It’s the time of year when some combination of holiday parties, Christmas cookies, Hanukkah gelt, New Year’s Eve champagne and general festive abandon catch up with us. From the weekend warrior to the world champion, we all struggle to keep on top of diet and training in the holiday season. That’s ok, it is good to relax a little and family and friends deserve celebrating. When 2019 rolls around, it’s time to shift gears from fun to focus. We caught up with Bonk Breaker athletes across the spectrum to see what resolutions they have set for 2019.
Mirinda Carfrae
Three time ironman world champion
I always start the new year with intent. I’m not much for resolutions but it’s important to sit with your goals and make a plan. My resolutions would be to continue to stay balanced and organized so family can always come first.
Rinny has a great approach to goal setting, as a high level athlete it is easy to succumb to pressure to perform. Her planning and commitment to balance means she doesn’t place her performance ahead of the things in life that are important to her.
Neil Shirley
Former Gravel World Champion and Pro Cyclist
Having just made the move from Southern California out to Utah, which means experiencing winter for the first time ever, has made me realize that I truly need some resolutions this year or else I’ll wake up March 1st and not like what I see in the mirror. So, here we go:
- Open my mind to new ways of exercise...which might just include winter sports that don’t involve riding a bike
- Quality over quantity. I don’t have the mental fortitude to put in a whole lot of volume when it’s 20 degrees outside, so I’ll cut the fluff out of the workouts and get down to business.
- Continue learning to ‘be in the moment’, whether that’s when riding, working, or with my family. It’s something that I strive to improve on in 2019.
Neil shows the importance of balancing athletic and lifestyle goals. As a former pro athlete it can be difficult to leave the “performance first” mindset. Neil’s commitment to enjoying his life and exploring new forms of exercise shows that he is doing a great job of recalibrating.
Jeff Bradley
2018 Ironman Athlete and 1st Canadian Amateur Overall at this year’s Ironman World Championships
- Commit to swimming an extra session a week to make some gains in the pool.
- Race a Swim-Run & trail run event.
- Get back to Kona and contend for a top 10 in my age group.
Jeff does a great job of identifying and assessing the areas in which he can improve. By placing this focus on the swim, he can get the most “bang” for his training “buck”. He also wants to add trail running races, which will give him enough variety to keep his training fun in 2019.
Justin Cogley
Chef and Ultramarathon runner
- Run a 100 mile race and run it well, not just to do it.
- Drink more water!
- Get out with the family more on the trails!
- Get lean. Lol.
Justin’s goals show a great balance between family goals and personal athletic ones. By setting simple process goals such as drinking more water he can measure and make process towards his larger goal of getting lean.
Jason Winn
Bonk Breaker Founder & President
I am very goal driven and I always need to have something to chase that is challenging. This year seems to be the year where I am finding more clarity in my goals, the reason, the more detailed the goals, the more likely you are to achieve them. I know myself well enough, I will not let myself get complacent and unclear goals cause anxiety.
I realized this past year more so than others, technology has really sucked a lot of positive juices from me. Too much “on time” with the phone and laptop negatively affects my mood, energy, creativity and inspiration.
- Nature, hiking with my kids and wife
- Riding Solo for clarity/ cheap therapy
- Riding bikes with my kids
- More spontaneous adventures with my family (could just be an hour)
- I will not pull out my phone at the dinner table or check it while speaking with another human.
- Remember to take 3 mins each day to stop and breath
- Improve sales management skills (details)
- Get my kids on Skis three more times before Winter’s end
- More surf sessions in this summer with my kids.
- Everytime I surf, hike pick up at least 1 plastic water bottle off the trial or out of the ocean.
- Play “Cards Against Humanity” with willing friends… Some big laughs come along with this!
Let’s get started!
New year, new you?
If you are looking to set big goals for 2019 remember that, while big goals are motivating, you need smaller process goals along the way. Justin provides a great example of this with his big goals of weight loss and a more competitive 100 mile race time and his process goal of drinking water.
A great way to establish your goals is to start out by visualizing where you want to be in 2019, this might be on a podium at a big event or simply a lighter, healthier or happier version of yourself. Break down what you’ll need to do to get there and make those your process goals.Try to make those process goals quantifiable. Jeff has an easily quantifiable process goal of swimming once more every week. We keep these process goals visible, on the fridge or on our computer monitors and check in with them every few days.
Whatever your goals, we at Bonk Breaker wish you a happy new year.
