Goals and reality

5/18/11


OK, so I'd set a goal of finishing in 1:20, with the intention of
placing in my age group, at the triathlon that's only 7 short weeks
away.  I had a conversation with Brett and he asked me some pretty
simple questions- What was my time when I did the same race in 2003?
Looking at last year's results, how many people were in my age group?
How experienced are the racers that placed last year?

Pretty basic questions- none of which I had an answer to.  Duh.

So as a physical therapist, I'm trained to make goals for my patients
that are realistic and based on definite measurements.  Hmmmm.... you
would think I could apply that same process for myself.

So I did a little research.  Turns out my husband, who is a researcher
and adores collecting data, still had our results from our races back
in 2003.  I completed the same race in 1:30.

I still don't know about the other racers.  But if I'm aiming to take
10 minutes off my previous time and I'm training smarter now, then
maybe it is a reasonable goal.  Honestly?  Maybe it's not.  But I've
still got my 1:20 sign posted over my desk at work to keep me going.
Because if a goal doesn't make us work a little harder and reach a
little farther, then what's the point?