February 27, 2025 • 28 mins
Does the illusion of wasting away in retirement scare you? Do you long to be active, travel, and make new friends?
Then listen up!
In this episode of Courageous Retirement, Mike Weeks shares his transformative journey into the Senior Olympics. Discover how Mike rejuvenated his life post-retirement by diving into competitive swimming and other sports, leading to better health and new friendships.
Mike and host, Vona Johnson, discuss:
- the impact of having goals,
- the variety of events in the Senior Olympics, and
- how this vibrant community offers physical, social, and emotional benefits.
If you're looking for inspiration and practical advice on staying active and engaged during retirement, this conversation is a must-listen.
00:00 Introduction to an Inspiring Journey
01:05 Meet Michael Weeks: A Senior Olympian
01:59 Discovering the Senior Olympics
08:44 The Health Benefits of Staying Active
10:34 Encouragement for Future Senior Olympians
12:43 The Community and Camaraderie of Senior Games
21:52 The Growing Popularity of Pickleball
23:46 Final Thoughts and Encouragement
27:13 Conclusion and Upcoming Episodes
Quotes:
"I saw that 10 lane competition pool and I said, that's going to add five years to my life." Mike Weeks speaking of the new pool in his hometown.
"You don't know what the future holds. You don't know if there's an illness coming up. You don't know if you're going to have enough money to make it to the line. There's a lot of anxiety involved with that [retirement]." Mike Weeks
Connect with the Senior Games near you: https://nsga.com/state-games-information/
I'd love to hear from you! Send me a text message!
Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to Engage Your Faith and Live Your More as you reap the benefits of Courageous Retirement!
To watch the video, check out my YouTube Channel!
Learn more about the show, author Vona Johnson, and more at CourageousRetirement.com!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Vona Johnson (00:00):
If I tell you about something that could help
(00:02):
you bring in something that youused to do as a younger child or
adult, would allow you to travela little bit, meet some new
people, set some goals and getexcited about life again.
Would you try it out?
Michael Weeks did all of thosethings and he is such an
inspiration to me because hewent all in.
(00:24):
He saw a brand new 50 meter poolhis new health facility in the
community and he realized thatthat was going to change his
life.
And boy did it.
I hope you'll stick around andhear his story on how he got
involved in the Senior Olympicsand it was everything and more
than he could have imagined.
(00:44):
I hope you'll join us.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Do you fear what lies beyond retirement?
What if it's a gateway to a lifefilled with purpose, meaning,
and adventure rather than anend?
Discover peace and fulfillmentas you boldly enter this new
chapter in CourageousRetirement, a Christian podcast.
I'm your host, author and coach,Vanna Johnson.
Let's get started.
Vona Johnson (01:05):
Welcome, Mike, to this conversation.
Here on courageous retirement,and I like to think about it as,
trying something that we've nottried before.
And when I met you, I was like,this is something I want to
introduce to folks who may havenot ever considered themselves
as an Olympian, no less.
So today.
(01:26):
Today we're going to have agreat conversation with Mike
Weeks, my new friend who hasactually been to Pierre South
Dakota to participate in theSenior Olympics.
And I was like, what really?
So welcome, Mike.
I'm so excited to have you heretoday.
Mike Weeks (01:43):
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
And I, I really enjoyed my timein PIerre
Vona Johnson (01:47):
yeah, so Pierre South Dakota, that's not
someplace that you would thinkof people driving hours to get
here to participate in anything.
Much less, much less the SeniorOlympics.
First of all, I wanna knowyou're retired first of all.
Right?
Speaker (02:03):
I'm pretty sure I am.
Vona Johnson (02:07):
Somebody told you you were once.
Mike Weeks (02:09):
I think I am, but we'll see.
If somebody calls, you know, Iwould entertain the idea.
So going back in the workforce.
Well,
Vona Johnson (02:18):
But I think that that's, that's a good
distinction to make, though,before we jump into the whole
Senior Olympic thing, because, Imean, retirement, in some
circles, kind of has a bad name,right?
You don't want to retire, and I,I feel like those of us who have
worked our whole career for ourpension, our retirement funds,
should be proud and excited.
(02:41):
that we have the opportunity totake that resource that we've
been working towards our wholecareer and go do whatever it is
that God's calling us to do,right?
Mike Weeks (02:51):
Exactly
Vona Johnson (02:53):
So it might be, it might be another career
somewhere.
It might be doing somethingentirely different, but the
beauty of it is that he hasprovided for us and he gives us
that opportunity to do what weenjoy, that we can, we can have
fun with.
Right.
Speaker (03:13):
Absolutely.
Vona Johnson (03:14):
So in this season, in this moment, you are retired,
doesn't mean it's forever, butyou are out doing something that
I think sounds like must be alot of fun.
When I talk to you about it, itsounds like you're having a lot
of fun.
Speaker (03:30):
I do have a lot of fun traveling to different senior
Olympic events.
Vona Johnson (03:36):
So how did you get started in the senior Olympic
movement, that, that activity?
Speaker (03:41):
In 2017, Batesville, Arkansas, where I live, was in
the process of building a 21million community center.
Inside that center, they hadbasketball courts, a walking
track, a workout facility, anoutdoor pool, um, therapy pool,
(04:03):
kiddie pool.
But my big thing was the 10 lanecompetition pool.
I had, when I was five yearsold, six, seven, uh, I would
swim and I was really good atit.
Um, uh, went and got, got alittle heavy, maybe in like
third, fourth grade, and Iwasn't beating people like I
(04:25):
was, so I kind of got out of theswimming thing, so.
But when I went in on July the5th of 2017 and did a tour of
this venue, I saw that 10 lanecompetition pool and I said,
that's going to add five yearsto my life.
So I started swimming, you know,three, four times a week, maybe,
(04:50):
um, it's getting better, gettingbetter, getting the rust off,
you know, I felt like, you know,things were, I'm getting, I'm, I
need to find out more about ifthere's some where I could
compete in this.
So I looked up Arkansas SeniorOlympics and, uh, the, there was
a new director, for the stateand he was just trying to get it
(05:12):
back on track.
