2009 Goals and some other notes

Now that I’ve got my basic race schedule laid out it’s time to set the goals. There is a lot of uncertainty in the schedule for next year with regard to B and C races, but my goals are mostly focused on the A races, so I feel comfortable going ahead with the goal setting.

My goals are a part of my yearly training plan, which follows from the Triathlete’s Training Bible, so they are as specific as possible. I do like to compete with others in my AG when I see them on the course, but as a whole I’m not consistently winning to the point where I feel comfortable making goals that are out of my control (like a podium finish at …). That being said, my performance goals are all time based. Obviously, this can be effected by the weather and other unseen factors, but it’s about as good as I can do.

So, without further ramblings, here are my season goals:
1. Complete Derby Mini-marathon in sub 1:35
2. Complete IM 70.3 Steelhead in sub 5:30
3. Complete IM 70.3 Augusta in sub 5:15
4. Race 2009 season at less than 190lbs (currently 207), reach goal weight by April 1, 2009

Some explanation:
· Even though the mini-Marathon is a B race and early in the season, I feel like this will be a good goal to judge my run progression over the winter. Also, 1:35 is BQ (Boston Qualifier) pace, even if only for half a marathon. My PR on the course I will be running is 1:38:xx from high school, but I feel like I’m not far off that level of performance currently (if not faster).
· After putting together a very rudimentary race plan for Steelhead, I feel comfortable that I should be able to break 5:30 relatively easily, so this might be a weak goal. However, I’m hoping I can be closer to 5:20 there and then use some tricks from experience to break 5:15 only 7 weeks later at Augusta. From very early looks at the courses, they are both mostly flat, so should be comparable in speed.
· The additional training from going from Oly focus to HIM focus will likely lead to weight loss naturally. I have raced Clydesdale most of the past year, and would not want to “work” to keep weight on to do it again. So, I am going to consciously lose weight over the winter prep and base to hopefully add some speed and reduce the load on my joints. I certainly have the weight to lose since I’m around 16-17% bodyfat. 14 weeks is a good amount of time to lose the weight in a healthy way (even though the holidays are in there).

There they are. Now that they are published, I have to stick to them. We’ll see how things go. For the most part, I am done with my planning for 2009, other than some detailing stuff. I have also had 2 weeks of recovery from my marathon, so I’m ready to get back to business.

On a side note, my dad and sister are competing in the Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon this weekend. It will be my sister’s 3rd Mary and she is trying to break 5hrs and it will be my dad’s first, so wish them luck. I’ll try to cover their success stories early next week.