Welcome back to All Things Running With Sonja & Jen
This week we are going to talk about setting goals. Sonja will take you through the steps she recommends and I will take you through an example of how I use my daily habits to impact my results rather than just focusing on the results I hope to achieve.
Sonja:
FOCUS ON YOUR RUNNING FUTURE
(A Guide to Creating Successful Goals & Targets)
Understand the difference between Goals and “Targets”
*Targets are measurable (race times, finishing place, etc.)
*Goals are who we are or want to be and how we get there, (choosing to have a positive outlook before every race, or to be patient in the early miles)
Write down up to 6 targets and 6 related goals in regards to running/racing. For larger targets or goals include a list of steps needed to achieve it.
Give yourself a specific amount of time to reach those goals…organize them according to short term (within 4 weeks) and long term (4 weeks to a year).
Use the First Person
Use an Action Verb directly after “I” (For example: “I WILL _____.”)
Use the Present Tense
Make the goal a positive statement (no negative language whatsoever).
Set a firm deadline to accomplish the entire list of goals.
Post your goals where you can see them and review them daily.
Visualize yourself accomplishing each goal at least once per week.
Helpful Tips:
Once you have set your Targets it is crucial that you detach yourself from them! Their true value lies in the process they draw you through.
Be passionate about your Targets but base them in reality not fantasy.
Make sure they are YOUR Targets and not what someone else wants for you.
Arrange your Targets hierarchically, from the highest importance (long term and most difficult to achieve) to those soonest to be realized and easier to achieve (short term).
Remember that GOALS are your means to the end (the Target):
“Goals are NOT the ultimate purpose of your life. They are a tool to concentrate your focus and move you in a certain direction. The goal itself will not make you happy or fulfill you in the long term…it’s who you become by overcoming the obstacles necessary to achieve your goals that will give you the deepest sense and long lasting sense of fulfillment.” -Anthony Robbins
Jen:
Are you setting productive goals for yourself? I’ll share a personal example for how I set goals for myself. Maybe this will sound relatable.
I’d like to break 2:20 in the 800 meters again. The past couple of years I’ve not been able to do it. The pandemic did change some things in my training and also I’ve had some major changes in my life. My training went more endurance based. I have a lot of other responsibilities that have me moving in different directions than a few years ago.
Based on my running training alone, I can not reasonably think that I’m going to just break 2:20 because I want to break it. It's not just the workouts and paces which I am hitting that would say on paper that I can run that time. So while having this as a goal might be a good goal to have and it is something that I have done previously it would seem like it is productive but it's not, and here is why.
I’m not the same runner so doing the same thing is not going to produce a wildly different result. I have to change some things and make them habits in order to bring about a change in my performance.
In order to reach this goal, I need to do the following:
Add more speed specific work to my training, more recovery, less mileage
Add more lifting to my training, 3 x week
Add more drills to my technique work, every run
Make sure I am doing my yoga to prevent injury, 2 times a week and not missing a week
Listen to my body - back off when I feel exhausted and not try to power through
I sort of got distracted for a hot minute over what I really want. I became focused on the 5k and I’m not sure why. My age-grading for the 5k is not good. I really thought I could change it but I’m not that type of runner and I know that. If I used my 5k times to match my mile then I would be running a 5:30 mile not a 5 minute mile. If I look at my 800 and 1500/mile time then my paces are always in line for reps but not when I do tempos.
So how can you set more productive goals for yourself? Are you doing all the things to help you reach your goals? Should your goal be consistency in training? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you frequently injured? What could be the reason for this pattern?
In college, I was not running to my full potential and it was frustrating. I had big goals but never adjusted my habits. I enjoyed going out to parties on the weekends with my friends. Instead of recovering from my races I was recovering from going out. This also affected my grades. I made one change. I stopped going out to parties and what do you know? I started running to my full potential, my grades were better & I had no injuries.
So maybe it is not the goals you’ve set but the habits you are not keeping.