Tuesday, December 28, 2010

New Year Resolution Guide: Plan to be successful

One of my 2011 goals (a resolution if you will) is to get faster as a runner. I am doing a half marathon in February and want to do it in 2:10, faster than my 2:18 time from last October. That means I need to run an average of a 10-minute mile. Should be pretty easy, right? I average about 10:15 minutes per mile so I just need to pick it up a bit.


Then I want to get comfortably into a 9:30 mile. And finally I want to complete a half marathon in less than two hours. When I can do that, I'll consider training for a full distance marathon.


That's my SMART goal for running this year: consistently run a 9:30 mile by training for distance events and steadily increasing my speed at each event until I complete a half marathon in less than 2 hours.


Okay, so....I need a plan. "Pick it up a bit," as a training tool only works for about two blocks.  Luckily, my husband got me a Garmin for Christmas so when I've been running, I strap that puppy on and monitor my speed as I run. I learned Sunday that when I start daydreaming, I slow down to about 10:45.  When I snap out of it, 9:45 is easy. And when I'm at 9:26 I feel amazing. But I can't maintain it - that's where the conditioning part comes in. It should be an interesting process.


Here's your New Year's Resolution homework for today - make a plan. Set a goal, make a plan. Dissect your goal into the action steps you need to take - or get other people to take - to see it come to life. Write benchmarks on a calendar so you can visualize when things need to happen. Spend some time visualizing what obstacles may crop up and how you'll deal with them. Write it down, make a plan, and do at least one action from that plan right away.


2011 is going to be a great year!  You can plan on it. :)

4 comments:

David said...

I think plans --- VISUAL plans that you have to look at and remind yourself everyday is a easy step to achieving those goals!

I think BODYTRAC should create a 'GOALS' wall --- both short term and long term goals for people to be reminded of what they are working for. We cannot become stagnant or we are not helping our bodies become better machines. And how cool would it be to put a HUGE GOLD CHECKMARK inside that goal once it was accomplished to show off to everybody else that YOU achieved that goal!

SUCCESS breeds desire to continue towards bigger and better goals!

Jamie @ A Healthy J.D. said...

Ooh a Garmin, color me jealous :) Have fun with your new toy and good luck with your 2011 goals, I know you can do it!

Healthy Heather said...

David I like that idea! Let's make it happen!

Thanks Jamie, I'm pulling for your 2011 goals, too. :)

Jen said...

I'm sure you'll make it happen with your smaller goals that will make your bigger goal achievable. I think that's why running is so great. It reminds me that all the little steps along the way are what makes the journey possible.