Goals, Planning and Feeling Like a Kid

Let's talk about goals.  For the past year, I have had a (relatively) long term goal of running a marathon.  

For virtually my entire life, I was a sprinter.  Short bursts of energy.  Most of my races lasted less than a minute.  Granted, I might run up to 9 races in a day, and the warm-up period could take up to an hour.  Sure, training took considerably more than a minute.  And the tension preceding that 5-60 seconds was intense.  I'm not saying it was easy.  It was, however, different than the experiences of a distance runner.  Not better or worse, not easier or more difficult, just different.  

I have always had goals, in running and life in general.  At work or play, always a goal.  Usually, they were fairly well thought out, with some overriding strategy, an implementation plan, intermediate steps, checkpoints and reporting, and always some discernible expectation of success.  I have been fortunate that many of the goals I've set have been realized.  I have a wonderful family, had a fulfilling career from which I was able to retire at a young age, and am in relatively good health.  I attribute any success to just a few factors (in no particular order): a supportive family, luck, hard work, good mentors, and planning.  Planning was probably the hardest discipline to master.  The others were kind of given to me.

So where is this rant going?  This is a blog about running a marathon and the trials associated with achieving yet another goal.  The goal is to finish a marathon without walking, without getting severely injured en route, with my dignity intact, and with the ability to walk the next day knowing that I achieved something for me.  And that's the difference here.  This is for me.  No one asked me to run a marathon.  On the contrary, most people who don't run and know I'm doing this think I'm just a little crazy (most of you reading this are likely runners, so you probably understand).  The only one who really cares about this is me.  Sure, Deb is worried about my health, and some folks will have an adult beverage with me should I succeed, but no one will really notice if I fail.  That is a major difference from all of the other life goals that I have ever set.  Virtually every other goal was the result of trying to achieve for others AND me.  Professional goals were set to help the company.  Athletic goals were to help the team and me.  Personal goals were set to help the family and me.  In virtually every case, there was a joint benefit if the goal was achieved.  If I fail, no one will be disadvantaged, no one will feel any pain, there will be no notice, no disappointment, no disillusionment, no regret from anyone except me.

And that's ok.  In fact, I prefer it that way.  Now don't get me wrong.  If anyone, anywhere is living vicariously through me in this quest, I can and do accept that responsibility.  But so far, no one has told me about any bets for or against my achievement.

So I guess the overall goal remains important.  Finish.  I knew that already.  Goals are what keep us going.  They keep us sane and with the ability to focus.  I had a boss whose favorite saying was "without a goal, any road will get you there".  Thanks Will, you were right.

That same boss used to say that in order to be successful, it is important to remember the 5 Ps- Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.  

What about intermediate goals, plans, strategies, and tactics.  In a word, yes, all are required.  I've found out the hard way that without SOME plan, I get injured.  I need rest and without a plan, I don't rest.  I need moderation and without a plan, I have a tendency to overwork.  Sue, you were right - we tend to do what we have success at doing.  If I ran 5 miles today, why not do it again tomorrow? Or 7 or 8?  A plan is definitely required.

The beauty of a plan, at least in this case, is that the plan is incredibly flexible.  It's a guideline, a set of blueprints that can, AND SHOULD be modified dependent on the particular conditions of the day.  Because it's my goal, I can do anything I want as long as I remember the context.    And because it's a long term goal, I can, to some extent, modify the plan according to how I feel, the weather, the time I have, and any other variable.  In the case of my training, I can train the way I feel, and use the plan as a general guideline.  The plan, then, is really the strategy that I have set.  

If you believe that goal achievement is the result of a planning process of GOAL SETTING, STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT, TACTIC DEVELOPMENT, MONITORING and finally GOAL ACHIEVEMENT, the beauty of running is that you can achieve your goals by setting very specific goals (finish a marathon), develop a strategy (every other day running interspersed with cross-training), monitor your progress (I did 5+ today in a little under 45 minutes, put in 64 minutes on the elliptical), but the TACTICS you use can be fairly loose.  If you feel good, it's ok to run a little faster than you planned.  If you feel drained, slow down.  Most of the time, if you do what feels right, it will be right.  

Goals? Planning?  Strategies and tactics?  Yep.  But it's also nice that I can act like a little kid sometimes, throw all that away, and just go out and run, smile, and enjoy the feeling.