The year was 1989.

I was the sixth bicyclist to complete a 12.5-mile route to reach the transfer point for the final leg of the Eppie’s Great Race team competition that was a 6.35-mile paddling event in the American River back to the start point of the initial leg, a 5.82-mile run.

When I was first approached to be part of a team by a Youth for Christ pastor who at age 25 was seven years younger, I wasn’t interested at all.

There was a good reason. He was a former collegiate cross-country runner and had the fourth best Amateur Athletic Union time his last season running as a teen in Northern California.

As for me, I was 32 and had been bicycling almost on a daily basis two years after dropping 140 pounds. I had never competed in any race on a bicycle or otherwise.

I also was not athletic and I was average at best when it came to bicycling fast.

He finally convinced me it would be fun.

Did I mention he also told me not to worry as he had a “ringer” for the paddle leg, a gentleman from Ukiah that a friend put him in contact with. The “ringer” happened to have been on the United States kayak team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

The team runners took off first on the land course that was along the American River Bike Trail in Sacramento.

My team’s runner — the youth pastor — was the second to reach the transfer point where the cyclists were waiting.

I felt really good that I completed the 12.5 mile cycling leg — more like a time trial than a road race — with only three solo competitors passing me up.

I pedaled back to the starting point to meet up with the other team members including the wife of the runner. 

It wasn’t a joyous occasion.

The runner has just finished berating the 50-year-old plus kayaker who struggled on the water.

The kayaker, a virtual stranger to the man who was verbally assailing him for his effort, said he didn’t need to listen to the rant and walked away.

Meanwhile, his tormentor and the guy that convinced me doing Eppie’s Great Race would be fun, slammed a couple of oranges into the ground loudly complaining we failed to finish in the top five in the team division.

His wife apologized saying her husband was an intense competitor.

As for me, I was ecstatic when I first learned we finished 14th out of 150 plus teams but was anything but joyous after hearing from the guy we were nothing but losers thanks to the kayaker “ringer” not making an effort.

I learned two valuable lessons that day.

One was that there is a difference between sports and simply trying to get or stay fit. It is a difference that obliterate exercising being fun or personally satisfying.

The other was that one doesn’t have to be an athlete to be healthy.

In fact, if you think you have to compete in an organized sport, team or individual, to pursue a healthier and more active lifestyle — you are wrong.

You might channel Walter Mitty — the 1930s era adult male character created by John Thurber who day dreamed of being a great athlete.

But you should never equate fitness skills to needing to be a successful athlete.

The reason is simple.

If you tie your fitness and health success to doing well in a sport, it can be really easy to give up.

I did complete in one more competitive race after that.

It was in 1991 at a criterium on a course near Turlock High that some friends talked me into doing.

I finished dead last in the category four division of 17 riders. And I mean dead last by a wide margin.

I finished 17th. It would have been 19th, but two riders a lot younger than myself were disqualified after they sat out three laps on the back side of the course and then jumped back in.

Exercising is a key part to pursuing lifestyle changes when it comes to health and fitness.

Over the last 30 years, my times whether it was running or bicycling or my skill levels at team endeavors such as basketball would qualify as less than stellar. Ok, let’s be honest. They were, and are, borderline pathetic.

But I have checked almost all the boxes when it has come to the right numbers whether it is blood work or heart rate thanks to exercise and diet.

I did that while being a self-confessed klutz with suboptimal coordination.

I get that some people need to exercise with others whether it is bicycling or hitting the health club for an organized class.

I’ve done more than my share of organized aerobic and light weight lifting classes.

That said, I find the entire experience of doing anything that remotely calls for comparisons such as how fast you cover a mile running/jogging or bicycling on a road bicycle stressful and unpleasant.

You don’t need to measure up to someone else to improve your health and fitness.

You just need to be consistent and dedicated to reasonable goals you set for yourself.

One does not need to run a five-minute mile to be healthy or fit.

Nor do you have to be a weekend warrior. 

What you need is to not set yourself up for failure.

And that means keeping it realistic.

The game you need to step up is yours, not LeBron James’.

That means you need to walk first.

If you’re walking, walk more, or walk faster.

And if and when you’re ready, perhaps try jogging.

The “race” you run in life is not against someone else. 

It is about you.