Checking in...
In my previous blog post, I focused on reflecting on the 5 Ws (who, what, where, when, and why) of why I run. I then invited you to ask yourself these questions about your goals. Now, it can happen all too easily where January 1st hits and we decide it is the perfect time for a fresh start (which it can be). However, if you have a goal and getting started hasn’t happened yet… DON’T FRET! The time is NOW! Your January 1st can land on any second, of any minute, of any hour, of any day! I believe that continual reflection is an imperative part of the achievement process. When you set out to achieve a goal, it is impossible to know the greatness that you are capable of. You cannot predict what the journey of getting there will bring. There is always the chance of more strength or more struggles than you predicted. Without reflection, you may fail to push yourself harder/further than you originally thought possible. Or, you may put a halt on achieving a goal because it wasn’t working out and you didn’t take the time to reflect on what you could do differently to find success. Reflecting helps us to track, push, and modify our goals to make them a reality.
As we enter the second month of 2016, check in on the goals that you originally set for yourself this year by reflecting on the following questions (I encourage you to give yourself the time to write down your responses):
What are your goals this year (ARE... not "were")?
What are you doing to achieve them?
Is what you are doing working for you? How do you know?
If yes – What can you do to continue progressing? Could you be pushing yourself harder? What can you do to do this?
If no – How can you change what you are doing to honour where your body and mind are at right now? (mini-goals? slow down the pace? seeks support? start a journal to track your progress?)
Have you been putting in your best effort to make them happen?
Are you enjoying the process? Why or why not?
Have you surprised yourself?
I will share my answers to these questions with you:
1.) My goal this year (as we all know... haha) is to beat my time in the 50km race at the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon on May 29. I am getting more pumped to achieve this goal every single day. Note here how I did not say, “try to achieve this goal.” The power of our minds is incredible, and I am telling myself that I can and will. Outside of an injury (which I am doing everything to prevent), this race is in my control and I will be stronger than last year.
2.) To achieve my goal, I am following the Runners World Advanced Marathon Guide, and adding in 2-4 extra cross training workouts a week.
3.) What I am doing is working for me. I know this because I have been feeling stronger in my runs, and I have not had any knee pain in my workouts over the last 4 weeks. Last week, I decided to start tracking my swim times to push myself further in this area. To improve my swim time, I have chosen to now complete 2 swims a week instead of just 1. A new mini-goal that I have is to complete a 2km swim in under 50 minutes by the end of February.
4.) I can honestly say YES I have been putting in my best effort to make my goal happen. I wake up at 5:15 every weekday morning to get in a workout before work (no matter what time I get to bed at), I head to the gym 4 of the weeknights, and I always get in my long run Saturday or Sunday.
5.) I am SERIOUSLY enjoying the process. There is no better feeling than the feeling of getting stronger. At this point in the game, it is hard to say which is growing more: my physical or mental strength. It is amazing to push my boundaries and learn what I am capable of.
6.) I have completely surprised myself with the level of determination that I have. This is the first time I am running a race with a specific goal time in mind (sub 5:20). Any other run I have just been happy to finish with a time I knew that was within my doable range. I have always been the least competitive person I know, so it is kind of a new feeling to be like “Hey, this is what it feels like to want something so bad!” And I must say, this new found drive I have is completely rockin' my stride! What is rockin' yours? :) #rockyourstride