Goal-setting for 2011
This is an area where i recognize that I know little, but do know that I could use the sage advice of the WSMs and/or coaches.
For better or worse, I'm a goal-driven sort. I won't die if I don't make all my goals, but I might die trying. :-)
This year was a very good one for me, my first season in EN, with PRs at almost every distance. I had my first My first marathon under 3:20, my first 5K under 20 min, my first 70.3 under 5 hours, etc. But this will be my first outseason coming up, and I hope to leverage that into further improvements. (I am 46 now.) Obviously, I want these to turn into race times, but for now, we stick with the measurables.
Here are some thoughts I have had about objective goals, and I wonder what some of you sages think (too aggressive? too conservative?). My A-race will be Wisconsin, which I have done once before, in 2009.
Body weight: usually off season in the 150s. 2010 race weight ~144; 2011 race weight ~140. Get below 150 ~Jan 1.
Run: 2010's goal was the vdot associated with sub 20 5K. (~50) I ended up at 51.2. I want to be at least at the vdot associated with a sub 40 10K, i.e., ~52. (Not sure what kind of upside at my age?)
Bike: Here it is clear there is an upside. My best FTP test on tri bike position was 228 W. (ouch, i know) Because of my relatively modest size, I peaked at W/kg of 3.5ish. I have been poking around, and it seems in the cold hard world, a value of ~4.0 is expected. A target of ~260 W is a 15% increase, which seems like a lot. But I have only been cycling for ~5 years, and only 1.5 years with power, so maybe this is doable. With a body weight in the low 140s, that would get me to the goal of 4.0.
Swim: Most of my swim improvement this year was execution, basically just swimming harder during races. My best 1000 yd scy time trial was ~15:30. I think I would be happy if I could get that to 15:00 but continue an upswing in swim times in races. Sub 1:10 at Madison seems achievable.
Thoughts/critiques? Thanks!
William
Comments
You've certainly got your bases covered - all the right categories.
Body weight - I'm your size. I weigh 144.X right now, down from 150 max at start of OS (Mid dec). I have three thoughts here. (1) The less you gain, the less you need to lose. (2) Body Composition - %fat, weight training and nutrition consistency are maybe even more important than absolute weight. (3) don't get married to an exact weight. Focus on doing the training, and eating well, and see what your weight does. When I was your age (actually, 48), I biked across the country, dropping my weight from about 158 down to 147. Ever since, I've varied between 144 and 154, depending on the time of year and amount of training I do. I've never tried to be a specific weight, but I have tried to remain at a specific body fat % range. On the Tanita scale, that has been 4-7%, with the high at the start of OS, and the low just before an IM. (The scale says my metabolic age is 12
)
Run - if you have a long history of running, raising your VDOT may be tough. If you are newer (less than 5-7 years) to high level run training, you may still have some upside potential. Of course, the higher you go, the slower the rate of rise. I think your goal is reasonable.
Biking - no question you have room to improve. I saw a 15% improvement in my first OS with EN. Joe Friel (I know, we're sceptical of him) suggests you should aim for 272 as a standard at your age and weight. So 260/15% sounds like a stretch goal, good to put up there. This is your biggest opportunity, and thus should be your primary focus in the OS.
Swim - I agree race execution is the current limiter here for you. I think you can do 66/7 minutes at IM Moo, without getting faster in training. Doing some Master's races (400/1500), or some summer sprints/olys would help with this, I think.
So, Patrick and Al-
Thanks for your advice, and I'm glad to see that it generally comports with my ideas.
Patrick - let's say I took around a month to really focus on on the bike. What time of year does it make sense to do that? I'm putting together a year plan now. Is this something that I try to do in October 2010 before starting an OS? Is it an early spring thing? And do I start with an OS plan and add rides to it? Or look to something like a month taken from Training and Racing w/Power? Sorry for the naivete - but I've reached the Peter Principle as a self-coach for the moment!
[Edit: having looked at a calendar - with a June 12 HIM and a Sept 11 IM, it looks like there is room for a 20 week OS + 4 weeks for a bike kick-start and still accommodate reasonable transitions and build ups. So, really the question is when to put the bike block. Perhaps I should move this to the "macro" thread.]
@ Al. Yes, thanks for the advice on Body Comp. It's funny how I feel like such a newbie this year despite my age... Among other things, this was the first year that I really focused on body comp at all (thanks to a little prodding from Patrick, actually), losing ~10 lbs after my marathon. However, there was a certain mental stress in that, and I felt the need to relax a little bit. I know I've put some back on, but I'm committed to picking that up again Oct 1. My Tanita has never had me below about 7%, and I think there's room below where I was this year when I'm honest with myself.
I have run for 20+ years, but only "seriously" in two ~5 year bouts, the first when I started, and the second in the last ~5 years. I think there may be room for improvements, but it's going to be in smaller increments probably. I have owned a bike for my whole life, but only started "training" on it a few years ago.