Goals 2010 - Fitness

This is the second year of contemplating, making, and following up on a set of goals for the year. In late 2008 Mattson convinced me to make three strategic year long goals, things that I could focus on and harness to stay focused throughout the year. Goals impacting areas of my life that are important to me, or areas where I sought out changes or improvements. The goals essentially spanned personal/relationships, personal/learning and professional/work. Over a year later I look back on 2009 and am happy with most of my choices.

It's maybe a little late to be writing about goals for 2010 - and I brainstormed a stockpile of them before and after the new year, but one area in particular has been and will continue to be a major focus of my energy. Fitness and Health - two things that I have thought about often since the high school really. In spite of the innumerable binges, bacon labs, and a mythically voracious appetite, I'm strongly aware and thoughtful about what I put into my body, what I try to get out of my body, and how I perceive my physical and mental health. Essentially - eating reasonably well, maintaining weight, and exercising frequently and being fit are the pillar of my physical health goals.

As the end of 2009 neared, I thought of a longer term running goal which would be apt in my post-competitive ultimate days, and give me something to focus on over a long stretch of time - years really - to keep me focused on exercising. The goal is, essentially, to shatter my PR's for the mile, 5k and 10k running distances. I suspect working towards this would also satisfy my inherent internal competitive drive. I would have to be committed to running long term, which would force me to take my running training seriously.

With that goal in place, I've been running more than ever, and forcing myself to go faster too. However, in parallel to this running, I maintain excitement for other activities. I anticipate doing a lot of hiking and trying some mountaineering this year. I've also been playing a ton of basketball. I'm also biking frequently - aiming to try road racing in the coming month or two. In some ways my post-ultimate self is more active than ever, less worried about being in the right shape for an ultimate season and more focused on getting out there and being extra active whenever the opportunity presents itself. And I'm loving it. The combination of these diverse activities, often being done at fairly high intensity, and often for 3 or 4 days in a row has frequently left me very fatigued, feeling like I can accomplish little more than a day on the couch watching the Wire. My legs sometimes feel like bricks. I should specialize a little in one of these activities, and I should make sure I get adequate rest if I'm going hard more days than not. But I'm also not willing to go 100% into any one activity at the expense of the others - which is the same predicament I had during ultimate seasons. Hopefully I can find a happy balance with these activities and still accell and enjoy them all.

At any rate, I'm going to be doing some periodization this summer, first cutting back on basketball, as our team is planning to take the warm months off. I will run my first 5k of the year this weekend - around Greenlake on Sunday, sponsored by Top Pot Donuts. Here I will get to see where I am on my progression towards achieving my goals. I will take stock, and then likely increase my focus on biking. Running less frequently, maybe doing a triathlon sometime this summer.

In other news, I bought a new bike!! A Trek 2100, in great shape from 2006. It's like riding on a rocket ship. A few small tweaks and it will be race ready. But also, the parents, Susie, Sarah and I went to Vashon Island last weekend. Mom and Dad made a brief stop in Seattle and Tacoma, and we were able to find a great beach front location for Friday and Saturday nights on the Island. I tuned up the new bike and flew directly to the Fauntleroy ferry terminal, and after a brief ferry ride I continued to sail on to the house. Sarah came via bike on a later ferry. Starting just after 8PM she somehow managing to bike from Madison beach to the ferry terminal in the dusk, without a bike light, barely making the ferry, and fortunately avoiding serious injury! (ok, she had a headlamp on) It turns out Vashon Island is very hilly. Highlights from the trip include a near verticle 200 foot hike from the road to the house that mom incessantly complained about. A wine tasting at Vashion Winery. An impromptu wine tasting at Palouse winery where I got my 32oz Gatorade bottle filled from the barrel with their 08' Cabernet. I will add some pictures soon.

On Friday, in a timely and predictable cacophony of disorder, Sarah and I and our new bike rack struck off northwards in my dusty Corolla, packed with maps, bikes, a tent. Parked by a nondescript Starbucks near Anecortes and began our bike adventure. Were fortunate to find a great beach front camp site at Spencer Spit state park, thanks to some friendly campers with reservations who didn't need all of their sites. We decided to make that location home for the weekend. Sleeping under the stars awoke to a bright sun on Saturday morning. Biked a little over 50 miles, mostly on Orcas Island, highlighted by biking up Mt. Constitution at 2401' in Moran St. Park, and swimming in Mountain Lake. Our return to Lopez was greeted by rain and lightning. Awoke to a cool pleasant morning on Sunday.

Began biking on Lopez Island with all our gear. The fog burned off and we biked for about 20 miles to Shark Reef park and the ferry. Exhausted and elated after a great weekend.

Highlights of Memorial Day weekend include too much cake and a lot of road biking. It started on Saturday when Matt Tilley and I road around Mercer Island, a beautiful and difficult ride. The hills were surprising, the ride was gorgeous, and we were both exhausted by the end of the ride. For better or for worse, Matt brought over some of an extra rich red velvet cake. On Saturday, Sarah and I packed our bags to bike to Tucker's cabin in Hansville on the Olympic peninsula. We rented her a decent road bike and she absolutely loved it. Apparently riding a road bike that is well tuned is a little better than a mountain bike with flat tires. I went as fast as I could on stretches going north to the Edmunds ferry and every time I looked behind me I'd see Sarah right there with a huge smile. We took the ferry to Kingston, where we still had a fairly tough bike ride over rolling hills. On Monday, after a boat trip to Port Ludlow for breakfast, Tucker drove us back to Kingston so we'd have a chance at getting the rental bike returned by 2PM. A great weekend with 70 exhilarating miles on the bike, and hopefully converting Sarah to a love of road biking.