Lofty goals for 2011
I have not always been big on new year's resolutions and have usually forgotten the few I have made by the end of January. But, last year, instead of giving up soda, a resolution I managed to keep for only three months, I decided to set a cycling mileage goal for the year.
According to my bike computer I had logged in the neighborhood of 3500 miles a year in past years but had not kept very good records. So, I figured 5000 miles for the year was an achievable goal, especially broken down into bite-sized pieces. I only had to average 416 miles per month or 13.6 miles per day, roughly my round-trip commute to work.
The key to sticking to my goal was to record my daily mileage on a calendar, focusing on staying ahead of weekly and monthly targets. I also found that picking a few long distance events and registering early was a good way to maintain focus.
I ended up hitting the 5000-mile mark in mid September while riding the Civil War Century. I have slacked off a bit since then but will have about 6300 miles for the year - by far, my biggest year ever.
So what's next?
I figure that an even better way to hold myself to a resolution is to throw it out there for everyone to see.
Since I have been goaded by my fellow bloggers into signing up for a triathlon and in a moment of temporary insanity, signed up for the Baltimore Marathon, my goal for the year will be 7500 self-propelled miles.
Since I have not really started running or swimming yet, I expect biking will still be my primary focus. I have several events on my calendar to train for and rack up the miles.
In May, I plan on biking from Pittsburgh to Washington with my son on the Allegheny Highlands and C&O Canal trails. As soon as registration opens up, I will sign up for the Wilderness 101 and Shenandoah 100 mountain bike races. I expect to ride the Civil War and Seagull Centuries again next year and still hope to find the time and stamina to do a down and back double century on Skyline Drive, an unachieved goal from this year.
Okay, so now that I have put it all out there, it is your turn. Let's hear your fitness resolution for 2011.
Reuters photo by Michaela Rehle
Categories: Bicycling, Running, Triathlon
Comments
Not sure if any of you guys already use it - it didn't come up in a search of the blog - but Daily Mile (www.dailymile.com) is great for tracking across multiple activities. I'm sure there are others too but I've had good experience with this one.
Posted by: MarkT | December 30, 2010 5:47 PM
My goal for this year is to run a sub 2-hour half marathon. My running buddies and I are pretty excited to do more speed work this year.
In addition to my goal, I've got a crazy long list (maybe a little too ambitious) of events I've already signed up for this year. So maybe that's a goal/resolution too -- to participate in more events.
Here's my list so far:
February: Tri To Help - Indoor Triathlon For Epilepsy
May: Half Marathon (haven't picked a race but committed to running one)
June: Baltimore 10-miler & Columbia Celebration Sprint Triathlon
Fall: half-marathon (this will be the goal sub 2 hour one) maybe Richmond?
December: Celtic Solstice!
I'm sure other events will come up that i will do, but when I look at this list, it seems so daunting, considering that in 2009, I ran the first race of my adult life, and it was a 5k!
I have considered adding a mileage goal as well (for running) but I don't know.
Posted by: anica | December 31, 2010 10:30 AM