Setting Multiple Levels of Goals

When I've run in races in the past, I usually have three different performance goals. For example, when I ran my first (and only, so far) marathon at White Rock in Dallas in 2003, my first goal was to just finish. My second goal was to do it in 5 hours. My third goal was to do it in 4:30. I hit my first goal, but missed the other two. My finishing time was around 5:17.

Why did I have three goals? Having three goals allows you to set a goal and succeed at some level without beating yourself up about being a complete failure if you miss the single goal. Since it was my first marathon, just finishing seemed like a reasonable low-level goal since I had no idea what a completing a full marathon entailed. Yes, I'd read books and online articles and magazines, but those are no substitute for having had the experience oneself. The other two goals were "push" or "challenge" goals. I figured that if all went well, I could hit goal number two to finish in 5 hours. The third goal was the "super goal," the one I most likely would not be able to hit unless I suddenly found some magical, mysterious running zen-zone I'd never before experienced.

I felt elated to finish the race. My feet were killing me. I had some huge blisters on both feet that started forming around mile 7, so that meant 19 miles of mild discomfort morphing into serious discomfort and pain. I also felt enormous satisfaction at having completed something so mentally and physically challenging, something that no one else in my family had done, something that few [from a % of total population perspective] people even attempt to do.

Given the state of my feet, I wasn't terribly disappointed to have missed the second goal of finishing in 5 hours. Since there wasn't much chance of me hitting the third goal of 4:30, missing it didn't bother me at all. Had I actually hit either of those goals, I'd probably have been whooping and hollering and carrying on like a crazy woman when I crossed the finish line. As it was, my friends Gene and "The George" were yelling an alternating chant of "Jill" and "Bob" over the course of the last several yards. That was really nice to hear.

Regarding my feet: during training I'd gotten small blisters a couple times over the 18 weeks of training, but that was it. No major problems. The shoes and socks I used during the race were ones I'd often used during long runs in training. Why on the day of the race I ended up with blisters will remain one of life's mysteries to me.

So, set more than one goal for any single event. Tie a different reward to each goal. The higher or more challenging the goal, the better the reward. Most importantly of all, take that first step and give it a good, solid effort. If you are unable to meet any of the goals, redefine them and try, try, try again.