Outlining my Goals for 2014

The positive things I have going for me as I enter 2014 are that I am pretty well rested and uninjured. The negative things I have against me are that my recent extended semi-rest period over the last two-ish months has let me lose a bit of overall fitness and get out of the regular habits I had established in my fitness program. Overall, I believe those positives are more powerful than those negatives. Looking past the immediate present, let's examine my goals for the new year.

1. Do at least one event for the sheer fun of doing it.
With the rise of various themed events there is an abundance of unusual themed events around and all I have to do for this items is complete one with nothing more than the idea of fun in mind.

2. Get back into effective training shape and PR for at least one running and one triathlon event.
I am not planning a race intensive schedule over this coming year, However I will give myself opportunity to complete a few triathlon and road races with an emphasis on optimal performance.

3. Volunteer for a major racing event.
I am truly indebted to the many volunteers that have assisted with the many races I have completed . It is more than time for me to return that favor and make myself the volunteer helping out the many racers.

4. Finish the year in shape to do the Disney Dopey Challenge in January 2015.
My schedule may not have allowed me to make the Dopey Challenge for 2014 but I am committing to be ready for 2015.

5. Remember to enjoy the process and share my training time with friends.
I think this item is pretty self-explanatory. I want to be able to enjoy my training time by sharing it with friends and teammates while I am also improving myself with training.

6. While I am trying to emphasize fitness and fun for the year, I'd be lying if I left this last item off the list: to find my way back to a podium finish again during the year.
2012 was a breakthrough year for me and I went from an athlete who was content to find personal improvement to one had his first three podium finishes in that year when I wasn't even close in previous years. In 2013, I managed to come back a few more podium finishes in spite of my injury recovery. While my races of choice might be different in many ways in 2014 than in past years, I would still like to find a podium finish among those races.

7. Finally, I need to do the hard work of curtailing my wayward diet and getting my weight back into the mid-170 range where I was before my October 2012 injuries.

My diet laziness has helped my add 10-15 pounds at times and I am still in the mid-180 pound range. I know from experience that I am stronger and healthier in the mid-170's.

Now that I have written these out, I will leave them posted and we can revisit them at the end of 2014 and see how I have done.