Racing / Training Goals for the Winter

Tuesday, I blogged about new dad issues. Thursday, I blogged about 4 runs with Henry (and had a lot of photos of the cute guy), and I mentioned that I'd be back with my goals for the winter.

Well... here's my goal:

To be fit.

Yep. That's the crux of it.

Not "run 80 miles / week."
Not "run a 1:25 winter half marathon."
Not "run a sub-17:30 5K."
Not "swim 2x / week."
Not "hit the gym 3x / week."

Just "be fit."


What this means is this: I might not get in the quality of swim / bike / run training that I'd like, but maybe I can spend part of an evening at home doing lunges and body-weight squats. Maybe I can fit in a quick "crossfit-style" workout in my garage over 20 minutes when Henry and Pharmie are napping. Maybe Pharmie and I can do intervals at the Metrodome this winter where we take turns running 2 laps hard and then holding Henry while the other one runs (I think that could be a fun workout!).

If I can get out for a quick walk with Henry, I'll do it. If I can do some good core exercises while Henry is playing on his playmate next to me, I'll do that. I'll fit WHATEVER in WHERE EVER I can. I will just "be fit."


What this DOESN'T mean is this: This DOESN'T mean I'm NOT going to be racing! I'd like to race some of the Charities Challenge indoor track meets like I've done in the past (probably the mile or 5000 - and I think I've talked Pharmie into trying her hand at the mile too!). I'd love to do the Winter Carnival Half Marathon in January if I can keep my mileage up over the winter. I won't be shooting for any PRs, but I can STILL HAVE A GOOD TIME!!


The point of this is that I must be aware that with a little guy in the house, I can't (for example) just hop off to the pool for 90 minutes as easily as I once could. BUT, I still can get in SOME sort of a workout! On that note, I had to pick Henry up from daycare yesterday because Pharmie was having a long day at work. We could have just hung around the house at 4 pm, but instead, I took him for an easy run along the river. We were out for an hour, and he just looked around the WHOLE time! Here he is learning to suck his thumb about 4 miles into our run:

And here he is near the end of our run (around mile 6.5) where he WAS sucking on his finger, but then he quickly turned the other way to look at a loud car driving up the hill next to us:

Cute little dude! :)

(Oh, and I should mention that this "just be fit" post was partially prompted by a post-TC-10-mile-weight-gain. Yep. I spent the summer floating under 154 pounds. Then, leading up to the TC 10, I was around 150-151 pounds. Shortly after, I jumped up to 154+. I'll gain a few more pounds over the winter, but I want to hold it off as much as possible!)

So that's it. We'll see if I can "be fit" this winter. Stay tuned....