The Million Dollar Challnge, 620 mile bike ride down the Caiifornia coast, is coming up quickly. SKLZ has two athletes training for this event, Tim Norris and John Sarkisian. Read on to find out about how the training has been going for SKLZ CEO John Sarkisian.

One month away from the race...

How physically prepared do you feel you are?

Physically I feel good, my legs are strong, but my endurance has been compromised due to a recent illness. On a business trip two weeks ago to China I contracted a parasite. Because of this I lost a significant amount of weight and haven't had the energy to really train as hard as I need to.

Longest ride so far?

We recently rode 83 miles.

Overall, if you could estimate how many miles you have ridden for training for this ride, what would this estimate be?

Well since I am averaging about 150 miles a week I would say that in training I have ridden approximately 3000 miles so far.

You had mentioned injuries previously, how are you doing with these?

Yes the injuries I had incurred due to weight training are almost fully recovered. I would say that I am approximately 90% recovered.

As far as training goes, are you still increasing miles? Or how has this changed?

We are definitely still on the uphill and have back-to-back centuries coming up this weekend. We will be riding to LA (100 miles) staying the night then riding back in the morning.

In the upcoming weeks, how will this be changing if at all?

We still have a lot of miles to ride and will be on the uphill for a while. The week before the race we tend to only ride about 20 miles to prepare for the race.

As SKLZ will be sponsoring the last day of this ride, can you tell me a little bit about this day?

The ride itself?

The last day of the ride is a slower pace then the rest but still around 75 miles. This is the time for us to regroup and arrive to our finish line together. There is a lot of celebration and encouragement to get to La Jolla together. Its definitely an emotional day for all as we have really gotten to know everyone really well especially the challenged athletes.

Events and celebrations that will accompany it?

As the ride finishes, awards are handed out, athletes are recognized and praises are given out to everyone who took part in the challenge. It's a great day to be part of.

To read all team athlete profiles and training updates click here