Failing to learn...again

We all know it is no fun to accomplish something unless there is some challenge. It is over coming those hurdles we have created that makes the goals we set worthwhile, but sometimes not achieving a goal, not pushing through may just be the smartest thing to do. As you likely have guessed by now I didn't quite succeed in my first goal this year. My goal was to workout for 45 straight days to start 2011(45 being the number of years I've been around). For the record I completed 20 straight days of working out (defined as sweating, breathing heavy for 30 minutes or more). Injury started to creep in - knee locking up, back hurting/spasming, I was feeling much more than 45 and a long way from the fittest I've ever been. So lesson learned, recovery is key, no two hard days in a row and I need to careful to stay active even when taking time off. I really lost a lot of fitness over the holidays and it will take some time to come back. So we are back still a little sore but on the bike today and looking forward to a rest day at least once a week. Lesson learned!

Guess what I'm doing?

I'm not telling!

It is that time when we wake up to renewed energy, big hairy audacious goals and then proceed to often flounder in a matter of a few short days. This year no resolutions, but I do have some goals - some pretty big ones, but for a change I'm not sharing.

WHAT? isn't telling people your goals, writing them down, having them be SMART (Google it if SMART goals are new to you!). Yes and no. I do have goals but this year only a few. Having too many goals, as many of us do at this time of year, does not lead to focus, and focus is key. I do write them down, but only for me. And I have no more than seven goals as I want to be able to remember them off the top of my head. They need to drive my behaviour, not be in a book somewhere where I find them as a reminder in November 2011 (I actually did that this year!).

No this year I have a few big outcome goals and a couple of critical process goals that will keep me on track. Come on we all know achieving our goals is simple - (eat less, exercise more and you will lose weight and improve your fitness level) but it is not EASY! Doing these key things is what leads to success, and you can't have 100 key things. 

BUT... I'm not sharing, well not yet anyway.  There is some very interesting research on telling people about your goals. What happens when you tell people about a great big goal? Well, you get support, pats on the back, lots of "you are amazing" and, well, those rewards are for just saying you will do something - not actually doing it, and many of us are never actually following through. This changes our social reality, and there is lots of good social science research in this area (almost a hundred years worth!).  For a simple but very well done piece on this see Derek Silver's TED talk on goals (short version here -well worth the 3 minutes!) 

So yes I do have goals and yes I will report back, but only after I've succeeded or failed.  So stay tuned! Happy new year, go set some big goals, a few that you really care about, commit and then shut up and get to work. And then let me know about your success!

172 days

  So if you are new to my blog my goal was to see if I get as fit as possible during the year I'm 45. From my 45th birthday to my 46th on June 21st, 2011.  This Jan 1st no resolutions but a continued focus on getting fit, 172 days in 2011 until I'm 46! When I first started this I think that really I was talking about getting thinner but that’s no longer the only goal. Nor is getting healthier, lets be honest here so many of us say its about health but the genetic gods have a lot more control over whether I'll have a 80th year project than do my fitness efforts. What I do control though is the quality of my life regardless of how long that may be. So I need a little help here. How do you define fitness? What should my measures be this summer, let me know! Comment, tweet or dm me, love to know what you think?

Lurking

Anyone who has lost a substantial amount of weight, see (http://the45thyear.blogspot.com/2010/06/then-now-100-lbs-down.html) knows that the fat suit is never far away. That former self lurks just around the corner, usually sitting on the couch eating holiday baking or having "just one more drink." We all know or have seen someone get in shape for some event, a wedding, birthday or run or ride only to achieve the goal and then slip. Not unusual at all, unfortunately many of the things that allow some of us to lose the weight in the first place, like obsession (sometimes we call it discipline!) have both a positive and a destructive side. One good thing you do gain though is awareness and I am all of sudden all too aware of some very negative stuff creeping back in. The occasional treat has turned to regular holiday treats, a beer or wine to several, daily!! and the reasons to miss workouts seem so much more rationale than they did when I was pushing for the 100 lb loss and then to run a half marathon. I need to realize that the guy who gained 100 plus pounds in the first place is still with me and that's OK I like him, but I don't like the way his habits made me feel. So to slip up is human, to do nothing about it, well at least for me is unforgivable. No waiting, no elaborate planning, no start on Monday or the new year, next week..fill in your favorite! I know what to do... move and eat well and just enough, hydrate often: end of story. So good day lots of water, lots of greens, lots of vegetables and lean protein and a good 45 minute trail run. Feel better already, even the fat guy seems to like this feeling!

getting back on track

It has been a real challenge getting back on track after the half marathon in October. I've set a bunch of goals but in all reality none were really all that meaningful to me. So here goes a little bit of honesty! I want to weight under 200 lbs! goal 198 by June 21, 2011. Also,  I really don't love running but I LOVE cycling. I  was listening to this running life the other day, a fantastic podcast and Gordon mentioned that  something about loving to train and in all honesty I don't really like running all that much. that being said I don't plan on stopping running but I not sure a Marathon is really MY goal. Getting much faster on the bike is way more exciting to me and likely way better for my body. so signed up for Gran fondo in Penticton, BC this summer and may ride Whistler Grand fondo in September as well. Ok that is all for now! time to get to work!

Complacency

Sometimes we forget why we started things. I've had a good year so far, made my long term 100 lb weight loss target, ran my first 1/2 marathon, did a self supported sprint tri and had some great long rides, even played some decent tennis. BUT the 45th year is about something more. My first post said

 "I've committed to making my 45th year my fittest year yet." Not to have a good year, not to be a bit fitter but fittest ever. So time to move forward on the bigger goal. I'm lingering at 225 ish lbs but see some old habits creeping back in. A few less work outs a little less care with diet a few too many beers, one word really complacency.  Yeah I'm healthier than the past, healthier than a lot of guys my age but that wasn't what I committed to. Time to ramp it up. 7 more months of being 45 left so no time to waste. I want to see how lean I can get. I have a great base so time to ramp up the fitness, and clamp down the diet. I haven't been below 200 lbs since I was 20 so not sure if that is possible but challenge goals are only fun challenging if there is a chance of failure. So I putting it out there my goal is a lean 199 by my 46th birthday. Details to follow!

Seasonal training!

One of the things I've been talking about in class lately is how we view time. For the last couple of hundred years western society has viewed time as linear, finite; that is when time goes it is gone forever. Now of course it is gone in the most rational of ways, but other civilizations and more agrarian societies have viewed time as being more cyclical, that it is comes and goes like the patterns we see daily and seasonally in our life. Essentially our actions are governed more by the seasons and their variation than by a clock and calender. It seems to me that we are trying to make a return to a more agrarian way of life, at least in part. The eat local, eat seasonal movement is moving more and more to the mainstream. So I thought this would also be a great way to view my training focus and training challenges. Winter is our time to restore, the purpose of hibernation for some creatures, but for humans it seems that winter is a time to recover, to build strength, to experiment and set one's self up for performing. Spring is rebirth, time for a big challenge and to put your winter efforts to the test. Summer is to challenge and grow even more. Finally fall is the harvest, time to aim for a personal best, to leave it all on the table before another winter of recovery and restoration. A simple view of a annual plan but for me it just seems to make sense. We will soon see. Winter comes early in my world (Nov-March) so I'll keep you posted on my new training seasonally approach! Let me know what you think!