Personal Goals

[nick stott 62]

I've started to realise over the last year that your health really does have a huge impact on your business life and career aspirations.

I am not a runner but it's the quickest way to get the most benefit (for me anyway).

Therefore, I have set the goal of running in the Chester Half Marathon 2014! It's also my 30th birthday so, in order to counterbalance the depression that I am not a millionaire before the age of 30 as previously hoped, I thought this personal achievement would work!

My personal best thus far has been 6 miles, but I've not run for over a month and I've been pigging out so it's going to be quite feat!

As with career goals, if you voice them you become accountable so there it is!

[andy norman 108]

Hi Nick

 

It started doing a bit of running in 2010 and it's changed my life!  I'm now much fitter & healthier and have loads more energy.  I've actually gone a bit extreme and now do endurance running (ultra-marathons) of up to 120 miles.  I do some of my best thinking/planning whilst running.

 

My tip for you is to get off the roads and start trail running.  Much more fun, better scenery and your knees will thank you.

Good luck for Chester.

 

Andy

[damien fogg 126]

Well that was stupid....

 

See you on the start line Nick. 

[moneystepper 29]

Hey Nick,

 

I couldn't agree more on the link between health and progression in other areas of life and work! A good reminder to get off my butt and lose some of this "Christmas insulation"!!

 

Half Marathons are great fun. I personally find the training for a marathon a little boring (training by running for 3 hours isn't really my cup of tea), but the half marathons tend to be a lot more "fun" to do and equally to train for.

 

Also, good tip from Andy. Road running (especially at our age!) isn't good for the knees!

[brian stewart 5]

Fully agree.

 

After listening to TPP15 How goal setting will change your life podcast, I set myself a challenge to cycle a few of the iconic climbs in the Italian Alps (Stelvio, Gavia, Mortorilo)

 

I sent my friends a bold email about the challenge and six of them have signed up to join me, with another 6 still considering it.

 

I have set myself a goal that unless I can get down to a certain weight and climb a local hill in under an hour I am not allowed to purchase a new bike and will have to undertake the challenge on my old bike.

 

[rob bence 150]

Nick - So glad you started this thread, good luck with Chester

Andy - You're hard core, those hills in Leeds must help

Brian - Awesome challenge and photo

 

As for me....

 

Run the London Marathon in under 3:57

Read 30 books (two down already)

Learn spanish to a basic level - I need to turn this into a SMART goal

Write and publish a book

 

Plus some others but at least I am accountable publicly to the above!

[nick stott 62]

AndyN: I feel pretty pathetic now...! That is very impressive.

Thanks for the running tip. Finding tracks that are lit at the moment is tricky but that should motivate me to get up early and go for a run before work instead! No excuses!

Damien: are you joining us?!

Bdstew: that looks amazing. My dad has done a stage of Le Tour de France and now doesn't see much stopping him. He's mentioned Italy is on his list now too!

Good luck!

Rob Bence: yet another goal which makes mine look miniscule! Good luck with the training.

As for books, do you listen to audio books? If you're looking to consume a lot, I'd recommend it. I think you've mentioned you do on the podcast but if not try it while running!

Ciao ;-)

[damien fogg 126]

I'll be there at the start Nick.... making no promises about whether I'll still be there at the finish.   

 

Doing the Cambridge Half Marathon in March as a warm up.

 

What time are you hoping for?  Anything under 2 hours and I'm happy.  

[nick stott 62]

That's a very big warm up! I assume I'll do it in 2 hours and 10 mins minimum as that's 10-minute miles and I'm doing 9-minute miles at the moment. We shall see!

Let us know how you get on at Cambridge!

[andrew ridley 31]

Hi All,

 

Some great fitness goals here!

 

My diet / health / exercise goal for 2014 is to 'get in the best shape of my life'. This is not so much a cardio / endurance thing for me (although cardio will feature) but about getting in good physical shape.

 

I've had several attempts at this over the past few years, but 2014 is the year that I just need to make it happen!

 

I'm really interested in people's view on the system I am planning to use to get there. Rob and Rob talked about this in a recent podcast and it resonated with me, especially when it comes to diet / fitness type objectives.

 

So what are peoples view's on dieting and excercise programmes for getting into shape?

 

Here's my plan:

 

Starting point: 154 lbs at 14% to 15% bodyfat (bit of a guess on the bodyfat %) on 13th Jan 2014.

Goal: Between 148 lbs and 150 lbs and between 9% and 10% bodyfat by Sunday the 18th May 2014.

