Happy New Year!! I prefer to make goals instead of doing resolutions. This year I also have a mantra to keep me mentally focused. Transitioning into 2018, I reflected heavily on what I struggled with last year, which I shared in my last post. My mantra for the new year is “Be strong. Be fierce.” It summarizes what I want to carry over from my first year truly “racing” triathlons and some mental shifts I need to make into my second season. This year I won’t be made to feel guilty about racing and pushing myself. I’m going to take pride in my fierceness on the course while racing. I’m here to push myself and see what I can do, regardless of who shows up. I’ll always cheer for my fellow athletes along the way but I’m not slowing down any time soon. I’m showing up for my PRs and my race. I’m going to let all the other background noise melt away this year. A mantra is great for setting my mental state but that’s not a goal. Let’s get down to specifics.

First up is Time Trials. Since I have a base line, I’m just looking to PR this year. Even if it’s only a few watts or a few seconds. The speed to beat is 22mph.

I’m focusing on Sprint Tris in 2018; the best sprint I have to compare to next year is Tri Tulare. I’ve broken down three goals for the race. The first is just an overall PR. The second is a 4 min PR and I’ve broken down where I can make up that time. The third, well it’s if I have a perfect day and I like to call it my stretch goal. I usually don’t share it because it’s usually pretty impossible, but I’ve accomplished quite a few, like a marathon PR at Vineman Ironman. I keep setting them because they give me something extra to strive a little harder for but if I don’t hit them I don’t feel unaccomplished.

With 3 half marathons on the horizon this has become the #yearOfRunning! My main run goal is a sub 30 min 5k either in a stand alone 5k or in a tri. Maybe I’ll finally get a half marathon PR along the way, but the halves are just for fun. This year I’ll be running in New Zealand, Scotland, and Cayucos Ca.

I haven’t mentioned swimming yet. In 2017 I set a pretty huge swim goal (I’m a little crazy). I decided I wanted to swim sub 2:00/100 yards for a 400 yard race which was cutting 50 seconds off my pace. I did even better! I cut 54 seconds off my pace at Tri Tulare with a pace of 1:56/100 yard. That means future swim gains are going to be much hard because the easy fixes have been implemented. This year I’d like to get under 1:50/100 yard or even down to 1:45/100 yard. Ultimately, I’ll continue working on my form and see where that takes me. I have a top-notch swim coach getting me there and I can’t wait to see what will happen this year. If you are local and can fit it into your schedule, Jay at Fig Garden Swim and Racquet club is the best swim coach in Fresno. Come try it out and see if it’s a good fit.

Along with continuing to push myself on the course I also love volunteering. In our community I’ll be trying to increase women’s participation in Time Trials again. Last year women made up at most 1/5 of the total participants of a single race with the best turn out being 7 women. We did have an increase from only 1 series finishers to 3 which was awesome! I’d like to see both of these numbers increase in 2018.

This year I will also be helping host mixers for our local multisport community again. If you’re local more details will be announced Wednesday so keep an eye out!

Hope you can join me in pushing limits this year, 2018 is going to be EPIC! What are some of your goals going into a fresh season? Drop them in the comments so we can cheer you on too. #bestongBefierce #yearofrunning #createalifeyoulove

2 Comments on Ringing in 2018

  1. Does Jay give swim lessons? Bob & I am doing a Tri in Hawaii in March. I can do the running & bike but swimming I’m not good at.

    • I believe he does private swim lessons as well as masters. His phone number is listed on Fig Garden Swim & Racquet Club’s website. Happy training!

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