General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned Rss Feed  
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2005-05-31 1:18 PM

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Buttercup
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Subject: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned

Following the "Inspect what you Expect" adage for improving performance and knowing this site is great for keeping things real...

Here's how I did with my May goals:

  • Swam 40,000 yards, 89% attainment (35,500)
  • Ran 27 miles, 50% goal attainment (of 50 miles)
  • Bike 126, 60% goal attainment (of 211)

I did great on my swimming but I expected that because I love to swim and it's my strength. I did terrible on my running which doesn't really surprise me because it's the one I struggle with the most. I was somewhat surprised by how low my bike goal attainment was. Overall, my goal attainment for May was mediocre. Were my expectations too high, my efforts too little, or some combination thereof? I know I suffer from "But I feel 16!" irrational goal setting syndrome. Something to mull on.

Lessons learned:

  • Set realistic goals
  • Plan reduced training in week before races (instead of trying to maintain same level of effort)
  • Plan reduced training in week after tri (instead of maniacally trying to reach an unrealistic swim goal, for example)
  • I'm really not 16. Set realistic goals.

I haven't done the math for my June goals (no tris planned and only 1 open water race), but generally speaking here's what I've got planned:

  • Swim 36,000 yards (don't start building on previous month's yardage until I can do this yardage without creating a crisis in my shoulder)
  • Bike at least 211 miles (same as May)
  • Run 50 miles (same as May except this time REACH the goal)

During June, aside from my mileage goals, focus on technique and performance goals:

  • Swim: Focus on finishing my stroke (increased stroke efficiency), decreasing my stroke count (ditto), do more intervals, and give myself a goal for improved swim times (this advice from my superstar swimmer sister who used to swim 500 yards in 5:09)
    • 500 yards in 8:00, down from 10:00
    • 1 mile open water in 30:00, down from 37:41
  • Bike: Reach avg 16 mph speed over 20 miles by doing lots of interval training
  • Run: Reach 11 minute mile run with NO injuries

So, have you worked up your goals for June? What are they? Share. Discush. Lay it out there!



2005-05-31 1:44 PM
in reply to: #166046

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Extreme Veteran
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Delray Beach, FL
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned
Hey Renee.. good job!
No matter what, you are doing an awesome job.
My goals... Next week is my tri.
I am planning on doing nothing the week after sleep, eat, and watch a lot of movies
June I will take it easy, spinning clases, short runs and swims. A weekly bike ride and I promised my boyfriend I would try mountain bike Iwill start training again in July after my vacation... I have another tri in November and a marathon in January 06.
What would I do different?
Enroll in master swiming classes
Train following my HR zones
Do more speed work on my runs
Do more bricks
No matter what, I think we are amazing people.... This is a lot of hard work
2005-05-31 1:47 PM
in reply to: #166046

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Expert
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Jacksonville, FL
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned
I don't set goals on distances, rather on performance in races. Besides, with a good training program not all workouts are based on distances. I may run a 60 min run in zone 1-2 one day, while another is interval training where my mileage is lower.

My goals this year were for St Anthony's tri: finish feeling good, in top 50% of age group & in 2:45. I attained the first 2 but my time was 2:45:44. That was close enough & I was very happy because I did my best in training and the race.
2005-05-31 1:50 PM
in reply to: #166046

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Expert
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Colchester, CT
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned

My goal is to survice the next 24 days without getting sick or injured, becuase on the 25th day, I'll be racing my first 1/2 IM. 

Training goals for the next two weeks, one long 3 hour ride, one day of transition practice from bike to run, one 30 min. ride, followed by a 2 hour run.  Other than that, a couple of 2500 yard swims in a week, a couple of 60-90 min rides a week, a couple short runs off the rides, a one longer run each week. 

After that it's taper time for two weeks focussing on dropping lengths of workouts, but maintaining intensity.

Chris

2005-05-31 2:15 PM
in reply to: #166046

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Champion
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Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned
Here were my goals for May:

Swim - 1000m TT sub 18:00 18:01 - so close!
Bike - Average 30km/h+ on a 10k TT 30.03km/h at my tri (17.5km)!
Run - 2.4km run sub 10:30 Didn't get the chance to do this run
Race - first race at the end of the month (sprint) - I would like to go sub 1:30 for the event with splits of 13:00/44:00/25:00. Finished my first race in 1:13:49 and even though the bike was slightly less than 20km (17.5km) I surpassed all my goals 12:45/34:58/23:32

I had also set distance goals for my training and I failed to achieve any of them. From that I have learned that I am better setting markers for my race performance rather than distance goals. So for June:

Swim - 1000m TT sub 17:45
Bike - Stand alone bike 10km TT at 32km/h+
Run - 2.4km subt 10:30

Best of luck to everyone this month!

Shane
2005-05-31 3:08 PM
in reply to: #166046

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Not a Coach
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Media, PA
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned

My goals for last month & this month both center on racing, not training.

Last month I wanted to have a fun & successful first tri and thought I should be able able to break 2hrs if things went okay.  Well, I narrowly beat the time despite a flat and had a lot of fun, so I believe I reached my main goal.  I also biked a leg of a relay and wanted to really push myself since I didn't have to worry about the swim or run.  The bike went very well, though I may have been a little conservative.  I probably would have pushed a little harder in parts of it if I had to do over.

For June, my focus is getting to the start of my first oly well rested and injury-free.  This is my target race for the seaason, so I have ony 2 "full" training weeks left and then it's taper time.  I will be happy with any good effort, but I think I can break 2:45.  And something close to 2:30 might be achieveable if things break right for me.



