You are reading Books & Biceps #274!

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BOOKS

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow

At the height of his wealth in the 1920s, John D. Rockefeller, Sr. was worth nearly a half-trillion dollars when adjusting for modern inflation. That’s double what today’s richest man, Elon Musk is worth (240 billion or so). But unlike Musk, Rockefeller came from nothing. His father was a con man who regularly abandoned his family. His mother barely made ends meet.

At age 16, in 1855, it took him weeks of knocking on doors in a suit, pitching local Cleveland businesses his services as a bookkeeper before he got his first job. His salary as an apprentice: $4/week.

From that first position, Rockefeller began the single greatest rise in wealth in the history of money.

By the time he retired, he’d bested Carnegie, Vanderbilt, JP Morgan and all of his contemporaries as the richest man on earth.

This book, as you’d expect from Chernow, is meticulously researched and loaded with anecdotes and cool stories. Entrepreneurs could pull entire master classes from how he built Standard Oil by controlling every aspect of his supply chain, from trains and barges to iron to barrels to every facet of production and shipping.

I was more interested in who Rockefeller was, especially outside of business. Like, what the hell do you do with all that money when you’re only 45 or 50 years old?

One answer? Build golf courses and hire maintenance teams to keep them open during the winter - even in the snow.

In one of my favorite stories in the book, Rockefeller would regularly call his friends to play snow golf on the 12-hole course he’d built in the Pocantico Hills in Westchester County, NY.

His friends would think he was joking, but they’d show up and “a team of workmen with horses and snowplows was assiduously clearing snow from five fairways and putting greens, carving out a shimmering green course in the wintry landscape… A full-time crew was charged with keeping the greens clear, and they went out in the early mornings to wipe dew or ice from the grass with special mowers, rollers and bamboo poles.”

He bragged that he played “Rockefeller rounds” in temperatures as low as 20 degrees.

In 1906 Rockefeller spent over $400,000 (in today’s money) on golf upkeep alone.

These are the kinds of stories I look for in books like this. And there’s a million of them. If you’ve ever been curious about Rockefeller, read this biography. It’s amazing. One warning: It’s about 700 pages.

BICEPS

I don’t recommend movies in the ‘Biceps"‘ section too often, but if you haven’t watched Nyad, on Netflix, give it a shot. Yes, I’m partial to swimming, and yes, I’ve competed in a bunch of 1 and 2 mile ocean swims so the topic is right in my wheelhouse… BUT, the story of how Nyad trained and swam from Cuba to Florida (110 miles) as a 64-year-old in the open ocean over 53 hours is remarkable.

The movie obviously ends with her final attempt at the swim, but the bulk of the film covers her half-dozen failed attempts and the challenges that came with each: tropical storms that almost drowned her, seas so choppy the guide boat lost her, jellyfish that nearly killed her, sharks that tried to attack her, currents that endlessly shoved her back… and that is to say nothing of having to swim in the ocean for two days straight without sleep or rest, battling hallucination, hunger and pain.

Nyad’s feat is a story of guts, grit, redemption, inspiration, motivation and every other -ation… If you’ve ever felt that you were too old to take on a physical challenge or to train for something or that your best days were behind you, this movie is for you. If a 64-year-old women can lift weights 5 days a week, do regular yoga and pilates sessions and swim in the pool for four, six and eight hour sessions every day to build up stamina, what’s your excuse?

Nyad is a tough cookie, often unlikeable even (self-admittedly), but after you watch this and go down the rabbit hole of what she’s accomplished, you’ll want to find your own white whale of a challenge and take it head on. Watch the trailer here.

Quick Flexes

I came up with a meathead 5k that I think you’ll enjoy.

I’ve been running weekly since my triathlon and competed in several 5ks since, but I still hate running. One thing I’ve realized, though, is that it’s not so much running that I don’t enjoy, it’s the continuous running.

I actually like getting up early and hitting the pavement for a half-hour or so with sunrises like this one from my run around the lake Tuesday:

But I also like breaking up the run. So, I’m introducing what I now affectionately call:

The Finkel 5K

Run 1 Mile

Do 100 Push-Ups (4 × 25)

Run 1 Mile

Do 50 Wide Push-Ups (2 × 25)

Run 1 Mile

Do 50 Diamond Cutter Push-Ups (2 × 25)

Cool down jog for final .2 miles…

Now you’ve got 200 push-ups and a 5k done, with “breaks” from running while you get jacked. Perfect!

This week would have been the Macho Man Randy Savage’s 71s birthday.

As you all know, I’m wrapping my biography of Macho as we speak (cover reveal coming soooooon!) and I shared this story as a teaser in honor of his birthday:

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Are you an AUDIO BOOK fan? 

I’ve long resisted, but recently become a fan and have one or two going right now… I like them for fiction and have been listening to them in place of podcasts during drives…

A nice way to “read” a few more books a year.

If you love audiobooks or are thinking of joining Audible, use this link below and support Books & Biceps:

→ USE THIS LINK for an awesome Audible Premium Deal

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Thank you all for reading.

Have a great weekend! - Jon

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