My 2014 Athletic and Time Goals

I need to say it out loud (or the blogger version of that would be, write it in this space) or I won’t be accountable for my 2014 athletic and time goals.

Before I commit to 2014 goals, let’s look back at 2013 and see how I did.

1. Do the speed work already – just stop complaining and do it – I sort of did this. Towards the end of training for two fall marathons, I started doing a 5K tempo run every Tuesday. I’m not sure I can count this as speed work but it’s more than I did the year before.
2. Run and ride more consistently – Totally nailed this one! While my riding dropped off significantly after the NYC Triathlon, I never went a month without riding.
3. Do some swimming before the NYC Triathlon this year (my training in 2012 consisted of participating on the 2011 race) – Totally crushed this one. Not only did I do “some swimming” I actually trained for the swim and took almost five minutes off my best time. And, I continued to swim as cross training when I was at the height of marathon training.
4. Use the gym for more than a changing room for running in the Park – Nailed it! See #3 (is that cheating the goal?)

My time goals?

1. Run a sub 1:40 13.1 – Nope. I didn’t really train for any 13.1s this year. My best time was 1:47 at the Brooklyn Half.
2. Run a sub 3:45 26.2 – NAILED IT! This is probably the one I’m most proud of. I finished the Philadelphia Marathon in 3:44:06.

So here it is, my goals for endurance sports for 2014.

Athletic goals:

1. Do real speed work. I actually signed up for a speed work class that starts tomorrow night (YIKES). When there’s money involved, my chances of completing the goal are exponentially higher!
2. While I was more consistent riding the bike last year, I’d like to actually do some training on the bike. This means drills, hill repeats and lots of gasping for breath. I don’t want to just ride this year, I want to train.
3. Speaking of training, I want to do some strength work. I pay for the gym and I should go pick some things up and put them down at least once a week (if not more).
4. Yoga/meditation. I’ve heard a ridiculous amount of runners talk about how much this helps them. I used to do a lot of Yoga and got out of the practice. I’ll leave this one as a reach goal.