Motivation and goals work hand in hand. To help stay motivated you should have a goal, or end point, to be working towards. Having that goal helps you stay motivated to chase after it each day.
To stick to your goals I like to break it down into these 3 things:
1) Accountability
2) A Checkpoint
3) The Goal
Whether your goal is a race, running more miles for the year, faster times, weight loss or overall fitness, these 3 things might help keep you on track.
1) Accountability
Accountability comes in a variety of forms. It can be a coach that gives you a training plan or a training partner that gets you out the door each day. It can come in the form of a tracking device or log book. If you are counting miles, tracking steps or calories, use a device that tells you the distance or number of steps for the day. If you have a daily step goal or mile goal this will be sure to help.
A log book can be used in addition to a device or separately depending on your goal. Some runners keep a daily log book of their training. You can do the same with the tallies from your devices, putting pen to paper makes your day “real,” and you’ll want it to look right. The log book works for your nutrition as well, and helps people stay in control of their intake and on target for whatever the goal might be. A log book is also just nice so you have data and can look back over time to see what you have done in training later on.
2) Checkpoint
You should have a planned checkpoint for your goal. Whether it’s 1 checkpoint or 2-3. If your goal is 4 months away, it might help to check in halfway through or break it into quarters or thirds etc. Basically it’s having mini goals along the way to keep you accountable.
Elite runners will often have a checkpoint race before their goal race. So if it’s marathon we are working towards, we might pick a half marathon to run a month or so out from the goal race. This helps us get a feel for our fitness at that point and make sure we are on target.
This works for any race, if the goal is a half marathon or 15k, choose a race of slightly shorter than the distance to run a few weeks out, this will help keep you motivated for you main goal and also build confidence after the checkpoint race is completed.
3) The Goal
The goal is the main objective here. So having the accountability and checkpoint keeps you focused and on target to the goal. The goal is your finish line or it is like the final exam for school. Some elite runners will have a reward planned after their goal, such as a vacation. You can do the same if you obtain your goal, a vacation, fancy dinner whatever will keep you extra motivated to keep going after the main goal. But guess what?!.. It doesn’t end there, it’s time for your next goal to start working towards!
Having goals is a wonderful thing, but sticking to them is the main idea here. 2016 is a new year and I’m sure we all have plenty of goals we are thinking about chase after. Let’s make a plan to stick to them and accomplish big things this year!
For my running goals I have my coach and teammates to keep me accountable and all the right gear to support me for my training. Currently I wear the Wave Inspire 12 for putting in all my miles and lots of Breath Thermo layers to keep me warm and comfortable in the colder weather.
I have big goals for the year, so follow my journey as I stick to them, and I hope you stick to yours!!
Maegan was a high school starter and All-American at 800 meters in Long Island. She ran at Syracuse University before her career took off while in grad school at Ithaca College. Krifchin finished an impressive fifth at the 2011 ING Philadelphia Rock ’n’ Roll Half-Marathon and was then second at the 2012 U.S. Half-Marathon Championships. From there, she was first American, and 13th overall, at the World Half-Marathon Championships. She placed 6th and was the first American at the Hamburg Marathon as well as 8th at the US 20K Championships in 1:10:04. Most recently, Maegan had success at the Philadelphia Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon in a Personal Record time of 69:50.