Friday, September 18, 2009

Planning stages

After the bike ride yesterday I did end up taking the rest of the day off. I am still trying to be smart and what is the point of ‘two-a-days’ if you do not have an objective. I am sure this thinking will go to the way side next week – but…

This morning I got in a nice and easy 5 mile run. Even though the humidity was high I really enjoyed the run. My rate of perceived exertion has dropped considerably but my heart rate is still just a little high. It was hard keeping it in my cruise / auto-pilot mode. I clicked off 5 miles at just over an 8 minute per mile pace – the pace crept up a little during the last mile – I ran into a neighbor out on the trace and we chatted for a bit at about 8:30 pace. No problems – just a good solid easy run with no aches, pains or difficulties.

I have been thinking about the upcoming season a lot and I really want to approach things the right way. I really want to fine tune my objectives, create a plan and then execute. I believe that next year can be special if I just plan it out. Here are some of the questions I will be asking myself:

1. What do I really want to accomplish?
2. When do I want to reach my goal?
3. Is my goal realistic for me?
4. What am I willing to do (or give up) to successfully accomplish this goal?

These will be important in the coming months. Too often I will create an amalgamation in my mind and want everything – I will recall when I was the strongest, the leanest, the fastest, etc and think that it is possible to achieve all of these metrics simultaneously. Obviously this is not possible but for whatever reason I tend to hold myself to those goals. I should do much better if I truly concentrate on one goal and apply all of my resources to said goal. I am excited about the coming year!

4 comments:

Missy said...

It is so hard to come up with a reasonable plan after such a great IM year you've had. Sounds like you've got it together and mind 'right.' Look to the next year rather than this fall, for example. Too often, people just don't know what to do with themselves.

Marci said...

Those are some good questions to ask yourself in planning for the next season. Good luck in the planning stages for next season :)

Kristin said...

Sounds like a solid plan! I can't wait to get my energy back. I'm so flat even on the super easy recovery stuff I'm doing. I have two-a-days creeping back into my schedule in another week, but nothing long or intense. Just enough to keep me occupied :)

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Enjoy the planning stage; it sounds like you have a sound, measured approach! I am so sad that our triathlon season is done here, but I will continue to train during the winter. I'll need to find a training schedule, and figure out some goals too.