Why > Goals
What are your goals for the next race?
Achieving a goal can be wonderful and rewarding. But, it only lasts a moment. Three months after a race, 'finishing' won’t contribute to your level of happiness in any substantial way. You can list it on your resume/CV or hang the medal on your wall, but those are merely notations and symbols of a moment in the past. A goal is a marker at the end of a journey. It signifies having experienced the journey. You should focus on the journey, Why you’re doing this.
How do you define failure? Does it have anything to do with your goals?
I define failure as a missed learning opportunity. Of course you can fail to finish a race. But that isn’t meaningful in the long term unless you’ve placed undue value on that specific accomplishment. In defining Why you train and race, you deliberately separate your growth and development from specific events like finishing a race, which are just opportunities for feedback on how the process is going. Failure has nothing to do with where you placed in a race or your finishing time. You may stand on the podium after a race but will have failed if you didn't learn something about your growth and development along your larger journey.
Your primary goal should be to finish that race…really? I don’t think so.
If the goals you set include 'things' such as a podium placing, prize money, being in the top 20, or finishing, then maybe you’re focus is misplaced.
I here the critics shouting, "Blasphemy! Did he just say that the time-honored primary goal of finishing is the wrong approach?"
Yes. When you focus on finishing, your attention is on ending what you're doing...getting it done, over, completed. You then imagine that you'll look back on the totality of the race, say “I accomplished that", and it will make you happy. You're putting your happiness at the end, as an expected outcome of achieving a goal. See how that plays out? Struggle...attain goal...become happy. It doesn’t work that way because it’s the experience, not the achievement as such, that brings lasting fulfillment and growth.
Crossing the finish line is easy, it’s one step. What crossing the finish line represents, the culmination of everything you’ve done to develop the capacity to get to that finish line, is what matters. Does all that work vanish if you don’t take that last step? Of course not. Finishing was never the point.
Why do you go on a training run? Is it to finish your run?
I go on training runs to train my body, and sometimes mind and craft, which helps to develop my capacities and abilities, given proper recovery for adaptation. There happens to be a beginning and an end to the run. Races should be viewed in similar way.
Races are opportunities to get feedback on your current capacities and abilities. They don’t define you. Nothing about your performance in a race defines any part of you, ever. Rather, they simply help you see where you are now when you put it all together in a performance. They aren’t a moment for judgement, just for inquiry. Then you know better what to keep doing and what to work on going forward.
I've had one DNF (did not finish). I stopped around mile 44 of a 62-mile race (100k) because I went off course and my goal of finishing in a certain time was unattainable. I wasn't upset or demoralized, and my body was in good shape; I could have continued and still finished in a very good time. But, I had only set one goal, and it became unattainable; I was done for the day. I don't regret that decision. What I regret is my approach to the race. I should have been focused on the experience and the work planned throughout the event, not my finishing time.
That DNF was my greatest success, not failure, because I captured a learning opportunity. I learned about many facets of how to handle adversity psychologically during a race. More important, I learned to ask myself two questions before signing up for a race.
Am I in it for the full experience and not the endpoint?
How will this bring me joy?
Once I know that I’m in it for the experience as a whole, and for the sum of its parts, then running the last mile is just as important as running the first mile. The race doesn’t have a start and end with that mindset. Regardless of what goes on internally (e.g., mental lows) or externally (e.g., bad weather or going off course), the desire to experience the complete event will always keep me going. By coming back to appreciating Why I’m in it, I can always find joy in the moment and a reason to continue the experience.
Running brings me joy.
It's a joy that's intrinsic to moving my body; I’m joyous even running on the treadmill. I just love the feeling that running gives my body and mind. As a runner, I want to be faster and stronger. But, my motivation is always focused on doing my best and becoming better as quickly and efficiently as I can. Note that ‘doing my best’ sometimes means running very slow on easy days. Doing your best means knowing the purpose of what you’re doing and then getting it right.
The goal of training is not to run a certain distance in a certain time or to shave some amount of time off my PR. I work hard to improve, and I don’t make judgements about a little bit of improvement over a lot of improvement. I celebrate improvement, period. Training adaptations can be like the stock market. There will be ups and downs but, over time, it always trends up if there’s daily activity. It’s foolish to think there can be a steady slope without volatility. Improvements are celebrated and setbacks just mean that gains are coming eventually if we stay in it.
Should you stop setting measurable goals?
No, measurable goals are useful. They’re important for building frameworks of action and for establishing the relevance of the details within your process. As Yogi Berra put it, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.” Try to view goals as directions for your growth trajectory and measurable goals as calibrators for that trajectory.
A single point defines nothing more than a point. Two points define a line. Measurable goals are points along a line. The line never ends; it may even change direction. So, set your measurable goals as a way of ensuring you’re facing the right direction and working to move forward in a realistic and purposeful way. Focus on the the line and not the points on the line. In other words, focus on following your Why and use checkpoints along the way to keep you on course.