And he was having a swim meetand a golf tournament in the
same weekend.
So I went and I played golf,entered the swim meet.
got the gold medal in golf, gotthe eight gold medals in
swimming.
I was hooked.
Vona Johnson (05:31):
That would do it.
That would do it.
Speaker (05:33):
I mean, that was, that was the end of that.
So that's what got me into it.
And then, being a healthcaresales guy selling business
office services, I've beentraveling a lot.
So had the airline miles, hotelpoints, rental car points.
So I was able to go to a lot ofthese states that, uh, had,
(05:55):
events like Arkansas andparticipate in senior games.
And I probably go to about sevenor eight events a year outside
of Arkansas.
Vona Johnson (06:05):
So were you retired at that point?
Okay, so you were, swimming forfun and then started competing,
in your nights, your weekends,whatever, right?
Speaker (06:14):
Yeah.
It'd be a weekend thing.
Or, you know, a lot of thesestates will have a Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, Sunday deal,much like what South Dakota
does.
Right.
Right.
And so I might just try to takeout on a plane on Wednesday,
late, the last flight onWednesday, compete Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, fly home andget back to work again.
Vona Johnson (06:39):
I love that because, when I talk about
courageous retirement, you know,you automatically go to the
retirement end of that.
But part of it is thinking aboutWhat am I going to do when I
don't get up every Mondaymorning and go to work?
And so I talk about finishingwell, and it's finishing well,
(06:59):
both in our career and whatwe're going to do to leave that
in a good place, leave ourlegacy in that place.
But it's also using that timewhen we're starting to dream a
little bit about retirement,because that's, that's a
reality, right?
When you're still working, andyou're You know, however far out
(07:20):
that is.
I mean, there's a lot of fearbehind retiring because people
don't want to just sit aroundand twiddle their thumbs all
day.
So I love how we start in doingthings that we enjoy and realize
that that can be an extension,then we can step into that
further.
Once we do take that leap, wouldyou agree with that?
Speaker (07:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Just, uh, You don't, you don'tknow what the future holds.
You don't know, you don't knowif there's an illness coming up.
You don't know if you're goingto have enough money to make it
to the line.
There's a lot of anxietyinvolved with that.
Vona Johnson (07:57):
Yeah, there is and part of it is trusting, taking
that leap, even when we don'tknow, knowing that, you know,
God's got a plan and it's goingto be okay.
But what I loved was youmentioned when you were talking
about getting into it, when yousaw that pool and you're like,
that's going to add five yearsto my life.
(08:17):
That's another thing that Ithink.
We don't often think about whenwe're thinking about retiring
and all the great things that wecan do and the travel and all of
that, we don't realize that thatthat really opens a door to the
opportunity to get morephysically fit than we've been
when we've been doing all the,you know, you were traveling for
work, but even if you're nottraveling, it's just hard to fit
(08:39):
that in a schedule when you'reworking 40 or more hours a week.
Talk a little bit about like thehealth benefits.
How do you feel differently nowthat you've been doing this for
a few years, gosh, eight yearsversus when you were still
working?
Speaker (08:54):
Well, I'll walk still a whole lot.
And, my 93 year old step mom,,was in a assisted living
facility.
In the villages in Florida andher doctors told her says, I can
tell that you have walked awhole lot because she's, you
(09:14):
know, she's strong enough to getaround.
And he said that the walkingreally helped her.
In today's world, and there'sjust some things that I do that,
you know, I pretty much walk upstraight, you know, and I think
have decent posture and, justthink that I'm, you know, fairly
(09:39):
fit, you know, when I'm, when Ihave a goal for another, state
Olympic games, and when I'mpracticing for that, I
definitely feel better when Ihave an event that I can plan
for and practice for that event.
I feel better, you know, when Iget closer to that event, it may
(09:59):
not be pretty when I start this,you know, this little episode
because there's, you know,there's seven or eight of these
that I do.
So after an event's over with, Imight be a little bit on the
tired side to where it take amaybe a week break and then get
ready for the next one.
But Overall, I feel pretty goodthat, um, I'm able to keep the
(10:22):
ticker running fine.
It seemed like I'm going to thedoctor and my blood pressure's
120 over 75.
And, you know, so everything,you know, staying in relatively
good health.
Vona Johnson (10:34):
If someone's listening today, and they're
like, Huh, never thought aboutSenior Olympics.
Not really sure that that's forme or not.
What would your advice be forsomeone to dip their toe in the
water, so to speak, and give ita try?
Speaker (10:48):
First off, I would say, what do they like to do
physically?
What do they, what do they thinktheir capabilities are?
Do, are they just a walker?
Can they run a little bit?
Do they like swimming?
Do they like golf?
You know, you could walk aroundand learn how to throw a Frisbee
(11:10):
and do disc golf.
You know, there's so manydifferent, thing I love
badminton.
I mean, I've had had so manypeople that I compete against
says, man, I used to do thiswhen I was a kid.
You know, I haven't done itsince.
I haven't done it for 50 years.
And, uh, it's, it's great to beable to get that excitement back
(11:33):
again to be able to do somethinglike that, something that you
can remember, have yourchildhood memories about.
And, um, so, I mean, I rememberswimming, you know, I remember
running on the track team,playing basketball, playing
football, and things like that.
So, to get back to that, have alittle goal to train for.
(11:56):
Uh, that's good for me.
But I would, I would asksomebody if they have Some, some
talent in a certain area thatthey might want to try to
compete in and just try it, youknow, just go do the power
walking, learn, get a video,YouTube video.
How do I power walk and thenjust figure that out?
(12:20):
If they want to branch out intoa 50 meter dash or a 100 meter
dash, or there's people thatlike to run long distances, they
may want to do a 1, 500 meterrun.
In, golf, usually the tee boxesare not as far back.
To where it, you can score alittle bit easier for me.
(12:41):
So I like, I like that part ofit.
But the biggest thing is, isjust the camaraderie.
When you were in high school andwhatnot, you know, you had all
the trash talking.
You know, you're not any good,I'm gonna Beat your pants off of
you and all this stuff.
And, uh, you don't normally getthat in Senior Games.
