Goals, Goals and More Goals

Over the course of the past three days, I ran 10 miles, biked 32 miles and swam 2,400 meters. Nothing like an upcoming triathlon to get you motivated to do more cross-training!

I love the balance I'm feeling from getting in more biking and swimming - I'm falling in love with both sports all over again, and all of my workouts feel so much better, and I'm just enjoying them so much more. I'm adding in yoga again tomorrow night, too, and trying my first TRX class at the gym next week.

Variety is the spice of life, right?  Whatever it is, it's working for me, so I'm sticking with it! 

Next up on the agenda for cross-training is to make it to a group bike ride (something I've never, ever done), and start working on some swimming drills. I have no problem with endurance, but I want to get faster, and improving my form by doing drills is the only way to do that. I want this to be the year I get out of the water at the tri and feel happy with how my swim went.

I am starting to think a little more about my next big road race, too - the Jamestown Half that's part of the UHC Triple Crown. I'm definitely going to be racing this one, but the weather will be a huge factor, and if it's a typical warm, humid July day, I'm going to have to adjust my goals.

But I knew that when I signed up, and I'm really saving my all-out effort for the Amica half in October. Jamestown will be a stepping stone of sorts - a reminder to me of what it's like to race at that distance, and a chance to practice pacing myself and not going out too fast - something I still need to get better at.

My goal for Amica is to come as close to 1:40 as I can. 1:40 would be about a 7:37 pace for 13.1 miles (my PR is 1:43, which was a 7:55 pace). Just writing that out makes me a little nervous. And I know I might not quite get to 1:40 this year. But I'm going to give it my best shot!

And the only way to get there is to put in the training, so I'll be back at the track tomorrow morning. I'm actually going to have some company this time, too, which will be nice. Always good to have someone to commiserate with when you're suffering through a tough workout.

Sub-21 5K and 1:40 half-marathon. Two pretty lofty goals, but I like aiming high. I like knowing that challenge is out there, and I like executing a plan to help me meet the challenge.

To that end, I'm taking suggestions on the following two items -

- Top three swim drills

- Best half-marathon workouts (track work and/or tempo runs)

For more from Michelle, check out Me and the Boys, her blog.