To the races...

Last night I signed up to run the National Half Marathon in Washington DC. The race in on Saturday 29 March. I am pumped!!! Apparently the race is through the metropolitan DC area - strategically planned so the runners see many of the notable federal buildings/monuments during the race. I have never been to the nation's capitol; this will be a fun way to see the city.

Since moving to New York, my efforts to run regularly have been mediocre at best. There was a two month period when I did fairly well - getting out on the road three times a week. However, at other times I was only getting out once a week. Trent and I have talked before about the psychological influence of goals. Take, for example, the goal I have set before - to run three days a week. Certainly it is motivated by good intentions. But what happens after the first week when I accomplish said goal? I must motivate myself again to tackle the same goal the following week - and again the week after that. The problem is that the goal is very short term. Consider now having a running goal spanning several months - such as a race. I have found that when I sign up for a race and carefully construct a feasible training program, my ability to get out and run on a daily basis is significantly increased. Why? Because running each day and each week is not the end in and of itself. It is a building process. I am working towards a larger end. There is no need to continually re-motivate myself every day or every week to accomplish a new goal. Even though I ran yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, my goal yet remains unfulfilled. I must run again today to keep myself on track to realize the ultimate goal of finishing the race in the desired time.

This provides an interesting lesson in the importance of both long-term and short-term goals. The above paragraph provides sufficient detail as to the necessity of vision (a long-term goal). Essentially, it keeps us focused on a bigger, greater end. However, if we set these long-term goals without making plans and bench-marks (i.e. short-term goals) to reach them, we likely will find ourselves disappointed in the end.

In other words, I am excited to have a tangible long-term goal to help me exercise regularly. Not only do I intend to run in the National Half Marathon, but I am looking to set a personal record - I want to finish in under 1:30:00 (that is a 6:50 minute/mile pace). The last half marathon I ran I finished in 1:31:57. So close!!!