268 Days From Today…
So… I think it’s official. And by “official” I mean that I’m not entirely convinced but don’t have any reason that it shouldn’t be official. On July 9th, my legs are going to pedal the rest of me all the way from Seattle to Portland in the Cascade Club’s Annual Seattle to Portland bike ride.
It’s now been a month since I competed in my first triathlon. And in that month, I can already feel myself slipping in my effort to exercise and continue losing weight. And that’s not going to get me anywhere but a quick trip back to where I was back in May of this year… fat and out of shape. If I’ve learned anything from the last 5 months of changing my lifestyle it’s that I succeed much better when I have something to work toward. I don’t have that self-motivating characteristic that can just do things without a goal at the end.
After starting to train for the triathlon and riding my bike, a friend of mine (Jon) asked me if I wanted to do the STP with him next summer. In my younger days, 9th grade(ish), I’d wanted to do it. But I hadn’t even thought about it much since. But I thought about it and then two days ago I found out at my office that Windermere is going to be a major sponsor of the STP 2011. So I could go and represent the company as well and wear an awesome Windermere bike jersey. You know you want one… I could work on that for you.
So here I am… the furthest I’ve taken my bike in one ‘sitting’ in the past 15 years is 26 miles. So I’ve got to add another 174 more and I’ll make it to Portland. Sounds like I’ve got some work to do.
So here’s my goal: To complete the STP. 85% of riders take 2 days to ride it. 15% do it in 1 day. Not sure where I’ll fall in that, but I’d love to do it in one.
What I’m Going To Do To Train:
1. Ride my bike on training rides and update you along way. (I know you’re dying to know where I’ll be riding.)
2. Lose more weight (less to push on the bike, see) – I’m floating around the 195 mark right now. I hope to be closer to 185 by then. Maybe 180 by July? Man, I’ll be a rail. Beth and I on Monday are going to start the Paleo Diet for one month. This is to cleanse our bodies and learn to eat foods that are not ‘produced’. Stay tuned for details on that as we start it in a few days.
3. Work on my endurance. This will come by riding increasingly longer distances, obviously. But also by running two or three times a week. Currently I can run 3 miles with not much of a problem. I’d hope to grow that distance to 5 or 6 miles without much problem.
Any other crazies out there want to ride to Portland with me?
