I agree with @FitCheerldr about Resolutions. They are meaningless because they are not SMART. (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Timebound). She has a great post on this and a fun January challenge that you should check out here.
Our goals tool in Bia follows the SMART structure and kicks it up another notch. We automagically track progess for you and wrap you in a community of support.
Having others to encourage you AND knowing that your progress is inspiring others is the unspoken secret to the SMARTest goals.
I’ve been really inspired by others’ goals I’ve see this week:
Lisa Gonazales – who ran her FIRST Ultra-marathon this weekend – gave me goal envy with this: ”My goal for 2012 – Run races with the names of animals in them. That’s it! 2012 is all about fun, adventure, & running w/friends on dirt.”
OMG. Brilliant! …even if all those races fall between Turkey and Reindeer season. (Check Lisa out @runlikeacoyote or on her blog - her story is awesome!)
Melissa P. (@StatofLims and one of the first women on the Bia site!!) has the goal of working out more with other women. I know that can be a life changing goal because it was *my* goal last year….and look where I am now. Some might say I overachieved on that front!
At the end of the day my athletic goals don’t just exist for the sake of an endorphin rush. When I work for a new FIRST it makes me more powerful, more fearless, and more energized for all the other aspects of my life. So in thinking about what FIRSTs I want to bite off this year, I am thinking about what is going to keep me energized and happy and sane enough to counter balance the stress of launching a new business.
Last year I focused on three FIRSTS related to “personal records” and “never-befores”.
- I did my FIRST sub-2 hour half-marathon
- I ran my FIRST marathon.
- I didn’t achieve my 3rd first: a sub-6 hour half-ironman, but only by a few minutes and entirely because I bonked.
I say this all the time, but I love love love to race! 2011 was rough in that regard. I think I missed more races than I made with work and family craziness and the disaster of the exploding Subaru. (more on that later.) I need to be realistic about my training this year – launching a new company takes an extrodinary amount of time. And I don’t want to have another disappointing season of missed races from next year.
Therefore, the FIRST I am going to build my goals around for 2012 is Priorities.
Show up at Every Race: Start line = Winning. My excuses/reasons for missing so much last year were all over the map, and probably none fo them avoidable, but the one that effected me the most was missing Orangeman Half Ironman.
My car engine literally exploded on the drive to the race. Like BOOM exploded with smoke and fire (ok, maybe it was just the reflection of the brake lights in the smoke – but it looked like fire to me!) A hole the size of a silver dollar in the engine and shrapnel everywhere under the hood! The hubs had to come retrieve me from the side of the road at 5:15 in the morning. I was pretty shaken up and just wanted to go home.
In retrospect if we would have hustled I could have made it to the race in time for the last swim wave start, but I didn’t even try. And THAT is what disappointed me most. This was my favorite race course. I was absolutely physically peaked. I was meeting friends there. I didn’t even try! I actually cried I was so angry at myself.
Lesson Learned: Always show up at the start line.
Race with Girlfriends: I shared a room at Desert Tri with Tina from LATri. It was the first time I had done anything Tri related with a gfriend. As silly as it was we had so much fun and I realized combining girl time with racing is going to be essential to my happiness/sanity this year. I am starting off right, by booking a group house for Oceanside 70.3. We have 7 women, ages 30-70 in our crew. Two are Ironman Kona Champions and one is sure to win her age group that weekend (AG 70-74 no less!!). Go big or go home, huh?
Race for someone other than myself: Many women race for something other than themselves by choosing a charitable cause, and raising money and awareness for it as part of their race training. I love that. My cause is women achieving their firsts in business and in sports. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. So in addition to racing my own events with my sights set on my own PR’s I am doing two things:
1. I am joining a friend on her race as a race buddy to hold her accountable to her training and help push her to achieve an important FIRST.
2. I will volunteer for at least two races this season: One will be an IM Lake Placid so I get a sneak peak of what I’m in for next year (yes, that was an early commit!). One will an all-women’s race, maybe as a swim buddy. There is nothing more breathtaking than a sea of pony-tails ready to kill it!
I also have a stretch goal about becoming a @chocmilkrefuel ambassador, absolutely inspired by Another Mother Runners performance on the Rock and Roll Vegas video, but I’ll save that for a different post….
I can’t wait to be inspired by all the new goals and FIRSTs women are starting to track in Bia! I also can’t wait to find our where everyone is racing – that will help me pick my races to volunteer at.
Next post….My 2012 Race Schedule.
