Monday, November 19, 2012

Some goals for the off season.

From now until January 5th, I get a reprieve.  That doesn't mean i get to just skip running.  (I did that all last week, and it was both glorious and traumatic to my waistline.) But it does mean that i am just running around all "willy nilly" with no goals, no target, and no plan.  Its a little scary to not have a paper schedule telling me what distance to run everyday.  I was (am) very tempted to sign up for the Schaumburg turkey trot half marathon this weekend.  VERY tempted.  But truth be told, the next month is about rebuilding and regenerating, and NOT signing up for races like a maniac.  

But, as someone who fails miserably at life without structure, i thought i could make a few goals to ride me through until probably February when my mileage will kick back up for spring marathoning. 

1.  Think up some goals for next year (yes.  one of my goals is to make more goals.  go easy on me.)  I need to make some realistic goals for next years running season.  Realistically, i think "PR at everything" will be part of it- one of the benefits of being mediocre at best is the room for infinite improvement.

2.  Focus on speed.  I spent all year making sure my body can handle the brutality of 26 miles, which leaves very little room (or energy) for speed training.  This winter i WILL crack the 8 minute mile barrier.  I don't know when;  I don't know where; but 7:59 - I am COMING FOR YOU!

3.  I know i say this all the time, but strength training.  It seriously has to happen.  I walked into a door this morning.  My noodle arms suck so bad right now.  
Wearing every piece of weight training gear my brother owned.
4.  Try somekind of new-fangled exercise class.  Last year it was hot yoga (which i love, providing it's just childs pose) but its time to expand.  Crossfit?  P90x? Barre? Bootcamp?  Quite frankly, they all sound terrifying, but if you aren't at least a little terrified, you aren't trying hard enough.

5.  Work-Life-Running balance.  Maybe this year i will get it right!  Or maybe not.  We'll see.....Either way, i need to at least try to find a truce between running as much as i want, advancing in my career, and keeping a clean house, with a happy and well fed Matt and Waffles.  

Ok, who am i kidding.  The last one is never gonna happen.  But i can promise you that they won't starve.  

Do you have an "off season"?  Or are you totally badassing it and marathoning all year round?  What is your game plan for the next couple months?  Do you want to run with me?  I am seriously lacking motivation to run in the cold dark world right now.

13 comments:

  1. I guess technically this is my off-season. I am running without a set schedule, doing speed-work at the track, and just enjoying running a handful of fast miles instead of doing a million miles at my plodding marathon pace! As far as hot yoga goes, I am not a fan of exercising in the heat, so I prefer to do yoga in a cool room! Let's call it frozen-yoga. Anyway, if you want to run at the track (or the lake) let me know. I will be doing track work on Wednesday or Thursday morning this week. By the way, when you figure out how to keep a clean house, also please let me know how it's done!

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  2. Let's run together! I sometimes run with another blogger that works in Lincolnshire on Monday nights. We can't go to the preserve anymore (too dark) but we could meet someplace else :)

    You want redemption on that HM, don't you? Hee hee hee.

    I am in the off season all year. I am not good at following a plan and tend to do what I want. That may change... or may not. LOL.

    Good luck with all your goals!

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  3. wow..kind of impressive goals...and its not even January...

    i better start thinking of what I am going to tackle or not next year...

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  4. Officially in off season, although I have a 5 mile turkey trot on Thursday and then a 5k in like a week too but after that I have no scheduled races and wont race until probably spring. I need to cross train like a mofo. Back to spin class and hoping not to get a UTI in the process. That's why I gave up last year on spin. I swear it made my urethra swollen which resulted in me feeling like I had a major UTI. Was that too much information?

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  5. great goals lady! I do P90X (and sell it as a coach for the time being) so let me know if you are interested. It's a great program!

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  6. I love how I'm creeping in the side of that one photo. Yessss

    I love not having goals. I didn't really have a ton earlier this year and it lead to some nice runs and surprising myself with how fast I was able to go, based on endurance and not running 1,000 miles on the weekends. You will be able to break the 8:00 barrier, no problem. I can already tell.

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  7. I've been trying the no schedule thing and it didn't really work out for me again this year. So i created a schedule but made it pretty easy. I will be doing more biking, swimming, yoga and strength training in my offseason.

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  8. I think you would love crossfit or barre. I have heard awesome things about barre classes. Spokane just got a studio that opened a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't personally attended a class yet. I am loving my crossfit. It kicks the sh*t out of me every time. I am getting muscles that I didn't even know could exist!

    I bet just adding one speed workout a week or some pick ups/tempo run will get you well beyond the 8:00 barrier.

    Enjoy your off season and then get ready to kick some running booty! :-)

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  9. Yes my legging are all kinds of awesome and not tacky :) I'll have to change that on my post. Hehe

    Your goals are solid. I think it's important to have an off season so you can heal and be stronger than ever! (or in my case fatter because running 15 miles a week and eating what I want = squishy Xaarlin)

    My goal is also to "pr at everything." love it.

    Are you running a turkey trot? Come run the grant park one on Saturday with me!

    Otherwise, we should totally go for a run out on the lakefront together when it's cold. Because getting out the door is hard enough by myself, I can always blame you for making me meet you in the snow for a run. :)

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    1. there are free Nike Training Club workouts at the Nike store on Michigan ave Tuesday nights. If you're ever interested in going- let me know and I'll join you. I'm still recovering from the 30 minute one last Wednesday. :)

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  10. Didn't Schaumburg sell out? I got an email saying that was imminent days ago.
    I'm in perpetual off-season. And then I marathon anyway.

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  11. Looks like you're starting off the upcoming new year right, and there's still 1.5 months to go until 2013! I guess this is sort of like my "off-season" (did I even ever have an on-season?) because I run whenever I feel like it, which is so nice after a structured schedule!

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  12. Those are some fantastic goals! I totally hear you on the weight-training and the speedwork, which are two of my biggest off-season goals, too. I am also trying to do more cross-training in general, and as much yoga and stretching as I can muster.

    You are going to SMASH the sub-8:00 mile VERY SOON. I am ABSOLUTELY certain of it.

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