Fitness Goals for 2012

I'm not big on doing New Year's resolutions anymore, but I do like to make goals for myself. Goals in my mind are more defined than a resolution. Some people are better at making their resolutions more detailed than most, so I suppose these could be called one or the other. It's just a personal preference of mine to refer to them as goals.


1. Complete at least two half marathons. I'm already signed up for one (Orange Blossom Half), and I already am eyeing the Asheville Half Marathon. I may end up doing three or four, but will at least complete two halfs. 


2. Run at least 3 times a week. Presently, my schedule is to run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The last being the day that I do my long runs. 


3. Bike at least once a week. I'm shooting for twice a week, but my goal is to cycle at least one day each week. I've got Sundays and Wednesdays open for cross-training/strength training, so biking will be one of those days.


4. Strength training once a week. I have been too lax on this as of late. This has been part of the reason that my legs aren't as strong as they should be. Cardio alone isn't going to make my legs strong. I just bought some ankle weights, so those along with dumbbells once a week, probably doing a workout DVD a la Jillian Michaels.


5. Bike to do errands twice a month. I bought a nice bike last year and while I've used it for cross-training workouts, I have not utilized it for running to the store or other nearby errands. This will be a lot easier once I move near downtown in the early months of the year. I want to do this more than twice a month, but don't want to give myself a goal that I can't meet. 


6. Cook more often. I consider this a fitness type goal because it goes hand in hand with working out and being healthy. It's time that I eat less processed food and more meals that I've made in advance. This is the only goal I'm leaving a bit more open-ended. In my current living situation, this has been difficult, but once I move out, I will be doing this each week. 


7. Run a 5k in 38 minutes. I just ran my first race, the Jingle Bell 5k last month in 42 minutes. I want to better that time this year a good deal. I'm already hoping to do my first race of the year, Lady Track Shack 5k in 40 minutes or less. 


8. Run a mile in 12 minutes. Since I just got back into running, I'm between 13:30-14:40 per mile on average. My first magic mile was 12:58, so I see this as an achievable goal this year. 

I've only signed up for one race thus far, but here are some of the races I hope to do/are considering for the year:
2/4 - Lady Track Shack 5k
2/18 - Run Around the Pines 5k
2/25 - Eye of the Dragon 10k
3/4 - Orange Blossom Half Marathon (signed up)
3/24 - Winter Park Road Race 10k
4/7 - Run for God 5k
4/22 - Iron Girl Half Marathon
4/28 - Run for the Trees 5k
8/27 - Get Up & Go 10k
9/15 - Asheville Half Marathon

1/2 Marathon Training: Week One

Last week, I started my training for my first 1/2 marathon. My goal race in mind is the Space Coast 1/2 Marathon in November here in Florida. After looking around a bit online for a good walking training program, I ended up settling with one from the www.marathonwalking.com website. The training plan is 14 weeks long and incorporates cross-training into the mix. Since the Space Coast 1/2 is 20 weeks out, I figured that I would repeat some of the weeks so my training would be longer. That works out fine for me considering it would take into account any issues that might crop up along the way. So, each week would consist of walking on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Saturday being the long mileage day. My cross-training days would be on Sunday & Wednesday. Friday will always be a rest day, and Monday I figured I would play with between it being a rest day or a cross-training day.

Sunday started off well, with a nice bike ride in the morning. I love cycling, so that is more than likely going to be my primary cross-training workout. Since I felt so good after that workout, I decided that I didn't need Monday off, so I would again do a cycling session. Tuesday was my first power walk workout on the plan and called for 3 miles which went pretty well. I didn't hit the pacing I wanted, but I was around the 15 minute per mile mark which is still good. Wednesday was another cycling workout. This is when I started to feel some exhaustion coming on. Alas, I thought I'd be okay and didn't hesitate to head out the door and onto my bike. By Thursday's 3-mile walk, I knew my energy was lacking. I really felt it the moment I woke up that morning. And, this showed in my 15:51 per mile pacing. My body was telling me that it needed to rest. Thankfully, I did just that on Friday.

I have come to the conclusion that I really might need those two rest days during my marathon training. So, despite the fact that I'd like to be working out six days a week, I'm going to more in tune with what my body is telling me. Friends told me that marathon training takes a lot more out of you than just standard workouts, but of course, I had to learn that for myself. Guess that's the way things are sometimes.

This week, I'm taking Monday and Friday off per the training schedule. If there are weeks down the line where I have the energy and can workout on Monday, that's great and I'll do it, but if not, that is okay. Our bodies need rest to succeed just as much as the actual training miles we put in.

Also, I have a goal set for before my first 1/2 in November. I'm going to be doing the Miracle Miles 15k on September 24th in Orlando. This is a great in between race as recommended by some dailymile/facebook running friends. I am already looking forward to it as it’s going to be my next race event.

