Week 3 of Training for 1,500 Mile Cancer Ride

Posted on January 8, 2012 by chrish
I Ride for Cancer

I Ride for Cancer

Since this is the week between Christmas and New Years and I had time, I wanted to spend the week in heavy training. However, between rain, family commitments, laziness and a head cold, it really didn’t work out that way.

But the down week  served as a refocusing week. I took the time to really figure out what I want to do in the next six months for training for the 2012 I Ride for Cancer Ride from Houston to Baltimore as well as open our online store.

Here’s my training for Week 3:

Monday 12/26/2011

No ride or training today. No excuse – just plain lazy.

Tuesday 12/27/2011

Today I did a lot of things with our family. We met some friends at a restaurant and went to the movies to see the Adventures of Tin Tin. By the time we got home, it was too late for a ride. 🙂

Wednesday 12/28/2011

Another lazy day. I ended up going to St. Arnold’s Brewery in Houston with some family members. That ended up taking precedence over biking.

Thursday 12/29/2011

Time to focus. Time to ride. I did a 25 mile ride today on my normal route. 1 hr 12 min. Not too hard, but I did some intervals training.

Friday 12/30/2011

I did a quick 20 mile ride today. It took just a little less than an hour – 55 min. I took a more hilly back road route and had a tiny head wind on the way back.

Saturday 12/31/2011

I had a little head cold this morning – so I decided to forgo the ride. Maybe tomorrow morning.

Sunday 1/1/2012

So this has turned into the ultimate lazy week. Instead of a New Years ride today I decided to lay off and have fun with the kids! LOL – there’s always tomorrow!

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What New Years Resolutions Mean to Me

Posted on January 4, 2012 by chrish
I Ride for Cancer T-Shirt Back

I Ride for Cancer T-Shirt Back

A year ago, I did a gut check. I looked in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw. I didn’t like that I had gotten fat. I didn’t like that I was letting not only my health slip, but my relationships as well as other things. Sitting around was too easy. Drinking beer and eating good food were too easy. Basically I was lazy. Very very lazy.

2011 Resolution – Lose Weight

So on January 1, 2011 I decided to lose weight. I decided to change my attitude and mindset. I decided to make that one small step after another until I changed my life. And that’s what I did. I took it two weeks at a time and committed myself to doing just a little bit more and eating just a little bit less or just a little better. I ended this year 50 pounds less that what I started it.

That sounds like a lot (it really is – trust me) but it’s nothing compared to what I feel I can do now. Now I have the mentality that if I can do that, then what the heck is stopping me trom doing anything else?

In this past year, I not only lost 50 pounds, but I rode over 2,500 miles. I rode in a 170 mile charity event for MS and rode from San Antonio, TX to New Braunfels, TX and back. I’ve changed my life.

I figure if I can ride 100 miles in one day – what is 1 hour of riding per day going to hurt? What else can I do that I’ve told myself that is impossible? Can I climb a mountain? Or better yet – can I ride it?

2012 and Beyond

In 2012, I’m committing myself to riding from Houston, TX to Baltimore, MD (around 1,700 miles total) to raise money and awareness for Pancreatic Cancer, what my Dad died from. If you would have asked me a year ago that I would even be contemplating a ride of that magnitude, I would have told you that you were smoking crack. But here I am.

So the biggest thing I learned from this past year? It was the single thing that was holding me back. It wasn’t time, money, family, committments or anything else. It was me. I was holding myself back and LETTING myself become stagnant. No more. No more complacency. No more excuses.

Now, it’s “There’s no time like the present” because we only have a short time on this earth. I plan on living life to the fullest that I can. What are you going to do? Take action now. Start walking. Start running. Start riding. Best yet – Ride for Cancer.

What is I Ride for Cancer?

I Ride for Cancer is a site dedicated to raising money and awareness for Cancer Research. I Ride for Cancer is headed up by Chris Hunter who plans to ride from MD Anderson in Houston, TX to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD in June 2012. Follow along on this site while he documents training and experiences all along the way.

