This month I'm going to try to really push myself physically and travel 500-hundred miles on foot or bicycle. To accomplish this goal I will need to travel an average of 16.13 miles per day.
A bicycle ride to work gets me 10 miles each way, giving me a potential 20 mile each workday. Except, on Fridays I go to Bread and Roses after work, which is a 6 mile ride. This gives me 19 non-Friday weekdays, and 4 Fridays, so 19 * 20 + 4 * 16 = 444 miles on bicycle.
That gives me only 56 miles to find elsewhere. In my one-hour lunch-break I can fit a 2-mile walk or a 4-mile run. In practice, presently, I can only run about 2 miles. With 23 work-days, that comes out to 46. 444 + 46 = 490 miles. Now I've only got 10 miles left to make up. This can be done over the weekend, or by walking the dogs after work.
As always, a big factor here is the reality of life. Last weekend Kim came down with a surprise case of appendicitis. That has put the task of transporting the kids before and after work on me for now. So today, the first day of my challenge, I did not ride to work and will not be riding home. I did get a 2.17 mile run in, but that's a far cry from the 16.13 miles I need each day, and not a good start.
I've also got a conference with Athena's teacher on May 8th, so I will not be riding to work that day, but can still ride home. May 10th I will be participating in Aurora's field trip to Saint Augustine. The walking may make up some of those miles though.
I can only assume other life-events will show up, and will have to take them as they come. As strange as it may seem, I don't believe I will actually be able to make my goal. However, I'm going to give it my all and see how it goes.
I will be keeping my activities updated at http://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?snapid=S478383Gdyj
You can also see all of my recorded activities on Runkeeper at http://runkeeper.com/user/maxolasersquad/activity/
Don't you think it would be easier to get to the 500 if you rode on your lunch break instead of running/walking? I know for me, I can get in 10-15 miles on the bike in an hour. I try to ride at least 3 days/week (I keep a foldable bike under my desk for days when I don't ride to work) and it really helps energize me for the afternoon. I know running probably does too, but if you're concerned about upping your distance, that seems one way to do it.
ReplyDeleteI've actually started to ride on my break, as you suggested, to get more miles in. I've been wanting to get back into running, so I still run as well.
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