"...In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or
brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

~ Anonymous
(taken from Matt Erbele's, It Takes Time to Get Good)

Saturday, January 3, 2009

2009: RBR a work in progress


Goals for 2009

*yes, another list of goals. Sorry, but it is that time of year.

Fitness

1. Do the training necessary to complete Ironman Coeur d'Alene in under 17 hours. 16:59:59 would be fine by me! (Winter -Spring 2009)

Bike and Run:
See previous post for bike and run plans and milestones in training

Swim:
Masters Level 2 twice a week starting Jan 6th
At least 7 Open water swims with at least 3 of full Iron distance


2. Start strength training. I used to be just naturally really strong (almost freakishly so) and now as I get older I can see that I am losing strength. I want my strength back. Every time I try this I get intimidated by the hardbodies in the gym and stop (or more often, don't start). It is time to get over it. (Start Winter 2009)

My only bar to measure strength by is when I was screwing around on the park course and realized how bad it had gotten. Here is the current and goal totals:

Currently: I can do 10 regular pushups (not on knees/chest to floor) in a row.
Goal: 25 pushups in a row

Currently: I cannot do a full pull up (ugh! I used to be able to do 5 in a row)
Goal: 1 full pull up

Currently: I can do 1 full bar dip (parallel bars/dip to chest)
Goal: 3 full bar dips

School

3. Study for and pass my comprehensive exams to finish my Masters in Molecular/Microbiology (Fall 2009)

4. Keep pushing my AP students. I have an amazing group of kids and I really want to give them the best opportunity to excel on the AP exam and rock the hell out of college biology.


Family/Friends (not listed last because it is less important, just because it is the hardest area for me to admit my shortcomings)

5. Date night once a week (we'll try it again. We have been much better than years past, but once a week is not too much to ask of either of us)

6. At least two Girl's days out with Mom (one already planned in April to see 'Wicked')

7. 3 day fastpacking trip with Dad on John Muir trail. (Let me preface this with the fact that I have NEVER even camped. This ought to be exciting) (Summer 2009)

12 comments:

IronWaddler said...

I am so excited to follow you journey to IMCDA! I am looking for the same time for my iron finish.

Looks like an awesome 2009!

Unknown said...

WooooHoooo!!! You're ready to rock 2009!!

Your strngth goals are amazing to me. You want to do 25 consecutive pushups?!? I'll have to hand over my gym queen tiara to you when you get there. Or maybe you'll get earn a special Push-up Queen tiara. :-)

I'm shooting for being able to do three sets 15,12,10. The best I've *ever* done was 15, 10, 15. I slacked off starting at Thanksgiving and may not be able to do 10 in a row anymore.

Stef0115 said...

Camping is so much fun! The only thing I don't like about it is the food prep. Which is why I always let someone else do that. LOL.

I used to love strength training with a passion and now it just exhausts me. This post has motivated me to DO IT and give it my all when coach puts it on my schedule. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

Diana said...

Looks like a great year to come! Start swinging a kettlebell and your strength would be like you've never seen before!

Bootchez said...

The fact that you can do 10 push ups is impressive! I couldn't do a single one if a gun was held to my head. Impressive, also, is your Ironman goal this year -- I look forward to following your journey. Thanks for stopping by my fledgling blog . . . "OMG! I had a visitor!"

E said...

I'm right there with you with the strength training. Maybe we can inspire each other. :)

Tina Mickelson said...

couple ideas on the strength training. Have you thought of joining a cross fit gym, i can't remember exactly where you are but there is one in SJ (http://www.crossfitsj.com/) ? Its fast and whole body conditioning. OR I'm starting a Kettlebell class which is geared to whole body but mostly core strength, but I'm not sure if you have one of those available to you.

excited to hang with you online to see what this year holds.I'm jealous of your John Muir Trail trip with your Papa. Sounds like so much fun.

Aka Alice said...

I'm going to work in some strength training this year too, although I've got almost NO upper body strength to speak of... 10 pushups? I don't think I could do 10 "girl" pushups (Is it PC to call them that?)

Great goals! You're going to have a great year!

Jo Lynn said...

Sounds marvelous! What/where is the Masters Swim?
I really want to do a triathlon but the swimming is the biggest obstacle.

Aileen said...

Your goals make mine look piddly. PIDDLY I SAY! But good luck, I'm SURE you can accomplish those!

ShirleyPerly said...

Great goals for 2009! I too need to work on my strength but am struggling with it interfering with my other activities (i.e., pushups made my swimming suck, squats/lunges made my cycling crap). Will be interested to see how others do it. I'm all ears/eyes.

Ordinarylife said...

I need to add strenght. I can't even hold myself from landing on the floor during one push up. Never mind get back up again.

Your goal of IM in 16:59:59 is a very hard one to achieve. Do you know how much planning it takes to get it exactly right? That was my goal too, but (un)fortunately I did not get it right. I went and got 16:39:56. Close I know.