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I Ride for Cancer News – New Store and Guest Blogger!

Posted on December 31, 2011 by chrish

We have two exciting news items for this week. The first is that we have now opened up the I Ride for Cancer Store! Get your I Ride for Cancer apparel there as well as a few knick knacks. All profits from each sale will go towards cancer research – so be sure to go to the store and pick up your I Ride for Cancer apparel now!

What do YOU ride for?

T-Shirt Front - What do YOU ride for?

I Ride for Cancer

T-Shirt Back - I Ride for Cancer

Click here to visit the store!

Women's Shirt - I Ride for Cancer Front

Women's Shirt Front - What do YOU ride for?

Womens Shirt Back - I Ride for Cancer

Womens Shirt Back - I Ride for Cancer

New Guest Blogger – David Haas

David approached me earlier this week and asked if he could do some guest posts to help spread the word. I of course said YES! David is the Family Hospitality Coordinator for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance and is a cancer patient advocate who writes and researches for the betterment of others. He has seen family members and friends go through this disease and want to help because I know these messages are important.

Welcome to the I Ride for Cancer family David! We look forward to your posts!

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Week 2 of Training for 1,500 Mile Ride

Posted on December 30, 2011 by chrish
I Ride for Cancer

I Ride for Cancer

As you might imagine, when I tell people what I’m going to do this summer – ride from Houston to Baltimore to raise awareness and money for Pancreatic Cancer – I get some strange looks. People think I’m just down right nuts or super human or both. Maybe I am nuts, but I’m definitely not super human.

This week, my focus was to get into the regular CrossFit workouts and ride my miles that I have scheduled. On my Rides, I wanted to do 4 intervals of 90% of my maximum heart rate in the 25 mile rides.

Also I read a great blog post on Tim Ferriss’s blog about how to basically run forever. It has a lot to do with controlling your breathing as well as controlling your heart rate.

Below are my workouts for Week 2

Monday

This was my last OnRamp workout which is  a way that BoomFit sets you up with a personal trainer to get you up to speed on the CrossFit workouts. It’s actually very nice and I appreciate the level of detail they go through to ensure that you know the majority of the lifts before you get thrown into a class and potentially endanger yourself and others.

Today’s workout was short but intense. By the end, my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and my arms felt like they were going to give out completely. But other than that, it was awesome!

WOD – 5:36

5 Rounds of:

  • 10 Hanging Cleans
  • 5 Burpees

Tuesday

Today was a scheduled 25 mile ride. However, it was raining, so I decided to one of my most favorite cardio workouts – P90X Kenpo. It was such a great workout that I kept going at the end with 250 jumping jacks at a super high pace – 2 mins 50 seconds. I missed not being able to get on the bike, but this felt like a great compromise.

Wednesday

Whew. This was my first true Crossfit class. We started with some front squats – 5 sets of 2 reps. The group I was with started with small weights and moved up quickly. I’ve never done front squats, so it was quite a challenge! My highest weight was 135 – nowhere near the 205 that one of my group mates did. I’m sure I’ll get better at them!

Next was the Workout of the Day. This was actually pretty fun and challenging. It was 5 sets of 10 dumbell clean and jerks and 200 meter run. Both seemed ok and I didn’t end up in the last of the pack on finishing — so not bad overall.

Thursday

It was a great, brisk ride this morning. Time – 1:12.

Friday

The College Station Crossfit box was closed today, so I ended up being lazy and decided to recover my muscles. Have a merry Christmas! 🙂

Saturday

No ride this morning since it’s raining.  🙁

However, I’m not complaining since the area I live in is in a severe drought so any rain is good rain. If it were summer, I’d go ahead and do the ride, but it’s also a little chilly out so I’ll forgo the ride.

Sunday

Raining again. Merry Christmas!!!

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