Friday, July 10, 2009

Goals for the rest of 2009

The Early Bird Women’s Cycling Team is having a “Team Camp” this Saturday. Woooo! Besides being excited to see all of these fabulous women again, I’m really looking forward to riding with them and all the things I will learn tomorrow.

Our team directors asked us to write down our goals for the rest of the year and share them with the team. Sharing them on my blog seemed like a good idea as well, so here they are. Maybe now that I’ve shared them with, well, everybody, I’ll be more apt to reach them!

My goals for the rest of 2009 and how I'll achieve them:

1. Continue to work on getting myself in better bike racing shape. This means working with my friend Tim on a cycling plan for the rest of my races and sticking to it. Additionally, I plan to achieve this through reading The Cyclist's Training Bible by Joe Friel. I read his Triathlete's Training Bible and it really made a big difference for me, mentally and physically. I like to learn about the things I'm doing and I know that if I read more about bike racing and understand more about how one trains for it (and races in it!), I will be much more inclined to want to stick to a training plan.

2. Lose 5 lbs. It's not that much but I think it's enough to help me out considerably up climbs as well as in crits. Doing this means really making a commitment to drinking less beer and wine (ugh!), eating less peanut butter (ugh!!) and sitting down every weekend to plan the week's dinners a little better. I know that if I do this the weight will come off, so I really need to find a way to hold myself accountable and stick to it. Any ideas on holding oneself accountable?


3. Race at least 2 more crits and 2 more road races through the rest of the season. It's not much in the bike racing world, but I've got a lot of other things going on outside of bike racing and I think it's a commitment I can stick with. I've planned out three of the races; just need to find one more crit. (Ohlone Crit, 7/25; Santa Cruz Road Race 8/23; Winters Road Race 8/29)


4. Ride two bike events that aren't races. This would be the Tour of Napa Valley 65 mile route (8/16) and either the Marin Century (8/1), the Auburn Century (9/12) or the Riverbank Wine & Cheese Century (10/11).


5. Continue to keep learning and taking it all in, being kind to myself when I make mistakes and remembering that this is all a new learning experience. Reminding myself that even little improvements are victories that should be celebrated.


6. Keep swimming and yoga in my training. It's hard to do but it's so important to me and I always feel better when I'm doing them.


7. Get more sleep. Achieving this means getting to bed earlier. Yikes!

10 comments:

amy said...

Do Auburn Century! I am thinking about doing it too. :)

Amen to the more sleep thing. I wish there was an extra hour in the day.

Kathleen @ ForgingAhead said...

Great goal setting Sarah! I'm always up for the "get more sleep" goal!

Carolina John said...

Good luck! i know you're going to love the century ride, and bike racing must be an acquired taste.

triguyjt said...

I am with you on the meal planning and the executing of the plan...when i am lax on the planning and just taking 5 extra minutes to pack something, then all stuff bad happens.

good luck sarah's Life's a Blast!!

Jocelyn Wong Neill said...

hey hon! good luck on your goals for the rest of the season. Goal setting is such an awesome part of going out and achieving things :) I will chime in and say that I've lost about 10 lbs since February and a lot of it was from going cold turkey on the peanut butter. I think I used to go thru a whole jar each week! ;)

PunkRockRunner said...

I knew I would feel like a slacker after reading this post.

Having followed your posts for some time now it's so amazing to see how you've gravitated to your inner cyclist.

I believe that this is becuase you need the added challenges that the bike races offer. Afterall, you've already been on the Triathlon podium so it's time to turn up the heat and dominate the bike.

You WILL accomplish your goals and I can not wait to read about all of your successes!

Oh, you don't stand a chance with the whole "more sleep" thing :-)

What about the Grand Fondo event on 10/3?

All the best,

Ron

beth said...

Awesome goals sarah.....and a LOT of them...where's the goal to make time for yourself, chill, and rest ? :)

Can't wait to see you this weekend!!!!!! have a blast on the lake beforehand!

Unknown said...

What about have an awesome time in Tahoe July 17-19 as a goal for 2009?!?

Rainmaker said...

I like your last goal - that's where the good stuff is.

dan said...

You should do Levi's GranFondo! As for the weight loss control, one thing I do is keep the beer and wine out of the house. That way I am only tempted when I eat out.