After watching YouTubers Kara and Nate vlog about mountain biking the Colorado Trail – a 487 mile feat – in two weeks, I was immediately hooked. With COVID and the seasons quickly changing, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to attempt the real trail until next Summer at the earliest, so my sister and I brainstormed to create the Colorado Trail Challenge. Throughout the month of October, we’re partnering up to complete the mileage of the Colorado Trail by walking, running, or biking. If you want to learn more about how the challenge came about, click here!
I created this page to be the home of the Colorado Trail Challenge instead of posting separate blogs, with the hopes that it’ll be easier to check in to the same place every time. I’ll note my motivation, fitness levels, and more as update this page along the way!
Let’s do this! #coloradotrailchallenge
10/1/20:
The challenge began on Thursday, October 1st. Before deciding to include anyone but ourselves, my sister and I had thought about starting a few days before October because we were so excited to get going. We ran on some local trails because it felt the most authentic, but we ended up trying to get lost and realized our times wouldn’t be efficient enough to complete 7.85 miles a day, for 31 days. (Not that we’re even in shape enough to run that many miles a day.)
As much as sharing my weight is weird, if there’s a chance that it helps someone come to grips with their own, then I’m more than willing. Throughout quarantine, I’ve fluctuated around 140 lbs. When I was at my peak level of fitness in my senior, I weighed anywhere from 135-140 lbs, mostly made up of lower body muscle. I’ve started to creep above 140 by a pound or so, which is uncomfortable for me because I know that my weight is no longer mostly muscle. If it was, 140 wouldn’t scare me, except that when your quads, hammys, and glutes get too big, shorts stop fitting the same which becomes annoying. My goal is to hover back between 135-140, building some muscle, but becoming more lean.
All of that being said, I’m tracking my weight through this fitness journey because I find it interesting and want to know how much my weight will change as the month continues. If tracking your weight leads to dangerous thoughts or habits for you, DO NOT follow my lead.
To complete my mileage today, I leaned back on the endurance training I used to get in shape the summer before my Junior year: interval training! That was the first time that I actually enjoyed running and figured that’d be a good place to start. My workout totaled 5 miles, of which I ran 3, and walked 2. I usually begin with a straight mile, and then mix in high effort half-miles and walking quarter-miles. My mile time for day one is embarrassingly slow, but again, we’re starting from square one. So let it be known, day one, I ran a 10:20 mile.
With everyone posting about starting the challenge with me, I was super motivated to get to 7.85, but my right achilles tightened up and I figured it’d stupid to ruin my body on the first day. I went home, biked the remaining 2.85 and then stretched, rolled out, and used our theragun with the hopes that it would help with the soreness the next day. Overall, super exciting day because of completing 5 miles on my own two feet, as well as all of the support surrounding the challenge!