Birthday Challenge 2008

Since breaking my hand on May 31st mountain biking on the Alta trail at South Mountain and the subsequent surgery, I've had lots of doctor mandated time off my bike. Lots of idle time to contemplate ways to motivate myself to get back on track when I'm allowed to ride again. While surfing the web I stumbled across the perfect solution - birthdaychallenge.com

As I read the crazy stories, I started to formulate my own plan. My first thoughts were grandiose (like running/hiking the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim in 24 hours ~42 miles) but then I came back to reality. I then decided that trail running & mountain biking would have to be part of the challenge since they are things I enjoy doing. Then my broken hand chimed in and suggested I add making free throws to my list since I love basketball and it would be fitting to show that my broken hand was back in the game. As I thought about what other activities would be appropriate to add to my challenge, it came to me... What in my life do I love so much that I would gladly suffer for it? Why not take this time to celebrate not only my birth but my LIFE and the things that make my life worth living... These are the things I want to spend my birthday challenge doing! These are the things that keep me going everyday.

So this is where I am so far in my personal challenge for 2008! (I'll be 42 in October):

42 miles on mountain biking
4.2 miles of trail running
42 made free throws
42 lengths of our pool underwater swimming
42 hugs & kisses for the family
42 songs on my iPod listening - at least!
42 minutes of Texas Aggie football watching- at least!

42 ounces of Diet Dr. Pepper drinking- at least!

I'll be adding a few more things before October - as they come to me! It looks like this challenge will be going down on Saturday, October 25th so that should help with the football watching! I probably won't be cleared to ride by the doc until early September so that gives me maybe a month and a half to prepare for the challenge. I'd like to do the flight of the pigs this year in November and that's around 70 miles of riding with more than half on dirt so the challenge will be a great "warmup" for that.

So the next question is where to do this challenge. As far as the trail running and mountain biking, the answer was obvious. Even though there are a lot of great options available, I have to return to the scene of the crime - South Mountain Park.

The riding portion of this challenge will definitely be the toughest part. The trails aren't exactly flat. I need to figure out a good route that will cover 42 miles and won't kill me. The 3-month break from any riding whatsoever (which will hopefully end sometime in September) won't leave me with much time to prepare. By the way, 42 miles of mountain biking will be the longest all singletrack riding I've done - ever.... I just re-read that last sentence...