Tuesday, March 30, 2010

How will I do it?

My Ride to Conquer Cancer is under three months away. Three months. Three months and I have to go from where I am now (7km a day in two 3.5km chunks to/from work) to biking 200km over two days. Three months to go from ‘chubby, slightly lazy girl’ to ‘muscular biking machine that helps cure cancer’.

I’m terrified.

When I first signed up for this I was motivated and pumped. Now I’m just scared. Scared that I won’t be able to make it. Scared that I’ll still be pushing the Xlbs of bleh that I call a body from here to Niagara Falls, instead of the much leaner Xlbs I was hoping to be at. Scared that I’ll get blisters. Scared that I’ll get a seriously bad farmers tan (biking jerseys don’t come in “strapless” styles, apparently). Scared that I’ll be lonely. Scared that I’ll be the weirdly-tanned fat girl crying by herself at Niagara Falls.

Welcome to my crazy.

I have less than three months to get up to biking 100km a few times a week, and I don’t know how I’m going to do it! Between rehearsals on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, another rehearsal day that’s TBD, the odd comedy show, the run of the show I’m rehearsing for, trying to book myself stand-up gigs, working 8:30-5 every day…really guys, when am I going to find time to go on long bike rides?!

I could get up early and do a 7am spin class, but there’s so much planning involved in that (leave house at 6:20, bring change of clothes, bring breakfast vs. buying breakfast, get ready at gym, make sure I don’t go to bed too late…) I really don’t think I could do it every day. I could ride before my rehearsals on the weekend, but again it would mean getting up early (7:30) to ride for a couple hours, then home to shower/change/eat and back on the road to make my 12 or 1 rehearsal. Then I’d end up crashing afterwards and would probably never want to go out. Going for a three hour ride after work is not possible, though I have been getting on my exercise bike at home for at least half an hour every day. Add the fact that I need to do strength and core training, and…gah, why didn’t I do sports when I was a kid?

I need to get it into my mind that I’m not just doing some cancer thing in June…I’m training for a huge ride that’s going to be really, really hard. A marathon, for lack of a better word. Technically, I’m training for 4.7 marathons!

I suppose I need to get into the mindset of an athlete, but I’ve never been an athlete before. I’ve never HAD to exercise every single day. I’ve never HAD to make extra time to fit a long workout in. And I reckon that most athletes don’t have four or five rehearsals a week to work around. It’s really hard to try and figure out how the hell I’m going to do this without skipping rehearsals and/or crying.

So yeah, I’m scared. But, on a positive note, I’m stubborn and motivated. I’ll make it work.

And hey, if you ever want to go for a bike ride/do some crunches/do a spin class/go to yoga with me, give me a shout. It’s always easier to work out when there’s a friend working out beside you.

OhgodpleasecallmeIcantdothisalone.

1 comment:

  1. JS, I will ride a bike with you whenever. But it sounds like something has got to give. Like um, the four or five rehearsals a week. Which are probably two or three hours in length. Which is like, 8-15 hours that you could be spending on a bike. I know you're going to hate me for saying this, and I hate myself too because I totally sound like my mom, but do less shows. Take a hiatus for the ride. Because it isn't just physical preparation, it's the mental preparation as well.

    Seriously though, want to go on a ride this Saturday?

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