2006: Bench Press 300lbs
2007: Sub 19 minute 5k
2008: Compete in a Triathlon
2009: Do an Ironman
2010: Complete an Ultramarathon
2011: Compete at the 50K distance (This was originally "Run a 50 mile Trail Race" but readjusted to my liking).
In 2006 it was strength related. From there I switched to speed and endurance, leading to the past three years which have been primarily endurance. Each goal was set up and knocked down with vigor. When I look back, I can definitely say there were more good times than bad. The only issue with the approach that I took was the amount of focus laid upon just one discipline. Of course, I say it's a problem because I am looking at the goals of the past with the eyes of the future.
Setting up goals for the 2012 season requires a certain reflection into how the previous goals were achieved, along with positive and negative outcomes of the training that came along with them.
2006: Bench Press 1 rep max of 300lbs
This goal did not start on or before the first of the year like many new goals start. I believe that I started this goal well into the 2006 season. I had been relatively fit to begin with but I did not have any direction I was heading. While watching TV one day I came across the trailer to the movie "300." Holy shit those guys were ripped! Even if you haven't seen the movie, I'm sure everyone has witnessed the iconic scene when King Leonidus kicks the Persian messenger into the well yelling, "This Is Sparta!" From that moment I decided that I wanted my best to look like those guys and to really up my strength and size. Over the course of 6 months I beat myself up in the gym twice a day, five to six days a week. At the end of 6 months, I went from bench pressing a measely 180lbs to a whopping 1 rep max of 300lbs. But increasing my strength and the focus it needed came at a price. My running was curtailed to once or twice a week, no more than 3 miles. I lost all sorts of flexibility with the increased muscle size. T-shirts were ill-fitting at best with some of my nice button-down shirts from AE not fitting at all. And to top it all off, I just did not feel healthy.
Later that fall, I decided to jump into my hometown 5k. What a blast! I had forgotten how much fun it was to be a runner and actually compete. When being a meathead weightlifter, there just isn't the competition aspect that running had. From that moment I decided that I wanted to start running again. I had completed my strength goal, now onto the next one!
The road back to being a runner was a hard one. Packing in all that muscle in a short time left me with little endurance. Weighing in at 215lbs, I knew I had to drop weight and muscle mass. I stopped lifting heavy weights and started a running program that had me running four to five times a week. Slowly the muscle mass started to drop and my times were improving. I'm not exactly sure that I reached my goal of Sub 19 minutes this year, but the fact that I had started and continued getting faster was a positive. Not only that, but my clothes started fitting better and I was feeling a lot healthier. I competed in a lot of events that year ranging from 5k to 10 miles. Each one prepping me for what was to come the next season.
2008: The First Triathlons
Over the course of the winter I picked up swimming and biking. It had always been a goal of mine to do a triathlon after watching Ironman Lake Placid on TV one year. Since I was becoming a better runner, I knew how to swim, and I had recently purchased a bike, I figured why not? I signed up for 4 triathlons that year: Tri Shark Classic, Mattoon Beach Sprint Triathlon, Lake Evergreen Olympic Distance Triathlon, and a sprint in Effingham in the fall. I'm not going to give race reports on the four races but I can say that I dropped Tri Shark because the swim got rained out, I took 3rd place at Mattoon, 1st in my age group at Evergreen, and 2nd overall in Effingham. After that last fall triathlon I knew I was kind of hooked and wanted to test myself with an Ironman. One month later as I was driving home from the Park Forest Scenic 5 mile race, I signed up for Ironman Louisville 2009.
2009: Ironman Louisville
By now, the 215lb musclehead Clint had been whittled down to the chistled triathlete. Countless yards in the pool, 1,000's of miles on the bike, and many many hours running had got me down to 185lbs of muscle and endurance. My race times had all dropped that year, and I finished 1st place overall at one of the sprint triathlons that I had entered. Ironman Louisville was one of the greatest accomplishments that I have yet to achieve. You really find out a lot about yourself when you are out on the road competing over the course of 140.6 miles. Upon completing Ironman Louisville my body was spent. I went from sprint to full Ironman in two years and the wear and tear were evident. I believe that it took about 2 months to really heal from the damage I did to myself on that day. When I was finally healed I had time to reflect on what 2010 was going to entail. I just knew that it was not going to involve that stupid bike and swimming laps. It was going to be distance running.
2010: Ultramarathon Running
I did not start out this year thinking that I was going to run an Ultramarathon. I was digging around through some races and figured I would do the Quad Cities Marathon. I had never ran a marathon before (except in the Ironman) and figured this year would be a great year to do it. As I started ticking away the miles of one of my long runs I thought to myself, "why not sign up for a 50k ultra? You have proven that you can run a marathon, let's take it further." I cruised the resources again and found an Ultramarathon that would give me an extra week of training to log an extra long run: The Farmdale 30 mile trail run. The training went without a hitch and the next thing I know, I'm toeing the start line on a cool October morning. That cool October morning turned into 89 degrees by mile 20. Even though I had to endure a decent amount of cramping at mile 28, I was still able to run the race in under 5 hours which was good enough for 4th place male. After about 3 weeks and the soreness wore off, I did not have the same negative emotions about running like I did with biking and swimming after the Ironman. It was then that I set up my goal for 2011.
2011: Indecision 50mile or Fast 50K?
Closing out the 2010 season, I decided that I wanted to run another 50k and then try to complete a 50 mile ultramarathon. I had a stellar training plan and like magic, the miles were ticking by very smoothly. About half way through my season I made the conscious decision that I would rather get faster and try to place at a 50k than try to finish a 50 miler. Now, as I toed the start line of this 50k, I was a thin 178lb runner. I hadn't touched a weight room in two years and I couldn't bench press even my bodyweight. But the fact remained that my body was trained for the ultra running and that was what mattered. I finished that race in 2nd place to a good friend of mine (a veteran ultra runner).
2012
Many successful years have come and gone. Now, as I am embarking upon the 2012 season, I have to analyze what I want from this year. I've been strong, I've been fast, I've had endurance. The challenge for this 2012 season is to achieve balance. Specifically what does a balance consist of? I want to increase my strength in the major lifts: deadlift, squat, bench press, military press, and rows. I want to increase my pullups/chinups, pushups, and dips. I'd like to better my physique through proper diet and exercise. And I'd like to be able to head out the door on any given day and run 10-15 miles. Another goal that I have is strictly diet related. I've toyed around with the Paleo diet before in the past with amazing results. That diet though, is really hard to follow when you are running 60 miles per week. Since I am curtailling my running down to something more manageable, I am going to try and follow the paleo diet more stricly over the course of the 2012 season. So far, I've been back on the Paleo diet for a few weeks and have already noticed a difference in muscle definition and energy.
This blog will never be a self promoting "here are my workouts, look at what I can do!" rant. Occasionally I may post about my progress, but the main reason for this post is to air out the goals and to get them on paper. These goals, like all things, are not static. Things will change and be modified as time goes forward. And as the year goes, goals will become more defined and specific. Until that time, though, this is what I've got.
***NOTE***
I do have other goals outside of working out. Odd, I know, but for once I am starting to see the forest for the trees and realize that I'm not making a living off of this. So there are going to be personal goals for 2012 as well. Which I may or may not post when I figure out what they are. Again, time will tell.
Cheers
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