on goals

Ten days ago, probably just minutes after crossing the finish line at Corporate Cup, I started thinking about my goals. What's next? Boston is clearly defined and on the horizon. I've added the half marathon at Kansas City to the schedule to get another race in this fall, but I don't have enough time to really take a stab at something crazy there. Technically still in recovery mode from the adductor strain, I probably shouldn't try anything crazy either. Tomorrow marks 200 days out from Patriots Day. But that's too far off to really set a goal now, right? Or is it?

Yesterday I read a compelling interview of R.J. Sak, this years winner of the Omaha Marathon. The interview was done by Will Lindgren of Team Nebraska following R.J.'s win. Here are the paragraphs that really intrigued me:

Around 2009, I got the bug to want to find out to my potential as a runner. I had been reading about the 1970s/1980s running boom. I was impressed by story after story of runners who held down fulltime jobs and families and found time to log in quality training and produce good times. Quality marathons were deep from 2:15-2:20. Look at the 1983 Boston Marathon - 313 finishers broke 2:30.

I thought to myself that those aren't 313 sponsored runners. Those are 313 regular guys who love the process of successful running and found a reason to balance work/life/running. This suggests that respectable times are functions of work, commitment, and attitude (and staying healthy!) In other words, "it's there if you want it". So, over the past year I thought it would be fun to experiment on myself. I wanted to see what happens if I "did things right" and committed to a patient training system over a 5-7 year horizon.

From blog post 9/28/2010 - Will Lindgren of Team Nebraska

"...committed to a patient training system over a 5-7 year horizon." That is focus. I aspire to be able to have that kind of patience and vision.

In the interview, he goes on to talk about how he views his goals and training for them:

I'm aware that these times are small potatoes in the running world. But for me, it represents settings goals that are just beyond what I thought I could achieve. Then its about putting in the work 100% to make it happen and just enjoying the process. For me, setting goals and trying to achieve them is fun. It doesn't matter at what level or context, simply being part of the process is the reward.

From blog post 9/28/2010 - Will Lindgren of Team Nebraska

As it relates to running, I'm batting near a thousand on hitting my goals. Which probably means I'm not setting the bar high enough for myself. If I go down my list of races, nearly every race I met or exceeded my goal. Don't get me wrong, that is something I am very proud of, but I always start off the day following a race with the same thought:
What if I would have set the goal higher?