Weekly Update

Well this is actually a bi-weekly update as this week has gone so quickly.  Last week I heavily abused my body as I was aching most of the week.  I started the week by doing the stairs at work Monday and Tuesday, now I don't work on the 3rd floor, I work on the 34th floor.  So I did 20 flights down and up each day, this week I was going to do the same, but got distracted with work and other stuff.  Probably not a horrible plan as my legs need some rest time from that abuse. 

The other major change to my regime is that last week and this week I have been biking from COP to downtown. Thus doing 120 km in a full week.  I also was out in Kananaskis on Friday so I did the 2km hill here, which really burned, but was a great feat to complete.

On Saturday I finally met up with the Cochrane running club, about 20 people where out for the run which was done in groups depending on the distances being run.  I did 6km and felt great after wards.  I then took my road bike out for a cruise. I biked from Cochrane to Cochrane corner (hwy 1) and back, this was a mental mile stone as I have never done it before and learnt I can easily do a 24 km bike ride as well.  To finish off the day I took my dog for a hike at Heart Creek, a beautiful trail, that my dog greatly enjoyed as well.  There was a couple treacherous parts covered in sheer ice on a hill side, but otherwise the trail was in great shape. 

On Sunday I did the Cochrane to Cochrane Corner again, and debated going further, but didn't want to kill my body.  I did have a nasty cross wind on Sunday, and a heavy head wind on Saturday.  Which was good practice as I am sure I'll have to deal with many windy days when biking in my trek.

So I hate bikes passing me, I know I may not be the fastest out there, but some days I sure feel like the slowest!  I've started researching training methods for biking as well, and building a training plan of sorts to get in better condition for those loooooong days on the road. And perhaps keep a few more cyclists behind me.

One other preparation I've started is to try and determine what route is the best to take to Vancouver.  I've mapped out a handful of them on a cool website that works with google maps, unfortunately its mangled all the maps I've made, so I have to remake them on a different site and then I'll share them and start discussing the pro's n cons of each route.

January has been a success

January is almost over and for training its been a great month.  I started biking the first week of January, the last 2 weeks of January I biked every day to work doing 150km.  I am definitely getting stronger in the legs and faster in my biking (I think).  I have been biking from Souldice park to down town (8.4km each way), I have been wanting to tackle the hills in Cochrane but they are still quite daunting and after biking all week I think its good to let my legs recuperate. 

So my goal for February barring the expected and dreaded winter blast is to start biking from COP to downtown.  http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ab/calgary/392126470803483132 is a link to my planned route.  It will be just under 14 km each way so I'll be doing 140km a week, nearly doubling my distance and adding a small hill into my training.  First week I want to just do the extended route once, but as the month progresses its my intention to add 1 extra day of the longer route each week, until I am doing the longer route as my standard route.  As an added bonus the new route will burn about 700 Calories, not as great as running but that's okay. 

Sadly my running has been languishing, I have really not put a lot of effort into my running, so I've decided that starting next week any day I don't bike the extended distance I will run at lunch instead.  Now this is also contingent on no winter storms, blizzards, or getting side swiped with a flu. 

I am still very pumped about my bike ride trip this summer and think I will be in very good form to accomplish it.  There is fund raiser for Cancer this spring in Alberta called "The Ride to Conquer Cancer" which Cenovus is participating in, its 200km over 2 days and I think this could be a great practice form me as well as help raise awareness for Cancer. Now this event is not specifically for Prostate Cancer, but I think its still a great event to raise money and awareness for Cancer.

Sign up today on The Ride to Conquer Cancer Website:
http://ab10.conquercancer.ca/site/PageServer?pagename=reg_now