2017 Goals
Without further ado, some thoughts on self and community improvement in 2017:
1. Get physically stronger. "But you run long distances! Surely you must be strong already!" Yes, that's true. Yet, I was always pretty crap at weight lifting and doing other strength exercises that would benefit my running game. In 2017, the goal is to take some steps to fix that. The primary strategy is to utilize my work fitness center, which offers TRX classes on a daily basis. I've identified class times that will consistently fit my work schedule. Goal is to hit up one TRX class a week (Baby steps.) Secondary strategy is to revisit that whole Power Yoga idea and hit at least 2 additional classes per month in addition to my regular Yin yoga commitments.
How will I log all this? In 2017, I'm also experimenting with keeping a work-out log - more than just a regular spiral bound notebook - where I shall keep notes of everything fitness related. I keep it (and a pen) on my nightstand, and I'm finding it's pretty easy to update on a daily basis. So far, at least.
How I will I measure progress? My work lifestyle center can help with that as well - for lack of a better measure, quarterly fitness assessments could fit the bill for now. Race performance could also work.
2. Run a 5K a month. I seriously hate running 5Ks the way they are meant to be run, where you run fast the first mile, run faster the second mile, then run the third mile and change as fast as you can until you feel like you just might puke. Yet, they are an effective training tool, and I already have a series of them lined up for my marathon training plan. So, let's go ahead and run one a month in 2017. Relative performance trends can help measure item #1 as well.
3. PR, any distance. Another measure to see if progress on item #1 is being made......
4. Get locally active. By this, I don't mean physically active. I mean more active in my community. While I've had various flavors of this on my list in the past, that was all prior to the 2016 election. I'm still working out what this will look like for me - since I'm ultimately aiming for more than just monetarily supporting organizations that are important to me. Stay tuned.
1. Get physically stronger. "But you run long distances! Surely you must be strong already!" Yes, that's true. Yet, I was always pretty crap at weight lifting and doing other strength exercises that would benefit my running game. In 2017, the goal is to take some steps to fix that. The primary strategy is to utilize my work fitness center, which offers TRX classes on a daily basis. I've identified class times that will consistently fit my work schedule. Goal is to hit up one TRX class a week (Baby steps.) Secondary strategy is to revisit that whole Power Yoga idea and hit at least 2 additional classes per month in addition to my regular Yin yoga commitments.
How will I log all this? In 2017, I'm also experimenting with keeping a work-out log - more than just a regular spiral bound notebook - where I shall keep notes of everything fitness related. I keep it (and a pen) on my nightstand, and I'm finding it's pretty easy to update on a daily basis. So far, at least.
How I will I measure progress? My work lifestyle center can help with that as well - for lack of a better measure, quarterly fitness assessments could fit the bill for now. Race performance could also work.
2. Run a 5K a month. I seriously hate running 5Ks the way they are meant to be run, where you run fast the first mile, run faster the second mile, then run the third mile and change as fast as you can until you feel like you just might puke. Yet, they are an effective training tool, and I already have a series of them lined up for my marathon training plan. So, let's go ahead and run one a month in 2017. Relative performance trends can help measure item #1 as well.
3. PR, any distance. Another measure to see if progress on item #1 is being made......
4. Get locally active. By this, I don't mean physically active. I mean more active in my community. While I've had various flavors of this on my list in the past, that was all prior to the 2016 election. I'm still working out what this will look like for me - since I'm ultimately aiming for more than just monetarily supporting organizations that are important to me. Stay tuned.