I decided with my good friend Terena to do a 100 mile bike ride in June 2014. This is no small deal for me. Because in 2004 a few months after I did a 400 mile bike ride across the state of Colorado, I found out I had cancer. Then in 2010, a few months after I did one of the hardest marathons in the USA, the Big Sur Marathon in California, my first, I found out I had cancer for the second time. So, I’m a little gun shy of long endurance activities. Which is very sad, because I am deeply happy when I am training for a long, big event.
It’s been a while since I’ve tackled a long event or a race. This 100 mile bike ride will be a big deal in many regards. And for Terena, who has type 2 diabetes, this will be her longest ride to date. But, we talked it through, and we are both ready and willing!!
So, we will start training in about two more weeks. We will use a TeamWILD training plan, since after all, I have access to them still! The 100 mile training program is 18 weeks long.
Here is our training for the first week, from Coach Nicole:
This week do aerobic exercise 2 to 4 days per week for 20-80 minutes per session. Please include one workout that lasts a minimum of 60 minutes. Ideally, ride a bike 1-2 times. On the remaining days include an alternative activity. You can exercise more days or more hours per day if you would like. Incorporate good form on the bike.
Coach Nicole included a fun video demonstrating good form. And here it is.
Luckily, Terena and I have started training moderately already. We’ve been riding on our indoor trainers, since we live in Minnesota and today it was -17 F. We will be riding indoors for a while. Tonight both Terena and I did a little over an hour on our trainers, so doing the training for the first week won’t be so difficult.
The tricky part that I need to focus on will be doing basal testing. I sort of hate basal testing. But I’ve banded together with a t1 pal and we are going to do it next week on the same evening. I’m glad I found a friend who’s willing to brave the world of basal testing with me!
Also, we still have to pick the ride we will do. We’ve narrowed it down to 6 rides, all Tour de Cure rides. As soon as we make our final decision, we will let everyone know, in case you want to come ride with us!!
