Be Smart!

It’s that time again, you’re reflecting on this year’s triumphs or learning opportunities (‘cos they’re the opposite of triumphs), you’re thinking about next year’s schedule, race plans and where to improve. You’ve probably read or heard something similar to this post already; well I always said I was a mid packer! Having paid tens of thousands of dollars in business education I thought I would impart some well worn wisdom to consider when constructing you’re 2010 plan.

Firstly here’s how not to do it;

I want to run faster than I did this year, in fact I want to shave 5-6:00 minutes off my 21:00 5k PR and I want to do that by Valentines day and it’s ok that I haven’t run since October because when I start training in January I’ll be fresh!

You might want to consider using this framework;

1. Specific – Objectives should specify what they want to achieve.
2. Measurable – You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the objectives or not.
3. Achievable - Are the objectives you set, achievable and attainable?
4. Realistic – Can you realistically achieve the objectives with the resources you have?
5. Time – When do you want to achieve the set objectives?

So you may come out with something like this:

I want to reduce my 21:00 5k PR by 3 minutes, that’s a reduction of 1 minute per mile. I’ll use the XYZ 12 week training plan, which if I start training January 1st means I will be ready by March 3rd but I will also run a race mid February with a target time of 20:45

It’s all kinda the same but you can see that the 5 points listed above are all specifically addressed. Adding these checks into your training objectives will keep you on the straight and narrow and also keep you motivated to continue, wars aren’t won in a single battle they’re won in a series of skirmishes.

Setting yourself up for success is halfway to achieving that success!

….c'mon Haime!