What a whirlwind month that was. It just felt like I went from one thing to another without any time to pause, and to be honest that's how this year has felt. Just busy busy busy and April looks like it's going to be more of the same.
I just realized I hadn't posted since the beginning of March so let me tell you what made it so busy and challenging all at once. The distance challenge ended, and I made a push to get into the top 20. I was in the top 20 last year and wanted to do better this year, but a month without the bike made that difficult, but I made it by the skin of my teeth. As the challenge was ending I had back to back 5k's, dressed as a leprechaun even. Yes, it was very hot in that suit, but I survived.
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Leprejohn
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I had a third 5k scheduled for last weekend, but I ended up crewing on my friends Yacht for race week in St. Augustine. Justin and I used to sail a lifetime ago, and he asked and I couldn't say no.
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How do these things work again? 😜
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| Good times in St. Augustine with a mix of old and new friends |
I was more than a little nervous, but it was AWESOME to be out on the ocean again. I hope it's not 35 years until I get to go again.
So what was the purpose of all that? Well, like the rest of the year it was an up and down month. So let's talk about that. These were the goals I set for March:
- Get below 220 pounds
- Ride 550 miles
- March Apple challenge
- Perfect Month in Apple
- Gold in my March challenge
- All the bonuses in #mc51
- Weekly Row
- Weekly walk and run
- Swim at least twice this month
Optional:
And here is how I did against them:
Weight Results:
- Starting Weight: 221.0
- Ending Weight: 217.0
Exercise Info:
- Number of rides: 63
- Time on exercise: 37:27:13
- Distance on rides: 393.76
- Number of runs: 3
- Distance running: 9.25mi
- Number of walks: 8
- Time walking: 1:57:50
- Distance walking: 3.99mi
- Number of rows: 0
- Time rowing: 0
- Distance Rowing: 0
- Number of swims: 0
- Distance swimming: 0
- Weight Workouts: 4
Results:
There's no sugar coating it this month, I missed a bunch of goals. For the third month in a row I missed my distance target for cycling. Yes, I was away for the last weekend, and that cost me roughly 70 miles, but I still would have missed my target by 50 miles. I'm just going to have to re-evaluate my distance targets or work harder. I did feel a let down after the end of the challenge, but that doesn't change my fitness targets for this year, so we'll see how this month goes, but I'm almost 400 miles below where I wanted to be for the year and that's going to be hard to make up. So, what else was a dud last month? Rowing and swimming. I can forgive myself the rowing, because it's the odd man out when I start to train for triathlon season, but it doesn't excuse no swimming. I just need to do better, and I will. I also missed the bonus points on #mc51
Well shit, what went well last month? I'd like to start with my weight which finally dipped back below 220. Yes, I know that I shouldn't chase the scale, and yes I've been building muscle mass, but it's going to take me a long time to stop worrying about my weight. I saw it creeping up for a lot of the month and it made me nervous because that's how my weight gain always starts. I knew I wasn't overeating, but I wasn't eating some of the right food, and I was snacking late at night. Those are the bad habits I need to lose. What also went well was the running and walking. I did get pretty sore after the second 5k, and wanted to feel "rested" going into race week, so I let up, but I have a 5k on Saturday so I need to get back at that. I also got back to weekly weight workouts so I want to keep up with that. I have another round of back to back 5k's this month before I put the pedal down to train for the Dunedin Tri, which is seven weeks out. Race week was probably the highlight of the year so far. Sailing isn't quite the level of exercise that spin is, but I was in shape for it and loved every minute. It took me a day to get used to it again, but I can still power a winch pretty fast which is a plus when the boat is coming about. Hoping to go back next year and finish first instead of second. Finally, I did go up to the dive shop and began the process to get my scuba certification, which I'm pretty excited about. Currently the plan for that is after the triathlon. I don't think Tarpon springs is going to be on my calendar this year because we have to go up to VA for a grandson, but we'll see if I feel up to Tarpon. I'd like to do it, but it might be difficult. I did sign up for the four on the fourth in St. Pete since that's a fun event but that's the only other race on my calendar for now.
If I had to grade myself for last month.. I'd have to say I got a solid B-. Good, but not great, and a lot of room for improvement.
So, what's on the docket for this month? Here's what I have planned:
April Fitness goals:
- Maintain my weight
- Ride 500 miles
- April Apple challenge
- Perfect Month in Apple
- Gold in my April challenge
- All the bonuses in #mc52
- Swim at least twice this month
- Weekly weight or row workout
- Weekly swim workout
- Two outdoor bike rides
- Walking on the weekends where there's no 5k.
I don't think these are particularly hard, although I did lower my mileage target from 550 to 500 miles because of the running and knowing we're going to be up in VA for four days for Tyler's senior night. I might even go to 450 because I don't want to penalize myself for a family event which I would prefer to enjoy, rather than worrying about getting my miles in. I really just want to focus on getting my 5k times down and getting on track for Dunedin next month and that means a lot of endurance focused work.
I'll try to post some updates this month, probably after the 5k's... Talk soon!
