The importance of goal setting...reminder

Two weeks ago I began a "Train just to Train" phase of training in which my goal is to continue to rehab my achilles tendon while maintaining base fitness in preparation of November 1 when I will begin the real training in preparation for the 2011 season. Over these two weeks I experienced first hand why it is important to set goals in training. Two weeks ago I hoped to begin this phase of training but I did not set any specific goals for the week. The result was not good. I rode my bike once, lifted weights twice, and did no other training except for my PT exercises six times. Nearly every day something came up and training took a back seat. I know this is probably the case for many athletes out there but this is not how I have operated over the past year and a half. Over that time training has never taken a back seat. When things came up that interfered with training I always had a plan to fit the training in. Jen and I communicate early in the week what days may be busy and I plan the schedule around those. By not setting any goals I set myself up for a bad week of training. I kept pushing it off the schedule and the result was basically another week off. I knew I could not continue to do that if I want to gain some fitness during these weeks so this week I set some very modest goals...swim two times, bike 100 miles, lift three times...etc. The result was much better. By having those goals I made sure I got on the bike 5 days riding a total of 120 miles. I also swam three times, lifted three times, and did my PT regiment 6 times. The PT exercises are going really well. I'm doing single leg hops with the leg I had my surgery on. I'm also doing some plyometric hops off of stairs. I was allowed to run 10 minutes last night and it was my best run since March before I started having problems. I kept waiting to feel some pain in the tendon but it never came! I was super excited about this progress. The plan is to run 10 minutes every other day this week not so much to gain fitness but to get my achilles ready to slowly increase the running in hopes it is ready to go 100% by November 1. Setting goals ahead of time forced me to make a training plan so I could fit all the workouts in. Jen and I went to Rockford, IL for the weekend spending some time at a water park. I brought the bike with and got a ride in while we were there. Without the goal of riding five times I think I would have left the bike at home. I rode 43 miles on Sunday at 22 mph average. I hadn't ridden that far in 4 weeks. It felt great to be back out for a semi-long ride. My goals for this week are similar to last week but I hope to swim 3 times instead of two. I had a great massage from Laurel Darren on Thursday and my swim afterwards felt awesome. I always feel really smooth in the water after a massage. If you are winding down your season or getting ready for the next remember the importance of setting goals for yourself. Hold yourself accountable for hitting those goals. Thanks for reading. DREAM BIG!