We are now seven days into the new year 2015. By now, you would most probably have made your running-related New Year resolutions – and now you would like to achieve them, by the end of the year.
How do you achieve your 2015 New Year Resolutions in Running?
(Source: www.huffingtonpost.com)
So here are some tips on how to achieve your running goals in 2015 – and become a much happier runner come December 2015.
1. Set clear running goals
Setting clear goals definitely helps in terms of achieving them. You need to know exactly what you want and be very specific about this.
For example, to aim to better your race timing is a very vague goal and does not give you anything concrete to train for. But you could aim to break the 2-hour mark for the half marathon. This is a much more specific goal and something that you could definitely aim to train towards.
Besides aiming to break a personal record in terms of timing, other clear running related goals that you can aim for in 2015, could be distance-related goals, such as to successfully complete your first full marathon or first 100km ultra marathon.
2. Set achievable running goals
Make sure that your goals are achievable as well as clear and specific.
The goal of breaking the 2-hour mark for the half marathon may not be realistic and achievable for you – if you usually take 2 hours and 45 minutes to run the half marathon. But if your times are around the range of 2 hours and 10 minutes, then it is a realistic goal for you to train towards.
3. Work out a good training programme
Once you have your running goals, you need to work out a training programme in order to achieve it. It will definitely not help if you sit at your computer updating Facebook all day long and simply waiting for magic to happen – because it won’t.
So you need a training programme. Set one up by looking at the end goal and work out how long you would need to achieve this goal. Then factor in other commitments, such as family, social time and work, and base your running schedule around these. If your running schedule conflicts with these other commitments, you are not likely to be able to stick to it. So make sure you bear these in mind during the designing stage.
If you feel as though you are not able to motivate yourself to stick to a regular training programme, sourcing for a good coach or joining a running group might help you to stay committed.
4. Do not kick yourself if you miss out a session
If unexpected things crop up, you do not have to kick yourself over it, should you miss a training session as a result. It is perfectly okay to miss a training session every once in a while, because life can never be completely predictable.
However at the same time, just make sure that missing out on sessions does not become a regular habit – because this will affect your ability to achieve your goals by the end of 2015.
All points taken 🙂