Are we setting the wrong goals?

I don't think I'm alone in thinking (and probably overthinking) about my performance come race day.

For years I attended races and from beginning to end  of the day I compared myself with other runners.

He looks faster than me.

He's fitter than me.

He beat me at the finish line.

He overtook me in a fancy dress outfit!

When I started running a bit better I found myself still doing it. It had become an annoying habit which marred each race day. A tradition which somehow detracted from the enjoyment.


Because no matter how well I did or didn't do, I would compare myself to others and find fault in my performance, blame that day I took off training, berate myself for not sticking religiously to the nutrition plan that I know I should be on. On reflection, I was always a little disappointed. I'd gone there with goals, but even when I'd met them I'd still question if I'd done my absolute best.




People who know me know that I'm not great at taking my own advice. I tend to be a little (a lot) self critical, sometimes (always) self deprecating and once (many times) I've got close to throwing the towel in on running because of my frustrations.


It wasn't until I started working with others and training others that I saw how toxic this was. I started working with real people, with big goals and real backgrounds. And when they started getting stressed over their goals and their targets, my advice to them was clear.

"You are an individual. You are approaching this race with a unique past, a unique body and a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. You have trained to be the best you can with the tools you have; and whatever happens on the day, the successes and the lessons you learn are yours to own. But enjoy the experience, because you get to do this just once."

To say she enjoyed it is an understatement.

Pacing my wife to finish her first half-marathon last weekend, coaching a client towards her first ultra and watching a friend approach their first half-ironman distance triathlon, I'm struck by a sense of astonishment in how people can set huge goals and work hard around their daily lives to meet them.

I know that afterwards when the medals are taken off and the carbs are replenished and the blisters have healed they will question their achievements. Maybe it's what athletes do, maybe it's part of the human condition.

















But let me say this. Of everyone I know who runs, rides, swims and trains, the most successful ones aren't the ones with the best times, the most even splits or the ideal race prep strategy. It's the ones who enjoy what they are doing and want to try their best at it.


Maybe as well as having times and targets in mind we need to start thinking about how important the enjoyment is. If we started judging our performances on that, imagine how much better the race would be on reflection.

An exercise in goal setting.

I am a guy who likes goals.

Not the type scored by overpaid, prima donna footballers; but the type of goals set by real people with real commitments who train around their busy lives to reach them.

And I like to think that anything is possible with clear goals, a good plan and the commitment to see it through. But the truth is that there is a limit to what any one can fit into a day. 24 hours can fly past, so it's important that training should be as focussed as possible. I genuinely believe that junk miles are exactly that; rubbish.

Quality, planned training can take you a lot further than mass amounts of the average type.

If you are going on a long journey, you can either plan the route, identify when to take breaks and identify the fastest way to get there, or drive roughly in the right direction with the best intentions in the world to end up at the right place. You may get there, it may not even take any longer. But you risk, getting lost, wasting time and potentially never getting to your destination.

I spoke to a friend who ran the Thames Path 100 last weekend. For those who don't know it, it's a 100 mile ultramarathon largely following the River Thames, and he ran it in a fraction over 20 hours, coming in 20th place and it was his first hundred. Although I haven't had a chance to totally grill him on the details (I'm going to ask if I can interview him and post it), I know him well and he is a man who plans. He has goals and targets and takes a methodical approach to training and it pays off.

He knows where he is, where he wants to go and works out the most effective way to get there. Then he commits to his training and the race is his chance to shine, not struggle.

This got me thinking about my goals and what I want to achieve with my running. I completed my last goal a month ago and haven't set any more. I ran a Half Marathon yesterday in a goodish time, but with no goals to measure myself against the result was a bit flat to be honest; although the medal was lush!

I have a lot on at the moment, but believe that training and fitness help me to achieve everything else in my life so I'm not making excuses. I'm setting some big goals and I'm going to reach them, no, smash them!



With time limited, I know I can't train to go faster at long distance stuff, so I'm writing off a hundred miler this year. Instead I'm concentrating on strength and speed at the shorter stuff.






I have current PB's of 19:08 for a 5k, 42 minutes for a 10k and 1:30.40 for a Half Marathon.

Three results just asking to be improved on. The first step is setting some new targets and making them visible.

5k, I will go sub 18.
10k, I will go sub 39.
HM, I will go sub 1:28.

I know where I am.

I know where I want to get,

now it's time to plan my route.