2016 Goals: Gym Visits

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.  See GOALS, part 1 here.

Image source: Jawbone Email

2016 GOALS, part 2 -

Total Number of GYM VISITS: 

I wanted to make this an explicit goal for the year.  Something that I actually measure and track in my daily running log, which by the way, I am still using this year, all the way at the end of the year.  (That's a major accomplishment - never made it past summer months before.)  But I wasn't sure exactly what the goal should be, so here's my thought process:

52 *should * be easy... 150 is clearly too hard. Wait, how many times / how often did I get in there THIS year?  Fun Fact:  I can check that using my LAFitness app...

Check out this pattern:



So it turns out, yes, averaging once a week SHOULD be easy, since it's what I'm already doing.

Tripling that to 3 times a week just strikes me as impossible, setting myself up for failure.  So that's out.

Doubling it, though?  Seems daunting but if I'm committed to increasing my gym visits (translation:  actually DOING strength training and swimming more often), then making the habit stick should be tough but doable for the first 6 weeks, then easier, until I hit my Really Busy last-three-months of the year. And by then, all I have to do is remember that Gym Time is My ME Time, and hit it on the days when I've had a bad day and I'm feeling maybe a little bit stabby.

And, on the advise of The Hubs, amp that goal up by 10%, because if it sounds "doable", it's probably just a little too easy.  So then, 51 * 2 * 110% = 112.2.  Let's call it 110.

OTHER GOALS:

Remaining goals for the year are basically tangential... and should be achieved as part of these two larger Mileage and Gym Visits goals.  But for the record,

I am setting a goal of 30 swim sessions (counts as a gym visit)

I would like to incorporate some additional speed work into my running training programs.  The point of the speed work is to get back to running comfortably at an 11:30 pace.  To that end,

I am setting a goal of a Sub-35-minute 5k.  

The last time I set a similar goal, I hit it at the St. Patrick's Day race, so on the off-chance that happens again, I'm upping the ante already to a sub-34 5k.  My PR is 34:32 at an 11:07 pace. (Let's hope I need to refer back to this in 2016 to remember what I said.)

And yes,

I am setting a weight-loss goal for the year:  25 30 pounds.  

I am reticent about declaring this goal.  This may be worthy of a blog post of its own, but it's a post I'd rather not write so I'll keep it short.  My current weight is about 202 and has been steady within a couple of pounds of that number for most of the past year, despite all my activity.  Some of that was beyond my control, but that's over now.

I'm owning it.  I'm clinically obese and losing 25 pounds doesn't get me out of that classification.  But I'm over 40 and weight loss has proven MUCH more difficult since reaching that milestone.  I'm shooting for realistic, attainable goals.

But, again applying The Hubs's "amp it up" rule... let's make it 30 lbs.  According to the CDC, that gets me into the "overweight" category at 172.  I'm going to have to make some diet changes to get there, but I'm gonna #wycwyc the hell out of it.  That's all I have to say about that.

I'm ready to make next week the start of 365 days of Owning It.  As the tag-line says... It's MY life.

I'm going to LIVE it.  

I'm going to RUN it.

Image from SheBlogs

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.