Ben Beard Is on a Quest to Assist Others by Swimming the English Channel
Proper now, 35-year-old Ben Beard of Las Cruces, NM, is busy managing his residence building and gross sales firm, whereas additionally juggling intense prep for the problem of a lifetime. Beard is elevating cash with a purpose to assist younger folks attain their academic and enterprise potential, and can bravely swim the English Channel in assist of The Grant Cardone Foundation. Impressed, and desperate to learn the way the enterprise man, and father of 4, is preparing for such an epic problem, M&F took a ‘deep dive’ into his motivations and coaching forward of this final check of energy and endurance.
Swimming the English Channel is not any imply feat. The slim 21 mile (32 kilometer) stretch of water, between the southern coast of England and the northern fringe of France endures changeable climate and as such, completion occasions range wildly as a result of particular person athlete’s personal means and the unpredictable surroundings that they have to battle by way of. The average swim time, nonetheless, is 13 hours, 33 minutes, and 54 seconds whereas a document of 6 hours and 55 minutes has been held by Australia’s Trent Grimsey since 2012.
So then, the primary query is easy: What attracts an expert man like Beard to throw himself into the deep finish like this? “I first learn Grant Cardone’s books; ‘The 10X Rule’ and ‘Be Obsessed or Be Common’ in 2017,” he says. “At the moment, I used to be getting ready to start out my enterprise; Pink Cliff Properties. I had approached some land sellers with a small thought to get my enterprise began. Then, after their lukewarm reception, I noticed that possibly I wanted to go greater to make the deal extra engaging to them, so I actually adopted the teachings I had learn, and multiplied by pitch by 10. This led to me getting began by myself within the residence constructing enterprise, and allowed me to scale up rapidly, closing 27 properties my first 12 months in enterprise.”
Having gained a lot perception from the Grant Cardone Basis, a non-profit group that goals to offer profession steerage and academic sources, notably to the younger and weak, Beard felt the necessity to pay it ahead, and set himself a goal of elevating $50,000 for the trigger. Right here’s how he’s gone from land developer to lengthy distance swimmer.
Rekindling Outdated Passions
Ben Beard selected to swim the English Channel, partially, as a approach to rekindle an previous ardour. Nicely, they do say that it is best to observe your interior compass! He started swimming in highschool the place, initially, he wasn’t a fan of distance swimming however having caught with it, additionally retaining a toe in throughout school, Beard realized that getting into the water was not simply an effective way to remain in bodily form, as he felt a variety of psychological advantages too. “I benefit from the probability to close out the world and simply swim,” he says. “It’s form of like meditation for me, with the possibility to clear my head whereas working my physique to the purpose of exhaustion. Chilly water provides to the head-clearing facet of swimming and in addition tends to make me hyper conscious of my physique, in order that I can give attention to which muscle tissues are sore and any slight inner temperature modifications that my physique goes by way of throughout lengthy swims.”
By way of his latest coaching, Beard says that he’s realized that swimming the channel isn’t purely a bodily problem, noting that it is usually “about psychological toughness to face up to the chilly, the monotony, and loneliness.”
Placing within the Hours
The entrepreneur gained’t be rocking as much as the English Channel unprepared and has been coaching for 3-years to make this swim regardless of the calls for of a busy day job. Long distance swimming requires great stamina and cardio vascular conditioning. “I hold a operating complete of hours swam every month in my planner, to make it possible for I’m staying on monitor with my coaching objectives,” he says. “I’ve had quite a lot of journey for work over the previous few months, so I’ve needed to be diligent about wanting forward of time for locations to swim whereas on work journeys. Many gyms provide a brief trial interval, and this has been very useful, and native metropolis recreation services are additionally nice locations to coach more often than not. I additionally deliver operating garments with me to get in a run if I gained’t be capable of swim. Final week, I acquired caught in dangerous climate whereas flying and ended up having an sudden 7-hour layover. The late arrival that night time meant that I’d not be capable of swim earlier than my work conferences, so I modified garments within the airport lavatory, discovered a personal spot to stash my baggage, and went on a 2-mile run within the airport!”
Making the Weight
“I realized after signing-up that marathon swimming shouldn’t be a 6-pack and ripped muscle tissues form of sport,” says Beard. “Most profitable channel swimmers are pretty heavy, and people who aren’t will typically must placed on weight with a purpose to stand up to the cold-water temperatures; anticipated to be roughly 60 F on the time of my swim. So, I’ve been deliberately gaining weight during the last 12 months.”
Since Beard is swimming loads in his coaching, he’s burning a ton of energy, so gaining weight is a problem. He’s countered this with “calorie restoration” meals after lengthy swims. He may also want to determine what he’ll eat throughout his English Channel swim, with a purpose to maintain energy levels. Whereas enterprise the problem, Beard can have a ship pilot and staff that can get feeds to him. These feeds can differ relying on people tastes, and a few swimmers go for liquid dietary supplements, however the principle factor is that the meals ought to be simple to seize and eat. “Over the previous few months, I’ve been experimenting with completely different meals for my ‘feeds’ in the course of the swim,” he says. “I’ve settled on re-fried black beans, with numerous additional butter, in addition to calorie dense mashed potatoes, each of which will likely be sucked out of pouches like these designed for feeding a child. Potatoes are very excessive in potassium, and with the combo of beans and potatoes I’ll have a mixture of proteins and slower burning, longer-lasting carbs. I’ll additionally add in a small sweet bar for these brief, fast bursts of sugar after I actually need it. Throughout coaching, I drink a mixture of plain water and electrolyte drinks however in the course of the channel swim, electrolytes aren’t as vital because of being surrounded by salt water. So, I’ll drink scorching chocolate for each the added warmth, in addition to the additional sugar content material.”
In search of Professional Recommendation
Beard is attacking this English Channel swim in the identical approach that he plans a housing improvement, by utilizing knowledgeable recommendation and data to realize the very best consequence. He’s regularly difficult the space that he can swim within the harsh parts and has additionally sought perception from people who have gone earlier than him. “After I set the purpose in 2019, my spouse acquired me a e-book written by a profitable English Channel swimmer: ‘Preserve Calm and Swim to France: Tales of an English Channel Swimmer’ by Mark Ransom,” he says. “Then, in June 2022, I accomplished a swim throughout Bear Lake in northern Utah as a part of my coaching. My information on that swim was a former English Channel swimmer, Joelle Brown-Beard (no relation) whom I linked with on Fb. From Joelle I acquired some nice recommendation round upping my coaching. After I swam with Joelle, I anticipated that the lake crossing could be 6 miles and take round three hours. Nevertheless it really took 6 hours to swim 6.9 miles. The water was 54ºF, in order that was part of my slower than anticipated time however it additionally gave me a wake-up name that it’s good to severely practice for these kind of swims.”
Since then, Beard has ramped as much as the place he’s now often swimming 10-12 hours per week. one to 1.5 hours on a weekday, and 5 to six-plus hours on Saturdays. With 3 years of coaching below his belt, Beard now considers himself to be a sophisticated swimmer however at all times keep in mind: It is very important search skilled recommendation and supervision when enterprise lengthy distance swims.
His English Channel swim is scheduled for June 8-15, dependant on climate and tidal situations, and The Channel Swimming Affiliation may also be available, to look at the swim and make it possible for it’s ratified.
“My foremost goal is to efficiently full the swim, irrespective of how lengthy it takes,” says Beard. “I’m not doing this to set a document or grow to be an expert marathon swimmer, however to finish a life purpose. It doesn’t need to look fairly, I simply need to get it completed. I’ll be thrilled it doesn’t matter what my time is!”
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