A METHOD FOR SETTING RUNNING GOALS
"While I was disappointed with my finish, I knew I had accomplished three of the goals I set out for in this race: Goal one was to get to the start line healthy...The second goal I accomplished was to finish...And, lastly, I came away from the race healthy."
~ Dathan Ritzenhein, professional runner
For this post, I want to emphasize that this is ‘A METHOD’ for setting running goals, not ‘THE METHOD’. Nevertheless, the words of professional runner Dathan Ritzenhein from a post written in 2019 has been sticking with me recently (see RACE REVIEW: A TOUGH MARATHON). As the quote above illustrates, when it comes to a big event, like running a marathon, Ritzenhein had more than one goal for this race, yet no goal related to achieving a certain time in his marathon - starting and finishing the race healthy were goals mentioned in the post.
So what I am attempting to do is come up with multiple goals for big running events. To help guide these goals, I used different principles from sports and philosophy (especially the Stoic school of philosophy) along with example goals. Let’s see what I came up for a couple of big running events:
DISCUSSION
Having multiple goals gives you a new lingo for talking to yourself and/or others about your goals. So when someone asks you, how did the race go, you could tell them which goals you reached and which ones you came up short in. For instance, “I reached my D & C goals, but came up short on my B & A goals.”
For goal D, getting to the start line healthy or doing mobility work after each “test” run are examples of consistency in following your training plan and focusing on important details (like recovery, sleep and diet) - details under your control.
For goal C, finishing a race or a time trial is about putting effort over results.
For goal B, following a strategy in a race or training run allows you to conserve energy and for that opportune time, so you can do less, better.
I call goal A, an “anti-Stoic” goal, one that puts results before effort. While popular with runners (e.g., wanting to run a certain race time, run a BQ qualifier, etc.); it is a most difficult goal to achieve because so many factors are out of your control (e.g., weather, terrain, etc.). The Stoic school considers that success and failure in reaching a goal should be treated the same. As the Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius said, “To accept success without arrogance, and let failure go with indifference.”
SUMMARY
This method for setting multiple goals is designed to meet important signposts in racing and training. Whether or not you meet a goal, try to treat success and failure the same.
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Thanks for reading!
For more on setting goals, check out the Mental Side of Training and Racing section in the EOOC TABLE OF CONTENTS.
In this table of contents, I plan on adding a new section called, Philosopher’s Fitness. Like the Stoic school of philosophy discussed in this post, this new section will use philosophy to introduce and discuss fitness concepts. As an example, check out my post: HELPING SISYPHUS WITH SPORTS SCIENCE .
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Experiment of One Coaching covers topics ranging from running, strength training, health & wellness, sports nutrition to travel. This is not medical advice. I usually post once or twice a month. If you have a question about any of these topics that you would like me to address, send it to: info@experiment1coaching.com .
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