal of my life just before catching the chinese flu
- Day long trek in the mountains NE of Shenzhen with group of people representing 10 different countries
- Speaking to a Japanese teacher through a German teacher who is translating the conversation from English to Chinese
Exhausting and exciting, yes, but just as exciting as one day in Nashville.
Here is a recap from the ABC Day:
6:35am - Awake from a fitful slumber by both my phone alarm and bedside alarm. As usual, I hit the snooze button.
6:40am - Pull myself out of bed and stumble to the bathroom for morning rituals; brushing teeth, putting in contacts, oatmeal, egg whites, and banana (and my first cupcake of the day = way better than Wheaties).
7:15am - Throw together my running gear and head over to the parking lot for the start of the morning run. As I’m leaving, the temperature is 20 degrees. Participants: Ben, Jackie, Liberty, me- 3 hugs down just like that. The run starts nicely as we jog towards the rising sun. Thankfully, everyone is chatty, which keeps my mind 
occupied. When I look at my watch for the first time I’m astounded that 30 minutes have passed in what seemed like 10. This should be a quick run. Approaching mile 5, we prepare for the short but steep segment up Love Hill near 32nd Ave. After summiting, we all agree the hill wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be. Ben and I walk up the steps and pause for a few moments to take in the breathtaking view overlooking downtown Nashville. We plod down the way we came up and catch up with Jackie for the descent right passed John Rich’s (of country band Big & Rich) palatial condo-mansion-monstrosity under construction. The run finishes 1 hour and 22 minutes later. Ben keeps going for his additional five miles in preparation for the Country Music Marathon in April.
9:00am - Return to the house to grab some food, read, change into biking gear, and do 20 pushups and 20 situps. A hot cup of tea is just the remedy to get me back out into the cold. Just before I head back to the parking lot for the bike ride my parents show up; they unknowingly made the trip from Indiana the night before to surprise me and join in for part of the ride. At the parking lot I knock out 10 more pushups (to stay warm, mostly) and meet strangers 1 and 2 (two ladies finishing up a run with their dogs). We are joined by Tyler who heroically decides to ride in the bitter cold.
The ride begins around 10:30am and the first five miles are not fun. By the time we reach the end of Belle Meade Boulevard, both Tyler and I are battling numb feet and hands. We hop off the bikes, take our shoes off, and feverishly rub our toes between our hands. Thank goodness for friction; the feeling (somewhat) returns to our feet. My parents make their turnaround and head home. [I find out later in the night that they both took pretty bad spills on their bikes after running over frozen runoff on the roadside. My dad's bike suffered a broken derailer and my mom a red gash and 6 inch wide bruise on her left forearm near the elbow. ] Meanwhile, Tyler and I are battling other effects of the cold and wind. We crank up the pace out of necessity, not desire. The hope is to ride harder to increase our body temperatures without blasting our legs. After leaving the park, we butt up against a stiff and cold 15mph headwind. After a few minutes, I begin to feel what seems like vertigo. My vision becomes blurred and everything feels surreal. We finally turn around and discuss the headwind segment to find out that Tyler’s vision went blurry, too. We conclude it’s from the cold (and that we are idiots for riding in this). Although our feet remained numb, the rest of the ride was exponentially more enjoyable. The sun peeked out around mile 18, so we enjoyed a finish that reminded us why we ride. Tyler likened it to receiving your first bike as a child. The result: FREEDOM. For me, it’s also the freedom. But, the bike also allows you to experience the world differently; more intimately. The wind on the face and hum of the tires is something that can’t be felt inside the cage of steel and glass. With these thoughts in mind, the turn-in to the parking lot is bittersweet. The total ride time was 1h 54m for 24 miles and the ride turned out to be more mentally than physically demanding. A special thank you to Tyler for braving the worst and best ride ever. I would not have made it without him.
12:30pm - Return to the house for another quick clothes change and to grab my climbing gear. As I got off the bike, my numb toes wouldn’t support any weight, so I hobbled to my room where I lay on the floor in sadistic agony while the blood flow resumed to my throbbing toes. The pain pinned me down for about 15 minutes. What a glorious moment when feeling returned to my feet. I finished 20 more pushups and headed to Climb Nashville.
1:10pm Climbing gym - Tony and John W. are already waiting, which is quite a pleasant surprise. I’ve bouldered after a bike ride, but never after a run and ride, so the support was vital. If you are unfamiliar with bouldering, it basically consists of short, technical climbing routes about 10-12 feet high. There are no ropes, but a fall is broken by thick padding. Tony volunteers to keep tabs of my routes and pullups and suggests I knock out 10 pullups as a warm up and for pacing. I warm up with a few recreational (R) boulder problems and then mix in a few intermediates (I). John R. his family show up and snap some photos (I think they might start climbing now) and Chris R. stopped by just to show some support. On my 23rd route I decide to try an intermediate problem I had been working on for a month. I had never completed it fully and even failed it twice around my 4th route of the day. Because of the support from everyone there, I finished the problem for the first time. That sense of accomplishment was the highlight of the day so far. After 24 problems, I finished up the gym portion with 29 more pullups (in sets of 9/7/7/4/2) - the last of which took me to fatigue. My previous best for pullups in a day was 30. In the gym, I met strangers 3 and 4.
