Update #11:
Replies:
Ghost of Igoli:
So, looking back at this after writing it (about a day later), yeah. I got pretty worked up. I would like to apologize beforehand: I don’t mean any ill-will towards you, Igoli. Fvck, I don’t even know you. I probably misunderstood what you wrote here and I don’t think you mean any harm when you post. I don’t know what it is about your posts that get me so worked up but yeah.
I’m going to leave the rest, because as a guy who writes for fun, I’ve noticed that something special happens when you write with feeling. Plus, b!tches love rants.
..
RE: Ghost of Igoli:
First things first: Thank you for your input. At the very least, you are challenging my ideas; something that I appreciate as it makes me rethink why I do things.
Next: Going a bit out of order; on the question of Joining the Aggies/a team/whatever: Short Answer is that I can’t. Yes, I physically could, but I don’t feel I need too and there are other considerations that keep me from moving to Texas (financial and family reasons, I also coach HS xc+tf). Right now, I’m able to fit everything in with room to spare, and that spare time I intend on filling up with doubles when I reach the mileage. Additionally, I have a strength coach, a masseuse, and a chiropractor all within 5 min of me.
This ties in with what you mention about goals: yes, yes, yes. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, blah, blah, blah. As a business major and now an employee who’s been through too much culture training and read too many studies on GE, yes I know about goals.
I don’t need any of that.
Here’s my thoughts: I have the end point, right? 8:25. Steeple Trials. What do I have to do to get there? I have to train my body to be able to run 8:25. What’s the limiting factor here? My body.
So now I know what I have to do, I have to train my body to make it faster.
How do I do that? Easy miles, tempo runs, vo2 max intervals, speedwork, etc. We’re together on this so far, right?
Notice how I didn’t even mention ANY times for ANY distance OTHER THAN the primary goal. This is because race times are a RESULT. They are the REWARD for all the hard, consistent work you put in. Whether or not I set a mid-term goal is irrelevant. Whether I have it or not, I’ll still be focusing on the process, which is really what helps you run faster.
Besides, fact is, I can set a “reasonable†mid-term goal to run x.xx in the xxxxx meter run or whatever but you know what? Why limit myself? Why say, “oh, I want to run 4 min this year in the 15!†When, A: I don’t, and B: I might be able to run faster?
I’m not in this $hit anymore because I want to set mediocre small goals and achieve them. To me, that’s playing it safe. That $hit is all around me and it pisses me off. I’m typing this at work right now and there’s a lady a few cubicles over talking about putting banana peels in the ground next to your rose bushes, or some other bull$hit I couldn’t give two fvcks about. SHE has small, intermediate goals. Why distract myself from what I’m really after, my true goal, by setting some smaller fake goal?
People say that, “Oh, you have to set smaller goals along the way,†or “You have to, blah, blah, blah,†and you know why they say that? I think that’s because they can’t handle the long term. They don’t have the willpower to wake up every morning, before the sun is up, and do a run, or do sit ups/pushups/core/whatever. They don’t want something so bad that they will hurt for it, get out of bed early for it, or dedicate a short part of their life to achieving it.
So, let’s go back to the first part. What is my goal? Make the Olympic Trials by running 8:25 in the Steeplechase. I have 3 years, 8 months, and 27 days to achieve it. How’s that for specific, measurable, and a timeline for execution?