That's it! All the big events are out of the way for this year. I do technically have one more scheduled for next weekend but my partner-in-crime is on the verge of flaking out and I'm not sure if I want to do it on my own, having been scarred by Tough Mudder.
This means no more training. Or at least not the sort of training I've spent the last 10 months doing. I haven't signed up to do any more marathons and although I've already got a few events in the diary for next year the longest is half marathon distance, something I'm relatively comfortable with. So with that in mind I thought I ought to think about what my aims actually are now and have a review with Dave. On Wednesday I went in for a session and had a health review at the same time. My blood pressure and resting heart rate have dropped dramatically which is amazing, but my weight and % body fat have not budged a smidgen. Slightly annoying but basically it just means that although I'm fitter, I still eat cake :)
When I started having PT sessions 5 months ago my aims were to get triathlon fit, increase upper body strength and improve my running endurance. Now I've decided that I want to improve my speed endurance (I can run fast, I just can't maintain it) and keep working on my upper body strength. I think these are sensible goals and although I don't have a measure in mind for the upper body strength, I'd like to see if I can smash a sub-25 minute 5k by Christmas.
It occurred to me that without a training schedule I'm free to introduce more variety into my fitness regime and am looking forward to doing a few more classes. I've already booked up to try Group Power and Urban Rebounding as well get back to the occasional Body Balance. I'm planning to start going to parkruns again when I can and any mid week runs will be for fun. So my weeks will now likely include a PT session, a class or two, a visit to the gym on my own terms and a run or two outside. That's plenty!
I'd like to do another triathlon next year so thought I might actually take some swimming lessons in the new year so I can swim front crawl rather than breaststroke for once. I can struggle through a few lengths of it but with absolutely no grace or form.
How often and when do you review your goals? What are you working towards at the moment and how are you getting on?
It's great to hear about your plans - I don't think about my long term goals nearly enough! It sounds like you've been very busy. I've got a half marathon (Gosport) next month and then nothing booked until Milton Keynes Marathon in May. I originally thought I might try to maintain decent running mileage after Gosport to transition really easily into marathon training, but I think I'm going to burn out fast that way. I think it'll be time to mix it up and add more variety, like you say. Should be fun!
ReplyDeleteGood luck for Gosport! My fella might be doing that and if so I'll be down there to support him so I'l look out for you too!
DeleteI don't see why you can't maintain a decent mileage after Gosport and then build for the marathon... just have a few easy weeks after the race before you pick it up again to give your body brain a break from training.
I'd recommend throwing in something fun once a week even when you're training, for me that would be body pump, or a sweaty betty online workout, something that's not running. Look forward to reading about how you get on :)