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I've officially started preparations for the Tahoe Trail 100. First item of business: get to my longtime target weight under 180 lbs, at 12-14% body fat. (As measured by my unreliable bathroom scale.)

Last week's weigh-in: 194.8 lbs.

This week's weigh-in: 194.0 lbs.

I'm gonna call that a win. Basically, I ate my first meal of the day after my first workout of the day, I ate home-cooked food for nearly all my meals, and I cut my desert intake in half. Aside from that, my food intake changed very little from normal.

I'm hoping I can make steady progress over the next few months (yes, even through the holidays), which should put me under 180 lbs in about four months. That leaves four months to eat for recovery rather than weight loss, and be ready for the Tahoe Trail 100.

Since the first steps were so clear, I haven't bothered yet, but at some point I'll sit down and work out a target time and a training calendar and plot out the milestones I need to hit.

I'm reminded of an exchange I saw on Billions. It went something like:

"Nobody at your stage in the game has master plan to get there."

"Nobody who gets there doesn't."

I'll have to work backward from July 13, figure out my taper, and work out some kind of target time.

Honestly, my first and only real goal is to participate in and finish the race. Logistically and athletically, that'll be a pretty great day.

But it'll help my motivation in training to have a target time in place, and a plan to achieve it. And it'll help my motivation during the race to know I've trained well and have every expectation of finishing.

So. Final score for this week:

• Drop a pound: check.
• Ride 3+ hrs: check

Checklist for next week:

• Drop a pound
• Ride 3+ hrs
• Sketch out a training calendar
• Plan benchmark ride that mimics TT100's climbing/distance ratio

Schabarum Loop