We're happy to be there.
Vona Johnson (13:03):
You know,
Speaker (13:03):
we are happy to be there and, and doing something
that we enjoy.
And we really root for eachother.
You know, it, that's, that's theunique part about Senior Games
to me.
Is, it's a community wherewe're.
We're all, uh, cheering for oneanother and we wanted each other
(13:23):
to do good, not get hurt, uh,and hopefully get out of the
weekend with no pulledhamstrings or whatever, so.
Vona Johnson (13:33):
Are there senior Olympics pretty much in every
state?
Are you, do you know?
Speaker (13:37):
Every state that I know of has senior games.
Vona Johnson (13:41):
Okay.
Speaker (13:42):
There's only two that I know that are closed states.
And that's Tennessee and NorthCarolina, every other state.
I can be in Arkansas and go toWyoming.
I can be in Arkansas and go toOregon, wherever those, they're,
they are open states andeverybody has their, if you can
(14:03):
kind of figure out that Floridais really hot in the summer,
Texas and San Antonio is reallyhot during the summer.
So Texas is about to starttheirs.
Florida likes to do theirs inDecember.
I mean, they'll do it in anoutdoor pool in December, you
know, in south of Orlandosomewhere, you know, so, but
(14:27):
then other states, othernorthern states like South
Dakota, Minnesota, Montana,whatever.
They'll have those anywhere fromJune 1st to Labor Day, Memorial
Day to Labor Day.
Most that's where most everybodydoes their Olympics.
Vona Johnson (14:48):
And I assume because of the variety of sports
that people can enter into anevent on some are indoors, some
are outdoors, you get kind of amix of all of that.
That'd be correct.
Speaker (14:59):
Right.
And track and field, alwaysoutside.
Uh, then there's, you got theseskills that you do.
You have basketball, three pointshooting, or free throws.
That's going to be in a gym, forthe most part.
Disc golf golf, swimming.
Swimming, for the most part, isindoors.
(15:19):
For the most part.
Um, and it's kind of amazingthat, you know, We go to
Kearney, Nebraska, and it's a 50meter outdoor pool.
That's unusual.
Vona Johnson (15:30):
We just built one here in Pierre.
Speaker (15:33):
Okay.
That's right.
That's right.
It was, it was, but the Y was areally good venue.
And we played badminton there.
Um, can't remember if we didanything else in the, in the Y
that weekend,
Vona Johnson (15:48):
earlier you mentioned that a lot of times
you get home after a weekend ofgames and you're really tired
and reminds me, when we talkedabout this a while back, you had
mentioned how many differentevents you can be involved in at
one of these.
Share that with us.
I was just like, what?
Speaker (16:07):
Well, like, South Dakota, what I like to do is
participate in events where Ican do all these events in four
days.
But I can compete in all thoseevents, and I can do golf, and
disc golf, maybe in the Themorning and the afternoon.
(16:28):
Go do a couple of track eventsthat evening.
Then come back and do trackevents the next morning.
Then go to badminton.
Do basketball free throws.
Then swimming's the next dayand, you know, that's, and I
like to swim all 16 events.
Some states don't allow you todo that.
(16:48):
And that's the, the freestylebreaststroke, backstroke,
butterfly.
Butterflies are a hard stroke todo because you got to bring
those shoulders around all thetime and lift yourself out of
the water to get to the nextstroke.
So, a lot of people don't,there's not too many people that
do a 200 meter butterfly.
(17:09):
I like to do it just to say Idid it.
Vona Johnson (17:11):
An easy gold, right?
Speaker (17:15):
I mean, it's just a mentality thing.
I just like to make sure justkind of said, I'm going to beat
this, you know, so, but then,they, they might be, horseshoes,
racquetball, other events thathappened maybe on that Sunday.
And then that's it, you know,then Hopefully, I've won 25, 30
(17:38):
medals and I go home and I sackout for a day and then, and then
get back after it again foranother weekend.
Vona Johnson (17:47):
Well, and that's, that's what I was just like, 25,
30 medals.
That's, that's a lot.
Speaker (17:52):
I keep busy while I'm at these places for sure.
Vona Johnson (17:55):
Well, I think that's really incredible.
I'm not competing in any Olympicgames or anything like that, but
I find, and I've kind of beenthis way probably forever.
Maybe everybody's this way.
And I just have become moreaware of it recently.
But if I have something on mycalendar, That I'm looking
forward to life is just a littlebit more exciting.
(18:17):
You know, it's like we did atrip to Yellowstone last fall
and we planned it, months inadvance.
And we go to a music festivalevery September and we have a
car show in the summer.
When you know that you've gotthat thing that's coming up,
it's good to have something tolook forward to.
Do you find that yourself as faras with your games and your
travels and all of that?
Speaker (18:38):
Oh, sure.
I mean, some of the stateshaven't totally gotten their
schedules down yet, but youknow, I know that, uh,
Mississippi's coming up.
You know, so I'm getting readyfor that.
Uh, Alabama's not too far in thedistant future, South Carolina.
Then you get into Iowa,Missouri.
(18:59):
Uh, then, then the crazy weekwhere you've got Nebraska, South
Dakota, Minnesota, and NorthDakota.
They're going to have all theirgames in 10 days.
Oh wow.
So that's a lot of events.
In a short period of time, and Ihope so.
Vona Johnson (19:20):
You literally could go from one state to the
next and then compete.
Speaker (19:23):
That's what, that's what I hope.
That's what I hope I'm, youknow, if they don't, it just
matters how they manipulatetheir schedules and if, where
can I get from here to there tothe, you know, is it if, are the
logistics.
It's easy enough to make ithappen.
Vona Johnson (19:40):
That's, that's exciting.
That's a lot.
So does, does your wife do thesewith you or you kind of, does
she like to enjoy the time whenyou're gone?
Speaker (19:50):
She doesn't like the limelight like I do.
I'm the ham, but I did coerceher one time to go to the
Arkansas senior games and dopower walking with me.
And, uh, she did badminton incornhole.
Oh.
And so she was the only femalethat participated.
(20:11):
And in that age, in her agegroup, she got a gold medal.
