I haven’t written about my goals for years. Not because I don’t have a clear set of goals going into each new year but because I’ve been doing this for a long time and redundancy is B.O.R.I.N.G. Plus my training is non-traditional, and my volume is sometimes ridiculous. I don’t want anyone to think they should follow my lead. I finally found a great chiropractor in Ft Wayne who has made a lot of money off of me this year because of my volume & race schedule. He keeps me running even when he thinks I should go sit on the couch. Together we have learned how to juggle races/ mileage & springboard from one set of goals to the next by sacrificing speed. That’s right. If my goal is volume, I sacrifice speed. I can’t have my cake and eat it too. I gotta pick. So let’s see how I will choose to lay out 2016.
The year 2016 will be broken up into 3 seasons. 1) Spring Marathon Season, 2) Triathlon Season and 3) Fall Marathon Season.
My goal race for the spring marathon season is the Garmin Marathon in Olathe, KS on April 16th. Please someone tell me that Olathe is flat and fast. Please. I’ve plugged the numbers into the FIRST Run Less Run Faster iOS app and if I can hang onto my treadmill this winter, I’m going to run 4:15 or faster on the streets of Olathe, in a sparkle skirt of my choosing, possibly dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Outfit to be determined. Goal time, established. 4:15 or bust.
My goal race for triathlon season will be the 70.3 at Rev3 Cedar Point on September 11th. Although, I applied for the Rev3 team/ambassadorship, I was NOT selected. No, I’m not mad. I apply for a lot of things and get rejected but that doesn’t stop me from going after my goals. I still plan to go to Cedar Point and annihilate the swim, bike & run and go under 6 hours for the first time ever. Now this is the main goal of the entire year, my “A” goal, if you will. I want to break 6 hours at the half iron distance and this is as much of a dream as it is a goal. I have a lot of work to do if I even have a chance.
My goal race for the fall marathon season is the inaugural Fort4Fitness Marathon on October 1st. This will be about fun and running with my friends and run club members. My goal here is not about speed but to get as many people as possible to the start line for the 2016 Fort4Fitness races. Marathon or not. It’s a party for the running community in the Ft Wayne, IN area and I’m excited to be part of it. I plan to run, walk, stroll and talk to everyone I see! I was there for the inaugural running the the Fort4Fitness Half Marathon in 2008 and I plan to be there for the inaugural running of the their first full marathon in 2016. Super exciting!
So what do I need to do to meet these goals? I need to stay focused on my healthy eating & get off the last 10-13 lbs that I packed on during the move to Indiana. I’m focused on this. Working on it daily. It will be gone before I hit the Kansas border in April.
In order to meet my “big hairy” goal for the triathlon, I need to become a better, more aggressive, faster, stronger swimmer. The term “just keep swimming” will eventually be replaced with something more aggressive and focused toward pushing the pace. I’ve never worked on my swimming, just basically showed up and swam. This will change. But first I have to get reacquainted with the water. I tore my rotator cuff in August after IM 70.3 Steelhead (race report HERE) and just went back to the pool today, for the first time. It wasn’t bad for a starter swim. I made it a mile in 45 minutes. But I need to slash this time by a lot to help achieve my goal.
I also think that strength work is integral to my performance related goals. I’m dedicating Tuesday & Thursday (before dawn) to my swimming & strength work. I thought I had my strength all figured out but the CrossFit Endurance class has been dropped. So I’m back on my own. But I can do this!!
We’ll start with these goals and build, adjust accordingly.
** Time to Get to Work ** Amanda – TooTallFritz
TooTallFritz 
Very cool Amanda! I will be following your journey! Also, I did not know you tore your rotator cuff. Coming from a person with chronic dislocations (different, I know) and recent shoulder surgery, I hope your shoulder feels much better now and no future injuries arise from it! Best of luck in 2016!!
Amanda….great post…says it all who you are! OK…definitely you are on a journey cause you have goals and outcomes in mind…at my age of 62…starting to think more of “adventures”…which have not designated mission or outcome…you just there and do it. But “missions” and “journeys” are necessary in some respects…to keep on motivated to do the training necessary to do the performance in race/event to the goal outcome.
On thing to point out from my Coaching background and your intro paragraph, you don’t have to sacrifice speed because you build “volume.” In fact…higher volume of low-mod aerobic running will increase VO2max that results in gains in endurance speed! Maybe you are sacrificing “speed-work” in your training regimen? But when it comes to running…you can build volume…volume is simply the total miles run during the week, so you can do speed intervals and tempo runs…all of which contribute to working the various aspects of aerobic range that one needs to run faster at long distance races.
What your intro tells me in reference to the chiropractor…you are giving up on speed or higher-aerobic intensity training because of issues or contending with nagging or chronic injuries? It may be the “volume” and not “intensity” that is the factor you have to find balance with? I am starting to think there are “weaknesses” in leg muscles and core…and the imbalances and overcompensation of some muscles is what creates the issues….and not the volume or intensity of training. Something to think about!
But you definitely setting your sights and goals high in terms of finish performance. I guess no criticism about that…but it is the training to a large degree that makes it possible to achieve finish time goal. Of course we cannot control the conditions you end up with on race day…and often that can sabotage even the best of training and conditioning.
Keep it up and I look forward to some awesome reports in the future!
You are going to conquer each and every one of these goals….2016 is going to be your year!!!!!!
Looking good! The Garmin Marathon isn’t hilly by hilly standards, but it’s also not as flat as you would expect Kansas to be. The first half has a few gentle climbs and the second half is an out-and-back that is divided into an imperceptible downhill followed by an imperceptible uphill. On paper it looks weird, but running it you barely feel it. Have fun and happy 2016!