New Year's Resolutions

Welcome to my blog.   I hope to track my progress and share my thoughts while I tackle my cycling goals for 2011.

I've always been a bit cautious and skeptical to embrace the whole New Year's resolution thing.  Probably because there is so much negativity associated with them.   How many thousands of pledges are made each Jan 1 for people to lose weight, get in shape, drink less, stop smoking, read more, etc?   And how many thousands of them are laid waste before Feb 1 comes around?  Whole industries are supported by people creating New Year's resolutions ... and failing to meet them.

I propose my own with some hesitancy, partly because of how people might respond (insert rolling eyes here) and because just associating my own plans with a New Year's resolution might predispose them to failure or at least, less importance.

But I am a planner by nature.  So I'll call this an athletic plan for 2011.  I am not new at this.  For about 12 years of my life, I was a serious competitive marathon runner logging upwards of 100 miles per week, flying around the country to compete, toeing the line against Kenya's finest at Boston and such.  Mind you I didn't beat them.  But that level of commitment requires a great deal of planing and intentionality.  I bring that same framework with me for my athletic goals of 2011.  Without further ado ...

1) Have fun!  Cycling in 2011 has to be fun.  Running was fun too but you reach a point when you take things so seriously that it becomes a vocation more than a hobby.  You simply don't get to be very good unless you push it past this point.   I don't want to do that with my cycling.  First and foremost, my cycling will be fun.

2) Race fast!   And I still want to be competitive in a handful of races.  My targets are 100 mile mountain bike races that are part of the NUE series.  I want to be competitive in 3 races and survive another (I have no pretensions about heading to 10k ft at Breckenridge and riding as fast as those guys who live up there).   Competitive, for me, means finishing somewhere in the top third ... Bishop and JHK have nothing to worry about.

I have a number of secondary goals such as do more cross, participate in a few other races or events and such.  But those two are my main objectives.   Happy 2011!