On not not training

I'm finding it harder to not train than I had anticipated.

My idea was to ride bicycle, cross country ski, run, lift weights, swim according to how I feel, for fun, with no set goal or plan to follow. It's a zen thing, if you want to know, an effort to live in the moment rather than the future.

So I told myself, when I got on put my bicycle on the rollers in the basement, that I'm just going to do it for fun. Put on some tunes, spin for a while, and not make a big deal about it. It would be more of a music-listening session, really, than anything else. I just would happen to be pedaling while listening.

However, it really takes a wide stretch of imagination to consider riding on rollers or a stationery bike or any type of indoor bicycle riding fun or relaxed. After my first session, my lower back rebelled. This, of course, is due to a number of factors: a weak core, a flabby gut and age. Now, I would like to ride a bicycle a lot this summer, and I want to ride far and I want to ride fast.

So I've decided that I need to do core exercises, stretches and need to ride more to build those back muscles up for the load to come this summer. That's starting to a look a lot like training. Furthermore, I've made a soft commitment to ride three or four times a week, making it seem more and more like a plan.

Finally, I've been noodling around with the idea of doing a one-day ride from Wausau to St. Paul, a 180-mile jaunt. That's 10 hours at 18 mph, not counting stops for water, food, changing a tire or anything else. That would require a serious commitment to riding. I think I might have to train for that.

None of this even counts the fact that I plan to sign up for the New York City Marathon, and all that would be required of me if I were to get into that race.

I'm not sure where this all leaves me. Probably somewhere between a Type-A competitive person and a laid back Zen master. But we all know how my grand intentions end up, so God only knows where I'll be on the scale two weeks from now.