I thought that'd really lighther up, but not so much She's
Vona Johnson (20:20):
We all have our thing, right?
Speaker (20:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
She's a workout queen now.
I mean, she can, she can flatout do it in the gym a lot, a
lot.
Even more than me.
So, she, she can, she's veryfit.
So it's really, it's really goodto watch her.
Be able to move around,especially, I mean, the
grandkids, I tell you what, yougotta, you gotta be in shape to
(20:43):
keep up with the grandkids.
So you could be a seniorOlympian practicing for that,
and then a sideline job would beable to keep up with the
grandkids, so.
Vona Johnson (20:54):
Well, and I'm assuming that because you can do
all those different things, thatmakes it fun because you can do
those things with the grandkidsanytime.
I mean, you're, you know,there's a lot of grandparents
that are like, Oh no, no, no,I'm not going to do that.
But I'm pretty sure that yourgrandkids can talk you into
about anything, huh?
Speaker (21:12):
Well, the other day, uh, the oldest, he's, Almost
six.
He's, he got hold of the phone.
I guess he said, uh, daddy, Ineed to get the phone and call
Pop Pop.
And, uh, so we FaceTimed andsays, Pop Pop, you need to come
to see me.
We need to play pickleball.
(21:32):
Cause they had bought them apickleball net and some paddles
and a couple of pickleballballs, little plastic balls.
And, and so twist our arm.
Here we go.
An hour and a half later, we'retraveling down the road.
We're traveling down
Vona Johnson (21:46):
the road.
I love it.
So I assume that's one of thesports that someone can enter as
well.
Speaker (21:52):
It is.
And I've never playedpickleball.
in competition.
Yeah, it's, there's, it is thefastest growing sport in the
country, and Arkansas had 480participants.
Arkansas is a small state, andto have 480 participants was
(22:12):
Pretty amazing.
So, and that's the largest sportin every state that I know of,
that I've heard of.
Vona Johnson (22:20):
Yeah, we just, in addition to our new pool, we
also just put in new pickleballcourts in our, in our park here
in, in Pierre.
And what I was really impressedwith is the fact that the
pickleball players is like thecity gave them the land and
helped with really just anominal investment to help get
(22:40):
it going.
And all the pickleball playersraised all the funds and did all
the work.
And you know that they love thatsport when they'll make that
kind of a commitment for it.
So when
Speaker (22:51):
I walk around the track around this, there's three
basketball courts.
They can put three pickleballcourts.
On each basketball court, seethe way it's painted out so they
can have nine courts going andthey also have it on the outdoor
tennis court.
(23:12):
They've got another 4 courtsthat they could do if they
wanted to.
So they can have a smalltournament.
I mean, this, this venue that wehad in Cabot, Arkansas.
They probably had 40 courts, soit was a, it was a humongous
arena.
So, but I think, I think peopleenjoyed going there.
(23:35):
It was, that's a lot of peopleto get through and keep them
running, you know, so I thinkthey had mostly compliments for,
from Nevad.
Vona Johnson (23:45):
That's cool.
So, To wrap this up, one of thequestions that comes up for me
is, what would be, what wouldyou consider to be the, the
number one, the most compellingreason that someone would maybe
want to get involved in thesenior games?
(24:07):
If, if they hadn't, you know, Imean, whether they're athletic
or not or whatever, is, is therean overriding benefit that you
have seen from this that we maybe either we have or haven't
talked about, but that you wouldbe like, you just got to do it
for
Speaker (24:21):
this.
Have a goal to for a certainevent in your state.
Whatever that is, sign up forit, do the event, practice for
it, it'll make you feel better,it'll make you get in shape
somewhat, but then when you getto the event, for me, my
(24:41):
experience is that mosteverybody is very cordial,
they're glad you're there, youknow, they want to know a little
bit about you.
You know, maybe while you'rewaiting for your event, you've
got somebody sitting there andy'all just start this discussion
and they might become one ofyour best friends, you know, or
(25:01):
get them on Facebook orwhatever.
I mean, when I go to NorthDakota and these people that,
you know, I've seen them now forfour or five years.
And.
Uh, they're Facebook friends,you know, so you can, you can,
you know, meet people from otherstates, you know, if you go to a
different state or just peoplethat are in your state.
(25:23):
Um, but to me, it's thecamaraderie, you know,
everybody's for each other forthe most part.
Uh, it gives you a goal, get inshape, get active.
Uh, it'll, you know, it's just,Hey, I've got, I got to go walk,
uh, 3000 steps today.
I gotta go walk, you know, Igotta go walk again.
(25:45):
You know, I feel better when Ido that.
I just think it, it just givesyou a better outlook on life.
Vona Johnson (25:52):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that a lot.
And I think that, um, Yeah,it's, that's inspiring to have
that goal and not just, not justfrom a physical standpoint, but
also that social aspect.
So it sounds like you've madesome good friends along the way.
Speaker (26:09):
I really have, I'd say I might, I might have 20, 30
Facebook friends that I wouldnot had if I would not have done
this.
Vona Johnson (26:20):
Awesome.
Well, that is wonderful.
And I am so glad I didn't meetyou at any senior games, but
maybe someday, I don't know.
Um, we talked about that.
I'm, I'm not really verycompetitive.
I kind of like to kind of do my,my private exercise stuff, but
I, it was a pleasure to meetyou.
(26:41):
I enjoyed, our conversation atconference at C suite and I've
enjoyed this conversation verymuch.
I'm excited to share it with.
I
Speaker (26:49):
have to drive down to Huron in August, you know, for
the South Dakota senior gamesthere.
Vona Johnson (26:54):
Well, we'll keep in touch.
We'll see if that we can makethat happen.
Speaker (26:58):
I'm trying to inspire you to start walking.
Vona Johnson (27:00):
Oh, I walk in the summertime.
Speaker (27:02):
That makes sense up there.
You wouldn't want to be walkingout a lot in the year.
Vona Johnson (27:06):
Last week for sure.
Thank you so very much, Mike.
It's been a joy to have us.
Speaker (27:10):
I enjoyed it.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
What do you think?
