I’ve recently committed to the New Zealand Smiddy Challenge. A five-day adventure that will see me cycle over 700 km, with 7000 vertical metres of climbing.
As I was signing up for this, lots of thoughts were going through my mind – can I do it, am I strong enough, do I have a true commitment to training etc.
It was obvious to me that to ensure I am successful I need to have a plan of attack. I need the right tools and resources available for the job at hand. I have to set some goals to get started as I only have 15 weeks to train.
This made me think how similar this is to rolling out Salesforce – given the time frame I liken this challenge to our Quick Start Program. A good Salesforce implementation involves 7 key steps:
- Listen
- Plan
- Build and Iterate
- System Testing
- Train and Rollout
- Help and support
- Ongoing Advice
This challenge is really no different – just some things come in a slightly different order (I am sure I will be getting the help from my physio quite regularly!).
So why am I doing this?
There are lots of reasons, but primarily it is to raise funds for cancer research.
As part of the Smiling for Smiddy peloton, I will be using my passion for cycling (or should that be my madness) to raise money to fight this devastating disease. I have a target of $2,500 to raise by March 2016.
So for this challenge, my objectives are:
- To be physically and mentally ready for this ride by mid-March 2016
- To raise $2,500 in support for cancer research
- To successfully complete the ride in one piece
- To stay married to Kevin who is doing this challenge with me
Sounds easy right? The question now is how I am going to do meet these goals?
As I am in the planning stage, this week I have been busy doing some of the basics:
- Getting my head in the right space
- Creating a fundraising page
- Booking flights
- Booking time off work (gotta love supportive workplaces so a big thanks to Jason and the team at Salesfix)
- Thinking of some ideas on how to raise funds
- Getting my bike serviced (haven’t ridden since May)
- Going to a spin class or two to kick off my training
Over the next few weeks, I will be putting together a detailed training plan and set some short term goals to meet. I struggled this morning in spin so I have a lot of work to do and it’s only 15 weeks away!
I intend on updating this blog with my training progress and ultimately share the details of my successful ride. Wish me luck.
