Setting New Goals

Part of the new approach is a little bit of a change up in the focus, the races I’ll be doing, and the trajectory over the course of the season. Being a coach, I’ve learned help all type of people set goals for the season, but I wasn’t doing this for myself so much. My goals were always vague, which is a sure fire way to miss your goals. So for 2016 I’m making an effort to really set concrete goals and stick to them, make decisions based on them, plan things more carefully and earlier.

Before I go into my goals specifically, I’d like to talk about what writing this blog post has done for me. It has forced me to write all this stuff down. I don’t think that means the only way to reach your goals means writing a lbog post, but what I think you have to do is make those goals real, concrete. Writing them down, posting them for yourself to see and reflect on often, making them public if you have to. They have to be real in your mind, then you start to chase after them. If you’re feeling a little bit lost either on the bike or off, write, talk, look at what you’re doing and make it real. Then you can make the goals, the dreams, the process real.

So long term what am I looking to do?

Win a State Championship. I’ve been racing a while, and when I tell people I’ve never really won much, it surprises them. But after 5+ years of racing very seriously, I have never won a jersey, I have never won a lot of big races. So a big will be to win State Championships. For 2016, I’ll probably set my sight on the Washington State CX Champs. But I hope that is only the beginning. I’d love to win some on the MTB too. But I haven’t nailed down the process and races as much there.

Race a World Cup XCO in Europe. I’ve always dreamed of racing in Europe. But I’ve always dreamed of doing so on my terms so to speak. I want to earn it, I want to RACE, not participate. I see this as being more realistic in 2017, or 2018. This is going to mean getting faster and proving to everyone and myself that I belong in the big races.

Reach 6 watts per kilogram at threshold. This is a bit of a numbers thing, so sorry to geek out. But It’s a game I think almost everyone plays. In my last post I talked about how the numbers can lie. Power specifically isn’t everything. But It does count for a lot. 6 watts per kilograms is a lofty goal, but when I look at it isn’t too far out of reach. Last season, I topped out at 383. for 20 minutes and reasonably set training targets around 370w. At 160 pounds, that puts me at 5 watts per kilogram almost exactly. What do I need to do for 6 watts per kilogram? I reasonably can get down to 155 pounds, so that means 420 watts. Like I said, that’s a big goal, but over the next 3-4 years I see it happening with hard and smart work. In writing my goals here, I was searching for things I could really hang my hat on and be proud of. That’s a big one, and I’d be very proud of that.

Win Chequamegon. I grew up at this race. I’ve always said if you’re looking for me in mid-September, your best bet is Hayward, WI. For the last 13 years, that’s where I’ve been and it was a race that has inspired me to race at a high level. Winning it would mean everything to me. I have no doubt that I can do it, but It will take everything.

Win an elite XC national championship. This falls under pipe dream goals, but I think you need those. As I said earlier, I don’t have a lot of jerseys and a stars and stripes least of all. This is the type of dream that happens a long way down the road. I’m talking 10 8-10 years down the road. But I’ll have my eye on it.

Hopefully in writing these goals, I can help inspire you to write your own.

Thanks for reading.