Forgive me Blogger.com... it has been about a week and a half since my last post.
February is here and Andi and I are one month in to our fitness journey for the year. An honest assessment finds me a bit behind of where I want to be. In terms of eating healthier and exercising more, I'm definitely on the right track and I'd categorize that challenge as a success thus far. However, looking at the goals i set for myself, I'm lagging in just about every other department.
I have yet to find a bike "race" to enter. I looked into Elephant Rock, but I'm a bit put off by the steep fees. What's more imposing to me though is the amount climbing in the route. I can easily ride the 50-60 miles, but there's a lot of hills in the route. I hate climbing. There're moderate and short climbs on my normal ride route to downtown Denver, and I've hit the big climbs at Chatfield Dam a few times. I can do those. But sustained uphill climbs of over a mile at 6% plus, and I get nervous. It's not that I don't think I can do it. It's just that I'm afraid of the challenge and the pain it brings my legs. I have to find a way to conquer this fear, because just about every charity ride event in Colorado has some sort of climbing on the longer (40+ miles) routes. As soon as the weather gets a little warmer and we get some snow melt, I am planning on hitting the C-470 trail that goes from Littleton to Golden. For those of you not familiar with it, it is basically all uphill for about 8 miles or so. I great reward for making that ride would be a lunch date with Andi. If she can stand the look of me in my spandex shorts.
I also haven't found a running race to enter. I haven't even looked. This may be a goal that i set that i don't meet. I absolutely loathe running. The cardio doesn't bother me, but the pain in my knees can get pretty bad after about 1.5 miles. I can deal with muscle fatigue, but sharp pains in the knees are not fun. Tendinitis is not fun. My cycling can cause mild flare-ups, but running really brings it out. This is something that I'm just gonna have to get out and do. I have a feeling that once i start the training, it will get easier. That's usually how it works, right?
I also haven't found a Tough Mudder or Muddy Buddy to enter yet. I've gotten some offers from some friends to run it with me, but haven't found any yet. It's only February, not really the season yet, and so I'm not overly worried about this one.
I have a goal to climb a couple of 14er's too. That shouldn't be too difficult to do either. One of Andi's friends has a cabin near Fairplay that is pretty close to half a dozen 14k ft peaks. We stayed there a couple summers ago and I was able to bag two in one afternoon. I envision a similar trip this summer with two other peaks on the radar.
Since my fitness quest for this year also includes bettering my family life and having more quality time with Andi and the kids, I've started planning on a week long camping trip, likely in July, to visit a couple of the National Parks that are within 8hrs of home. There must be about a dozen of those that would meet that criteria between Colorado, NM, Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota. On the radar this summer are Arches and Canyonlands in Utah, and Mesa Verde in SW Colorado. This may turn in to a SWestern Colorado trip that focuses on the areas around Durango. This is an area of the state I've never visited but have heard fantastic things about.
For Andi, she's kicking butt. I couldn't be prouder of her. How she continues to get up at 4am, workout, do a full day of work, get home with the kids and still find time for mom and wife stuff is beyond me. Women, and particularly working moms, are simply amazing beings. She's lost 9 pounds so far and you can tell. Hopefully she'll get to where she would feel comfortable in a bikini for the next time we go on a cruise (which we're aiming for fall of 2013... which would be celebrate my 40th birthday and our 15th wedding anniversary). I haven't seen her in a bikini in about 10 years. I've always seen her as beautiful. I'm hoping she can get to where she sees herself as beautiful. I suspect this is a challenge for women in general.
For this week, i am going to continue to do what I've done over the last 4. Early rise for exercise. Bike rides at night and/or days off, when time allows. Cutting out fast food and eating more fruits and veggies. In two weeks, we'll be heading to Estes Park for a little snowshoeing vacation. I'm really looking forward to getting out in the mountains and having an active vacation.
Thanks for reading. I hope that time finds you all doing well...
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