Wednesday, December 30, 2015

2016 Goals - Mileage

I don't LOVE the concept of New Year's Resolutions, but I am a big proponent of GOALS.  With the new year approaching, I have of course been contemplating fitness goals for 2016.  I think we're all aware that I tend to be loquacious and I thought as a favor to us all, I'd break this up into a couple of shorter posts.  I need to do work after all...

Image from Google Image Search

2016 GOALS, first up -

TOTAL MILEAGE: 

My 2015 goal was 750 miles, a big jump from 2014's goal of 500 (running-only).  I made that larger goal because I wanted to focus on riding my bike more often and the only way I could get that kind of mileage would be from getting on the stationary bike at the gym or on my actual real-life bicycle and hitting the trail.  This would help me in both riding the bike more, and (BONUS!) encourage more gym visits when the weather or my schedule made outdoor biking undesirable.

It worked!  I made big strides in my biking mileage - about 180 miles that I wouldn't otherwise have gotten.  I want the goal for next year to be challenging, require more biking, and get my running game back on track.  Last year I also committed to running only shorter races with the goal of getting faster.  That did happen, and it didn't.  I did run only shorter races - nothing longer than 10K and I did three 10Ks - but my pacing has not been improving.  My workouts have been sporadic and unfocused.  I haven't followed a dedicated training plan or done regular speed-work.  In all honesty, walking both dogs at the same time, while convenient and time-saving, really didn't move my toward that goal of getting back to pre-half-marathons pacing.  All that said, the mileage goal needs to incorporate MORE running, more consistent running, more focused workouts, yadda-yadda-yadda.

More of THIS:


Here's what I'm thinking:  a 20% increase in biking mileage gets me to around 220 bike miles.  Add in a 10% increase in running / walking mileage and I get to something like 880.  That sounds doable. And, on the advice of The Hubs, amp that goal up by 5-10%, because if it sounds "doable", it's probably just a little too easy.  So then, let's call it an even

930 Miles.

I like 930 because it's also my dream pace of 9:30.  (You may not recall, but I do:  my best-ever one-mile pace is 9:50.)

Next up:  a new parameter to measure in 2016.



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