New year, new goals

I made a lot of progress last year. I ran 540 miles and lost about 20 pounds. But I didn’t cycle nearly as much as I planned or wanted to. I set several goals for 2014, and I hope to improve on everything from last year.

These aren’t really “New Year’s Resolutions” though. I’m simply updating existing yearly goals, not pledging to make radical changes. Years are convenient markers, after all.

I set specific distance goals for cycling and running. Since I ran 540 miles last year I set a goal to run 600 miles this year. As long as I continue on my current path I’ll hit that without a problem. I need only run about 12 miles a week, and I am fairly diligent in keeping to 4 runs a week.

I signed up for two road races this spring and plan to sign up for more. As I wrote before, I am running the Spring Fever half marathon in Golden in March. I also signed up for the Bolder Boulder 10k in May. I’m hoping to run the Dam to Dam half marathon in Iowa too, but I haven’t registered yet. I hope to do other 5k and 10k runs but I haven’t made plans.

I set a goal to ride 1,000 miles this year. Last year I tallied less than 250 miles, which is far too low. 1,000 miles is only 20 miles a week and is achievable, so I’m going for it. I know this will be harder than my running goal unless I get in a habit of riding during the working week, but I haven’t done that in years. If I only ride on weekends, then trips and bad weather can quickly cut into riding time. If that happens my weekly goal will have to increase. I have no plans to register for formal cycling events this year.

I set a goal to lose 40 pounds, which would bring me into the normal weight range for my height. This will be the hardest goal by far. I know how to do it, but sticking with my plans is a lot harder than you might think. While I’m confident I can make the running and cycling goals I’m less certain about this one. Running and cycling will help, but I must be diligent about what I eat, too.

I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe I can post a monthly or quarterly update. Wish me luck.

— Steve

Posted on 14 January 2014