By Patti, on February 7th, 2012
 As we head into 2012, many people have already set or even broken their New Year’s Resolutions. According to USA.gov, the 5 most common resolutions for this year are Drink Less Alcohol, Eat Healthy Food, Get a Better Education, Get a Better Job and Get Fit. Walkers and runners are often focusing on (or adding) their fitness goals; targeting on goals geared around Mileage, PR times, Number of Races Completed or Competing in a Race at a New Distance.
Often we set a goal and at the end of the year are not able to tell if we have even attained it. For example, Get Fit can mean different things to different people. To make it easier and even possible for us to attain our goals, we need to set goals that fulfil SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely) criteria. By writing down each goal and making sure it fits these five criteria, we will be setting goals that we know are possible. At the end of the time period you’ve set (year, month, or whatever you choose) you can review your written goals, and truly know where you stand, what you’ve done well and analyze where you can improve next time.
SMART Criteria:
SPECIFIC: Each goal needs to be specific. Some people will set a goal to get healthy this year or eat better. These goals are not specific enough to be able to tell if you’ve attained them. Instead of these consider the following: exercise 3 days per week, lose 5 pounds, eat 5 servings of vegetables per day or quit smoking completely.
MEASURABLE: Each goal needs to be measurable. Losing weight or being more active is not a measurable goal. Instead of these you will want to write your goal to lose 5 pounds or exercise 3 times per week for 1 hour each workout.
ATTAINABLE: Each goal should be attainable. Do you have the resources to complete the goal? For instance, taking a cruise around the world is not attainable if you don’t have the funds to pay for it or the time off work to take the trip. Create goals that you can actually accomplish. There’s no reason to set yourself up for failure before you even start!
REALISTIC: Each goal needs to be realistic. If your goal is too aggressive and not doable you will only get discouraged. This is not productive (which is the whole purpose behind writing down your goals). If you have never run before, running a marathon next month may not be attainable. You may want to choose a shorter race as your initially goal as you work toward your marathon goal (longer term); or set the marathon as a goal for next year or a few years from now.
TIMELY: Each goal should be timely or have a time frame attached to it. For instance, I will complete this goal by the end of the month of February or by the end of the year.
Each year I write down a few goals for myself in different categories (Fitness, Home, Work, Financial, etc), and make sure they fit these criteria. I find it helpful to review my goals each month or quarter, and analyze my progress. This way I can focus on any items I need to and stay on track for success.
My three fitness goals for 2012 are:
- Race walk 1000 miles.
- Improve my marathon time (Current PR 5:40:25). I’ve chosen my training schedules for the year, which work on both speed work and distance to attain this.
- Complete 100 consecutive push-ups by following the workout in the book “7 weeks to 100 Push-Ups”. Note: I’ve tried this before and had to stop with some shoulder pain. I plan to try it again this year by including the arm and shoulder stretches in the book, which I didn’t do last time.
What are your fitness goals for the year?
By Patti, on August 29th, 2010
 I’ve now finished the first three weeks of the 100 Pushup Challenge, and believe this half way point deserves an update.
The first week of the six week program began well. I had completed 25 pushups in the initial test so I could skip to week 3. Knowing that it had been so many years (about 30) since I’d done sets of pushups, I decided to begin with week 1, and chose level 3. It started out with some tightness in my core after the first workout on Monday, which really sold me on the program. Monday was 10, 12, 7, 7 then maxing out at 14, with 60 seconds rest between sets. Wednesday called for 10, 12, 8, 8 then maxing out at 18, with 90 seconds rests. Friday was 11, 15, 9, 9 and then maxing out at 20 with 120 rests. By this time I’m feeling confident and like I was back in high school.
Week two progressed well also. Monday included sets of 14, 14, 10, 10 and maxing out at 15, with 60 second rests. This is the first day I was able to only complete the minimum on the max out set. This is getting a bit harder. Wednesday was 14, 16, 12, 12 and maxing out at 20, with 90 seconds rest. Friday called for 16, 17, 14, 14 and maxing out at 23, with 120 seconds rest. The last two workouts were a bit easier than Monday. I felt like the longer rest periods helped quite a bit. Saturday called for a progress test, where I completed 30. After two weeks of these workouts I was able to complete 5 more pushups than the initial test. I kind of expected more, but am happy to see improvement. This will allow me to move on to week three, and I will be continuing at level 3.
