MY 2010 GOALS

Now that 2010 has suddenly arrived  I find myself wondering where did 2009 go? Last year was a good one. I ran several 5K's, two marathons (Nashville Country Music and Bass Pro), tried my first sprint triathlon (Republic Tiger Tri) and went on my first official 47 mile bike ride (Tour de Bass). This year is going to be an even better one.  We are off to an excellent start. Yesterday, Mike and I picked up our new road bikes, mine is a lavender fit woman Felt and his is a beautiful black,white & red Bianchi .  We could have bought ourselves a REALLY nice flat screen HD TV with a surround sound system, but both of us agreed we would much rather have the bikes. Besides, they are much better for us than a TV and we would certainly get more enjoyment out of them. Neither one of us watch much TV. I believe that the world would be better off with less TV's anyway! We brought our shiny new bikes inside and parked them in our bedroom and was so happy this morning to wake up and see them first thing. The only problem is that it is 12 degrees out, snowed four inches overnight and is still snowing as I write :( As for furniture, give me a garmin (which I have & love) and for clothes or jewelry, give me a new pair of running shoes or CR-W pants and some tech shirts and I am as delirious as a cat with catnip. Our vehicles are old and proudly plastered with bike and 26.2 stickers. I can't wait to put an ironman sticker on them (after we earn it)! We don't hesitate to jump in our vehicles with our sweaty bodies, dirty kids and dogs, or hitch our bikes on them. We would gladly give up material things to pursue that which brings us joy and helps us live life more fully. So that brings me to my goals for 2010. This is going to be the year for trying new things and attempting new challenges.

GOAL #1 : BRANSON IRON MAN 70.3

Mike and I are going to attempt our first 70.3 Iron Man!  We have decided to do Branson Missouri's first official 70.3 Iron Man in September. People are saying that we are nuts because the bike course is going to be "challenging". But we have home court advantage.  We live only 20 - 25 miles away and can easily go to Branson on the weekends and practice swimming, riding and running the course. And for those of you who do not know what the Iron Man 70.3 entails it is this.  The swim is 1.2 miles long, the bike is 56 miles and the run is 13.1 miles.
My weakest point is the swim, so to help me overcome this, I have enrolled in a beginner triathlon swim class that starts tomorrow at 6am.

GOAL #2 : LOSE WEIGHT

I am only 5'1" and I am not overweight. However, my big booty seems to be perpetually stuck between 114-116 lbs. I would like to get my weight between 105-110 lbs. I know that I will never be a competitive athlete, but I would like to know that I have done everything that I can do in order to achieve MY best time. I am competing against myself and in order to do my absolute best I need to be at a good, athletic weight.

My husband is 6'2" and weighs 225 lbs. His goal is to get down under 215 lbs. This seems like a lot of weight to carry, but he has long, thin legs that carry his big frame pretty darn fast. So lots of fish, chicken, salad and sensible eating for us if we are going to get serious about achieving this goal.

GOAL #3 : RUN AT LEAST 2 MARATHONS

This is certainly a do'able goal for me. It will be my 5th and 6th marathons.  Mike has not run a marathon yet, he would rather work on increasing his times in the half marathon. So this one is my goal.  I have been sponsored by the Missouri Beef Council and have been entered in the Go St. Louis Marathon to be ran on April 11, 2010.  I am already training and feel certain that this will be a great one. I also have plans of joining my running group for the 3rd year to train and run the Bass Pro Marathon in Springfield MO in November 7, 2010.  If I can work in another marathon somewhere I certainly will! So here is my time goal...don't laugh... I would like to run a marathon under 5 hours. My best time so far was Bass Pro this last November in which I came in at 5:22:46. So if I lean up a bit and do some speed work along with my cross training for the triathlon I believe this is certainly a very do'able goal.

GOAL #4 : JOIN A BIKE CLUB AND RIDE!

Now that we have our new bikes we want to do the MS 150, the Tour de Cox and the Tour de Bass. We will probably join Springbike Bike club and ride with other local riders. My twin Audrey and my best friend Denise bought new bikes too, so we plan on being a cycling team. We have appropriately named our team 'Slow Riders'. It is going to be a fun and exciting year with our new bikes.

GOAL #5 : HAVE FUN!!

The most important thing in ALL of these goals is to have fun. We are doing them for the adventure and to enjoy life.  Life is too darn stressful as it is.  We work hard so by golly, we plan on living it up! The most important thing is not the time in any of these events, but the sense of accomplishment. I enjoy the strengthening of relationships that all these events have provided for me. It has strengthened an already strong marriage. My husband and I love and cherish our time together on the bike or watching each others butts jiggle as we run the roads together.  I have never had so much fun and laughed so hard as when me, my sister and my best friend ride or run together. I have also met new friends on this fitness journey who have enriched my life beyond words and is, as the commercial says....priceless! And absolutely nothing can describe the way it feels to cross a marathon or triathlon finish line!!

So that is pretty much it. I will blog my journey and progress along the way. So stay tuned!  In the meantime, get out, get moving and challenge yourself to try something new!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Namaste'