Below I outline my personal current goal matrix, mine will be a little unusual since I have been at this for a while and have a few large events coming up quickly.
Long Term A Goals
I have been overweight as long as I can remember, I’m not sure what my ‘high school weight’ was, but if I had to guess, I would say 250 pounds. I would like to see what I look like under 200 pounds. I may or may not be done at that point, but that’s my current target.
Somewhere in my journey, I picked up an obsession with triathlon. I would like to complete an Ironman distance at least once. My thought is to accomplish it, then go back to see what activities and distances I would like to stick with moving forward.
Long Term B Goal
Hiking the Grand Canyon from rim-to-rim seems like it would be a great experience, especially since I live in Arizona. This is a huge project (physically and logistically) but something I would like to work in on my journey.
Long Term C Goal
Hiking to Havasu Falls is something I would love to do. For now its a C goal because it sounds like getting a permit may be tricky, but it’s something I’m going to keep on my radar.
Midterm A Goals
Right now, my first major weight milestone is getting below 300 pounds. Until I reach this, I told myself I wouldn’t worry about planning and training for an Olympic distance triathlon, another Midterm A goal. My last midterm A goal is to complete a standard marathon such as Mesa Marathon with an ~6.5-hour cutoff time.
Midterm B Goal
I would love to complete a September 11th Memorial Stair Climb. I heard about one, then a friend said she was doing another this past year, though it was too late for me to get involved. I’ve started doing some work on a stair master at the gym and this seems like a really doable challenge.
Midterm C Goal
I recently learned about the Crown King Scramble which is a 50-kilometer ultra marathon in Arizona. I really like the point-to-point aspect, especially getting up to Crown King, where I’ve never been. The 50k isn’t much longer than a marathon (~5 miles) and has an 11-hour cutoff which is a lot, but seems doable, the concern here is the 6,800 feet in elevation gain that I would have to be trained for.
Short Term A Goals
It’s only a coincidence that this ended up in my short-term goals, the Across the Years marathon is part of a very large ultra marathon event that includes many different time and distance events. My attraction to this event is the 24-hour cutoff, based on my last walk/run, I may need closer to 9 hours, plus breaks.
Keeping up with my weekly training plans is another goal, I’ve set myself up for what I think I need to continue to challenge myself. There will be some things I have to shuffle around and some things I miss, but the closer I am to my plan, the better.
Short Term B Goal
I would like to participate in the Cactus Man Sprint Triathlon. This event should have a similar bike ride and run to the Mesa Sprint Triathlons I’ve completed in the past, but it starts with a 750 meter lake swim rather than a 400 meter pool swim.
Short Term C Goal
If I’m feeling well, I would like to work in the Mesa Half Marathon before I start training for the Cactus Man Sprint Triathlon. I really enjoyed this event before and if I can do it again, that would be great.