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Getting Fit 2009

January 4, 2009 at 11:00 am · Filed under Bicycling, Getting Fit 2009 · Comments

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. More to the point, the few times I have made resolutions I’ve bombed them in short order. However, I do have a very real goal for 2009 –

Feel, look and (most importantly) BE more physically fit. (Read further to see how we’ve made this a measurable goal.)

To that end, yesterday I rode 12.98 miles with Justin, brother-in-law David and 13-year-old nephew Tanner. Check out the complete ride stats, including GPS track and heart rate data.

Frankly, I’ve been disgusted by my utter lack of physical fitness since my pregnancy with the kidlet — a healthy, active and wonderful daughter who turns 2 in mid-March. Hauling around forty extra pounds in body weight isn’t doing my heart, mind or my ACL-reconstructed knee any favors. Hauling that excess, unhealthy weight around while also carrying a healthy 26.5 pound squirming toddler? Not.fun. And I’m not a good example to Sara if I continue down this path, either.

I’ve been at this level of personal disgust for awhile, but it’s taken Justin’s gracious but ever-so-persistent encouragement for me to join him to kick-start the process.

And yes, there have been false starts. I had a goal of being back to my pre-pregnancy weight and fitness by the time Sara turned 1 year old. We can all see how well that worked out. I didn’t even bother resetting the goal for her second birthday, coming up March 15, 2009.

My goal this year isn’t a set weight loss or clothing size goal. It’s not even necessarily a distance goal. Instead, with Justin’s encouragement, it’s a goal to complete at least one organized cycling event.

The best way to explain it is simply to share the email Justin wrote me several weeks ago:

FACT:  You and I both want to improve our fitness by losing weight, exercising more, etc.

Given this, I had an idea.  What if you selected a bike event, from those listed below, and THAT was your goal (instead of “I want to lose XX pounds by XX date”).  It’d be a known goal with a deadline and would provide a) a big sense of accomplishment and b) would allow you to have concrete focus on “I am going to DO THIS”

I’d of course ride with you during the event for my own health’s benefit and would promise to make arrangements to get Sara watched etc. so you’d have opportunities to train.

I’d give us both something to work towards – we’d be supporting each other in helping to ensure we both succeed.

Here are the rides to choose from…

I still need to select the ride or rides I want to commit to, not the least of which is mapping out when each of these is scheduled so I know how aggressively I should train, but it’s definitely provided a motivation I’ve been lacking. I was pregnant with Sara when Justin and his workmates did the Valero MS-150 a couple years ago, and I’ve missed both times he and his brother, brother-in-law, father and nephew have participated in the Conquer the Coast ride. So it’s definitely my time!

I’ll be keeping you updated here. I’ve created a new category here on GeekHabitat.com for “Getting Fit 2009,” as well as created a “Getting Fit 2009″ photo set on Flickr. You can also see my most recent rides in the sidebar here on GeekHabitat.com under the heading “Building a Fitter Geek“.



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