The third week wasn’t quite as kind to me. Monday was quite challenging with sets of 14, 18, 14, 14 and maxing out at 20, with 60 second rest periods. This was the first day I wasn’t able to complete more than the “at least” number on the max out set. Wednesday included sets of 20, 25, 15, 15 and maxing out at 25, with 90 second rest periods. Again I did the “at least” amount on the max out day but was even more discouraged at needing more than the allotted rest time. Friday consisted of sets of 22, 30, 20, 20 and maxing out at28, with 120 second rest periods. This was quite a disappointing week as far as this program goes. It’s ended up being more challenging and I’m not progressing as easily as I expected to. On the other hand, I’m doing more than when I started, and there are some muscles in my back I didn’t recognize before. There is definitely some improvement. I briefly read through the program again and noticed it saying you could rest longer if required. I’ll just keep plugging away and see how things go, while I try not to beat myself up over the extra rest periods.
Get the book:
By Patti, on August 10th, 2010
 As for most racewalkers and many runners, the right shoes are often difficult to find. And when you’re addicted to the longer distances, they can be even more crucial. Blisters and other injuries can impede training or even in extreme cases stop you in the middle of a marathon.
During my first marathon in 2006, I ended up with a large blister under my toe nail. The doctor ended up taking the nail off a few days later, which kept me in open toe shoes for months and searching for ones that would actually work for me. It took me over a year of trying many, many different shoes to find some that allowed me to racewalk blister free. I gathered quite a collection of the Zoot ULTRA Tempo+’s. No blisters due to the seamless construction made for triathaletes to run sockless. After I wore out six pair of these, I found out that Zoot had changed the Tempo shoe and the latest model (Zoot Women’s ULTRA Tempo+ 3.0) was no longer suitable for racwalking (the heel is now too high). This leaves me at square one and searching for some blister free shoes, which I can actually racewalk in again.
So far I’ve tried Adidas adiZero Mana’s, Reebok TAIKAN III’s, ASICS GEL-DS Trainer 15′s, New Balance 905′s, Mizuno Musha 2′s and Brooks T6 Racer. In many of my tries the toe boxes are too narrow and/or the heels are too lose. So far I’ve found the ASICS GEL DS Trainer 15′s and the Mizuno Musha 2′s to be my best bets. I’ve been able to racewalk up to 10 miles in them, but they still don’t feel like my “perfect” shoes yet.
I know many if not most racwalkers must endure this shoe finding experience each time their favorites are discontinued. So, I will just have to take a deep breath and keep trying. I can still try Asics DS Racer 8′s and Asics Hyper Speed 4′s (I ordered both of these too large initially). There is always the custom made option by Hershey’s, which is also in the back of my mind. The initial cost is quite a bit more, but if they really work out it may be worth it in the long run. Additionally, there is about a 6 month wait once you order them, so they wouldn’t be ready for Fall Marathon season this year.
I’m sure this shoe saga will continue, but I’m not willing to give up a sport I have learned to love so much…
By Patti, on July 28th, 2010
As a high school swimmer, I used to easily pump out the sets of 20-25 pushups. Needless to say, that was quite a while ago. I’ve always liked lifting weights and strength training, but since I started racewalking that has been my focus.
I read about the hundred pushups program and decided to join . . . → Read More: Taking the 100 Pushup Challenge
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As we head into 2012, many people have already set or even broken their New Year’s Resolutions. According to USA.gov, the 5 most common resolutions for this year are Drink Less Alcohol, Eat Healthy Food, Get a Better Education, Get a Better Job and Get Fit. Walkers and runners are often focusing on (or adding) their fitness goals; targeting on goals geared around Mileage, PR times, Number of Races Completed or Competing in a Race at a New Distance.
