Accountability 101

I've been riding a bike for over ten years, the majority of the time pretty hardcore. I'd always try to log better than a couple thousand miles in a year, and try to average at least 100 miles a week during the warmer months.

I was a dedicated cyclist, and looked with disdain at those who chose to run instead of ride. And then in 2005 my family (sister, her husband, and my father) decided that they wanted to compete in an adventure race, asked me to join the team, and chose the biggest, baddest race in the area for their inaugural event. It was marked by catastrophe, not the least of which was the unexpected death of my father six weeks before the race. But that's another story for another post.

The end result of this particular race was that I've continued to do it, and have had to incorporate running into my schedule to be able to stay competitive. I've since moved on to other teams that are stronger and faster, and my physical fitness (particularly my running) has had to increase to keep pace with my younger teammates.

The story skips around a little here...I run and ride with the love of my life and much better half. She's done a marathon. I haven't. I have, however, competed and have done well in adventure races that have lasted upwards of twelve hours, and have required running in excess of 10-12 miles, in addition to all of the riding and paddling that comes with it. But I still haven't run a marathon. She reminds me of this every time I start to get a little cocky.

My motivation has always been to be the strongest member of the team. And herein lies the title for this first post...it's the team that has always made me accountable. I've always maintained a training schedule, HAD to maintain a schedule, in order to not let down my team. But now I'd like to run a distance race, preferably the full 26.2, and there's no team. And I've finding myself not being accountable.

This is where you come in.

You're job is to keep me accountable. I have to maintain my running schedule, and I'm not keeping up with the pace. Granted, I've had a couple of nagging injuries that are more than a little inconvenient (dropped a rock on my toe at the lake...it's ugly, and what looks like a plantar's wart on the ball of the other foot, dammit), but no excuses. I've got to do this, I WANT to do this. I will do this.

So that's it, in a nutshell. This evening I'm going to ride with Vanessa, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for hanging with me.

Dog