Pro Tip Of The Week- You Can't Score Without Goals

Happy New Year and Happy 2020 fellow friends and athletes!

There is no better time than right now to talk about the importance of setting goals for peak performance and self-held accountability. I have written about this before, but I feel it’s a topic worth revisiting as many of us are starting up a new training program for 2020.

Why is it important to set goals? It seems like an obvious answer to an obvious question, but let’s dive a little deeper. In life and sports, setting goals is critical to your success. Younger athletes can have basic fundamental goals such as having fun, riding/running faster, making friends, while as you get older and stronger at your sport your goals will become more specific to improving performance. Setting challenging and appropriate goals are important, but without the heavy burden of strict expectations. Expectations can be harmful to goal setting because you set yourself up for failure by having a win/lose situation. This is why the first rule of goal setting is to be realistic with your goals. For example, last year I placed 2nd at marathon nationals, so this year my goal is to improve my performance from last year. There are many factors that could happen which may cause me to not win (stronger competition, different course, etc), but that doesn’t mean that I still can’t achieve my goal of improving my own performance. This way, winning is just another benefit of achieving your goal.

How do you set realistic goals? Your goals should be specific and measurable so you can have a clear understanding if you are on the right track towards reaching your big goal. They should include a timeline and match your abilities. They should be challenging and push you to the edge of your comfort zone. You can break your goals down into two categories: process and performance. WRITE YOUR GOALS DOWN AND REGULARLY MONITOR YOUR PROGRESS!

Example: Poorly written goals: Rewritten and improved goals:

PROCESS: Sleep better Go to bed at 10 and wake up at 6 every night/day

PERFORMANCE: Improve my descending skills Practice 3 hours/week on switchbacks, rock gardens, drops, steeps, and cornering

Use short-range goals to achieve long-range plans: Goal setting is similar to climbing a mountain. You have to get to multiple base camps before you can reach the summit. Identify your main outcome goal first and then think of three process goals that will help you to know if you are on the right track towards reaching the summit.

Here are my top 3 process and performance goals for 2020:

PROCESS:

1. Meditate and visualize every day for 10-15 minutes the first thing in the morning, then do 20 min of yoga.

2. Continue to improve nutrition: Limit to one cup coffee/day, drink four 32 oz Nalgene H2O/day, drink more tea, eat at least one piece of fruit for breakfast, eat 2 vegetables every dinner.

3. Improve life/training/recovery balance. Train smarter, not harder. More rest days, increase sleep. Wake up at 6-6:30 every day. Be in bed by 9:30, read for 30 min.

PERFORMANCE:

1. Peak performances at US Nationals (XC and Marathon), Singletrack 6, Pikes Peak Apex

2. Complete Colorado Trail Race and finish under 5 days

3. Increase my peak 5, 10, and 20 min power while maintaining or dropping weight.

What are your goals? Please share as saying them out loud and putting them on paper gives them power and makes them real. Let’s make 2020 the best year yet!

Thanks for reading!

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