I’m usually pretty good a following through on my plans.  When I give myself a goal — the triathlon, the 100/100/100 challenge, vegetarianism, and Isle Royale, to name a few — I typically see it to fruition.   There have been some cases with ambiguous outcomes, like the 15-week photo challenge (which morphed into a still-unfolding stint at photojournalism) and Zoitz (which has a remarkable ability to find new audiences whenever I consider killing it).  Then there are situations that, at least on their face, are failures.

The century falls somewhere between the second and third categories.

I started with the best intentions, going so far as to pay my registration fee, but my enthusiasm waned after about a month and a half.  By the time school started in mid September, it was becoming clear that my training schedule wouldn’t bring me the century experience that I desired.  I was fairly certain that I could go the distance, but I wasn’t sure what the cost would be on my body.

As the October 18th date drew closer, the likelihood that I would participate got lower and lower.  Then, about a week and a half before the event, it became clear that I was facing a nearly impossible workload from school and contract commitments.  I lived that last week in coffee houses, pumped up on caffeine and working like mad to write the papers, finish the reports, and complete the homework that I had promised to do.  I took a few hours on the weekend to relax with some sports photography, but that was the extent of my recreation.

In the end, I got everything done.  Everything, that is, except the century.  I spent all of last Saturday, the day of the century, sitting at a desk and plowing through some extremely math intensive computer science homework.

What could have been done to help the situation?  I suspect that the greatest benefit would have come from having a daily training partner.  I find that my chances of success are much higher when I know that somebody else will be affected by my actions.  Voda provided some great encouragement and enthusiasm, but he lives far enough away to make daily training unrealistic.  Perhaps I should have joined a cycling club.

I didn’t do the century.  The good news is that I started cycling more, and I had some nice rides with friends, like Voda.  The unrealized goal spurred me to get in several hundred miles of riding that I otherwise might not have done.  It also got me in better shape for my daily commute to campus on my bike.

No, I didn’t complete this century, but that means it’s still available as a future goal.