October Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on my fitness / Strava goals. I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I figure sharing these publicly give me a little extra motivation because of the extra accountability.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was in the past.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, You can always track these workouts on Strava. 

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals, although a couple of aches and pains (not quite injuries) do seem to be slowing me down a bit (at least on running).

My 2026 Fitness / Activity Goals are:

1. #MetricCenturyEveryMonth
   As of July 2021, I've cycled at least one Metric Century every month, and this month was no exception (Indigenous Peoples Metric Century). This is 63 straight months (over 5 years) I've done this. I've already done on in November as well.
   
   
2. #7000MilesIn2026
   This is significantly lower than my #8200MilesIn2025 goal, but I figure with the running, 7,000 miles is still a big cycling number. As of the end of September, I have logged 6,325 miles for the year. 
   
   
3. #13EverestsIn2026
   Also significantly lower than the #16EverestsIn2025 because of the added running goals. My goal is to climb 13 x 29,032 = 377,416 feet on the bike. At the end of last month, I've logged 328,093 feet climbed on my bikes. This is over 11 "Everests".
   
   
4. #Run700Miles2026
   700 miles is just under 100km per month. With my Great Cycle Challenge (#GCCUSA) in September, I concentrated on Cycling and didn't run at all, but I started up in October and got back on track with just over . However, I was so far ahead of this goal pace that I'm still pretty much on track with just over 573 miles so far this year. 
   
   
5. Run a Half Marathon
   CHECK ✅
   I finished my Runna Half Marathon plan and completed the Platte River Half Marathon in mid-May. I even ran the Half Marathon faster than planned and blew away my 2:20 goal. BTW ... I signed up for a Marathon in 2027, so that will be a goal next year.
   
   
6. VO₂ Max > 44 ml/kg/min
   CHECK ✅
   As measured by my Garmin Watch, I started the year as 42 ml/kg/min. Right now, I hit 45 for most of the month in June and July. That is good enough for me to say I've hit this goal. 
   
   
7. 15 Stone
   At my heaviest, I was over 260lbs. I've been as low as 214 last year and this year I started at 221. This month, I sort of ignored this goal, although I did hit 212.7. 15 Stone is 210 lbs, which would be lighter than I've been since my early college days. I'm "ok" on this, but it will get more and more difficult. 

With the huge cycling #GCCUSA month, I've flipped over into the "green" completely in September.

Month		Miles		YTD			Elevation		YTD
January		500		500	-94		28,741		28,741		-3,235
February		454		955	-177		23,250		51,991		-9,015
March		470		1,424	-301		25,481		77,472		-15,588
April		576		2,001	-300		31,463		108,935		-15,150
May		659		2,660	-236		32,319		141,254		-14,880
June		659		3,318	-153		33,347		174,601		-12,500
July		650		3,969	-59		33,398		207,999		-9,145
August		723		4,692	+32		37,462		245,451		-5,806
September		1,012		5,704	+469		51,135		296,597		+14,310
October		621		6,326	+519		31,494		328,091		+13,752
November		...		...	.		...		...		.
December		...		...	.		...		...		.

As always, stay tuned on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with beer, barbeque, biking and other things in my life: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed; SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website.

About Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch

So ... I brewed Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch a little over a month ago (see Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch (Batch #399)), and kegged it towards the beginning of October.

Despite the name, this is not really a Kölsch. And ... no Khupacabras were harmed in the brewing of this beer. Come to think of it, Kolorado isn't really a thing either.

The yeast I used for this beer was from a small Colorado yeast lab "Propagate Lab", and they named it Colorado Kolsch (#MIP-511). I harvested this from my newest version of Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch, which also wasn't really a Kölsch. I had harvested that yeast from my latest batch of Bad Lands Kölsch, which actually is a Kölsch style beer.

Random Photos

I have not posted on this blog in awhile.

I don't really have anything to say, but here are some random photos:

1519 Barker Exportbier (Batch 400)

I had a day off on Monday after being away for a wedding in north Minnesota (stone throw from Canada) over the weekend.

I did a run in the morning. Then I went on a bike ride. 

After the ride, I had lunch and then lay down for a little nap.

I had grains for a brew day ... and around 2pm ... I decided to brew a batch of beer.

It just happens to be my 400th batch of beer I've brewed since I started making beer.

This is actually the third time I've brewed this particular recipe ....

1519 Barker Exportbier

3 Blondes and a Redhead

So .... I actually have 4 wonderful SheppyBrew beers on tap right now. It has been awhile since it has been the case that all my taps have a beer on them.

Catching up with Buckwheat's Belgium Pale Ale (Batch 398) and then Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch (Batch #399) seem to have done what I hoped.

The beers I have "on tap" are

• GNorthside Gnome Cold IPA 
  Hoppy "Cold IPA" ... a hoppy rice beer brewed as a lager with IPA hops. The citrus hops come through nicely in a crisp, clean base.
  
  
• Brain Freeze Rauchbier 
  My Roll-a-Style 6B. Rauchbier, which is basically a smoked Marzen. The amount of smoke malt is less than 10% of the grain bill, which isn't really as much as most Rauchbiers. I the smoke comes through nicely without being overpowering.
  
  
• Buckwheat's Belgium Pale Ale 
  This SheppyBrew Classic has been brewed 15 times with various grain bills and yeasts. The past few times have been pretty consistent. I refer to this as "fat tire light". The Beer Model says this is her favorite SheppyBrew Beer, which is why it has been brewed so often.
  
  
• Khupacabra Kolorado Kolsch 
  Actually not much of a "Kolsch" ... it really presents more like a session IPA. It was designed a my first "No-chill" beer with only CTZ in the boil, but Cascade, Centennial, and Citra added as a dry-hop. 

2026 Q3 SheppyBrew Stats

Well ... it is October, putting us past the 3rd Quarter of 2026. We can report on the SheppyBrew Home Brewery "Brewing Stats" for Q3.

If you read the Q1 report, you know 2026 started off very slow. Slow enough that I was on track to brew the least amount of beer EVER.

In the Q2 report, I had brewed a little more, and was no longer on track for the least volume of beer ever, but still probably the lowest since my Mr. Beer days. 

Wild Cow (sort of) Kölsch

September Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on my fitness / Strava goals. I'm sure no one besides myself really cares, but I figure sharing these publicly give me a little extra motivation because of the extra accountability.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was in the past.

In previous years, my goals have been mostly around cycling, but starting this year, I've started running as well.

If you're interested, You can always track these workouts on Strava. 

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals, although a couple of aches and pains (not quite injuries) do seem to be slowing me down a bit (at least on running).