 

Part 1 Lose some fat without losing muscle (5 weeks) Weekly plan for Jan 13th to Feb 16th:

- 2 x 1 hour weight lifting sessions a week, all muscles excercised with heavy weights (10 exercises, 2 sets of 4 to 8 reps per excercise)

- 2 x High intensity interval training sessions a week (comprising 4 x 400 metre sprints with 2 minute rest between) Total of 3.2km sprinting per week

- 10km Fast cycling

- Average of 1500 calories a day across the week (some days more, some days less - averaging at 1500 a day)

- 40% of calories from protein, 30% from fat, 30% from carbs

- Avoid all sugary food and drink (except unavoidable occasional beer)

 

Part 2 Gain some muscle without adding fat (8 weeks): Weekly plan for Feb 17th to April 13th:

- Exactly same as part 1 but increase daily average calories to 2000

 

Part 3 Loose remaining fat without loosing muscle (5 weeks): Weekly plan for Apr 14th to May 18th:

- Exaclty same as part 1

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[andy norman 108]

Sounds like a great plan and I can see from your other posts that you're ultra organised and focused so I reckon you'll succeed. It doesn't sound like much fun though, at least to me. Is this all gym based or is the cycling & running outside?

I like the alternative goal of picking an event, like the Chester Half, and building a plan that achieves that, especially if you have further goals that you can carry all you efforts on to. Plus I'd much rather be outdoors.

If any of you fancy getting into some easy, fun but motivating running then I thoroughly recommend http://www.parkrun.org.uk

"parkrun organise free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They are open to everyone, free, and are safe and easy to take part in. These events take place in pleasant parkland surroundings and we encourage people of every ability to take part; from those taking their first steps in running to Olympians; from juniors to those with more experience; we welcome you all."

I'm not part of parkrun but I do go when I can.

[andy norman 108]

My next target is to complete the West Highland Way (95 mile) trail race at the end of June within 28 hours.

I'll be running with my partner, Sarah, an experienced ultra-runner but neither of us have tried this race before. I know it's not everyone's idea of fun but I think I'm addicted. It's going take quite a few hours of long training runs, time which many of you may say would be better spent researching property!!

[andrew ridley 31]

Hi Andy,

 

The cycling is outside and the 10km is really a minimum - it's the cycling I do to get to the gym and back for the week. In reality, I usually cycle a bit more than this - and definitely outside, I'm with you, it's much more fun outside.

 

The running is currently happening at the gym, but it's all over within 15 - 20 minutes including rests. My total time in the gym each week is about 2 and a half hours, which I don't mind at all.

 

My girlfriend is training for a half marathon, she's getting really into it - maybe when I've hit my goal I might give this running lark a try!

 

Cheers and good luck with the West Highland Way race.

 

Andy

[nick stott 62]

My next target is to complete the West Highland Way (95 mile) trail race at the end of June within 28 hours.

Andy, you are absolutely mental.

[andy norman 108]

Hi All

 

How's the running/cylcling/fitness training going?

 

We've selected our training races leading up to the West Highland Way race in June:

• 15th March - Howarth Hobble 32miles
• 6th April - Wainstones, North York Moors marathon 28 miles
• 18th-20th April - West Highland Way recce over 3 days (approx. 3x 32miles)
• 10th May - Kintyre Way 67 miles
• 7th June - Calderdale Way ultra 52 miles (not sure about this one, might be too close to the WHW)
• 15th June - Rosedale, North York Moors marathon 29 miles
• 21st-22nd June - West Highland Way Race 95 miles

I'm feeling a bit exhausted just reading our list.

[andrew ridley 31]

HI Andy,

 

That looks like an intense build up, you must really like running!

 

My plan is going OK - bit of a blip with my girlfriend's 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago and having a cold last week, but I feel like I'm mostly on track!

 

I have adjusted things to take on more calories, as I was losing too much weight at 1500 a day. I'm up to 1750 a day now and I'm hoping this will allow me to add a bit of muscle and lose a bit of fat at the same time. I'll reassess in 3 or 4 weeks to see how this seems to be going!

 

Good luck with all that running!

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[Dominic Eves 4]

HI Andy,

 

That looks like an intense build up, you must really like running!

 

My plan is going OK - bit of a blip with my girlfriend's 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago and having a cold last week, but I feel like I'm mostly on track!

 

I have adjusted things to take on more calories, as I was losing too much weight at 1500 a day. I'm up to 1750 a day now and I'm hoping this will allow me to add a bit of muscle and lose a bit of fat at the same time. I'll reassess in 3 or 4 weeks to see how this seems to be going!

 

Good luck with all that running!

 

Cheers

 

Andy

I was going to say that your initial calories seemed very low. You'll need to be in a calorie surplus to gain muscle. But you're heading the right way, by tweaking, then reassessing. Just keep doing that, until you find that 'sweet spot' which, will, in time, need to be adjusted too.