Are you ready to sign up for aSenior Games in your area?
I really encourage you toconsider doing that.
I'm sure Mike would love to talkwith you if you have any
questions or just go online andcheck out where the Senior Games
are in your state.
If nothing else, go watch andcheer on some folks and meet
some new friends that way.
(27:32):
I to thank you for stopping bytoday.
I really appreciate youlistening to us here on
Courageous Retirement.
Next time, we're going to shiftgears a little bit and we're
going to have a conversationwith a gentleman who's going to
talk about writing our storydown I'm really excited to have
this conversation with Nels nexttime and that's in two weeks so
be sure and stop back even ifyou don't think you have a story
(27:54):
to share.
I would really love to for youto come and just learn about
writing it down.
I appreciate you being here andI pray that this will help you
reap all the benefits ofcourageous retirement.
So be sure to engage your faithand live your more every single
day.
God bless.
If I tell you about something that could help
(00:02):
you bring in something that youused to do as a younger child or
adult, would allow you to travela little bit, meet some new
people, set some goals and getexcited about life again.
Would you try it out?
Michael Weeks did all of thosethings and he is such an
inspiration to me because hewent all in.
(00:24):
He saw a brand new 50 meter poolhis new health facility in the
community and he realized thatthat was going to change his
life.
And boy did it.
I hope you'll stick around andhear his story on how he got
involved in the Senior Olympicsand it was everything and more
than he could have imagined.
(00:44):
I hope you'll join us.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Do you fear what lies beyond retirement?
What if it's a gateway to a lifefilled with purpose, meaning,
and adventure rather than anend?
Discover peace and fulfillmentas you boldly enter this new
chapter in CourageousRetirement, a Christian podcast.
I'm your host, author and coach,Vanna Johnson.
Let's get started.
Vona Johnson (01:05):
Welcome, Mike, to this conversation.
Here on courageous retirement,and I like to think about it as,
trying something that we've nottried before.
And when I met you, I was like,this is something I want to
introduce to folks who may havenot ever considered themselves
as an Olympian, no less.
So today.
(01:26):
Today we're going to have agreat conversation with Mike
Weeks, my new friend who hasactually been to Pierre South
Dakota to participate in theSenior Olympics.
And I was like, what really?
So welcome, Mike.
I'm so excited to have you heretoday.
Mike Weeks (01:43):
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
And I, I really enjoyed my timein PIerre
Vona Johnson (01:47):
yeah, so Pierre South Dakota, that's not
someplace that you would thinkof people driving hours to get
here to participate in anything.
Much less, much less the SeniorOlympics.
First of all, I wanna knowyou're retired first of all.
Right?
Speaker (02:03):
I'm pretty sure I am.
Vona Johnson (02:07):
Somebody told you you were once.
Mike Weeks (02:09):
I think I am, but we'll see.
If somebody calls, you know, Iwould entertain the idea.
So going back in the workforce.
Well,
Vona Johnson (02:18):
But I think that that's, that's a good
distinction to make, though,before we jump into the whole
Senior Olympic thing, because, Imean, retirement, in some
circles, kind of has a bad name,right?
You don't want to retire, and I,I feel like those of us who have
worked our whole career for ourpension, our retirement funds,
should be proud and excited.
(02:41):
that we have the opportunity totake that resource that we've
been working towards our wholecareer and go do whatever it is
that God's calling us to do,right?
Mike Weeks (02:51):
Exactly
Vona Johnson (02:53):
So it might be, it might be another career
somewhere.
It might be doing somethingentirely different, but the
beauty of it is that he hasprovided for us and he gives us
that opportunity to do what weenjoy, that we can, we can have
fun with.
Right.
Speaker (03:13):
Absolutely.
Vona Johnson (03:14):
So in this season, in this moment, you are retired,
doesn't mean it's forever, butyou are out doing something that
I think sounds like must be alot of fun.
When I talk to you about it, itsounds like you're having a lot
of fun.
Speaker (03:30):
I do have a lot of fun traveling to different senior
Olympic events.
Vona Johnson (03:36):
So how did you get started in the senior Olympic
movement, that, that activity?
Speaker (03:41):
In 2017, Batesville, Arkansas, where I live, was in
the process of building a 21million community center.
Inside that center, they hadbasketball courts, a walking
track, a workout facility, anoutdoor pool, um, therapy pool,
(04:03):
kiddie pool.
But my big thing was the 10 lanecompetition pool.
I had, when I was five yearsold, six, seven, uh, I would
swim and I was really good atit.
Um, uh, went and got, got alittle heavy, maybe in like
third, fourth grade, and Iwasn't beating people like I
(04:25):
was, so I kind of got out of theswimming thing, so.
But when I went in on July the5th of 2017 and did a tour of
this venue, I saw that 10 lanecompetition pool and I said,
that's going to add five yearsto my life.
So I started swimming, you know,three, four times a week, maybe,
(04:50):
um, it's getting better, gettingbetter, getting the rust off,
you know, I felt like, you know,things were, I'm getting, I'm, I
need to find out more about ifthere's some where I could
compete in this.
So I looked up Arkansas SeniorOlympics and, uh, the, there was
a new director, for the stateand he was just trying to get it
(05:12):
back on track.
And he was having a swim meetand a golf tournament in the
same weekend.
So I went and I played golf,entered the swim meet.
got the gold medal in golf, gotthe eight gold medals in
swimming.
I was hooked.
Vona Johnson (05:31):
That would do it.
That would do it.
Speaker (05:33):
I mean, that was, that was the end of that.
So that's what got me into it.
And then, being a healthcaresales guy selling business
office services, I've beentraveling a lot.
So had the airline miles, hotelpoints, rental car points.
So I was able to go to a lot ofthese states that, uh, had,
(05:55):
events like Arkansas andparticipate in senior games.
And I probably go to about sevenor eight events a year outside
of Arkansas.
Vona Johnson (06:05):
So were you retired at that point?
Okay, so you were, swimming forfun and then started competing,
in your nights, your weekends,whatever, right?
Speaker (06:14):
Yeah.
It'd be a weekend thing.
