Goal Setting is America's Distance Running Problem

Gotta have goals, man. I'd counter you and say that:

1. The goals are not high enough.

2. Very rarely is the training program suited to hit the goals.

Like I may a 16:40 guy and I set my goal as 16:00. Maybe I would have been better trying to get down to 15:30 or 14:00 for that matter.

Also, people are clueless about how to get to a certain goal, with most of them just running an extra 30 miles a week and patting themselves on the back for "going for it."

Your only goal should be to beat your opponents. If you consistently do that you'll end up at the top.

Winning is everything.

My goal is to have no goal.

Mick Foley wrote:

Gotta have goals, man. I'd counter you and say that:

1. The goals are not high enough.

2. Very rarely is the training program suited to hit the goals.

Like I may a 16:40 guy and I set my goal as 16:00. Maybe I would have been better trying to get down to 15:30 or 14:00 for that matter.

Also, people are clueless about how to get to a certain goal, with most of them just running an extra 30 miles a week and patting themselves on the back for "going for it."

Really? Typically, in my experience, people set too high of goals, then overwork themselves and are unable to improve. But I could see how low goals could be a problem. Like the attitude of "I just need to be able to run 65 second 400s for 4 laps, so I won't train any harder than I have to." that stops people from improving.

America doesn't have a distance running problem. 2016 Olympic Medalists Matt Centrowitz, Galen Rupp, Evan Jager, etc. have made American distance running great again!

You are a few years short on your answer there bud. Did you even watch the Olympics? We did GREAT!

hdsbfh wrote:

My goal is to have no goal.

My prediction is that your success with that will be unpredictable.

times are irrelevant wrote:

Your only goal should be to beat your opponents. If you consistently do that you'll end up at the top.

Winning is everything.

If you race all your workouts you will not beat your opponents when it matters. FACT

Smart, effective training with a tenacious racing attitude is everything. Smart, effective training comes from having smart goals.

times are irrelevant wrote:

Your only goal should be to beat your opponents. If you consistently do that you'll end up at the top.

Winning is everything.

This 100%. I might add "run as fast as you can" instead of time goals, but "Times are irrelevant"'s point that your PRIMARY goal is to WIN is what matters above all else. A PR isn't always a PB.

When you adopt the "Pure Hate" method of running all goals will take care of themselves.

You might want to read about this high schooler setting a goal and how that worked out.

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/steve-prefontaines-high-school-career

times are irrelevant wrote:

Your only goal should be to beat your opponents. If you consistently do that you'll end up at the top.

Winning is everything.

I disagree. Getting hung up on your competition can be a distraction from doing what you need to do to be the absolute best YOU can be. The fear of losing can only create anxiety and hold you back, and if winning is everything you will always fear losing.

Winning is merely a side effect of the pursuit of self-perfection.