2:30pm - Drove to Centennial Park straight from Climb Nashville where good friend David C. was waiting. Braving the wind and cold again, we started the task of completing 240 frisbee throws and catches. During a normal game of Ultimate frisbee, there is quite a bit of running, jumping, throwing, and catching (for those of you unfamiliar with Ultimate, here is a short video and resources)[and NUM website]. Thus, I thought simply throwing and catching would be easy. I was wrong. Instead, the fatigue in my legs made it tough to make good throws, especially into the wind. As a result, I probably threw over 300 throws, the additional throws sailing over someone’s head or into the ground. Plus, I dropped quite a few throws from lack of concentration. Tony, Jackie, and John also joined. Roughly 45 minutes later we completed the 220th throw and catch and I decided to save the last 20 for the party that evening.
Jumped in my car and raced back to my house to grab my running gear, which I conveniently forgot when leaving for the climbing gym. Met strangers 5, 6, and 7 (three ladies from Louisiana - I took a picture of them in front of the Parthenon).
4:05pm - Back to Centennial Park, where Sam was waiting to start the final run. Scarfed down 1.5 bananas and half an energy bar. Sam and I set out for the notably hilly course. As we ran down West End Ave, knowing my time to meet people was running out, I began my assault on unknowing strangers. My elevator pitch: “Hi - can I ask you a favor? I’m trying to run 24 kilometers and meet 24 new people. My name is Adrian. What is your name?” Not suave, but it made for some lighthearted moments, several laughs, and a great memory. I met strangers 8-24 on the run (sorry for stopping so often, Sam). We stopped briefly at the Nashville Rescue Mission and snapped some quick photos before a lap around the Tennessee Titan’s stadium for a few snapshots of Nashville and the return back up Broadway to Centennial Park, which included hills 4, 5, and 6. The final time was 7.2 miles in 1h08m (a brisk 9:… minute/mi). At this point my legs were aching and trembling and the lack of quality food was showing signs. I thought this would be a great time to take a nap….but still so much to do.
5:30pm - Back to the house where I consumed the final drops of my 1 gallon of Kool-aid mix (seriously; it has the same ingredients as Gatorade powder and is %50 cheaper). I popped 2 more cupcakes into my mouth and setoff to finish my pushups (40) and sit-ups (20). I recited and recorded my 24 Chinese phrases with the help of my professional translator, Liberty. I messed up on 3 pronunciations and the tones weren’t perfect, but I can say “Where is the bathroom?” “Cheers” and “I really like to play frisbee (flying plate),” in Chinese. I read for about 30 more minutes while stretching. After glancing at my watch, I realized I was going to be late for my own party at 7pm, so I jumped in the shower and threw on some clothes before heading over.
7:15pm - Kimberly had her house set for the party of the Century with amazing dishes covering the tables. We popped in three CDs of songs from 1985 (thanks again to Maestro David C. who put together my entire playlist for the day). Soon enough John R. hustled in with 24 “chocolate chocolate” cupcakes (one with a spiral candle thanks to his daughters). Slowly, guests began to filter in. Glenn presented me with several food gifts of which he presumed I would not be able to find in China; Milwaukee’s Best, a chocolate and strawberry Moon Pie, a bag of Pork Rinds (main ingredient - Pork Rinds), a Marshmallow Pie, and a Pecan Pie. I worked the chocolate Moon Pie down with the Milwaukee’s Best, savoring it while realizing I wouldn’t be eating these treats for quite some time (ever?). I also finished off the 24 hugs at the party, hugging every single guest.
Around 11:20pm - Myself and a few others stepped outside into the brisk evening air to complete the last 20 frisbee throws and catches. Ryan B. insisted throwing his from the other side of the fence before heading back inside for warmth. Beth also showed up with gifts - two guidebooks from her travels in SE Asia and pointed out all the hot (and not hot) spots. Overall, thanks to the gracious host and the wonderful guests, the party turned out to be an enjoyable get together. Existing friends came together to strike up new relationships. Unfortunately, I had to say many “see you later”s (I don’t like goodbyes).
12:30am - The Challenge is officially over and I’m officially exhausted. I head for home where I make the sure the alarm is off - I’m destined to sleep as long as my body needs. As my head hits the pillow, I can’t hold back a giant smile as I think back through the most challenging, yet, by far, best day of my life.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been delighted to hear others brainstorming ideas for their own birthday challenges. I can’t wait to hear about them. Be bold. Be unrealistic.
In the meantime, my mind is right back at work churning up ideas for next year. If you have any, please share. Needless to say, it’s going to be a bit tougher and a little more challenging - just the way it should be.
Again, I can’t say thank you enough - although a “thank you” post will follow. I couldn’t have done this without the help and support of everyone - from cupcakes, to CDs, to running and riding partners. Every word of encouragement pushed me a few steps further. And every show of support engraved the day into my memory that much deeper. Without it, I would have stopped short. Without you, I wouldn’t have pushed myself to do these crazy things. And so, I say a belated birthday challenge thank you with the most love and respect I’ve ever put into words. THANK YOU.
