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).

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 (#GCCUSA2026 Ride #48). This is 62 straight months (over 5 years) 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 September, I have logged 5,704 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 296,597 feet climbed on my bikes. This is over 10 "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. However, I was so far ahead of this goal pace that I'm still pretty much on track with just over 513 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 214 again. 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		...		...	.		...		...		.
November		...		...	.		...		...		.
December		...		...	.		...		...		.

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