I promise I'm not dead, although I felt like it this week. The last two weeks have been rough in the health department. Little exercise and a week-long sickness that I'm still not quite over. The holidays are self-explanatory. Most people have the same problem this time of year, which mostly involves too much to do, too much bad food around and limited gym hours due to the holidays. All of the above, combined with sheer laziness kept me from finishing the year like I wanted.
However, I've had a lot of time to sit back and analyze everything up to this point and possibly set up some goals for 2013. I'm not one for set-in-stone New Year's resolutions. Building lofty expectations most-often lead to disappointment. But that doesn't mean you can't have reasonable goals. Last year, I think I planned on way too much. I wanted to do all sorts of events, log so many miles in the pool, running and cycling and in the end, I fell way short.
Injuries plagued me all over my body. I've been battling a shoulder injury, which I still don't fully understand, for over a year and a half now. I took extended time off last winter to allow healing before starting back up again, and all was well. For a while... Then, as the miles piled up, the same injury came right back, and with a vengeance. But like a fool, I continued at my torrid pace, trying to reach my goal of 150 miles anyway. For a while, I laid off a little bit, adding significantly more running into my routine. I badly wanted to run my first half marathon and was starting to see big improvement in my stamina, reaching eight miles per run at one point. But then, just like the shoulder, overuse and injury hit my knee. It would go away for a while, and I'd start running again, only to suffer the same persistent problem within 10-15 minutes of a given run.
So, what did I do? I focused on the swimming again, training to cross Bear Lake in August. I swam through the pain, given that it wasn't excruciating and more of a nagging, dull irritant. But when race day came, after about three hours in the water during the swim, the screaming pain hit and I basically floated to the other side of the lake, barely making the 7-mile crossing in four hours and 20 minutes.
After that, I basically shut it down. I increased my mileage on the stationary bike, which seemed to be the only form of cardio exercise I was able to consistently do this year injury-free. I came way short of my swimming goal, only netting about 103 miles and way short of my running goal. I only competed in three events (Great Salt Lake 1-mile marathon swim, Bear Lake Crossing and the Weber State Turkey Triathlon), which was also far short of my 2012 goal.
That being said, I noticed many other swimmers in the open water community suffering injuries as well. Most train for big-time events, that require serious yardage, which has led me to one conclusion. NOTHING is good for you in excess. Overtraining is a real problem, that often hinders your body more than it helps it and I think I definitely suffered for it. Personally, I don't plan on doing any long-distance swim events in 2013, except for maybe some 1-mile events, which is why I let my U.S. Masters Swimming membership expire for at least the time being. The Go The Distance program is fun, but looking back, I think it can sometimes be unhealthy for athletes who try so hard to reach their mileage goals that they only hurt themselves, rather than getting quality exercise. The quality over quantity cliche certainly rings true.
No disrespect to the rest of the open water community, but I also feel like the hours upon hours spent training for long-distance marathon aren't necessary in my life, especially with Jen and I expecting our first baby in June. Much of that time will be better spent with my family, especially because that time was already too limited in the first place. Sorry, but more than an hour or so exercising per day is more than enough for me and probably for anyone.
So, what exactly are my goals for 2013? In a perfect world, I'd still like to run that half marathon at some point. But until I can afford a high-end pair of custom running shoes, it's only going to be a few miles at a time for me. Also, I'm growing fond of circuit training at my new gym. It gives a perfect blend of cardio and weight training, so I want to log more time in that department. I still want to swim. More than anything actually. I love the water and every time I do dryland training, I still long for the pool or lake. But I need to tread carefully and make sure I'm not further damaging my shoulder. I have no mileage goals this year. My only goal is to make sure I do it regularly, even if it is only once a week or so for a while, keeping my yards on a tight budget. Like I said, quality over quantity, so I need to track down some intense sets in limited yards.
But my biggest goals aren't in exercise. My diet has really held me back, as my weight loss has peaked at about 45 pounds, but I could still fare to lose another 20. I currently sit at 175 and I would like to reach 160 by the end of the year, with an emphasis on a healthy body fat percentage (my current percentage is unknown, so I need to get that checked out). Going cold turkey on certain foods doesn't work, so I'm starting small with little goals to cut back on certain things and add more healthful options. As the year wanes on, I'd like to slowly accumulate a healthier diet, including; less soda (I already drink diet, but I'd like to cut it out entirely), less takeout (a massive problem for me), less late-night eating (a problem ever since I started working swing-shifts three and a half years ago) and less sitting in hour-to-hour activities. Standing up for five minutes for every hour I'm at my desk at work is one of those little goals. The sedentary lifestyle will still kill you even if you exercise regularly. And then there's the obvious. Drink more water, eat more fruits and vegetables and back off the sweets.
Today, I started out small, given I'm still somewhat sick. I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike, followed by about 15 minutes of moderate weightlifting. For lunch, a pecan apple chicken salad. Not a bad start to the day.
Total distance: 10 miles cycling
