This week I hope to shed a small shaft of light onto the basics of setting goals in your training and how it can help you to avoid disaster.
In the beginning...
Goal setting for runners is experience specific. When you start running your first goal setting may go something like this, "Rob and Sam have just run New York marathon under 4 hours, they are 35! I'm going to run a marathon, I've wanted to tick that off my list." Often these words are uttered by males and females between 25 and 35 years old. This is because many of us are ultra competitive during these years. We may have moved away from excessive weekends of binge drinking and have a slight paunch or "kanga" pouch that we wish we could get rid of. We may also have not yet "tripped" our sensible switch, (which older/experienced runners use regularly), preventing us from voicing crazed ideas as damaging as running a marathon, cycling holidays in the Pyrenees and bungee jumping. Luckily (or unluckily) for some this trip switch never works, hence why 40+ year olds run marathons, jump out of planes and wear lycra in bright colours.
Once we utter the words "I am going to run a marathon" we lay down a marker by which our friends and family will judge us. They may say supportive things such as "why?" or "running is bad for your knees" whilst all the while wishing that they were taking up the challenge. Many will tell you that it is ok if you don't make it, but really it is a right of passage. Once you say those words you are committing yourself to a mission of strain, pain and suffering, and that's just the good part. We often set ourselves ridiculous goals, which stem from a variety of sources from dreams to bets on drunken nights out. Nothing is easy when this is the start of our goal setting, but we can make it a lot easier by working backwards from our ultimate challenge.
Old father time
As we get older, more experienced or just more sensible we begin to set goals. In running this would sound like, "I'd like to run Berlin marathon this year in 4 hours. How many weeks do I need to train for? What plan should I follow? Are plimsols suitable to run in?" We may then plan additional races (keenos) to get "race ready" and practice drinking from plastic cups whilst running 13kph. This is the fun side of running. As we develop our experience level we start showing off by adding speedwork and tempo sessions to our training. We talk about anaerobic threshold as though its common parlance and believe electrolyte gels will vastly improve our performance. Our advanced experience level means that when we buy our ludicrously expensive running shoes we now know why we need them and what overpronation actually is. Ultimately as our experience grows we get more specific and realistic with our running and goal setting.
Run sloth run!
I began running during my education as a personal trainer ten years ago. Back then I ran after an odd shaped ball. Yes, I was an egg chaser and I had no idea of pace setting. During my first month of training I dragged myself out of bed and ran with a triathlete friend. I progressed quickly, not because of my natural athletic ability (of which I lack), but because of pure stubborness. This was a gift I inherited in my genes from my Dad, of which I am forever grateful. I went out running 3-4 times a week and hit the gym for the same whilst learning about the muscles I was training. Ironically I was studying the sport injuries section of my course when after 4 weeks of pounding the streets I injured myself. I had run too much too quickly and was suffering from compartment sydnrome. The treatment? REST. That was running over for a little while. But I had the bug.
Had I set a goal of any sort when I began? No. What had been the outcome for my eagerness and energy? Injury. Did I learn a lesson on goal setting? Sort of. It took a brutal half marathon experience and several marathons to learn how to do it properly. Let's make sure you don't make the same mistakes.
Setting up to succeed
If like many of the aforementioned runners (myself included) you chose a huge goal such as running a marathon, then you need to work backwards. Your long term goal is to run the marathon. You may need to more specific depending on your experience level. For beginners just finishing the marathon is a great achievement. For the more experienced runner it will be a time specific goal, such as finishing in 3 hours 45 minutes.
I would look to use good old fashioned SMART to set out your goals. Literally write them down. When you make that commitment you will start the process of success at your chosen goal. You are actualising on paper what you have in your mind.
Let us imagine that I my mate Barry is a 27 year old male in average shape. He goes to the gym three times a week, but hasn't run consistently since he was at school. He is not vastly overweight and is in good health. He foolishly made a bet with our mates at the pub that he'll run a marathon in 4 hours.
S - Specific - "I want to run" isn't specific enough. "I want to run 26.2 miles in 4 hours" is perfect. It lays out what your end goal is and allows less wriggle room.
M - Measurable - The above goal is measurable. He bet his mates that he will run 26.2 miles in 4 hours. Time and distance, perfect for measuring.
A - Achievable - Ok he was drunk when he made this bet. He hasn't run regularly in at least 10 years (other than for the bus). It could be achievable, if he commits to regular training of 4-5 times running a week.
R- Realistic - As I mentioned alcohol may have skewed Barry's judgement. Perhaps 4.5 hours is more realistic.
T - Time framed - He hasn't said when he will do it. But a year is a perfectly long enough period of time in which to build up gradually to a marathon from beginner status.
This is just for the long term goal. Now that we have a revised goal of Barry running 26.2 miles in 4.5 hours in one year I can work back from there to plan medium and then short term goals for him.
With the long term goal in a years time I would set the medium term goal for 6-8 months time.
I would like Barry to get an experience of running a few races before his big marathon effort. So one of his medium term goals will be a half marathon. Using our SMART tool lets say he should run a half marathon race in 7 months in a time of 2 hours. I also want to ensure he builds up to regular running, so lets say he should be running 5 times a week in 6 months and be able to run at least 3 of those runs for an hour each time. He should be able to run for 90 minutes in one run of the week at this point.
That gives him 6 months to build up his running gradually and progressively increasing his distance, whilst allowing plenty of time for recovery weeks. His short term goals need to be small, achievable and simple. Let us say he should be running 3 times a week for 30 minutes a run by week four. He can run and walk but he has to commit to consistently going out for 30 minutes total time per session. Perfectly achievable as he already goes to the gym for an hour three times a week. By week 8 he should be able to run 30-45 minutes a session for 4 times a week. Again he can run walk these sessions.I will also set a goal of running a 10km event under 75 minutes by week 12.
From there I would have Barry follow a half marathon specific program for 3-4 months and then a marathon specific program for the last 4 months of his year build up. The groundwork at the start and gradual nature of the goal setting allows him plenty of time so that he does't overtrain. It is also beneficial if he gets injured or ill as there is plenty of time to recover and still complete his ultimate goal.
So you can see that it takes a fair bit of planning, but it's not really rocket science! If you follow SMART and write out your goals you can actually question your ideas. It may be beneficial to have a friend ask the questions, you may be more honest with them than yourself. You can use SMART for any goal setting, I've used the marathon as the goal distance. But if you want to run 5, 10km or a half marathon then the process is the same. Set a goal and work backwards. Ultimately you will only let yourself down if you don't plan realistic goals, so take the time to do it now and you will reap the benefits down the line. Like the marathon, setting goals is a process of many small steps. Just be sure to plan them and not do it on the fly!
Until next time.
Happy training,
Tom :)
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