Sunday, February 05, 2006

Week 1 -- Schedule

My schedule for this week is the following:
  • Monday, Wednesday, Friday - 30 minute (about 7 mile) bike ride
  • Tuesday, Thursday - Strength Training
  • Saturday or Sunday - Flexibility (Yoga)

I don't have a heart rate monitor yet; I ordered a simple one and should have it by Tuesday or so. At that point I will attempt to figure out what my threshold heart rate and threshold mile time is -- and log it in. I am sure it will a sorrowful couple of numbers...

Quote for my week:

"Students achieving Oneness will move on to Twoness."
Woody Allen

The Plan

The plan is to train for 6 months following (somewhat loosely) the training plan outlined in a book by Paul Scott called Outside Fitness. It lays out a 24-week training plan for running, strength training, flexibility training, and some power and sport specific training towards the end. I am going to bike instead of run because I cannot run worth a damn. Everything starts to hurt very quickly and doesn't get much better over time. After a couple of weeks my 90+ grandmother is getting around better than I am. So, biking it is.

If anyone is wondering why I am bothering to do this at all, there is actually a reason other than ego or the size of my ass. I got sick last summer. My thyroid died on me and I was sent into hyperthyroid hell where I got real thin (for me) and real sick. I couldn't do much of anything for several months. I didn't have the energy to make chocolate chip cookies and I always thought I could do that on my deathbed. Now, as all of us our prone to do, I made all sorts of promises to human and diety alike that if I got better I would......well, all sorts of stuff. But the one thing that stuck with me after I got better, was the way I had taken my health for granted before I got sick. I always figured I had time to do those things I had always wanted to do. That when I was ready to get off my ass, my body would be there for me, all ready to go after hanging about in a holding pattern for years on end. Not so much, is seems. So, I am going to at least keep one of the vows I made during that time; "stop dreaming, stop reading about other's dreams, and get off your ass and go."

Friday, February 03, 2006

in the beginning, I could crawl...

I have decided to put pressure on myself to meet a goal. The goal is to train for the next 6 months and build up enough endurance and skill on my bike to be able to complete a long backroads ride somewhere pretty. The pressure is this blog.

Noone will probably read this except for me and maybe a couple of friends. But, I would certainly rather post that "I rode 10 more miles than last week!" - instead of - "I drank too much wine and fell asleep on the couch watching Myth Busters" (although I do love those guys.)

So here we go, 6 months from today I will hopefully be saddling up for a 30 mile-or-so ride through beautiful backcountry without packing a respirator. As of now, I can bang out 10 miles on paved flat at an average speed of 15 miles an hour. (That is slower than Lance Armstrong rides while he is drinking champagne on the final stage of the Tour.) So, I don't have much to lose now do I...