Or, you know, a lot of thesestates will have a Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, Sunday deal,much like what South Dakota
does.
Right.
Right.
And so I might just try to takeout on a plane on Wednesday,
late, the last flight onWednesday, compete Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, fly home andget back to work again.
Vona Johnson (06:39):
I love that because, when I talk about
courageous retirement, you know,you automatically go to the
retirement end of that.
But part of it is thinking aboutWhat am I going to do when I
don't get up every Mondaymorning and go to work?
And so I talk about finishingwell, and it's finishing well,
(06:59):
both in our career and whatwe're going to do to leave that
in a good place, leave ourlegacy in that place.
But it's also using that timewhen we're starting to dream a
little bit about retirement,because that's, that's a
reality, right?
When you're still working, andyou're You know, however far out
(07:20):
that is.
I mean, there's a lot of fearbehind retiring because people
don't want to just sit aroundand twiddle their thumbs all
day.
So I love how we start in doingthings that we enjoy and realize
that that can be an extension,then we can step into that
further.
Once we do take that leap, wouldyou agree with that?
Speaker (07:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Just, uh, You don't, you don'tknow what the future holds.
You don't know, you don't knowif there's an illness coming up.
You don't know if you're goingto have enough money to make it
to the line.
There's a lot of anxietyinvolved with that.
Vona Johnson (07:57):
Yeah, there is and part of it is trusting, taking
that leap, even when we don'tknow, knowing that, you know,
God's got a plan and it's goingto be okay.
But what I loved was youmentioned when you were talking
about getting into it, when yousaw that pool and you're like,
that's going to add five yearsto my life.
(08:17):
That's another thing that Ithink.
We don't often think about whenwe're thinking about retiring
and all the great things that wecan do and the travel and all of
that, we don't realize that thatthat really opens a door to the
opportunity to get morephysically fit than we've been
when we've been doing all the,you know, you were traveling for
work, but even if you're nottraveling, it's just hard to fit
(08:39):
that in a schedule when you'reworking 40 or more hours a week.
Talk a little bit about like thehealth benefits.
How do you feel differently nowthat you've been doing this for
a few years, gosh, eight yearsversus when you were still
working?
Speaker (08:54):
Well, I'll walk still a whole lot.
And, my 93 year old step mom,,was in a assisted living
facility.
In the villages in Florida andher doctors told her says, I can
tell that you have walked awhole lot because she's, you
(09:14):
know, she's strong enough to getaround.
And he said that the walkingreally helped her.
In today's world, and there'sjust some things that I do that,
you know, I pretty much walk upstraight, you know, and I think
have decent posture and, justthink that I'm, you know, fairly
(09:39):
fit, you know, when I'm, when Ihave a goal for another, state
Olympic games, and when I'mpracticing for that, I
definitely feel better when Ihave an event that I can plan
for and practice for that event.
I feel better, you know, when Iget closer to that event, it may
(09:59):
not be pretty when I start this,you know, this little episode
because there's, you know,there's seven or eight of these
that I do.
So after an event's over with, Imight be a little bit on the
tired side to where it take amaybe a week break and then get
ready for the next one.
But Overall, I feel pretty goodthat, um, I'm able to keep the
(10:22):
ticker running fine.
It seemed like I'm going to thedoctor and my blood pressure's
120 over 75.
And, you know, so everything,you know, staying in relatively
good health.
Vona Johnson (10:34):
If someone's listening today, and they're
like, Huh, never thought aboutSenior Olympics.
Not really sure that that's forme or not.
What would your advice be forsomeone to dip their toe in the
water, so to speak, and give ita try?
Speaker (10:48):
First off, I would say, what do they like to do
physically?
What do they, what do they thinktheir capabilities are?
Do, are they just a walker?
Can they run a little bit?
Do they like swimming?
Do they like golf?
You know, you could walk aroundand learn how to throw a Frisbee
(11:10):
and do disc golf.
You know, there's so manydifferent, thing I love
badminton.
I mean, I've had had so manypeople that I compete against
says, man, I used to do thiswhen I was a kid.
You know, I haven't done itsince.
I haven't done it for 50 years.
And, uh, it's, it's great to beable to get that excitement back
(11:33):
again to be able to do somethinglike that, something that you
can remember, have yourchildhood memories about.
And, um, so, I mean, I rememberswimming, you know, I remember
running on the track team,playing basketball, playing
football, and things like that.
So, to get back to that, have alittle goal to train for.
(11:56):
Uh, that's good for me.
But I would, I would asksomebody if they have Some, some
talent in a certain area thatthey might want to try to
compete in and just try it, youknow, just go do the power
walking, learn, get a video,YouTube video.
How do I power walk and thenjust figure that out?
(12:20):
If they want to branch out intoa 50 meter dash or a 100 meter
dash, or there's people thatlike to run long distances, they
may want to do a 1, 500 meterrun.
In, golf, usually the tee boxesare not as far back.
To where it, you can score alittle bit easier for me.
(12:41):
So I like, I like that part ofit.
But the biggest thing is, isjust the camaraderie.
When you were in high school andwhatnot, you know, you had all
the trash talking.
You know, you're not any good,I'm gonna Beat your pants off of
you and all this stuff.
And, uh, you don't normally getthat in Senior Games.
We're happy to be there.
Vona Johnson (13:03):
You know,
Speaker (13:03):
we are happy to be there and, and doing something
that we enjoy.
And we really root for eachother.
You know, it, that's, that's theunique part about Senior Games
to me.
Is, it's a community wherewe're.
We're all, uh, cheering for oneanother and we wanted each other
(13:23):
to do good, not get hurt, uh,and hopefully get out of the
weekend with no pulledhamstrings or whatever, so.
Vona Johnson (13:33):
Are there senior Olympics pretty much in every
state?
Are you, do you know?
Speaker (13:37):
Every state that I know of has senior games.
Vona Johnson (13:41):
Okay.
Speaker (13:42):
There's only two that I know that are closed states.
And that's Tennessee and NorthCarolina, every other state.
I can be in Arkansas and go toWyoming.
