Goal Setting for marathons
Ideas and goals have similarities, and they are both easy to develop. However, turning a goal or idea into something actionable becomes more difficult. Creating a framework for your goal setting increases the likelihood of success dramatically. Below is a step-by-step outline to help craft both Long-term and Short-term goals.
Setting the Primary Goals
The first thing to notice is we encourage multiple goal-setting. A marathon is unlike other races where less than-ideal or adverse conditions can radically change the desired outcome. Even an off day can significantly impact one’s time.
For a marathon, it is better to have multiple goals. There is the primary goal for the race on the perfect day and then the sub-goals when conditions or other factors are less than ideal.
Below is an example of multiple goals for a runner who has run 3 hours and 15 minutes in a previous marathon. His next goal may be to run under three hours.
- Running under 3 hours
- Running under 3 Hours ten minutes
- Getting a Personal best time
- Finishing the marathon
The process of goal setting can be overwhelming, especially for first-time marathoners. People are raised not to fail, which can cause stress when put in this position. There are countless running systems, all workable, that sidestep the issue of failure. But this may be the most important lesson to learn. Success only comes to those who allow themselves to be vulnerable and even embrace possible failure. The overall goal is to give ourselves the best possible chance of success.
How do we do this?
We will assess whether our primary goal is in the range of possibilities and then create smaller sub-goals to make the overall task more manageable.
So, before we take the next step of making our sub-goals, we will assess our primary goal. Below is a chart to see if your current target is realistic.
Here is a rough guideline to measure if your current goals are realistic
THREE HOURS AND UNDER – If you have done any of the following: a marathon under 3 hours and ten minutes, 5k under 18 minutes, 10k under 38 minutes, or a half marathon under 1 hour 24 minutes
FOUR HOURS AND UNDER – If you have done any of the following: a marathon under 4 hours and ten minutes, 5k under 24 minutes, 10k under 50 minutes, or a half marathon under 1 hour and 50 minutes
FIVE HOURS AND UNDER – If you have done any of the following: a marathon under 5 hours and 10 minutes, 5k under 29 minutes, 10k under 1 hour and 3 minutes, or a half marathon under 2 hours and 20 minutes
FIVE HOURS AND OVER – If you haven’t run any races to get a gauge on your time, or if you haven’t broken 5 hours yet, then it is better not to have any specific time in mind.
Setting Sub Goals
Once we have set our primary goal, we need to break this goal into sub-goals before we start creating our plan. The key to successful goal setting for marathons or any other endeavor is to spend more time on the small goals than the large ones.
How do we formulate the smaller or sub-goals? In the case of completing a marathon or getting a new PR, the process is the same. We can start with our own experience and combine it with our accumulated research data. Then, ask questions such as: What are the areas of weakness, and what can help overcome those shortfalls?
The first step is to create a subgoal of the total weekly mileage. From experience, many runners average around 40 miles a week for a sub-4-hour marathon.
We know that we must run a certain number of miles daily to achieve that subgoal. We also know that eventually, we will also have a long run. Now, if we start from the beginning, we know we want to build up slowly. By outlining all these subgoals, we can move to the next step and create a plan.
Click on the below button for the next step.