JonFirestar's 2019: Do all the crazy things

[jonfirestar]

2019 Roadmap

 

I'm stealing this idea mostly from @Charlie_Quinn. I want to put the following down on paper to help make it more real. It's been swimming around in my own head for quite a long time and I have talked about it to many people but it's time to discuss the sheer enormity of it. 

 

2018 went really, really well for me. I can't argue with that fact. I've been hanging around NF for just over 2 years now and in that time I've achieved some amazing things but the things I am most proud about happened in 2018.

 

The thing that I hold most dear is Man vs Lakes. A 50K ultra marathon in the mountains of the Lake District. I loved that race. The first 7 months of the year was dedicated to runninging and finishing that single event. It took a lot of effort, and countless hours of training but I did pull it off and within all of the cutoff times. 

 

I love racing and my goals fitness goals are focused around 3 huge race events for the coming year. They are all big and Crazy and they are all going to require a gargantuan effort for me to achieve the things I want to achieve. 

 

So the following really aren't SMART goals. I've no real idea on how realistic any of them are. Let alone if I am capable of pulling them off. Failure on any one or all three is a very real option. So the following are the things I'll be attempting to achieve but I'm aware of the very real possibility that I'll fall short because if you aren't at least a little scared that you might shoot and miss a big goal then that goal isn't big enough. 

 

 

Nuclear Oblivion

 

Finish all 4 laps of Nuclear Oblivion within 8.5 hours

 

Nuclear Oblivion is potentially Ultra Distance looped OCR featuring up to 4 laps of the 12-14k Nuclear Rush course. 

 

This is the race that has my entire attention right now. All of the work I'm currently doing is being poured into Nuclear Oblivion and for one very simple reason. If I can get 4 laps, I qualify for OCRWC with elite status. I really think that I can pull out that performance. I think it's going to hurt and I think that it'll be the hardest physical feat I've ever attempted but I believe I can do it! At 3 laps I'd qualify for OCRWC as an age group contender. I think 3 laps is easily doable but I think i'm going to really need to work to get 4. 

 

Spartan Ultra, Scotland

 

Finish top 10 in my age group.

 

I tentatively committed to accepting the Spartan Ultra in 2019. A few weeks ago i was looking at the results for last years race and I realised that I actually would have a shot at taking a top 10 position in this race. Obviously there is only so much you can take away from a previous years results and the actual race itself will depend very much on the abilities of who turns up on the day. It's really difficult to put this down into specifics because the course will not be the same next year as it was this year but I'm aiming for around 7 hours to finish the race. 

 

OCRWC

 

Finally we have the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships being held for a second year in the UK. I'm basically assuming that I am going to qualify at least for age group status. I'm racing 3-5 times over the weekend (3k, 15k, 100m, Relay and fun wave).

 

My goal is quite simple though. Keep my band for one of the races. You lose your band if you fail an obstacle. You get unlimited retries but if you give up your band is cut. If I get into the elite wave I'll be up against the best in the world. I'm confident in my abilities but not delusional  the goal is to get there and try and put in my best showing. If I can keep one of my bands throughout the weekend I'll be very happy. I am not even close to being good enough at obstacles for this to be a reality right now. It is a long term goal for between now and October when the race is held. 

 

Everything that happens in 2019 is going to be framed with these big crazy events in mind. 

 

Things that need to happen for success to come. These Things are not the focus of the year but hitting them will help the big races. 

 

Lose weight

I'm too heavy. I am interestingly fast and have a huge amount of endurance for someone so big but I burn through a stupendous amount of energy to do that and it's not going to help my performance to be carrying so much excess weight. 

 

I am currently sitting at around 95kg. I've already lost 55kg. I'd like to get that to 84kg in 2019. Weight loss has been slow and hard for a while. 

 

Get Faster

Sub 23 minute 5k time (currently 24:19)

 

Sub 1:50 Half Marathon time - I'm a lot closer to this than I am the 5k time. I want to attempt this when I do Reading Half Marathon in March but I'll gauge my actual attempt on my fitness level at the time. 

 

Build Endurance

Run 1250 miles. I ran about 1060 in 2018, baring injury the goal of 1250 should be easy to hit based on my current mileage goals. 

 

Obstacle Proficiency. 

Finish a Clean Race. I've never run a clean OCR (completed all obstacles). I've got a lot of work to make this happen. 

 

Stay Strong

I'm naturally quite strong. It makes a whole class of obstacle at OCR races my thing. I really shine at heavy carries and drags. I'm under no illusions that I can build much in the way of raw strength whilst running 30+ miles a week and dropping weight as quickly as possible. My goal is not to see my numbers shrink by much. I'll take what progress I can make but I want to stay as strong as I can. 

 

Do your Burpees

I have a Spartan Ultra in my goals. I also have an entire Trifecta Weekend looming later in the year. I want to be better at burpees than I am. This is especially important since I'm actually going to be racing the Ultra. 

 

Do 1 set of 100 burpees. 

 

All of the following are current for the end of 2018 except the Half Marathon time which I set in 2017. I could easily beat that time today the opportunity just hasn't come up. 

 

Current Weight: 95kg

5k PR: 24:19

Half Marathon PR: 2:01:52

Deadlift PR: 170kg

Squat PR: 150kg

Bench PR: 80kg

OHP PR: 70kg

[Jarric]

You've got some huge goals for this year dude, but with your consistency and dedication I have no doubt that you are going to crush them.