Looking back at goals I have set for myself in the past, I notice a pattern: most of the time I do not set scary enough goals. I may act like they are scary, but often times I reach them fairly easily. Not that this is a bad thing - it's good to achieve your goals - but I'm left wondering if I could have done more if I had challenged myself a little harder. What if I had actually put that super-secret-too-scary-to-mention number floating in the back of my head down on paper? Could I have pushed myself that much more?
I also always have laid out more than one goal, just in case I don't reach my 'scary' goal, because then I wont be a complete failure as long as I do SOMETHING right on race day. It's always safe to toss around the "have fun!" goal. How could I possibly not have fun at a race? Goal accomplished - I had fun! I am victorious!
So for the race on Saturday I want to write down my crazy lady goal. Just to see what happens. It was originally going to be under 43 minutes, which is an 8:35 pace. That's pretty scary for me. Then I thought about it more - I might be able to pull that off. I need to go scarier. I need to be shaking in my
41:59 - 8:23 pace
Yep, that doesn't just scare me. It terrifies me. It makes the bile in my throat do a little dance.
So here goes nothing. I'm going to go for it. If I meet my goal then I'll think the course was short be amazed and if I don't, it will be somthing to shoot for next time. Just as long as I have fun, right?
How would you rate yourself on goal setting? What's the scariest goal you have set for yourself - running related or not?
P.S. I've had this post sitting in my drafts for a couple days. I kept going back and forth on posting it, because I am so scared of that freaking time I wrote down. I think I've accomplished scaring the shit out of myself with this goal setting stuff! OK...hitting...post button...now.......
AHHH!!! Yes!!! You can do it. Picture yourself crossing that finish line and seeing the magical 4 and 1 on your Garmin... and I'll be there with the beer!!! WOOOO!! I'm excited. (clearly, judging by my gratuitous exclamation point usage)
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I am really happy you hit publish and shared your scary goal with us! I sometimes wonder if my goals are too easy, or if I am too lax - I rarely have goals. And I wonder - do I want to feel like I could've given it a bit more at the end, or like I am wasted! It's so hard to tell!
ReplyDeleteLOVE! This is so timely for me...our paces are pretty much the same (seriously, our PRs up thru the half are within seconds) and I'm racing an 8k in April, and I've been trying to wrap my brain around what I'm capable of...
ReplyDeleteGO FOR IT!!
Thank you maam for saying this because I suck at setting goals for myself and I just looked at what McMillan says I should run and said "SHUT THE FUCK UP"! and then said...Okay I'll do that. Does he always win fights?
ReplyDeleteYou can do it :)
ReplyDeleteOh I can totally relate to this so much. For my last marathon I secretly wanted to break 3 hours but I most definitely never admitted it. You can absolutely doo it. Just give it your all and don't under estimate your ability.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear I'm not the only one that argues with Mr. Mcmillan on a regular basis. :)
You can do it!! Just don't crap yourself while you are crossing the finish line :)
ReplyDeleteI am attempting to be brave this year with my goals, cause i'm a total chicken too!