I've been pondering the question of training goals for the summer, and I have to say that though I have a few in mind my main goal is not to have any goals!
I have a book to write this summer, and any obsessive week-by-week planning I do should be saved for that....
What I think I like, based on what's worked well for me in the past, is to set up a fairly full weekly routine that I can then tweak or opt out of parts of depending on other schedule stuff. More on that later in the week.
The shape of the season is very clear.
First I'm training for the New York City triathlon (Olympic-distance--hmmm, more appropriate for me to try and race!) on July 20.
The plan:
Keep on biking (and try and do some proper longish rides--that's a 40K bike for the race, say 4 Central Park loops as a rough equivalent, so if I can do 4-5 rides of 4-5 loops then I will be in tolerable frame for it--I must confess, though, that I have ordered a CycleOps trainer of my own from Amazon and am figuring on continuing to do quite a bit of training indoors, outdoor rides will continue to be more for confidence than for conditioning as such, it is just mayhemish in those parks at this time of year!).
Keep on swimming, keep working on stroke. No masters swim at CU over the summer, so I'll do a lap swim class (all this really involves is dedicated pool hours that are not as crowded as the regular ones--it's Monday through Thursday 8:30-9:30am). Make sure I swim three times a week minimum, and snag some coaching from the lap swim supervisor if I can. Splurge on another lesson or two later in the summer, but really I just have to figure out how to lift up my head to sight without letting my legs and hips sink down so deeply into the water!
Start concentrating more on running again: move to 4x from 3x (wouldn't mind adding in a short fifth run also, maybe even just a few treadmill miles, but for June it will just be four), do some bits of speedwork, try and get a bit faster.
Also for June and July, more gym-type working out! Body composition could be greatly improved--I am hoping for what I am now firmly in my head wedded to thinking of as kangaroo-type musculature...
The picture is Wendy's, and if you are feeling in low spirits or visually understimulated you could hardly do better than to click through on that link and look at the photographs she took in Australia in the May (as a sideline from doing some mighty fast swimming!). They are quite extraordinary!
(I have signed up for a couple working-out type classes at the Columbia gym, we will see how they are--it is pretty easy for me to get on a good running schedule on my own, and I've got some structure for the swimming too, but I find it virtually impossible to get myself to go to the gym for a straight-up workout on my own, though I always enjoy it once I'm doing it.)
Once the NYC tri is done, I'll switch over to marathon training. Keep swimming, do a bit of biking, keep up the gym stuff, but move onto a modified version (i.e. more cross-training, but probably not really more actual run miles) of something like this. But I am going to adopt a very casual attitude towards paces and so forth, it will be better for my soul if I just kind of get into the zone with it and then do some races or short speed workouts now and again just to check in on how things are going! I like it best when I get it on autopilot.
(My main fitness goal for the summer, come to think of it, is to try and redress the impossible insomnia situation that's gotten going round here! ARGHHHHHHHHHH!)
4 comments:
Yes, put the boots to that insomnia!
These are well thought out goals, and a weekly plan that is tweakable is very useful.
Thanks for the very nice shout out. That red kangaroo really is a well muscled fellow!
A main goal of not having any goals and a book to write this summer sounds like the absolute perfect mix.
Your summer goals are on my someday to do list as well.
I envy your summer and hope you enjoy it to the limit.
That Oly ain't gonna be no thang after Florida!
I heard a "Talk of the Nation" on NPR on insomnia--it's from May 20, and it's available as a podcast here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90638364
Gayle Greene, author of the book, "insomniac" was on, as well as a doctor from a Sleep Institute, with really good advice. The callers were interesting, too. Greene has started a blog called "SleepStarved" for insomniacs to share experiences/get help. I thought you might find all of this interesting and with luck, helpful!
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