New Years

I hope that everyone had a good (and safe) New Years celebration. Mine consisted of good friends, good wine, and some good Nintendo Wii action!

I am now sitting down, as countless people do, and evaluating this upcoming year. I am hoping that this year will see the fruition of the base that I have built over the past two years. Working with a club (VFAC) and a coach (John Hill) will provide the change needed to see improvement. As well, the goal races I have this year are challenging and important to me. I also have to get used to a new race schedule. For years I have relied on the Vancouver Island Race Series to take me through the spring, but this year I am only scheduling one of those races into the calendar (Comox Valley Half Marathon). So it is the Timex Race Series for me this year, but even with that I am only committing to two of those races. Change abounds!

So, as every good motivational speaker will tell you, a goal not written down is just a dream. In this time of accountability, I will now share with you the goals for this season...

1. Run under 2:45 in a marathon.

I have yet to decide if I am going to "race" Boston, or "run" Boston. The Vancouver Marathon is only 3 weeks after Boston, so I have the option of just going and enjoying the experience of Boston - soaking up the atmosphere, the history, and the fans - and then racing Vancouver. Boston is a difficult race to run fast at because of the terrain and the numbers. Vancouver is much better in that regard, so I will wait and see how things go. It may be a race morning decision. The last marathon of the year will be at the ENDURrun, but I am unsure that I will be able to run 2:45 after that week of racing (although the ENDURrun marathon is still my PR - 2:55).

2. Finish the Knee Knacker strong.

The Knee Knacker is a grueling 30 mile race along the Baden Powell Trail on the North Shore of Vancouver. Simon Driver, Eric Langhjelm and I have committed to racing it, so we are in training as of now. It is a lottery to get it, and this being the 25th Anniversary I may not get a spot, but the training is amazing. The
difficulty is not necessarily the technical terrain, but the incredible amount of downhill. I have run the last part of the map a few times, and to give you perspective, going backwards from the end to the top of the first hill is a 40 minute run. Now look at the start of the race.


3. Go 33:xx for 10k.

I am not sure when this one will happen as the main 10k I usually run (Times Colonist 10k) is the week after Boston. I believe that I will be fit enough to do it this year, but I have to find a race.

4. Run the ENDURrun well.

This is not a well worded goal because there is no empirical way to determine if I will have accomplished it. I thought about my goal being "Win the ENDURrun", but then my goal is controlled by others and their performances. My time for the ENDURrun in 2006 was 10:59:33, just under 11:00 hours. I ran well in all the events except one, and I think I will be able to solve that one. So, I think that running a sub 10:45 for the event would be great. That would be the third fastest finishing time at the ENDURrun and one that I think would be possible.

5. Implement a consistent strength training program.

I have a couple of friends who have created amazing strength training programs - Craig Ballantyne at TurbulenceTraining.com and Trevor Millar at Millar Performance Conditioning. Both programs use the most recent research in strength and conditioning and between them they have trained elite, Olympic, and professional athletes. Trevor has written me an amazing program - now I just have to do it!
(PS. If you were looking to kick start your year, get in touch with them!)

So, those are my goals for this year. I will keep the updates coming as to how the progress toward them is going. If you need have some goals this year, make sure you write them down and tell someone. You can use the comments section if you would like - make it anonymous if you need to, but get it out there for all to see!

Enjoy the run.