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So the new challenge started early! I am sure someone at NF Headquarters heard me sobbing softly as I contemplated challenge withdrawl. I am so glad I had my challenge already sketched out on the back of a napkin (that may or may not have been from a doughnut shop... I'm not telling) Okay so here we go.... Yesssss... this challenge will be Sherlock Holmes themed! And more specifically, "Hound of the Baskervilles" because it's one of my favorite Holmes stories, and "Release the Hounds" jokes never get old. So in true detective fashion, let me lay out my case.... My main goal this challenge is to ride in, and more importantly COMPLETE, the metric century at the Savannah Century cycling event. If you've followed any of my other challenges, you know that I have made 4 attempts at a metric so far and have had to drop out of all of them at various distances. If my inability to finish the last 10 miles of these rides isn't a crime that needs investigating, I don't know what is. So almost all my training this time around will be focused on that one goal. The ride itself is Sept 6th, so that dovetails with this challenge nicely. My two prongs of attack - my Sherlock and my Watson, if you will - will be physical training and eating. I've gotten a TON fitter over my last challenges, and I'm really happy about that, but I need to drop some of the extra fluff WITHOUT compromising my performance. So I am not going to cut carbs ( I currently seem to need about 200 grams a day to sustain my workout load) but try source them intelligently, and investigate a small detail each week that may lead to a larger solution. (See what I did there? More bad detective allusions to come, I assure you!) Also, I'm going to ramp up my milage on the bike each week, because 62 miles is a long freaking way, and to amuse myself I'm going to track how many round trips between London and Devonshire (home of Baskerville Hall) I make over the six weeks. (It's 175 miles each way, in case you're interested.) My training plan looks like 2 gym workouts, 3 bike workouts per week. The bike workouts are one hilly ride, one intervals (speed) ride, and one long-ass why-am-I-doing-this ride. Here we go... WEEK ONE: The investigation begins! - I need to do a set of progress pics, a set of measurements, a body fat measurement, and a blood pressure check. "Data! I need Data! I cannot make bricks without clay!" Also I am going to start keeping a food diary and posting it here, so I can really get a handle on what I'm eating. (Spoiler: it's too much) I will hate this. Week one mileage goal: 80 miles. WEEK TWO: The Curse of the Baskervilles! Or in my case, The Curse of the Basket of Chips. In an attempt to eliminate empty carbs, I am going to go grain-free. I don't have any gluten issues, but I do tend to mindlessly munch pastries and chips, so I'm hoping this will force me to eat only nutritious carbs that fuel my workouts, rather than make me want to nap. Holmes made Watson go to Devonshire and send him reports while he investigated in town. In that spirit, I will do a measurement/pics report at the end of week 2. Week two mileage goal: 90 miles. WEEK THREE: THE LIGHT UPON THE MOOR One of the sub-mysteries in HOTB is the convict, Seldon, who is hidden on the moor by his family, Baskerville's servants. One of my personal sub-mysteries is how I am expending 4,000 calories a week and not getting any skinnier, and I suspect the culprit is liquid calories. I've gotten a bit too dependent on Gatorade during and after workouts, and lately I've been drinking soda here and there. So this week's goal is to cut out all liquid calories, with the exception of cream in my coffee in the AM, because I don't want to lose my will to live this early in the challenge. But I'm going to cut it to one-half cup a day. Week three mileage goal: 100 miles WEEK FOUR: FIXING THE NETS Sherlock refuses to arrest the villain in HOTB until he's cleared up all the loose ends. In that vein, I will use week four to get any residual sugar out of my diet (ketchup and BBQ sauce, I'm looking at you) and possibly give up cheese. This may be a hound too far, however. I will get a tune-up on my bike if I haven't done that already. Also, week four will be another Report from Doctor Watson (pics and measures) Week four mileage goals: 100 miles, with one 50 mile ride to prep for big ride. WEEK FIVE: RELEASE THE HOUNDS The Ride is at the end of this week (Sunday Sept 6th) and so I won't make any big changes this week, except to aim for 9 hours of sleep a night and taper my training so I am coiled like a spring and ready to go. WEEK SIX: A RETROSPECTIVE This week I will analyse my progress, do a final report (pics and measures), soak in a hot tub somewhere, and eat pizza. I will do the pics and measures before I eat the pizza, just like my IQ was normal. Well that was certainly exhaustive. If you're short on time, here's the cliff notes: I'm going to ride my bike a lot and not eat like a pig.