I can be in Arkansas and go toOregon, wherever those, they're,
they are open states andeverybody has their, if you can
(14:03):
kind of figure out that Floridais really hot in the summer,
Texas and San Antonio is reallyhot during the summer.
So Texas is about to starttheirs.
Florida likes to do theirs inDecember.
I mean, they'll do it in anoutdoor pool in December, you
know, in south of Orlandosomewhere, you know, so, but
(14:27):
then other states, othernorthern states like South
Dakota, Minnesota, Montana,whatever.
They'll have those anywhere fromJune 1st to Labor Day, Memorial
Day to Labor Day.
Most that's where most everybodydoes their Olympics.
Vona Johnson (14:48):
And I assume because of the variety of sports
that people can enter into anevent on some are indoors, some
are outdoors, you get kind of amix of all of that.
That'd be correct.
Speaker (14:59):
Right.
And track and field, alwaysoutside.
Uh, then there's, you got theseskills that you do.
You have basketball, three pointshooting, or free throws.
That's going to be in a gym, forthe most part.
Disc golf golf, swimming.
Swimming, for the most part, isindoors.
(15:19):
For the most part.
Um, and it's kind of amazingthat, you know, We go to
Kearney, Nebraska, and it's a 50meter outdoor pool.
That's unusual.
Vona Johnson (15:30):
We just built one here in Pierre.
Speaker (15:33):
Okay.
That's right.
That's right.
It was, it was, but the Y was areally good venue.
And we played badminton there.
Um, can't remember if we didanything else in the, in the Y
that weekend,
Vona Johnson (15:48):
earlier you mentioned that a lot of times
you get home after a weekend ofgames and you're really tired
and reminds me, when we talkedabout this a while back, you had
mentioned how many differentevents you can be involved in at
one of these.
Share that with us.
I was just like, what?
Speaker (16:07):
Well, like, South Dakota, what I like to do is
participate in events where Ican do all these events in four
days.
But I can compete in all thoseevents, and I can do golf, and
disc golf, maybe in the Themorning and the afternoon.
(16:28):
Go do a couple of track eventsthat evening.
Then come back and do trackevents the next morning.
Then go to badminton.
Do basketball free throws.
Then swimming's the next dayand, you know, that's, and I
like to swim all 16 events.
Some states don't allow you todo that.
(16:48):
And that's the, the freestylebreaststroke, backstroke,
butterfly.
Butterflies are a hard stroke todo because you got to bring
those shoulders around all thetime and lift yourself out of
the water to get to the nextstroke.
So, a lot of people don't,there's not too many people that
do a 200 meter butterfly.
(17:09):
I like to do it just to say Idid it.
Vona Johnson (17:11):
An easy gold, right?
Speaker (17:15):
I mean, it's just a mentality thing.
I just like to make sure justkind of said, I'm going to beat
this, you know, so, but then,they, they might be, horseshoes,
racquetball, other events thathappened maybe on that Sunday.
And then that's it, you know,then Hopefully, I've won 25, 30
(17:38):
medals and I go home and I sackout for a day and then, and then
get back after it again foranother weekend.
Vona Johnson (17:47):
Well, and that's, that's what I was just like, 25,
30 medals.
That's, that's a lot.
Speaker (17:52):
I keep busy while I'm at these places for sure.
Vona Johnson (17:55):
Well, I think that's really incredible.
I'm not competing in any Olympicgames or anything like that, but
I find, and I've kind of beenthis way probably forever.
Maybe everybody's this way.
And I just have become moreaware of it recently.
But if I have something on mycalendar, That I'm looking
forward to life is just a littlebit more exciting.
(18:17):
You know, it's like we did atrip to Yellowstone last fall
and we planned it, months inadvance.
And we go to a music festivalevery September and we have a
car show in the summer.
When you know that you've gotthat thing that's coming up,
it's good to have something tolook forward to.
Do you find that yourself as faras with your games and your
travels and all of that?
Speaker (18:38):
Oh, sure.
I mean, some of the stateshaven't totally gotten their
schedules down yet, but youknow, I know that, uh,
Mississippi's coming up.
You know, so I'm getting readyfor that.
Uh, Alabama's not too far in thedistant future, South Carolina.
Then you get into Iowa,Missouri.
(18:59):
Uh, then, then the crazy weekwhere you've got Nebraska, South
Dakota, Minnesota, and NorthDakota.
They're going to have all theirgames in 10 days.
Oh wow.
So that's a lot of events.
In a short period of time, and Ihope so.
Vona Johnson (19:20):
You literally could go from one state to the
next and then compete.
Speaker (19:23):
That's what, that's what I hope.
That's what I hope I'm, youknow, if they don't, it just
matters how they manipulatetheir schedules and if, where
can I get from here to there tothe, you know, is it if, are the
logistics.
It's easy enough to make ithappen.
Vona Johnson (19:40):
That's, that's exciting.
That's a lot.
So does, does your wife do thesewith you or you kind of, does
she like to enjoy the time whenyou're gone?
Speaker (19:50):
She doesn't like the limelight like I do.
I'm the ham, but I did coerceher one time to go to the
Arkansas senior games and dopower walking with me.
And, uh, she did badminton incornhole.
Oh.
And so she was the only femalethat participated.
(20:11):
And in that age, in her agegroup, she got a gold medal.
I thought that'd really lighther up, but not so much She's
Vona Johnson (20:20):
We all have our thing, right?
Speaker (20:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
She's a workout queen now.
I mean, she can, she can flatout do it in the gym a lot, a
lot.
Even more than me.
So, she, she can, she's veryfit.
So it's really, it's really goodto watch her.
Be able to move around,especially, I mean, the
grandkids, I tell you what, yougotta, you gotta be in shape to
(20:43):
keep up with the grandkids.
So you could be a seniorOlympian practicing for that,
and then a sideline job would beable to keep up with the
grandkids, so.
Vona Johnson (20:54):
Well, and I'm assuming that because you can do
all those different things, thatmakes it fun because you can do
those things with the grandkidsanytime.
I mean, you're, you know,there's a lot of grandparents
that are like, Oh no, no, no,I'm not going to do that.
