2018 Goals

Originally, I was hoping to race an Ironman this year.

Unfortunately, with finances and other life plans, it's not going to work out. But you know what? That's okay. Mostly because this means I am 100% for sure doing IM Wisconsin in 2019.

However, this year means that it is the year of CONSISTENCY and BASE BUILDING.

I want to go into next year with a super solid base, being able to dive right into IM training without having to rebuild myself up. As mentioned in my previous post, I didn't take the end of the year completely off like normal, so I'm already in a good place.

So that means ... my main, number one, SUPER BIG MEGA goal, is, therefore, to be consistent. Put in the work, day in and day out, for it is the consistent small efforts that produce big results.

I have a few others, though ...

- Break my 5K PR of 26:27. It turns 11 this year, and that is unacceptable. Also, since I'm not doing anything long this year, I can focus on speed. Plus I have a zillion opportunities to get this one since from essentially May through October, there's several 5Ks every weekend. I will achieve this goal by:
- running consistently 3-4 days per week
- keeping up with the HR training
- adding in hill work
- mixing in track/speed work in the spring

- Break 2:10 in the half-marathon. I have never officially done this (Garmin sez yes; official results sez no), and would like to. I will probably only get one shot to do this (planned as of now), but that makes it fun, right? I will achieve this by:
- doing the above
- adding in tempo work on longer runs ... or long-ass track sessions
- actually DOING my proper long runs

- Have faster swim times in tris. My pool times are getting better, but not in the open water. Dislike. This needs to change. This is also not super specific as swim times vary from tri to tri based on mat placement. I will hopefully achieve this by:
- swimming a lot
- swimming consistently - 3-4 days per week
- incorporating speed work and band work

(If that all doesn't work this year ... get a triathlon-specific swim coach to help me out for next year.)

- Average 18mph (or greater) on the bike in at least one tri. I've technically done this once in a duathlon, but it quite possibly was a freak occurrence. To be faster at the longer distances, I first need to be faster at the shorter distances. My bike was a pseudo-strength once; it needs to be again. I will achieve this by:
- gaining strength on the bike through climbing
- doing focused trainer work ... even when it's nice out

And ... even though it's not technically related ...

- Give this here blog a facelift. I'm kind of bored with the way it looks so I'd like to redesign some stuff. Not going into details of how to achieve this because I'm not yet entirely sure what I'd like, but it needs to change. It'll be obvious as to when I do this, clearly ...

Okay, so those are my goals. I'll be putting up the tentative 2018 race calendar on the sidebar soon.

Do you have goals for 2018? Feel free to share below!