So…
It’s only been three days since New York, and already my mind’s wondering what’s next. Remarkably, the body’s much happier after NYC than after Mystic Places. Somehow, I made the right decision and laid off instead of breaking myself. Goodness, can I actually be learning something?
In any case, I’m riding high on putting the marathons behind me, and with them, the corpse of my “failure to follow-through” demon. So now, it’s all a matter of setting goals and knocking them down, right? None of this is “official”, of course, but here are some of the things I’m thinking about:
1. Weight. I’m still toting around a little extra lard. To paraphrase the W.K.Kellogg Corporation, “On Billy J you can pinch an inch”. 167 today, right where I’ve been for six months. About 17 lbs above where I ought to be as a 5’7″ type. SO, I’ve got some work to do. At a pound a week, which is a sustainable weight loss, I could hit fighting weight in about 4 months, or February. Sweet. Call that one a goal.
2. Navy Physical Readiness Test. Next one ought to be in … April. Plenty of time. Did the run in 10 minutes last time. No marathon to train for this time. Let’s try to smoke the next one – 100 situps, 75 pushups, and the mile and a half in 9:00. Ambitious? Sure. Within my grasp? Heck yeah, especially if I’m not toting around the equivalent of two gallons of milk. My PRT at the end of OCS met this goal. Sure, we’re almost a dozen years down the road, but I’ve got more than 13 weeks to train, and am starting the training in much better shape than I started OCS. This one is do-able. Not quite the low-hanging fruit of the weight goal, but it’s there.
3. Bluff Point trail race: Broke an hour last year, which still amazes me. I’d like to break an hour again this year; I think if I concentrate, I might be able to break 55 minutes for 7.2 miles. That’s 7:45’s or so, but I’ve completely re-defined the amount of “discomfort” I can subject myself to. 55 minutes – tall order. I’m kind of iffy on this one.
4. Terramuggus Tri series. I’d like to do at least 3 of the 4 races this year, and ideally all of them. I also think I can break an hour. The swim – my worst event, was never more than 12 minutes. Leaving 48 minutes to bike 12 miles and run a 5K. A 20 minute 5K is reasonable for a thirty-something guy no longer lugging around a beer gut. Leaving 28 minutes for the 12 mile bike. Hmm – that’s a 24 MPH average speed. This one may be out of my league – have to shave about 25% off of my best of last year… How ’bout 1:10?
5. New Haven 20K. Hmm, that’s just four 5K’s. So, how ’bout seeing if I can break 90 minutes? Again, a pipe dream, but why not dream big this far in advance?