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Aimee's Soapbox!
July 2006: Setting Goals for Coming Back
Before I do anything else, I would be remiss if I first did not give a proper shout-out to Jen for guest-writing last month's column. You go, girl! Very much appreciated!
Now, as I write this month's article, I notice that I am feeling much like the runner who is "just getting back into it" or "coming back from an injury." If you've ever
been in that position, you know what I mean--you're excited to come back, wanting to run a marathon your first day (or write the Great American Novel in my case), eager to
get back in shape all at once.
You all know as well as I do that we runners are overachievers and uber-goal-setters, so sometimes we can trip ourselves up in our haste to "get back into it." We set sky-high
goals for ourselves, and we think we can just jump right back in where we left off.
Extreme goal-setting can actually have several counter-productive effects. First, it can irritate our long-suffering spouses who had to listen to the initial griping when
we got injured in the first place; now they have to contend with our absence when we are out on a 2-hour run every weekend. Second, the goals are often so high that they
are unattainable (what with our 50-hour-a-week jobs, kids, etc.), and then we become discouraged and unmotivated. And finally, this is just my opinion, but I think that
driving yourself into the ground and pushing yourself past the point of healthy balance is actually disrespectful to yourself. It's like saying that you don't honor yourself
enough to care for your body in a healthy way. We need to realize when it's OK to push and when it's OK to ask your friend to write your column for you.
Since I was a little overloaded last month, I got to thinking how I could set better goals for myself. I mean, clearly I had been trying to do too much if I had gotten myself to
the Overloaded Point, right? So, I came up with a plan to help me focus myself in a more productive, more respectful-to-myself way. I call my plan The 5-3-1 Plan.
Being a very linear, "if-then" person, I knew my plan had to include some kind of number system. What I mean by this is that I like plans that show a progression, as
in "if I do X, then I will reap X." It's kind of like the Point System I wrote about a few months back. I know it's anti-hippie of me, but I have never been able to
focus on the journey 'cause I was always so centered on the destination. I know, I know..... I'm working on that. Anyway, here's the plan.
I chose the numbers 5, 3, and 1 because they are attainable numbers: high enough that you have to strive a bit, but not so high that you get discouraged and quit. Of course,
it matters what you apply these numbers to. That's the beauty of this plan.
First, choose three areas of your life (or your running) that you'd like to work on. For me, I chose Hydration, Running, and Weight Training. When things were getting out of hand
for me, I found that I was letting these areas slip.
Now, apply the numbers to the most appropriate area. For example, you always hear about drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. But when I was stressing out
last month, I would find myself going for several days where I would only drink one glass of water all day. So, I figured a nice balanced goal would be 5 glasses of water
a day. It represented a great improvement over ONE, but it was not a giant jump to EIGHT.
Then, I did the same for the other areas and other numbers. I found myself only running one day per week, so the goal became three. I found myself not weight training at all, so
the goal became one. In this way, I am able to ease back into my normal routine without stressing myself out or beating myself up because I am not trying to fire immediately on all cylinders
right out of the blocks.
OK, so some of you may be saying to yourself that this plan is wussy and that I am letting myself off too easy. To you folks I say this: remember that this is the "re-start
plan." It's the way to get yourself back on track. It's the way to come back after an injury or layoff that won't create another injury. Get it? Groovy.....
Coming up. . .
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