[andrew ridley 31]

I was going to say that your initial calories seemed very low. You'll need to be in a calorie surplus to gain muscle. But you're heading the right way, by tweaking, then reassessing. Just keep doing that, until you find that 'sweet spot' which, will, in time, need to be adjusted too.

 

Yeh I'm thinking 1750 is probably still to low to add much bulk, but I'll see how it goes, I still have some fat to lose so if nothing else I might lose that fat without losing any muscle... Anyway I think you're right, I'll give it a go and keep tweaking.

 

Are you a gym go-er?

[nick stott 62]

Not going well! Due to events and social commitments I've had an awful 3 weeks diet-/fitness-wise but I've had a whale of a time socially!!

First run for 3 weeks yesterday and only managed 3.6 miles and I can feel it today! Back on the wagon me thinks...

[damien fogg 126]

1 week to go until Cambridge Half Marathon... 

 

Training hasn't been going particularly to plan, I think my longest run has been 13km so far.  Oops. 

 

Maybe won't be PBing this time round, but just looking at it as a training run for the Chester Half.  

 

Whose stupid idea was this.... ?!

[nick stott 62]

How did your run go then Damien? I'm going to try and do 7 miles this afternoon which, although will be a personal best, isn't near where I need to be by now!

[andy norman 108]

 

Hi All

 

How's the running/cylcling/fitness training going?

 

We've selected our training races leading up to the West Highland Way race in June:

• 15th March - Howarth Hobble 32miles
• 6th April - Wainstones, North York Moors marathon 28 miles
• 18th-20th April - West Highland Way recce over 3 days (approx. 3x 32miles)
• 10th May - Kintyre Way 67 miles
• 7th June - Calderdale Way ultra 52 miles (not sure about this one, might be too close to the WHW)
• 15th June - Rosedale, North York Moors marathon 29 miles
• 21st-22nd June - West Highland Way Race 95 miles

I'm feeling a bit exhausted just reading our list.

 

 

I completed the Howarth Hobble trail race today, running as a team with Sarah. This was 32 mile trail race over the moors with 4,400ft of ascent. We had a great run and finished in 6hrs 49mins, which is a course PB by 53mins for me! Very pleased as I've not done any running since the Osmotherley marathon on 16th Feb due to an achilles niggle.  Sarah joined the 100 Marathon Club on that event, I now have 57 so a long way to go yet.

 

Now looking ahead to the Wainstones marathon in April, although we've also added:

• 23rd March - Sport Relief Swimathon 1500m swim  http://my.sportrelief.com/sponsor/andynorman
• 27th April - York Sprint Triathlon - My 1st triathlon and I'm not a great swimmer or cyclist so this one could be interesting

 

I checked and Damien completed the Cambridge Half in 2:28. It would be good to hear his race report though.

[nick stott 62]

Andy, your goals and achievements are unreal! I don't know how you do it. I've been feeling pretty chuffed all weekend after doing my personal best of 8.25miles yesterday! Feel like a right Wally now...

I've also stopped drinking for the most part which is a big achievement for me. Enjoying being the fittest and healthiest I've ever been which has definitely helped my work.

If anyone's thinking they lack an edge at work, try getting your health on top form and see how it helps.

[damien fogg 126]

Damned internet giving away my 'gentlemanly jaunt' half marathon time.  

 

I won't lie, the Half Marathon sucked!  It was far hotter than I've been training in, and... well that's because I've not been training much at all lately.  It was 50/50 if I'd even bother doing the half given the minimal training I had done, but one of my friends was entering for the first time so I decided to run with them. 

 

It was unpleasant from about mile 7 onwards.  I may be over dramatic, but I think someone stopped me and put nails in my trainers.  It's all I can think of to explain the sharp stabbing pain I had in both feet.  It's not much of an excuse though, piss poor planning produces piss poor results.  It was a helpful training run though, and my friend completed their first half marathon.  

 

Beer in the sun afterwards on Midsommer Common and no complaints by the end.  :-)

 

Hoping Chester will be a little faster, but not expecting much.  

[andy norman 108]

How are you all doing with your personal/fitness goals?  I hope the spring weather and lighter evenings are making your training more enjoyable.

 

It's only about 5 1/2 weeks to go till your Chester Half, I hope they are better prepared than the organisers of last weekend's chaotic Sheffield Half

 

Sarah and I successfully completed the Sport Relief Swimathon back in March.  I'd set myself a target of 45mins for the 1500m and was pleased and surprised to finish in 41mins 44secs.

 

We also ran the Wainstones off-road marathon last Sunday.  This was the 2nd race of 6 in the Hardmoors Trail Series over the North York Moors and probably the toughest due to the amount of ascent - about 1600m, most of which is squeezed into 6 hills between miles 6 & 16, with another nasty climb in the final mile. I'd given blood on Friday so found it hard going but we finished 57th in a steady 6 hours 27.