This is the last post for 2022 (was that applause I heard?)! since the year is rapidly coming to an end, I thought it might be interesting to dust off my sporting objectives for the year and see how I made out. Note that they really weren’t that dusty as I look at them monthly or so to assess where I am.
So! Here is the good, bad and the ugly! Remember, having objectives is a tool for each person to help keep them focused and having fun!
- Achieve 10 punches in “A-Class” by year end. This is the only “outcome” objective I had this year. Whether it is achieved or not is really dependent on actions within my control – but also on other actions that are well outside of my control such as the efforts and results of my competitors! If you are not familiar with outcome, process and performance objectives, you might wish to look at this post HERE. Having said all that – how did I do? Well, I came up just a little short! I was able to achieve 9 punches – one short of what I needed to move into AA-class! Sure, I was a little disappointed, but 9 punches isn’t anything to sneeze at either! My discussion below will touch on some of the reasons why I may have come up a little short on this one.
- Increase the number of focused practices from 2 to 3x / month. For the most part, I was able to practice once / week. I also tried to have a purpose for each of my practice sessions, although I think I could have done a better job with this. Often times, I felt like I was still practicing different skills and approaches during registered shoots… So, while I did achieve my goal, I think I could have done a better job here!
- Focus on fitness. I broke this down into 3 activities:
- Do core / upper body work 3x / week. I exceeded this by doing my standard workout routine an average of 5 days / week
- Achieve 17.5k steps / day average. I was behind on this one achieving 15,650 steps average to date. This was partly due to a conscious decision to emphasize biking a little more.
- Average 50 miles / week on the bike. I blew this one out of the water! To date, I have biked 4965.7 miles this year – an average of nearly 100 miles / week! By the time you are reading this, I should have achieved my own “stretch goal” of 5k miles for the year. I was pleased with this effort, but it came at the expense of training I could have done on the sporting clays course. I am thinking about how to reconcile this next year. I was pleased with my annual physical this month when my doctor told me my heart and lungs sounded like “Exercise” when he had probed me with his stethoscope.
- Maintain training habits:
- Take lessons quarterly. Hmmm – not so good on this one… While I did take 4 lessons this year, the way I spread them out was not very effective. Looking back, I allowed too much time to elapse between my 1st (Feb) and 2nd (Aug) lesson. This allowed some bad habits to creep back into my shooting! At my second, third and fourth lessons, we spent way too much time doing remedial work instead of working on further skills enhancements. My performance during this period suffered as well. I am definitely reassessing this for next year!
- Have fun! This one I accomplished no questions asked! Every time I participated in a practice session, social shoot, or competition, I had a great time! That is why we do hobbies and recreational sports in the first place right? I never try to lose sight of this!
So, what does all of this mean for 2023? I am taking a step back over the holidays to figure all of that out now! What I do know already is the following:
- 2023 will be a year of even more joy in my shooting activities! I am going to shoot more sub-gauge events.
- I plan to practice more – even if it means doing fewer registered shoots.
- I plan on taking lessons with higher frequency – and then making sure I get focused practice in to reinforce what I learned.
- My overall focus will be on improvement rather than worrying about what class I am in, punches, etc..
So how about you? How did your goals and objectives work out this year? What will you do differently next year? If you want to discuss your particular case, I would be happy to hear from you! Feel free to drop me a note at mrouleau@mrouleau
Oh, and for those of you who might be curious about the bike that I racked up all of those miles on, here is a pic. It is a 2021 Trek FX6 fitness bike. This bike is a bit of a “wolf-in-sheep’s clothing” as it looks like any old run-of-the-mill fitness bike, but the frame and fork are actually fabricated out of carbon fiber making it a very light and responsive bike – perfect for piling up miles on the local greenways!
