Annual Goal Post

It's just not a new year without a bunch of stuff on goal setting. Of course, the whole point of this blog is to keep me on track for my goals, so I have to list mine for the year!

To set the stage, in 2009, I dropped from 198 to 174 pounds. Over 2010, I drifted back up to 190 (with a little 5-pound burst between Thanksgiving and Christmas). As I write this, I'm back down to 186.4.

I have a wide range of goals:

• be down to 180 pounds in time for the first crit on March 6
• finish 6 crits (note: FINISH, not start ;-) )
• Get in the breakaway in at least one of them
  
• be down to 170 in time for the time trial June 4
  
• finish a West River Time Trial (8.35 miles) in less than 19:42 (25.4 mph)
• finish a 42K TT in less than 1:05:00 (24.2 mph)
• finish my season (August 6) at 165 pounds (probably around 12 to 14% body fat)
  
• keep my weight at or below 170 for the foreseeable future
  

The weight loss ones are not that major. Losing 6 pounds in 7 weeks, 10 more pounds in 12 weeks, and then 5 pounds in 12 weeks. It's the maintenance that I'm more interested in. I don't want to have to go through all this again!

One of the biggest ingredients that I lost in 2010 was weight lifting. I was riding and getting pretty fit, but my weight was not staying off. I found that just in the last few weeks, most of my success came from being back in then gym. I've been debating getting adjustable dumbbells so that I can do more weight workouts at home.

Another ingredient is intensity. I spent most of 2009 and 2010 doing tempo and threshold rides. I did very little VO2max, anaerobic endurance training, and sprint training. I've already started doing a little of that this winter so that I'm not caught off-guard in the early crits like I was last year.

Somewhere in there, I'd like to fit into my 34-inch waist jeans again :-)

Wish me luck! (and of course, support me along the way!!!)