2005-05-31 3:29 PM
in reply to: #166046

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Expert
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Denver
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned
May goal: Learn. To. Swim.  I swam more than I thought I could in June, but can't string it all together at once and go for one good, long (relative to me) swim. I don't care if I drown in that stupid pool and am forgotten about forever as I sit at the bottom by the drain with pennies, ear plugs and clumps of hair. I WILL figure out how to swim.
2005-05-31 4:12 PM
in reply to: #166046

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Lethbridge, Alberta
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Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned
May goal: First tri. Done!
I stayed out of any competition threads for May because I intended to taper and recover without any other pressures. So much fuss over that short little mini-sprint, but it was my first and I wanted to do it right. I think I needed the break too. I've been "flying by the seat of my pants" with regards to training and was probably pushing a bit too hard (for me) for the last couple of months.

June goals: Figure out some reasonable goals.
- Swim more. 3x per week? 2x at least. Work on technique but push max distance once in a while.
- Run lots more. 3x per week, at least. Start building up a LSD distance.
- Bike a bit more. Continue commuting but start building up a longer long ride.
- Get out to the gym again sometimes and get back to doing some regular core exercises.

Looking at all that, I may have to actually *gulp* ... plan a training schedule!
(with rest days)
2005-06-01 6:41 AM
in reply to: #166046

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Master
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Southwest Chicago 'burbs
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Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned
After I saw this thread, I spent a bit of time thinking about goals and such, realizing that I don't actually do a very good job at planning things out. By default, because I joined two of the Challenges online, I had two goals for May:
  • Swim 12,000m (double my longest ever distance for a month) -- Swam 12,350m
  • Run 50 miles -- Ran 53.25
So, in that sense, May was a success. What it made me realize, though, is that my haphazard style of getting in training sessions (kind of a "wake up in the morning and decide what I feel like doing" made it difficult to get everything in. The Swim Challenge and the Run Challenge ended up being as much about a Time Management Challenge for me, as much as anything else. Especially now with my other activities in full swing (softball 3 nights a week, for example), I think I need to actually sit down and organize my life (now THAT'S a first....).

So - for June -
  • Swim 16,000m. I was able to do 12,000m without the benefit of being able to swim at all the last week, so I should be able to tack on another 4,000m. And I CERTAINLY need the work here, swimming being by far my weakest discipline.
  • Run 50 miles. That's a fairly attainable goal. Keeps me running fairly regularly, but not so much as to infringe on the other disciplines. Running I'm most comfortable with, so that's the one I don't need to pay as much attention to.
  • Bike 150 miles. This would be almost double what I've done in any given month. I think I can do it, just a matter of -- once again -- making sure I schedule it in.
  • Make sure I survive the swim portion of my first tri in a week and a half.
  • Create a plan to get all this in and remain sane, happy and healthy!!!!
Wow. Now that it's all down in black and white, it seems just a little scary... but I like a challenge. So, tonight will be a planning session (after my run, of course!) to get things kicked off.
2005-06-01 6:50 AM
in reply to: #166466

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Resident Curmudgeon
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The Road Back
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Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned
Remaining sane is over-rated, Laura.
2005-06-01 7:03 AM
in reply to: #166046

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Master
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Saskatchewan
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned

June Goal: Complete my first tri with a smile! (06/19)

Simple, huh? After that race, I'll evaluate and set some competitive goals for myself.

It's great to see what others goals are and how well they accomplish them! Yay for us!



2005-06-01 7:38 AM
in reply to: #166046

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Coach
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Boston, MA
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned

May Goals:

Swim 20K -  105% completed (21,156 meters)

Run 100 Miles or 13 hrs -  99% completed (99.15 miles, 12:33 hrs)

Bike, I didn’t have a goal but it is been the most I’d ever done in a month (299.55 miles) 

June Goals:

B race - Mooseman ½ iron (0.6s, 27.25b, 6.2r)

Swim pace 1:30 – time 15:35 min

T1 – 2:30 min, bike 22mph – time 1:14:29 hrs

T2 – 1:30 min, run 6:40 pace – time 41:20 min

Finish time – 2:15:34 hrs 

Training: Swimming 25K, Running100 miles or 13 hrs, and Biking 400 miles or 27 hrs. I’ll maintain my running base and work on my limiters: swimming and biking.

2005-06-01 8:11 AM
in reply to: #166473

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Master
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Southwest Chicago 'burbs
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Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned
the bear - 2005-06-01 6:50 AMRemaining sane is over-rated, Laura.


Of course, my original assertion -- "to remain sane" was probably an overstatement to begin with...
2005-06-01 8:21 AM
in reply to: #166046

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Extreme Veteran
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Northeast Ohio
Subject: RE: Goal setting/attainment/lessons learned

May goals:

I had my first race of the season (sprint) and set my goal at finishing in under 2 hours.  After I saw the bike course, I adjusted my goal to just crossing the finish line.  I was happy with my performance- finished in 1:48.

My actual training looked like this:

Bike: 5h 37s - 70.25 Mi
Run: 13h 59m 07s - 69.4 Mi (138.8% of goal)
Swim: 2h 45m 30s - 5425 Yd

I'm definately putting much more time into the run than the other events- it's also the part which I like the most.  I've decided that I want to do a marathon in October, so I can always justify the time running.

Goals for June:

  • Swim: 10,000 yards
  • Run: 65 miles
  • Bike 150 miles
  • Make it through the Lake Macatawa (.5 mile swim, 22 mi bike, 4.8 mile run) tri with dignity in tact.
  • keep it band happy
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