My 2024 Sports Year in Review
I didn’t start 2024 with lofty fitness goals. I wasn’t joining my teammates on the ride to Los Angeles. I hadn’t signed up for any one-day rides either.
My plan was simple: steady progress, in the gym and as a Training Ride Leader for the South Bay Blaze team.
I am proud of the results: 285 active days. I walked over 219 miles, often around the neighborhood in a 1:1 meeting. I lifted weights for 70 hours and joined plenty of fitness group classes at the gym, including shadow kickboxing and dancing. I swam a total of 44 miles in the pool, in a few lakes, and in the Mediterranean Sea. I bicycled over 2,024 miles. I went an entire year without alcohol, and that includes a visit to Belgium.
2024 was also a year of firsts: my first organized gravel ride, Everybody Loves Raymond in Raymond, CA; my first Tierra Bella, Grizzly Peak, and the Marin Century rides; my first triathlon(!).
My plantar fasciitis is doing better. I got back into running and completed the 10K Turkey Trot.
In September, as word spread that, after 30 years, 2025 would be the final AIDS LifeCycle Ride, I recommitted. That also meant that my training for the ride started in October. See you at the finish line in Los Angeles in June next year.
Lastly, I got more serious about my training and recovery. With a new Garmin Fenix 8 watch, I am very in tune with my body battery, my recovery, and sleep.
Christmas came early when a used and well-maintained Trek Domane SL7 road bike fell into my lap for a price among friends (thanks, Steve!). Wow, this is a fast machine. I am already shattering PRs.
I do have a few big fitness goals for 2025 already. More to come on that soon.