Goals & Aspirations

It's now more than half-way into 2011, and I thought it would be a good time to put pen to paper (so to speak) on what my fitness goals and aspirations are for the rest of the year. As of this writing, I've put in 373 miles in between power walking and cycling thus far. I have daily mile to thank for keeping my tally up as otherwise, I certainly couldn't even begin to guess that I've pounded the pavement that much.

I'm thankful that this year has been better health-wise than 2010 was. While I have dealt with some back woes, it's not really been too bad. I completed my first-ever 10k just about a year after my back injury this past March, and that success still excites and motivates me. That said, I haven't been as active with my power walks as much as I should be. Since getting back into cycling, I've been more than anxious about riding my bike than walking as of late. Having a new "fitness toy" has really been great and I love being able to get my "speed" on with it. The feeling I get from being on my bike is so accelerating and the new-found confidence that I've gained from Cycling Savvy has empowered me to want to get out there more than ever. I don't want that feeling to fade away, but I also don't want to neglect my other fitness goals.

This week, I've been seriously starting to again consider training for a 1/2 marathon. I've been looking at the Hal Higdon training chart for walkers and I just know that I can do it. Now that I've conquered the 10k distance, doing 13.1 miles doesn't seem so intimidating. Sure, it's not easy, but definitely not impossible. With that in mind, I'm going to start the 1/2 marathon training next week. The program is a 12-week long one, which would put me ready to go for my first 1/2 in October. I think that's plenty of time to do it. The Space Coast Marathon & 1/2 Marathon are in late November, so I'm going to shoot for doing that 1/2 if I'm still in Central Florida then. If not, I'm sure I can find a 1/2 in the Asheville area to complete by the holidays.

My other goals are to do a duathlon this year and of course some more 5k events. I don't think I'm going to do any races until September, but that could change. I definitely want to do the Autumn Rock'N Run 5k with Track Shack on September 10th. I've never done that race and it sounds like a lot of fun with all the music. As far as my cycling goes, besides my duathlon goal, I will be participating in as many group rides as I can with the Commute Orlando group. And, I plan upon riding my bike on some local trails like Cady Way soon.

Question for those who have already conquered the 1/2 marathon and the full marathons, do you think it's best to have a race goal in mind when you are training for a marathon? I may need to find something in October to shoot for as maybe having a goal race in mind is best. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Fitness Goals

 

I've been meaning to make a blog post about my goals for 2011, but due to being sick, I hadn't had a chance to write anything up until now. Receiving my 2010 Year-End Report from Daily Mile this morning in my inbox was definitely motivation not only to get this blog written today, but for the coming weeks and months of 2011.

 

According to my Daily Mile report, I ran/walked/biked 189 miles in 2010. That's over 3 miles a week when you do the math. Obviously, I want to do a lot better than that in 2011, and I know that I can and will do so. I think my back injury pulled me down a lot last year, but that injury isn't going to run my life in 2011. It may have been a rocky start with being sick in the first days of the new year, but that is not a roadblock that cannot be overcome. That said, I am giving myself a goal of walking at least 400 miles in 2011. Something I see as easily doable if I walk about 8 miles each week. Considering that on a good week, I like to walk 8 to 12 miles, I'm confident that I will accomplish my goal.

 

Other fitness-related goals for 2011 include increasing my mileage so that I can do my first 10k race. This is proving to be a bit more of a challenge than I originally thought, with my sciatica taking over when I attempt to do more than 3.1 miles in a single walking session. However, I am not going to give up on achieving this goal. It may take me a lot longer to hit 6 miles, but I can and will do it. This is my first distance goal for the year which I hope will lead to later training to do a 1/2 marathon within a year.

 

Last year, I participated in eight local races (registered for 9, as I ended up not being able to run or walk the Corporate 5k). As far as 2011 goes, since I plan on moving out of Florida in a few months, I am not planning too far ahead with races at this time, but my tentative schedule is:

 

**Lady Track Shack 5k on February 5th

**Run Around the Pines 5k on February 19th

**Winter Park Road Race on March 26th

 

The February races are pretty much a lock, as I'm definitely doing the Lady Track Shack 5k. I had an awesome time doing that race last year, as it was my first actual race that got me hooked. It's a great ladies-only race that I recommend to all Central Florida ladies, runner or walker.

2011 Has Arrived!

And, it's starting out giving me challenges to overcome already. There's only been a day and a half of 2011 and I've already felt as though I wanted a do-over of New Year's Eve.

That said, I know that's not possible. Well, unless someone has a time machine like a Delorean or a phone booth with such capabilities. So, I have taken a deep breath a few times and am doing my best to push forward. I have a lot of fitness-related plans for this year, and I refuse to give up on those goals. I am going to do a 10k, even if it takes me longer than I had hoped to make it happen. Just going to have to take it one day at a time.

What about you? Any fitness plans for this year? Are you one who wants to lose weight? Or, do you have plans to do a marathon or some other distance race? I'd love to hear about it. We need goals and challenges in order to continue to push ourselves and do better. We are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for.