Goal: To become a cyclist -- at least for a semester! I hope to be able to bike long distances, get in better shape, become more open to picking up new physical activities, and make friends who might share the hobby.
Plan of Action: Attend a Meetup.com beginner's cycling meetup. Then, try to figure out how to go on 1 ride each week. (The group has more advanced rides other weeks in the month. So, I'll need to find something else, too.) I'll set a more definite goal for mileage after I go on the first ride, which is 27 miles. The social support of a group will be a big help!
Motivation for change: (a) physical -- cyclists have great legs :), (b) increase cardiovascular fitness, (c) possible fat loss -- tummy! :), (d) social -- get over the awkwardness of joining a fit group of people whom I don't know and enjoy it.
Influential person(s): (a) a friend who's into cycling, and (b) the couples I've met who ride together -- they just have the loveliest of relationships.
3 Barriers and Plans to Deal with them:
(a) Time -- I have a busy job. Although it's part-time, I'm always "on-call" and it's hard to plan time for not working. I'm also applying to graduate school, and have the rest of my life going on, too. My plan to deal with this is to schedule it with other people so that the social pressure will help keep me moving toward my goal (and be more fun!)
(b) emotional -- I don't have any friends who ride, and the prospect of hopping into a new social group with people who're different from me is a bit daunting. I spent my life as a dancer, and they have very different attitudes about physical activity for health (vs. for art) than athletes do. My plan for dealing with this is practice, i.e. hanging out with physically active types and not thinking that they're weird. :-P
(c) physical -- 27 miles is a long way to ride! I generally look forward to being sore, so that's not an enormous issue. But when I exercise a lot, I really need to get 8 hours of sleep, with my busy-ness, I fear that I'll be causing more problems to my body by exercising without getting proper rest than I increase health. My plan for this is to become a better time-manager (see item (a)) so that I learn how to prioritize tasks during the day. I'll need to get done the essential things, but I have to let non-essentials slide if I'm going to sleep 8 hours each night (or at least allow myself sufficient catch-up time on the weekends).
After having written all of this, I realize that I mis-read the directions!!! I was only supposed to report on ONE of these points for the first blog. :-P Next time, I'll flesh out my plans more clearly for the goal and plan of action. Also, I might have an update about my first ride. This, of course, will involve my going by the bike shop to get my bike tuned up. Given the rate at which I tend to accomplish personal tasks, this could take a century. I'm always shoving my personal stuff aside to get work done. But since I don't have a century, I suppose that 4 days will have to do. :o)
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