New Year's Day! It's time for some January goal planning. I love this part. I got to work and decided on 4 main goals this month:
1. strength training - it's now or never. I feel this is an important time to nail down some strength and it can really help me out later. I decided my goal is to do a strength training circuit once per week, total of 4 times this month. Last month, these tended to be the "extra" workouts that would get dropped. We obviously had a lot going on last month with the new job and Christmas, so my goal is to keep these in the mix. They involve some speedwork on the treadmill, so that should help out the marathon training.
2. core work goal - I'm changing it up a bit. Last month I rotated between 2 core workouts. This month I'm adding one and rotating between 3 of them, changing a bit of the other 2. Here is a description of each: (RW) - this stands for the Runner's World core workout, the only change to this one is 25 push-ups becomes 30. (MB) - stands for medicine ball, changing this one to less weight. I'm hoping to get an 8 lb med ball and replace it with the 10, I feel the 10 is a little heavy for this particular workout. I'll use the 10 on a few of the routines. I'm worried my shoulders are getting more of a workout than necessary. (KB) - this new workout stands for Kettle Bell, hoping to buy a kettle bell, but until then will use the gym for this. This is a workout that I stole from Darcy's body pump. We did this workout the very first class and I was sore for days. I'm hoping I won't be as sore this time, but if it's a bit much, I'll work up to the numbers listed. Here it is: 150 jump-ropes, 25 KB swings, 125 squats w/ MB, 100 full sit-ups, 50 push-ups, 75 KB cleans. My goal for this rotation is to hit 22 core workouts this month. That's 5 per week.
3. Long Bike momentum goal - my third goal is due to the addition of the Long Bike workout per week. I often struggle with these so my goal is to find ways to enjoy it, and keep the momentum going. I need to get used to the fact that these will be a regular part of my life for the next 9 months. Embrace them. My goal is to hit all 5 workouts at the prescribed times.
4. My last goal is to fine-tune some areas of nutrition. Clean it up a bit. Once the last Christmas cookie crumb and piece of lasagna is gone, it's time to get back to the primal ways. It can be difficult to get back to the good habits, so it takes some effort at first. Some areas of improvement to focus on for this month are: mix up the salads a bit, add in some new ingredients, mix up the dinners as well, incorporate more fish if possible. Also, practice using Chocolate #9 on every long run to get my body used to it. And the nights I have masters swimming I need a method to help alleviate feeling starving when I get home and then eating whatever I can get my hands on. My idea is to have half a clif bar before the practice and half on the way home.
Let's get to it! Good luck...
