lofty goals + lack of focus = self fulfilling prophecy
i like to race bicycles. there is nothing like racing a bike when you are in top form. the problem is, to get to top form you need to ride...a lot. in that sense it is a young person's sport or a single person's sport or a sport for people who don't care to spend time with their family. ever since i started grad school i've been setting myself up to fail. i set lofty goals - goals based on when i was able to train a lot (i distinctly remember logging 20 hour weeks in my early twenties). then, life interrupts my training which ultimately leads to me being disappointed with my racing performances. so i stop training out of discouragement and get bored. then, in the late winter when there is nothing to do with whatever free time you might have, i begin to train and feel good. then i set lofty goals and then i get busy and the cycle perpetuates itself.
why the hell do i do this? what is wrong with me?
i'll tell you. i have chronic delusions of grandeur. i think i am now what i once was. my other problem is that i am unable to be consistent with my training. i really only have one athletic goal that i want to achieve in the near future and that is to break 3 hours in the marathon. it is an arbitrary stupid goal but for some reason i think about it all the time (well, at least once per day) and it has been a goal of mine since 1996 when i quit the university of minnesota track/cross country team. so why aren't i pursuing it? why am i not running, logging miles consistently towards that goal? these are all rhetorical questions because i don't know the answer.
what i need to do is formulate a plan to attain the goal. it doesn't have to be this year or next year. but i need to start working towards it... consistently. the model of not running for long periods and then trying to have focused training for several months leading up to an event doesn't work for me. i need to start consistently logging miles now. bike racing can complement (actually, it needs to because my body is prone to break down if all i do is run). so that is what i'm going to do. build my running mileage through cyclocross nationals (i'm not talking pounding out 70 mile weeks starting today but rather sustainable mileage growth - for instance, i'm targeting 20 mpw for june). then, after the first week of january, i will honestly re-evaluate where i am at and determine if a sub 3 is a reasonable goal for next spring. if it isn't, then i will figure out what i need to do to get there.
maybe i'll never run a sub 3. but right now i can't say i've given it my best effort yet (hell, i've only tried twice). much better athletes than me have struggled with this goal. the days of consistent weekly 3-4 hour rides are gone. but i still can find enough time to take another whack at a sub 3. and when i'm 60 i don't want to regret not at least trying.
happy tuesday.
why the hell do i do this? what is wrong with me?
i'll tell you. i have chronic delusions of grandeur. i think i am now what i once was. my other problem is that i am unable to be consistent with my training. i really only have one athletic goal that i want to achieve in the near future and that is to break 3 hours in the marathon. it is an arbitrary stupid goal but for some reason i think about it all the time (well, at least once per day) and it has been a goal of mine since 1996 when i quit the university of minnesota track/cross country team. so why aren't i pursuing it? why am i not running, logging miles consistently towards that goal? these are all rhetorical questions because i don't know the answer.
what i need to do is formulate a plan to attain the goal. it doesn't have to be this year or next year. but i need to start working towards it... consistently. the model of not running for long periods and then trying to have focused training for several months leading up to an event doesn't work for me. i need to start consistently logging miles now. bike racing can complement (actually, it needs to because my body is prone to break down if all i do is run). so that is what i'm going to do. build my running mileage through cyclocross nationals (i'm not talking pounding out 70 mile weeks starting today but rather sustainable mileage growth - for instance, i'm targeting 20 mpw for june). then, after the first week of january, i will honestly re-evaluate where i am at and determine if a sub 3 is a reasonable goal for next spring. if it isn't, then i will figure out what i need to do to get there.
maybe i'll never run a sub 3. but right now i can't say i've given it my best effort yet (hell, i've only tried twice). much better athletes than me have struggled with this goal. the days of consistent weekly 3-4 hour rides are gone. but i still can find enough time to take another whack at a sub 3. and when i'm 60 i don't want to regret not at least trying.
happy tuesday.
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