Most of you have seen the story by now about former professional football player Rob Konrad. A few days ago he fell off his fishing boat while deep sea fishing. He was nine miles off the Florida coast with no life jacket, at night with 10-12 foot swells.
There is an image of retired football players as not particularly fit. Massive lineman; beat up from various surgeries and gaining weight like it’s their new job.
Not so here.
Rob Konrad swam for 16 hours in water 25 degrees below his body temperature. He was stung by jellyfish and even circled by a shark. If you watch the video of his press conference, you can get some idea of what he went through. Unbelievable. Professional distance swimmer Diana Nyad was incredibly impressed by the feat. She noted that her record-breaking distance swims were preceded by intense training and each run escorted by a team handing her water and nourishment.
She correctly commented, “It was a 16 hour survival test many would not survive.” Can you say – understatement?
I realize Rob Konrad is not over 50. He looks relatively young in the photos I have seen. Youth certain helps. I’m not sure about you, but the first thing that popped into my mind was, could I have done that?
Not likely.
This is not through any lack of determination or competitive nature. I am simply highly accomplished at sinking. In fact, when I attended BU, I was one of the few athletes who could not stay afloat even under the instruction of swimming coach, Reigh “Doc” Wetmore (yes, his real name). He has come up with a technique for survival floating in the water for extended periods using the body’s natural buoyancy.
I sank like a stone.
There are many ways to stay fit, I have never turned to swimming to do so. Maybe it’s time. This story of survival has inspired me. Knowing that this guy did something I have little chance to emulating despite my fitness background.
The key is having something, anything you love to do that keeps you involved with fitness. I know I sometimes tease distance runners about the strain that puts on the joints, etc….but I’m guessing the distance runners I know would also have had a chance to complete the nine mile journey Rob Konrad faced.
Some of you may know this story, but there is a real life ‘event’ which inspired me to form the Boomer Blueprint. If you have 5 minutes, I would like to tell it to you in the video below. This is why I have a love-hate relationship with water…
By the way, that is NOT a screen behind me. It was one of the most dense morning fogs I had ever seen on the lake and I quickly saw the chance to tell my story with some unique background.
Check it out…