Goal Setting

Goal setting is a topic that people seem to love or hate. They either want to set goals and go for it, or they don’t want to set goals (at least not publicly) so they can avoid shame or failure. There’s a different way to think about goal setting…

I always ask athletes what their goals are for our work together. Sometimes the goals feel reasonable (Finish my first sprint distance triathlon in under 2 hours) and sometimes they seem out of the athlete’s control (Win my age group at my first full IronMan).

We won’t get into SMART goals here (if you don’t know this acronym, don’t worry) – but let’s talk about setting goals smartly.

As an age group athlete, you really can’t set a “win my age group” goal and expect to achieve it. You don’t know who else will be racing, you don’t know what the conditions will be that day and so many more variables that are out of your control.

What you can do it set goals that are within your control and then align your training to those goals – Complete the swim portion of the 1/2 IM event in under 40 minutes; Hit a target for Normalized Power on the bike leg of 165 watts; Run the marathon in my first IM at a 9:15 pace per mile.

Now we have goals that are achievable and don’t rely on anyone else or who shows up on race day.

In training, goal setting might look like this – Execute every workout as scheduled in Training Peaks. Or, Give myself one rest day every week to allow my body to recover. Or, Complete a strength workout 3 days per week in the offseason and two days per week during race season.

One thing to always check in with your coach – In setting these goals, is it realistic and is there enough time to get from where I am now to my goal by race day?

Share your goals and keep them “top of mind” by posting them where you can see them. Find accountability for your daily workout goals (Training Peaks and share your goal with your coach) so that someone else will help you stay committed when that little voice says to sleep in.

Setting a goal that is within your control allows you to race YOUR race and let the results speak for themselves. And, if you land on the podium, all the better!

Are you Talking to yourself or listening to yourself?

I look back on my early days in triathlon and realize I was so excited that I didn’t know better! Every workout was going to be fun! Every race was exciting and the promise of doing something new was invigorating!

Then came the longer races and what I felt was drudgery of long workouts and the pain of racing. Had I known then what I know now I think those middle years would have been very different.

One of my favorite questions in sport (and in life) is, “Are you talking to yourself or listening to yourself?”

Examples of Listening to your self:

“I’m tired; I think I’ll sleep in.”
“Isn’t this workout over yet?”
“Skipping one workout won’t be big deal.”
“I just don’t feel like it today.”

Examples of Talking to your self:

“I feel good today!”
“When I finish this workout I’ll have achieved something before I even go to work.”
“I’m going to crush this workout!”
“I’ve trained for this and now I get to race!”

There is a very different “feel” to the voice in our heads that we listen to versus when we are talking to ourself. Noticing that voice that you’re Listening to and shifting into Talking to yourself creates a very different feel to the day, the moment, the workout.

Be aware of that voice and think, “Am I talking to myself or listening to myself?” And then, if you’re listening, start talking and see what a difference it can make!

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