Reevaluating goals

When I was a kid, I would bring home report cards with straight A’s. I’m not trying to brag I swear. But I was that kid who wasn’t the smartest in the class, but I was bright, I caught on quickly and I put in the work and was rewarded with good grades. (OK, I struggled in math and sometimes got B’s in it…) But every single quarter, I’d show my mom my report card and after saying, “great job, I’m proud of you,” she’d always say the same thing:

You know what grandpa would say to me if I brought home a report card like this? ‘Think of what you could do if you really tried.’

Always a blow to my already fragile 9-year-old self-esteem.

So after my weekend of PR’s, I got to thinking:

What could I do if I really tried?

It reminded me of the goals I set at the end of 2010 for this year. Very clear cut:

• Qualify for Boston.
• Break a 22:00 5K.
• Get out of Ohio.
• Find a boyfriend with an out-of-town family.

I’ve only reached the non-running ones. I went to North Carolina to visit said boyfriend (whose family lives in Youngstown. Far enough) and then he and I went to Chicago and Vegas. So go me!

But what about the others? It’s a “think of what you could do if you really tried” situation.

I will admit, they’re both extremely lofty goals. I gave up on a BQ after I got hurt, knowing I’d be lucky if I could just make it to Chicago.

And I’ll be completely honest, I probably could have ran Saturday’s 5K in 22:XX had I not slowed down going up the final hill. I mean really, it’s one of those, I really could have pushed harder situations.

But that’s neither here, nor there and I’m not about to dwell on missed opportunities in the past. In reality, there were a few problems with the goals I set last year. They were too broad. I didn’t say how I was going to achieve them, just why I wanted to achieve them.

You’ve probably heard this before, but when goal setting, you should use the SMART principle: Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic (or relevant). Time-bound.

I still want to qualify for Boston. I still want to run a 22:00 5K. There’s some other things I want to do to and I’ve been thinking a lot about it, especially as everyone talks about what they want to do in 2012… the year I can’t plan for.

So what are a few of my goals?

• Build lean muscle mass and decrease my body fat percentage by 2 percent by strength training two times per week for three months.
• Finish a 50-mile ultra marathon by following a recommended training plan by the end of summer 2012.
• Run a sub-4:00 marathon by incorporating two days of speed work per week into my training program by spring 2013.

Detailed, specific, set time frame and how I will get there.

So think about it:

What could you do if you really tried?