Out with the Resolutions in with the Goals

I recently posted on our Facebook page asking people with: "Just 2 days to the New Year. What are your resolutions for 2013?"

The mistake I made, of course, is calling them resolutions. To most, resolutions are fine, easy to make but not so easy to keep. A common belief is that most resolutions don't make it as far as St. Valentine's Day.
  
As one of the commenters Irish Runner pointed out - "I don't make resolutions, only goals with dates to be competed by. More likely to get things done that way". That really is the crux of the matter. 

So this year rather than listing a load of resolutions such as I want to lose weight; I want to run sub 40minutes for a 10k; I want to do a 3:30 marathon; I want to stop eating junk & sweet stuff etc. I'm setting goals, with dates.

1. By 1st April I want to get weight down to 79kg and body fat to 15%.
2. I'm going to run my first 50k Marathon. Portumna on 15th June. 
3. I'm going to run 3:30 in a big city marathon. Not likely to be Dublin due to work commitments but it will be Autumn.
4. I'm going to run sub 40 minutes for Fields of Athenry on 26th December 2013. 

 To achieve this I will need to make some changes: 

• Cut out sugary stuff from my diet.
• No drink on a school night, ever.
• Adjust my whole diet back to higher fats & protein, low carbs.
• Habitual training across the board. Just because my goals are run orientated does not mean that my swim or bike will be neglected. A training calendar is in negotiation with my wife who is also training with specific goals in mind.

Through the year I will do a lot of races, inline with training where possible. I was to race Cong triathlon, Rosses Point triathlon, I also hope to do x3 70.3 distance races this year, possibly Tri an Mhi or The Shadowman followed by Humbert Challenge  and The Lost Sheep in Kenmare.

Disappointly Galway 70.3 doesn't look like its going ahead either as a Ironman branded event or as an independent event. I had hoped that the guys would take the bull by the horns and run with a local event on the same route as last year. But the silence speaks a thousand words.

Roll on 2013 and a Happy & Healthy New Year to you all!!

Tipping the scales

The difference a couple of stones make

Being injured is no excuse for being lazy.

After  the Predator Triathlon Club night on Saturday night / early Sunday morning, it's safe to say, doing a morning weigh in after the night before, is probably not one of my brighter ideas. But I did and suffice to say, being tired and having a sore head are the least of my problems.

Time to get off my ass, work around any current limitations and step away from the biscuit tin. This year it has taken me 6 months to drop 4kg and only 4 weeks to put them right back where they were.

Time for them to go again, for good. 

Back to structured eating, sleeping and training from today. 

First, maybe just one more Chocolate Kimberley....

Just cos it says Elite

Stop playing with your food!

I'm being deliberately facetious with the Food Pyramid image.

I'm not a dietitian or nutritionist but I do love my food and the odd pint.

While I'm training to try and produce a decent account of myself at events, I am also exercising to get my body weight and composition to a place where I am happy with it.