January Progress Report

So far the year has started out pretty well.  I got my goals identified right from the start. Once I defined what it is that I want to accomplish this year, I set out making a plan on how to reach those goals. This year the name of the game is accumulate miles.  I'm still pretty new to the multisport and endurance world and I think this year I need to get my body used to taking on more and more miles.  I need to focus harder on training and figuring out how fit longer workouts into my already hectic schedule.

And, since this year I am setting the bar higher this year than I did last year, I also had to reevaluate my motivation factor for this year.  This boost in motivation is really needed on those cold mornings, when my body is tired and it would much rather stay in bed.  I'll get to that later in this post.

Over the holidays I asked for a bunch of cold weather gear to allow me to train on days like the one this photo.  - 12.2 degrees outside.  That's cold.  And even though I have the gear, It takes a little extra effort to willingly go out for a run on a morning that cold. 


 So lets breakdown this months progress:

Running

Running has gone well. I logged 47 miles in January. That puts me on a pace to get to log about 550 total miles for the year. I'm very happy with that progress. I'm planning on keeping up that kind of pace for a couple months.  I expect that it may drop off somewhat in the summer so I can focus a  harder on the swim and bike.

Biking

I've logged only 55 miles on the bike this month. That pace will only get me a about 650 miles for the year. That's not too far short of my goal. Due to it being January and cold here I've been confined to the stationary bike at the local YMCA. I don't have an indoor bike trainer so riding outside has pretty much been out of the question at this point. Of course, I expect my riding frequency to greatly increase as the weather gets warmer, but this is definitely something I will meet to monitor to make sure I don't get too far behind.

Swimming

I have made great improvements here.  This month I logged 2.1 miles in the pool. Although, at that rate I will only swim about 25 miles for the year, I am confident that my yearly goal will be easily reached. With the help of the Total Immersion Swimming DVD, I have made huge improvements in my swimming already.  Until recently I had to struggle just to complete sprint distances in the pool.  With just a few tweaks in form and technique, my confidence in the water is higher than ever.  This DVD has made such an impact already it's amazing!

Weight
So this years goal is to get my weight down to 190 pounds.  After the holiday feasting, I gained a few pounds and my weight jumped up to 210.  Call it a success (I guess) but I dropped 4 of those pounds and ended the month at 206.  That's about where I was at the beginning of December.  It probably would have been better but I am a fiend for Girl Scout cookies.
** Note to self exercise more cookie self-control in February.**

The Motivation Booster - Giving back
This year I decided to give myself some addition motivation by dedicating my running efforts to Charity.  There are two ways i am giving back this year.  If you want more details on the charities check out my Running For A Cause post.

One way is by gathering sponsors on a per mile basis to raise money for my fund raiser Hannah's Horses which raises money for Sebastian Riding Associates a therapeutic horseback riding charity.



The other way I'm giving back is through the use of Charity Miles . Charity Miles is a GPS tracking APP that is installed on your smart phone. The App records your progress and makes a donation of $0.25 per mile to the charity of your choosing. I have been running for Autism Speaks. To date I am responsible for funding nearly an hour of autism research.

So over all I am pleased with the progress I have made this month.  And I'm looking forward to February being just as successful.