2013: Time to Get My Fitness Back

                2012 hasn’t been the best of years for training. I let my fitness slide, and now I gotta get it back. With the new year upon us, I have new goals to shoot for in 2013. I don’t want to call them resolutions cause I hate that term. Resolutions don’t last. Resolutions are things you pay lip service to but never follow up on. So I keep it as it should be, goals. On that note, here are my 2013 fitness goals.

BORN TO RUN

                I need to get back to my athletic roots, which is running. When I run, I feel like a kid again. I love being outside and taking in the early morning fresh air, when it’s crisp and no one is around. I feel like I own the streets. I love when I run hard and fast and I’m wheezing by the end. But for the past year I haven’t done enough of that and I need to do it again.

                So start off, I just need to build the consistency. I’m going to run at least 3 times a week for 20-30 min. I know it’s going to feel hard at first, running at a pace I would’ve considered excruciatingly slow just a year ago, but I gotta start somewhere. Once I’m consistent, the goal is to train for a mid-year half marathon, then a fall marathon (most likely Victoria). It’s funny you know, all this time that I’ve been running and I still haven’t done a marathon.

 

TRI TRI AGAIN

                If there is one triathlon I’m going to do this year, it’s the Delta Triathlon. One of the first triathlons I’ve ever done, it’s remained a staple in my racing career (I don’t know if I should call it career seeing that I’ve never made money off of triathlons). I may not be as fast as I used to be, but I’m not going to give up this race. I just need to make sure I get my swimming on cause last year I didn’t feel so hot after the swim.  To prep I’ll need to swim at least twice a week, even if they’re only 30 min swims. And I gotta get on my bike at least once a week.

 

IRON MAIDEN

                I can’t forget about my strength. Earlier in the year I reached personal bests in my deadlift and bench press, and I want to come close to meeting those PR’s. But if I plan on doing a marathon, I gotta make my strength training complementary to my runs. Maybe after the fall marathon I’ll aim for the PR’s.

 

WHAT OBSTACLE?

                 Back in June I was supposed to do the Tough Mudder. I ended up getting sick the day before. I’m determined to do it this year. I also want to do the Spartan Race again. Check that, I’m going to do the Spartan Race. Saying I want to usually means that it’s not going to happen.

                There you have it, my 2013 fitness goals. I hate feeling deconditioned, I want to get my fitness back and 2013 will be that year. Bring it on!

Training for the POPAT Part 3: Tips and Tricks

This post has been moved to its current home at www.rlconditioning.ca.

You can find it here: https://rlconditioning.ca/training-for-the-popat-part-3-tips-and-tricks/

Training for the POPAT Part 2: Strength Training

This post has been moved to its current home at www.rlconditioning.ca

You can find it here: http://rlconditioning.ca/blog/59916/Training-for-the-POPAT-Part-2-Strength-Training

Training for the POPAT: Part 1 Cardio Conditioning

This post has been moved to its current home at www.rlconditioning.ca

You can find it here: http://rlconditioning.ca/blog/59834/Training-for-the-POPAT-Part-1-Cardio-Conditioning

Controlled Falls (PARE/POPAT conditioning)

The Controlled Falls is a great conditioning drill that can be added at the end of a workout. Perform 3 sets of 30 sec controlled falls, alternating falling on your front and back. Take only 15 sec of rest in between each 30 sec set. Try to maintain the same number of falls on each set. If you'd like, you can perform multiple rounds of controlled falls, but usually one set is more than enough.