Goals→predictions

“The journey is more important than the destination.” —Source unknown

“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” —Arthur Ashe

“Accomplishment will prove to be a journey, not a destination.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower

All of the above are applicable to athletic endeavors as cautionary maxims, yet goals are necessary to give direction to and validate the journey; without them, it’s not even a journey, it’s just aimless wandering that goes nowhere. How would it have been if Moses had hauled up short of the Promised Land and said, “This is as far as we go, folks, it’s been a great character building/learning experience”? No, that wouldn’t seem to do at all. And would the Israelites’ journey have been anywhere as meaningful had it been for something other than their freedom…say, maybe, because the beaches were better in Palestine? Hardly.

Goals must be clearly defined and measurable, challenging yet within reach, and can range from immediate workout objectives (e.g., negative split each tempo run, don’t let long runs be too hard, etc.); to seasonal aims which could include both performance and training goals (e.g., reach a new level of training volume); and finally to long range, developmental plans, or what you ultimately want to achieve.

Even so, goal-setting should be approached with a measure of wariness, since things can go wrong, plans can change as “life” intervenes, etc. Even when injury and illness are avoided and training goes well, a plateau is sometimes encountered, especially by more fully developed runners. All of this can lead to disappointment if you’ve invested too heavily in the goals you have chosen, and judge the season only by whether you reach them.

That’s where the foregoing observations come into play. Just do your best each day, training in a consistent, progressive, and intelligent manner, keeping things fresh and fun while dealing with any setbacks that arise, and the rest will usually take care of itself.

So rather than calling them goals, I decided to make something more like predictions for the 2009 season, if things go well. They’ll be discussed in the next entry.