Remember being 17 and confused about who you were and what life was all about? Cyclist Loren Rowney does. We caught up with her at Specialized-lululemon's recent training camp in Portugal to ask her about how she got to where she is today:

watch the video

more from this series

- Ryan Leier
- Lisa Brooking
- Mary Beth Larue

When I started working at lululemon in August 2008, I decided to challenge myself by setting the goal to cycle a century ride (100 miles) in 2009. Thankfully, my fellow Carlsbad Forum store key leader Rachelle Morton was interested in training with me. A two-time Ironwoman, Rachelle had never ridden a century ride outside of an IM race, and set a goal to compete in a race a month in 2009.

So, we committed and signed up for the Lighthouse Century Ride flat 100 on September 26, 2009 in San Luis Obispo County, California. We knew the views from the Lighthouse Century Ride would be gorgeous.

View of San Simeon from the saddle

First thing first - I sold my hybrid bike and purchased a road bike that could withstand thousands of miles of training on flat roads and rolling and steep hills alike, and of course, make me fast!

I knew the second I got in the saddle cycling would become my passion. This bike has gotten me through a successful triathalon and a century ride this year - not to mention thousands of miles of training.

Rachelle became the "big sister I never had" and walked me through all things advanced cycling, from equipment, training, and cross-training, to recovery, hydration, and nutrition - you name it, she taught me! I became someone to help keep her honest in training, push her up the long climbs, and the one to introduce her to the best recovery drink - coconut water.

Her husband Todd, to whom I also owe much thanks, became my mechanic, another advanced rider to provide me equipment and cycling 201, chauffeur, and wine-tasting buddy as a reward after the race.

And now, for the ride:

There were four rides going off at the same time, and we accidently hopped on the metric century (62 mile) route. Very thankfully - due to my trusty math and route slip comparing skills - we realized we were only 10 miles behind, and our intended route met up with the metric route at the first rest stop. It was here we discovered our favorite riding fuel is Nutella and chunky peanut butter on anything! We loaded up, as we knew we had to add on 5 miles past the rest stop, to bring us back up to 100 miles.

We were SO thankful for coffee at the mile 55 turnaround rest stop. We'd been facing headwinds for 20 miles that stalled us to 7mph at one point, and I'm convinced our core body temperature must have dropped a degree or two. Lesson learned - buy arm and leg sleeves!

Elephant seals at mile 59.

At mile 82, Rachelle was dropping me on the hills (I usually can take most guys on a climb) so she feared I was on my way to "bonking." It was then she yelled, "Take your Espresso Love GU NOW!"

I abided, and after the final rest stop for our final 10 miles, we were passing nearly every rider in our foreground.

My Garmin proves to the world we rode 100.1 miles in 6 hours 16 minutes. While we weren't doing the century for time, we rode our fastest pace for a long ride yet.

We did it!

For more pictures from our ride, check out my Flickr photo set.

The following day, Rachelle and I wore our 2008 lululemon holiday goal shirts to work. It was awesome to share with guests our achievement and inspire them to set goals that "tickle their tummy," as our store manager Laura Murphy puts it.

Rachelle, Todd and I had such an awesome experience, we're all doing the Solvang Prelude on November 7th.

Now it's time to create a 2010 health goal; thinking about running a marathon or racing a 70.3 (half Ironman).

What are your health goals?

If you follow our photos on flickr or facebook, you'll know that here at lululemon we love few things more than jumping and goal setting! This past week, Shirley (our New Store IT Coordinator) managed to combine these two lululemon-loves into one.

Shirley has had it in her goals to go skydiving for years and years. She's written it down on our shared goal board, shared her goal with friends, heck - she even made a t-shirt with her goal emblazoned on it. Long story short, our jumper and goal setter extraordinaire decided to go last week, booked the jump on Thursday and jumped out of the plane on Saturday!

In true lululemon fashion she made an event out of it all! She wore her Adventure Shorts and "goal shirt", slapped on a few lululemon tattoos, decorated her outfit with yogo stickers, and even took a coworker with her.

Want to live vicariously through Shirley? Check our our photoblog of her big adventure below:

Above: Shirley and Rob heading out to Abbotsford for the big jump!

Above: Yep - she's signing her life away! (Shirley claimed she didn't feel scared one bit!)

Above: The trainees! Rob and Shirley get some pre-jump tips from the pros.

Above: The famous goals shirt! "I will skydive for the first time by July 2009". Great work Shirls! Way to put it in writing. Please note the lululemon tattoo. Shirley clearly loves her job!

Above: Rob and Shirley about to get all suited up ... and jump out of a plane! They made a "Do one thing a day that scares you" sign just for the mid-air photos and videos. I get scared just looking at the pictures!

Above: Of course, Shirley needed to do an on-ground pre jump jump, just to get prepared. And yes, those are lululemon stickers all over her outfit. Sadly we have yet to venture into the skydiving suit market. Design feedback anyone?

Above: Shirley - en route to the plane! Stopping in for a quick photo-op. Rob did a good job as photog.

Above: Shirley is all smiles pre-jump!

Above: SHIRLEY IN MID AIR!!!! They are somewhere between 10 000 ft and the ground. She gives us a thumbs up - and still claims she didn't even feel a tiny bit scared!

Above: Shirley with the sign! Apparently it was harder than expected to juggle a camera and a sign all while plummeting towards the ground. This is a skill that Shirley will no doubt master.

Any takers on joining Shirley on her next jump? There is no doubt in my mind that this is the first of many skydiving adventures for this girl!

Got a goal and need to get a few steps closer to achieving it? Writing it down is the first step! Visit http://goals.lululemon.com/ and create your future.

Want to see even more photos from Shirley and Rob's skydiving adventure? Check out the full photoset on flickr here.