At the risk of sounding self indulgent (that is what these things are for, right?), I’ve been reading my old ride reports from the start of my year with SIR. It started when I got an email from K over at Cycle Commuter. He was asking about the group generally and I pulled up some links of the Urban 100k and the 200k Chili ride. It was really interesting to read my perspective on things from fresh eyes. I kind of half expected this thing to slowly die off but I keep getting positive feedback from people, especially other riders. It has been an adventure to be sure.

I’m curious to see how good or bad that slog up to Greenwater on the 200k feels this year. I should be in better shape, but you can’t really predict these things. Either way, chili is always motivation for me.

People have been asking how my running is going as well. I haven’t really posted on it much because I feel like I am cheating it a bit. The program calls for runs on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The impact of my 200 pounds hitting the pavement is more intense than I imagined it would be. I don’t feel like it injures me or anything, but I feel pretty jello-y the next day. Since I always have a ride on Saturday, I’ve been skipping the Friday run… and of course the Saturday one too.

To be fair, I’ve been consistent on the Monday’s and Wednesday’s though. I am on week 4 and am up to 7 minutes of running with 3 minutes of walking repeated three times. I feel like I could go further, but the soreness the next day keeps me in check.

I can really tell how little impact my joints used to get from how much this training affects me. I have plenty of leg muscle, but the knees and ankles never got this kind of work out. Hopefully it will encourage a bit of bone strengthening.

If you ever want to yell or throw something at me, you can catch me around South Seattle between 11 and 11:30 on Monday and Wednesday. I usually have inappropriate clothing for exercising on… usually rolled up jeans. I’m sure my coworkers appreciate the smells coming out of my cubicle. I can’t talk myself into putting on shorts or a monkey suit before heading out. I feel goofy enough in my bike clothes most days.

Speaking of bicycling, I need to get back in to commuting. My lack of will power first thing in the morning has been pretty pathetic.