Locking in my (half) ironman plans

A couple of weeks ago I set my triathlon goals for 2012.  Some of this was locked in (the Sparke Helmore Olypmic Distance) but the big one, the 2:80:20 for Challenge Cairns was in the wind.  Well I decided to take the plunge, register and commit the cash for the entry.  So $270 spent and I feel pretty committed now.

This is almost a year earlier than the good books and writers I respect say I should be attempting something like a half ironman but I'm feeling strong, lean and I have a solid (and very importantly, achieveable) plan so I really do believe I'm going to be ok.

This blog will be part of the discipline I will need to achieve this safely.

Triathlon Goals for 2012.

Back in May 2011 I decided to change my life.  I wanted to lose weight and get fit.  Like lots of people in this position this wasn't a new desire, I'd dreamed of being lean and mean for ages but had few ideas of how to make it real.  Triathlon, the idea of competing, the training this required and the lycra it required me to wear all conspired to give me a focus and and framework I had lacked until then and its worked.  In the 7 months since then I've lost 28kg and gone from struggling to run/walk 3ks to routinely running 16+ k's and while the goal I'd once had of averaging 30 kph on the ride to work has become my average speed on a bad day.

So, here we are, approaching 2012 with a pretty successful 2011 behind me and its time to set new goals.  So what will they be?  Well the core of my new goals will be tri based and thats what I'll discuss here:

1.  Finish Sparke Helmore Olympic distance triathlon in Mar 2012.

2.  Finish the Cairns Challenge 2.80.20 half(ish) ironman in Jun 2012.

3.  Finish losing weight - get to 90.0 kgs average (about 10% body fat)

4.  Come up with some other goals for the back half of the year.

Based on 2011 form these should be achievable.  What I need now is a plan.  And I have one!  Buts thats for tomorrow.   

A weighty issue

At the moment I find myself obsessing a little about my weight.  There are three basic reasons for that:

1.  Its a number.  Weight is measureable against an easily understood standard, be it in pounds, kilograms or stone.  Its also pretty easy to measure.  How I feel, the spring in my step, the feeling of lightness when I run can been felt but not really measured.  Do I feel lighter than I did six months ago? Yes.  Do I feel lighter than last week? Well, I don’t know, actually I don’t think I do (in reality I am lighter but I’ve pushed up my running load so everything ‘feels’ heavy right now).  I could do the same with body fat, strength, VO2 max, power max etc – those are great numbers, probably better than weight to track – but they are hard to track too.  These output measures require all sort of special tests, equipment, skills etc.  Weight just requires a scales and the ability to stand still for a few seconds.

2.  It’s a number that really puts my transformation into perspective.  I started this trip at 128 kg, I’m now 106 kg, I’ve lost 22 kg.  I’ve lost almost 15% of my body weight.  Put it another way, I used to try and run, ride and swim with one of those big 20 kg plate weights strapped to my guts. But I’m not finished.  My goal is around (not sure what my final race weight is) 97 kg.  That means I’ve got another 9 kg to lose, that’s 9% of my current weight.  When I’m done I will have lost 31 kg (almost 70 pounds!) or nearly a quarter of my body weight.  That’s a barrage of numbers I know but it’s a barrage that makes me feel great, those numbers are like friends cheering me on, saying “look what you’ve done!”.

3.  I can control weight.  I can’t get taller, I can’t make my hands and feet bigger, my hips narrower, etc but I can make myself lighter and leaner.  In a sense this is the real point of monitoring my weight.  That weight is a nice easily measured and understood number is handy but not really a reason to measure it.  After all I’ve spent most of my professional life complaining about pointless measures put in place solely because they are easy to get.  But my ultimate purpose isn’t to be light; its actually to live longer and better.  My purpose is to compete, maybe even excel, at something again.  Weight, especially the useless fat I was carrying (and still am to be honest) gets in the way of those aims.  And I can remove it!  Its hard, I’m often hungry, often sore, always a little tired but I can do it – if I know what ‘it’ is.  Watching, managing and ultimately reducing my weight is a big part of ‘it’. 

Will power and moral choice

I have made little progress on a number of goals I set for myself this year. I havent blogged asI'd hoped, I havent saved as I hoped, read the books I'd hoped etc. However, there is one area of my desire to self improve that has gone well, my diet and exercise regime.

With a few slip ups here and there, by and large my weight and fitness is going in the right direction. I've lost around 16 kg, I'm running distances I used to struggle to walk, and all in all I'm confident I will make my end of year goal. But the question is why is this working but nothing else?

I feel and answer emerging in my mind.

Last week I heard something on the radio that really interested me. A study has been done into willpower. They found that people that had a moral dimension (good or bad) to there decision making displayed far greater 'will power' in achieving whatever it was they set out to do. This aligns with a on moral psychology (specifically moral identity) that found that in the lives of extraordinary achievers there was a link between their drive to succeed and the alignment of their moral and personal goals.

So, back to fitness and reading, blogging, photographing etc. I think this is the key. Fitness has become, for me, a moral choice. Not being fit and healthy has become a moral failing therefore my 'will power' to stay the course gets a massive boost. The other goals I set for myself dont have that support, so they founder.

So, looking ahead my plan is to review my goals to make them something I really care about, to forge that link between moral and personal. But its not just that, in many cases I feel there is a link between some of my goals and my morality already, I just forget it. So I also need to identify those areas where there is a hidden alignment and bring that into the open.