Tuesday, January 1, 2013

2012 Goal Review and New Goals for 2013


 
I managed to ride every day in 2012. I have a consecutive days riding streak that is now at 1,096 days. Although I’m very happy with this, I would not necessarily recommend it. But it works for me. I’ll probably write more on that topic later.
I have mixed emotions regarding my 2012 fitness goals. I only completely achieved 2 of them. That’s not good. On the other hand, the 2 that I did complete were the most important to me.  I suppose that just makes sense.
The summary is below.
2012 Fitness Goals
·         Ride 12,000 miles – SUCCESS - I am particularly happy about achieving this goal. When I set it, I felt it was extremely aggressive, but possible. I knew there wasn’t a lot of room for goofing off here. I rode at least once every day and some days I rode twice. My total miles for the year ended at 13,633!

·         Complete 3 century rides – FAIL – I’m not upset about this one at all. I rode a Florida century ride in January and a Vermont century ride in June. The fact that I didn’t ride another one was mostly a scheduling challenge. I’ll spare you the details, but the bottom line is it just didn’t work out and that’s okay.

·         Begin Brevet rides with a 200km and a 300km ride – FAIL – This one bothers me. On one hand, I had the same scheduling challenges here as I did with my century rides. However I could have ridden these on my own anytime. They wouldn’t have been official, but that wasn’t really the goal. A lack of proper planning to make this happen prevented success here. L

·         Daily core workout – FAIL – I knew this would be tough for me. Even though it would seem easier to do this than it would be to ride every day, I just have a really tough time with these. I need them badly but I don’t enjoy them. Weakness, that’s all that prevented me from achieving this goal.

·         Complete 3, 5 minute planks – FAIL – This is really part of the previous goal. (Maybe I should have combined them so it’s only 1 fail instead of 2.) J I did manage to hold a single plank for 5 minutes and 5 seconds, so that’s something.

·         Have fun! – SUCCESS – The more I ride the more I enjoy it! Like with most things, as I get a modestly better and learn a little more about the sport of road cycling, the enjoyment increases. I still have a long way to go on both fronts. So I anticipate even more fun in the future!
2013 Fitness Goals
·         Ride 10,000 miles – This number is significantly lower than what I achieved in 2012. However I would like to add more quality miles to my schedule. I believe this will necessitate more “easy” days which will be at least partially defined by lower miles.
 
·         Become a Randonneur – In order to achieve this status, I must complete a certified 200km brevet. Although I’m not sure which event I will ride, I have two excellent possibilities.

·         Complete a 300 km brevet – If I’m going to do the randonneuring thing, then I might as well do it!

·         Compete in a 24 hour ride – Inspired by my dailymile friend Richard C., the discipline to compete in, and the satisfaction of completing a 24 hour ride is simply too much to resist.

·         Do a daily core workout – It doesn’t matter what I do as much as it does to do something each day.

·         Complete 100 Push-up program – After 2 false starts in 2012, I feel like this is a hurdle I must cross. I can think of no acceptable reason for not being able to complete this program during 2012. I need to make this happen.

·         Lose 30 pounds – I am not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions nor am I a fan of having a specific weight loss goal. Normally, I feel that the goal should be restated to “a healthy life style” or some such thing. In order to achieve the long term cycling goals I have, weight loss is important. I feel that losing 30 pounds is quite achievable and leaves plenty of meat on these old bones.

·         Have fun!! – After all, isn’t this what it’s all about?!
Initially, I was a little concerned about having too many goals for 2013. As I review them, I realized that I really only have 3 or 4, okay, maybe 5 goals. The rest are the things I need to do in order to achieve my primary goals. Simply put, I want to become a randonneur and I want to complete a 24 hour ride. I need the other stuff to get me there.

I am very excited about tackling these goals. 2013 is going to be a very fun cycling year!

2 comments:

  1. Impressive mileage in 2012! Good luck with your 2013 goals.

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  2. Thanks very much Bryan!! Happy New Year!

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