A good friend of mine named Darren Peterson once told me about this idea he found online called "A run a day", the idea being that for 1 whole year you take the time to take a 30 minute run every day, regardless of speed or intensity. Being 1) a guy that has spent most of his life at least mildly overweight 2) completely uninterested in running any extended period of time, and 3) lazy, this seemed like something that would never interest me in the slightest. The mere idea of spending 30 minutes a day doing something that, quite frankly, exhausts me if I even think about it for more than 5-10 minutes just wasn't appealing in any way, shape, or form. That being said however, I've come to realize that I'm not entirely happy with where I am/what I'm doing in my life. I'm close to the most out of shape I've ever been (that I can remember for sure), and I've realized that I've developed a very extreme habit of non-commital to most things that could be defined as work or requiring effort.
Yesterday was my birthday, and I turned 23. I've been riding unicycles for *technically* about 6 years, but I've only ridden with any skill for about 3-4. Darren is also an avid unicyclist and shares my birthday, so we decided that for our birthday we'd go for a nice unicycle ride around Town Lake to welcome the fact that we are both slowly but surely shuffling off this mortal coil. As previously mentioned, Darren runs at least 30 minutes a day. Also worth mentioning is that on top of his running daily he bikes long distances on a regular basis and has participated in several Iron Man competitions. Needless to say, I obviously didn't know what I was getting into.
After our roughly 3-4 mile ride I was exhausted. Darren's normal riding speed is significantly faster than mine and by the end of our approximately 30 minute ride I was utterly exhausted. I could barely walk, my lungs burnt, my back ached with every movement, somehow even my arms were tired but...most surprisingly of all...I felt amazing. I hadn't had to push myself as hard as I could, further than I even thought possible, since I played lacrosse freshman year of highschool. It was an endorphine high that I had only heard about and now, finally, experience and it was astounding.
Using my birthday as a convient point of reference I decided then and there that I had to make that happen more often, I needed a way to motivate myself but still have a goal that wasn't something I knew I could never follow through on like going to the gym every day or, god forbid, p90x. It was then that I had my epiphany. For the next year I was going to ride a unicycle every day for 30 minutes (minimum).
Still, I knew me and knew that I had to make some modifications. Thus this site was born. I figured if people know what I'm doing they can yell at me when I slack off and make fun of me if I give up. That being said, here are the requirements I'm holding myself to, mostly for me but anyone who happens to catch onto my site and wants to comment or encourage feel free!
- Every day I will ride a minimum of 30 minutes
- In case of weather, sickness, time management, or other circumstances my times will be averaged weekly. Example, if on Tuesday I am sick and can't ride I can instead ride 60 minutes Wednesday to make up for it, or 40 minutes from Wednesday-Friday.
- I am required to update this blog at least weekly recording how much I rode each day and, if possible, the distance ridden. Any stories about where I rode or what I saw will be appreciated.
-Dane
Darren here-you were riding plenty fast, birthday boy! Just in case you'd like to adjust--the original idea was a run a day for just 100 days. It's a great way to get a pattern started and the group program usually starts around now in order to get a base laid through the holidays....don't think about what type of workout, just get out the door and move.
ReplyDelete