Always Looking Forward

(I need a tan!)

With the first week of the new year almost complete I've been seeing a lot of people posting their New Year's resolutions. Well, I've been thinking about this and I've come to the conclusion that I am not really into the whole year long resolutions that will more than likely get pushed so far into the closet I will no doubt forget I made them and let them go unresolved. So instead I have decided that I will make short term goals that I can meet and see the results of. The goals I have for the first couple of months this year are to complete my Associates Degree in Criminal Justice. Which has put a lot more on my already pretty full plate. However, with the help of Teresa supporting me it should prove to be relatively easy. I am taking 8 week courses, so the degree will be complete by the beginning of April.

Now on to the triathlon goals.... The big goal also will come to fruition in April, and as I said in my year wrap up blog it is to place well enough in the US Military Championships to make the US team and represent the country at the CISM Military World Championships in Brazil. In order to make this happen I have been focusing on getting stronger in the swim and to do this I have broken my training into three phases. The endurance building phase, the speed work phase, and the taper. With the first phase almost complete that will mean that the long sets in the pool are almost over, so that's a relief.... but with that comes the speed work with it's increase in intensity. Ouch!! I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to this yet or not. I guess we will find out when I get to it. I have also started incorporating some strength and stretching exercises to the training plan. I didn't do any of this last year and I didn't have the season I wanted to, so change was needed (this is change you CAN believe in..... Too soon?). So there is a lot of work ahead of me in the next few months.

"A champion is someone who believes he can win when no one else does." This is a quote I heard today and it was very motivating for me. I feel that there are probably a lot of people out there who feel I can't win after my performance at the championships. With my motivation and new work ethic I am sure that I can. So I am going to go into this race knowing that the results are going to be 180 degrees different from last year, and if you doubt this stay tuned.... You're in for a show!

Remember when things don't go your way to always keep looking forward and you will find your chance to redeem them. I hope everyone is having a good start to the new year!