Set yourself achievable goals and a target

Get ready to run and set yourself some goals!

Welcome to the first edition of six weekly tips to support runners in the lead up to this year’s Gold Coast Marathon.

My experience as a runner spans more than 25 years having focused on a variety of distances and disciplines from the 3000m steeplechase to the 42.195km marathon.

We all have to start somewhere so congratulations on taking the first step and deciding which event you will run at this year’s event.

Will it be the Gold Coast Marathon, Asics Half Marathon, Southern Cross University 10km Run, the Gold Coast Airport 5km Fun Run, the CPL Wheelchair marathon or 10km, or the Health and Wellbeing Queensland 4km or 2km Junior Dash?

Once you have selected which distance will be your challenge, it is important to set a goal.

Maybe it’s a goal time or a simpler aspiration to just complete the distance without stopping.

Considering there is only six weeks to go think about your current level of fitness and whether you are going to be able to complete enough training to achieve the result you are setting out to achieve.

Make sure your goal is achievable so you can stick to it. If you only run 5km once a week and you want to run the marathon and complete it under four hours the chances of achieving this goal are very low.

Set a more achievable goal – maybe 30 minutes for 5km or if you’re a bit fitter, maybe 45 minutes for a 10km run.

It’s important to monitor your training to achieve your goal and that’s where a training log will come in handy. Documenting what you’ve achieved is important but setting yourself achievable training sessions is equally as important.

And most important when you start your training … enjoy the journey. It’s all about you and achieving your goals.

I’ll be back next week to talk about how you can make the training experience fun.