But I'm pretty sure that yourgrandkids can talk you into
about anything, huh?
Speaker (21:12):
Well, the other day, uh, the oldest, he's, Almost
six.
He's, he got hold of the phone.
I guess he said, uh, daddy, Ineed to get the phone and call
Pop Pop.
And, uh, so we FaceTimed andsays, Pop Pop, you need to come
to see me.
We need to play pickleball.
(21:32):
Cause they had bought them apickleball net and some paddles
and a couple of pickleballballs, little plastic balls.
And, and so twist our arm.
Here we go.
An hour and a half later, we'retraveling down the road.
We're traveling down
Vona Johnson (21:46):
the road.
I love it.
So I assume that's one of thesports that someone can enter as
well.
Speaker (21:52):
It is.
And I've never playedpickleball.
in competition.
Yeah, it's, there's, it is thefastest growing sport in the
country, and Arkansas had 480participants.
Arkansas is a small state, andto have 480 participants was
(22:12):
Pretty amazing.
So, and that's the largest sportin every state that I know of,
that I've heard of.
Vona Johnson (22:20):
Yeah, we just, in addition to our new pool, we
also just put in new pickleballcourts in our, in our park here
in, in Pierre.
And what I was really impressedwith is the fact that the
pickleball players is like thecity gave them the land and
helped with really just anominal investment to help get
(22:40):
it going.
And all the pickleball playersraised all the funds and did all
the work.
And you know that they love thatsport when they'll make that
kind of a commitment for it.
So when
Speaker (22:51):
I walk around the track around this, there's three
basketball courts.
They can put three pickleballcourts.
On each basketball court, seethe way it's painted out so they
can have nine courts going andthey also have it on the outdoor
tennis court.
(23:12):
They've got another 4 courtsthat they could do if they
wanted to.
So they can have a smalltournament.
I mean, this, this venue that wehad in Cabot, Arkansas.
They probably had 40 courts, soit was a, it was a humongous
arena.
So, but I think, I think peopleenjoyed going there.
(23:35):
It was, that's a lot of peopleto get through and keep them
running, you know, so I thinkthey had mostly compliments for,
from Nevad.
Vona Johnson (23:45):
That's cool.
So, To wrap this up, one of thequestions that comes up for me
is, what would be, what wouldyou consider to be the, the
number one, the most compellingreason that someone would maybe
want to get involved in thesenior games?
(24:07):
If, if they hadn't, you know, Imean, whether they're athletic
or not or whatever, is, is therean overriding benefit that you
have seen from this that we maybe either we have or haven't
talked about, but that you wouldbe like, you just got to do it
for
Speaker (24:21):
this.
Have a goal to for a certainevent in your state.
Whatever that is, sign up forit, do the event, practice for
it, it'll make you feel better,it'll make you get in shape
somewhat, but then when you getto the event, for me, my
(24:41):
experience is that mosteverybody is very cordial,
they're glad you're there, youknow, they want to know a little
bit about you.
You know, maybe while you'rewaiting for your event, you've
got somebody sitting there andy'all just start this discussion
and they might become one ofyour best friends, you know, or
(25:01):
get them on Facebook orwhatever.
I mean, when I go to NorthDakota and these people that,
you know, I've seen them now forfour or five years.
And.
Uh, they're Facebook friends,you know, so you can, you can,
you know, meet people from otherstates, you know, if you go to a
different state or just peoplethat are in your state.
(25:23):
Um, but to me, it's thecamaraderie, you know,
everybody's for each other forthe most part.
Uh, it gives you a goal, get inshape, get active.
Uh, it'll, you know, it's just,Hey, I've got, I got to go walk,
uh, 3000 steps today.
I gotta go walk, you know, Igotta go walk again.
(25:45):
You know, I feel better when Ido that.
I just think it, it just givesyou a better outlook on life.
Vona Johnson (25:52):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that a lot.
And I think that, um, Yeah,it's, that's inspiring to have
that goal and not just, not justfrom a physical standpoint, but
also that social aspect.
So it sounds like you've madesome good friends along the way.
Speaker (26:09):
I really have, I'd say I might, I might have 20, 30
Facebook friends that I wouldnot had if I would not have done
this.
Vona Johnson (26:20):
Awesome.
Well, that is wonderful.
And I am so glad I didn't meetyou at any senior games, but
maybe someday, I don't know.
Um, we talked about that.
I'm, I'm not really verycompetitive.
I kind of like to kind of do my,my private exercise stuff, but
I, it was a pleasure to meetyou.
(26:41):
I enjoyed, our conversation atconference at C suite and I've
enjoyed this conversation verymuch.
I'm excited to share it with.
I
Speaker (26:49):
have to drive down to Huron in August, you know, for
the South Dakota senior gamesthere.
Vona Johnson (26:54):
Well, we'll keep in touch.
We'll see if that we can makethat happen.
Speaker (26:58):
I'm trying to inspire you to start walking.
Vona Johnson (27:00):
Oh, I walk in the summertime.
Speaker (27:02):
That makes sense up there.
You wouldn't want to be walkingout a lot in the year.
Vona Johnson (27:06):
Last week for sure.
Thank you so very much, Mike.
It's been a joy to have us.
Speaker (27:10):
I enjoyed it.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
What do you think?
Are you ready to sign up for aSenior Games in your area?
I really encourage you toconsider doing that.
I'm sure Mike would love to talkwith you if you have any
questions or just go online andcheck out where the Senior Games
are in your state.
If nothing else, go watch andcheer on some folks and meet
some new friends that way.
(27:32):
I to thank you for stopping bytoday.
I really appreciate youlistening to us here on
Courageous Retirement.
Next time, we're going to shiftgears a little bit and we're
going to have a conversationwith a gentleman who's going to
talk about writing our storydown I'm really excited to have
this conversation with Nels nexttime and that's in two weeks so
be sure and stop back even ifyou don't think you have a story
(27:54):
to share.
I would really love to for youto come and just learn about
writing it down.
I appreciate you being here andI pray that this will help you
reap all the benefits ofcourageous retirement.
So be sure to engage your faithand live your more every single
day.
God bless.
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