Capturing our Horses in 2011

As I sit to write there is a song repeating itself over & over again. Not as dramatic as when Amazing Grace blessed my mind in Timberville, but Wild Horses by The Stones- has me writing on a whim, please bear with...

I can sit here, over my Xtra Sharp tea jolt and ponder a long time about it. I'm introspective like that- with a training regime that gives me lots of time to think about silliness. I woke up with a song and I know what it means: It's the triathletes of races past! They are telling me to get over it, to take action, to face the winter demons and get on the trainer!!
Just do it, woman! The hard-to-admit fact is that this last week I have not been much of a triathlete. I am having issues with the massive size of my quads right now, I have been home with Dylan on vacation for almost 3 weeks, which has completely drowned the Phelps inside of me; but now, with visions of running stallions and an ugly image of an old Mic Jagger, I am resetting and refueling... I love this sport and no matter how much I debate going back to the simple life of a runner - those wild, wild horses could not drag me away...

We have so many reasons to do the things we do. We all do, and I am very respectful of the reason's of others. It's part of my job, your WHY. I take other people WHY's with me every where I go, everyday. I think I have so many others WHY's that they are what is now stuck to my quads- the WHY don't my jeans go past my knees anymore question is being answered- by WHY's. With so many wonderful, heartfelt reasons to do what motivates us, I lost track of my own. I do know better, please forgive me, yet I got so caught up, I lost my own marbles...


So here is what we are going to do people. (Please play along with me...) We are ALL going to back up, get out the whiteboard, and set our goals for 2011. Then, only when the goals are clearly outlined and jumping off the page are we allowed to set our WHY. Yes, in my life of coaching & teaching, I tell people to do it backwards. Trust me on this one, you will NEVER achieve a goal if you don't know what it is BEFORE you know the reasons... because reasons are very susceptible to influence; goals are not. I am confusing you- because everything you have ever heard about goal setting just got put into your mental blender and became a green, lumpy mess? OK, here we go:

1- Have your goals. Write them out: what, in your heart, do you want to accomplish this season?
2- Write out the reasons for those goals. WHY? Why are these the objectives that matter to you. WHY will you shed blood, sweat & tears for that list? You need your reasons, because without knowing WHY each goal matters, you will lose your precious marbles too.
3- What is the minimum effort/ sacrifice/ work/ pace/ distance you will accept of yourself? Write that down. Wtf? I know, you have been taught to write what you WILL do to reach your goals, now I'm asking you to do the opposite. Here it is folks- most people can easily say "I'm going to go run 20km today." and then run 19km and still be content. BUT, if you make a decision with yourself that you will NOT run less than 20km, well you know what- you'll run it, because the mere thought of disappointing yourself is much worse that the attempt to satisfy yourself. Human beings will fight off pain much harder that they will fight for pleasure. THIS IS HUGE in goal reaching. If your business goal requires you to make $20,000 this month, don't write off a to-do list of how you will reach that. You will most probably crap out on yourself. Instead, be clear on what you will LEAST accept of yourself, i.e.- you will not sleep before you follow up with at least 5 customers daily. If you need to run a 3:56 km to reach your goal, than know now that you will not allow yourself to run slower than 3:50km. It's not being negative, it's being accountable in a way that moves you to action.
4- Everyday make a small list of the 'smaller' moves you must make to reach the bigger goals. My goal is the Rev3 Half Iron in June... well, that appears to give me plenty of time. So today, I set my Sunday goal to a minimum 90min run at not a second less than marathon pace, and at least 30minutes of yoga to start the week fresh & limber.

I urge you all to set up your 2011 the way you need it to go. Where do you need to be one year from now? Let's make things happen, let's take control of our wild horses and put them to work for us. Perhaps, in retrospect, they have been running wild long enough.
Happy Season, happy achieving, please train safe- the basement is a wild place sometimes!