May Update on 2026 Fitness Goals

As you know if you follow this blog, I generally give a monthly update on fitness / Strava goals. I guess we can say that it is another level of accountability to share these publicly.

Plus, from time to time I'll look at older updates just to see where I was way-back-when.

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

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

So far, I'm tracking pretty well to my 2026 Fitness goals.

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 (see April Metric Century). This is 57 straight months I've done this. 
   
   
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 April, I have logged 2,001 miles for the year. While technically this puts me "behind", I am tracking to my plan.
   
   
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 108,985 feet climbed on my bikes. This is almost 3.8 "Everests".
   
   
4. #Run700Miles2026
   700 miles is just under 100km per month. With my Half Marathon (see #5) training, I'm ahead of this pace with just over 298 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-April. I even ran the Half Marathon faster than I thought I would and blew away my 2:20 goal.
   
   
6. VO₂ Max > 44 ml/kg/min
   As measured by my Garmin Watch, I started the year as 42 ml/kg/min. Right now, I'm at 44. For a few weeks, I've bounced between 42 and 44. Every time I do my "long run", it falls to 42, but as soon as I do a tempo run, it jumps back up to 44. 
   
   
7. 15 Stone
   At my heaviest, I was over 260lbs. I've been as low as 214 last year and this month, I got to just over 216lbs. 15 Stone is 210 lbs, which would be lighter than I've been since my early college days. I'm "on track" on this, but it will get more and more difficult. 

I know my Cycling numbers look like I'm falling behind the goals, but my "plan" is always more cycling-heavy in the warmer months, so I'm actually right on track.

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		...		...	.		...		...		.
June		...		...	.		...		...		.
July		...		...	.		...		...		.
August		...		...	.		...		...		.
September		...		...	.		...		...		.
October		...		...	.		...		...		.
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.