I HAVE NO GOALS!

Running goals, that is.

Allow me to explain.

This past Thursday, I did a 7 mile run before work. I love mornings I get to run- especially in the months when it is actually light out at 6am! I run through my neighborhood, and then take a walking path that leads to a park. I run around the park, through another neighborhood, and back to my house. I'm never more than a mile from home, so I have to do a lot of criss crossing to get the miles in.

It's so peaceful in the early morning hours, so I can get a lot of good thinking done. This particular Thursday, I was thinking about how I haven't done speed training since the mile. Part of the reason was because I was staving off an injury and wanted to back off on my intensity. Another reason was because I simply didn't have a specific running goal to reach.

In fact, I currently have zero running goals. I do want to run Boston in 2014, but I am just running it for fun. I do not foresee any intense training for this race. I'll do a couple long training runs and then just go enjoy myself.

However, if you're unlike me, and are in the process of setting goals, here are some tips for effective goal setting!

Some Tips for Effective Goal Setting:

1. Avoid setting too many goals! Goals are not meant to be overwhelming. Pick one or two to focus on.

.

2. Avoid setting negative goals. Instead of saying "I won't miss a workout", say, "I will attend every workout session." Then the goal is focused on achievement, not something negative.

3. Set short term and long term goals. Your short term successes will motivate you to keep working toward that long term success.

4. Set process and product goals. An example of a process goal is walking for a half an hour three days per week. An example of a product goal is losing a certain amount of weight, or running a certain amount of miles.

5. Most importantly....

Make sure your goals are SMART!

What are your current running goals?