Maintaining My Motivation and Setting New Goals

At this stage, I have completed the training goals I set out to achieve.  I have increased my runs up to around an 8km average and can comfortably complete a 10km run in under an hour.  The problems with my knee that I experienced at the end of 2013 are nearly non-existent.  Granted, I still stretch and exercise those muscles to make sure that the issues do not come back (click here to read more about that, which I included in my Week 4 update).  I completed a 15 week training program, which I began in January (view my original post here).  Subsequently, after 13 weeks, I diverged into my own training plan (view my post here).  I completed a few more weeks using the same formula but defining my own intervals and time/distance goals.

Last week, I took as a rest week with only one moderate run.  I wanted to allow my legs adequate time to rest and heal before beginning on my next venture.

Which brings me to today.  I feel rested and healed.  My legs are strong and I know I can achieve the fitness goals that I set out to achieve.  So what next...  I am at a crossroads where I need to decide what my next fitness goals are.  Given my time constraints between family, work, and school, I have limited my activities to under an hour and three times per week.  I will continue with this same restraint.

I am leaning towards sticking along the same trajectory that I started out on with a goal of decreasing my 10km run time.  And also with a little side goal of getting my 5km time under 20 minutes.  However, I want to try to incorporate a bit more bike riding into my training rather than just three runs per week.

I find, personally, that I need to set clear goals for myself in order to stay on track.  Without clear goals, I lose some motivation and my determination fades.  So, this week I am allowing myself time to explore options and define my goals.  Look for my update later this week where I will reveal my defined goals.