Tuesday, January 4, 2011

2011 Updated Plan

I got to thinking more about 2011 and what do I really want to accomplish, unfortunately maybe I do too much thinking and not enough doing but today I have a good excuse. I gave blood and I don't run after giving blood. Now come tomorrow, I need to get doing but for the moment, I am thinking and planning.

PLANNING

Over the last few years, I have had a lot of different objectives and I do not think they all have worked well together. I also think that my different objectives have led to me to not committing or focusing on an event or following a plan. I also have limited time but is that because I am just not committed to any single thing or event? I also think these are real close to just excuses and the problem is in the mirror and I just need to start putting up or shutting up.

Bur first, as a reminder to myself, last year I wanted to lose weight, run marathons, run 50k's, run 50 milers, run 12 hours, work, have time with my family, stay healthy, avoid injuries and so on. Now I think I did ok until FANS, where work, conditioning, bad luck, maybe over training or racing and the weather all started my demise. I need to avoid that this year and I do think looking back I was a wee bit over committed and yet not committed.

Here is what I want to do this year:

I want to run longer races
I want to get faster
I want to add a few more states
I want to avoid injuries from over training
I must lose weight
I need to train

I am hoping to run the Potawatomi 50 miler
I am running the Chippewa
I want to run a few marathons
I am planning on running 5, 8 and 10k events with my family
I am hoping to run FANS
I am intending to run the Afton 50k
I wanted to run the Superior 50
I intend to run the Surf the Murph 50

Oh what am I thinking, this looks like last year.

So if I focus on all of the above goals, the one thing I have to do, no make that the one thing I should do is lose weight (last year, I lost 15 lbs by mid May, gained some back in June, more back after Superior. The lesson learned, yet again is that I failed to adapt after injuries to reduced running). So this year, I need to shed the weight and that requires commitment and I need to adapt to changes. It all starts tomorrow, thinking ends. Real goal setting begins and it begins like this, with diet, core training and base run training. To make sure it's clear to me, my goals for January are:
  1. Diet
  2. Core training
  3. Base run training, targeting Chippewa
That will be January. If I am successful, I will commit to a plan for February, look at additional shorter races and possibly consider longer races. If I fail then I should repeat the plan until I get it right, it's that simple.

Planning

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I want to run longer races
I want to get faster
I want to add a few more states
I want to avoid injuries from over training
I must lose weight
I need to train"

Those are all very arbitrary. I think you have to be more resolute on these...how many pounds, is your expectation of faster realistic? Make these actual numbers that seem challenging but attainable so you have something to shoot for.

Make a flexible plan, although not so flexible that you are able to just let it go or change it on a whim. Come up with a training plan that will build up your mileage in a logical way and I think you could do it with all those races that are on your schedule. I have a few of the same races on mine but the ones that are different have a similar mileage build through the season as yours do. If you want someone local who can help you build a plan, let me know. I know someone who is phenomenal - maybe you know him too.

Mike W. said...

Thanks for the input, some good points. Since at work we focus all of our goals on setting SMART goals, probably should do so here too.

SMART goals:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely

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