BooksI knew on Monday this week would not be a ‘green’ week as coughing and sneezing flew around everyone in our house. I have asthma and every cold turns into a chest infection (if I’m lucky) or sinusitis (if I’m unlucky) so I try to be really gentle with myself when a cold pops up. Owning a gorgeous but snotty 3 year old means colds pop up a lot (thanks nursery!)

So Tuesday I ran home from seeing a client and then noticing my resting heart rate was much higher than it should be did nothing for a couple of days. Friday I did a bit. Saturday was a planned rest day as I was away working.

The time off meant I did some reading. I actually read two books this week and loved both. Anne McNuff running the whole way across New Zealand inspire me to think more adventurously about running and Ronda Rousey’s mindset for competition is astounding.

Sunday I got back into it and did my long run. 15 miles. Would have been incident free but for the path being completely flooded due to high tide and me having to run a diversion. I’ve run along the Thames path for 11 years now – one day I will learn. As I was out for over 2 hours I did really enjoy catching up on some podcasts though. I love:

  • Doing it for the kids – great for freelancers and small business owners trying to run businesses around childcare. Which makes it sound boring but it’s really funny and full of fab advice.
  • Marathon talk – always helps me feel like I’m not the only one out there for hours and hours and listening to Holly (one of the presenters) interviewing Fergus Crawley who has been doing some crazy challenges to raise awareness for male mental health was brilliant. Made my 15 miles feel pathetic!
  • Free weekly timed – a podcast all about parkrun. I am biased as one presenter does my local parkrun and the other is a friend I’ve known since we both used to time trial but I love the passion and enthusiasm they both show for running. And I’m dead chuffed that I’ll be on the podcast soon talking about running addiction.

So not a green week – but that is why when I set my goals I didn’t set out to achieve a green week every week. I’m realistic and knew at least one cold was likely in 13 weeks and I’m sure more stuff will come along to knock me off track. SO I actually only set myself the goal of getting 4.

So goals. So many studies show that setting clear, specific, realistic and timely goals which come completely within an athlete’s control can increase their motivation, commitment, concentration and confidence, reduce negative anxiety and improve their performance. To me it feels like it can be the key to so much else and so important for keeping us on track.

Once I’d completed my performance profile (in last week’s post) I needed to turn those elements which would make the biggest difference to my performance into my actual goals. The process I used is one I use with all the athletes I work with. I’d already got my outcome goal so the next stage is to create some performance goals along the way. Performance goals give us staging posts to see whether we are on track towards our outcome goal.

The important bits come last – these are the process goals. They give us the building blocks of training and preparation. They are the behaviours, actions, strategies and tactics we need in place if we are to achieve each performance. These are all within our own control (with the right support and work ethic) and following them should ensure we have regular progression as they are gradually ticked off.

Marathon goals

So, I developed mine, stuck them above my desk (so I see them every day) and in my training diary (hopefully something I will also see every day) and so far am on track. Feels really good. I’m a little bit proud of myself!

This week is busy so I’ll be buying some gym passes (Hustle – my new favourite website – you can buy one off passes for gyms you will be working near) and trying to squeeze in whatever I can to get green week number four.