Apr 17, 2012

Moving the Finish Line

I play this game with myself when I run. I start small. I think to myself, "I'll only run the small loop today." But then when I get to the park, I'll usually head to the larger loop. Today, I stuck to the smaller loop, after all I'm "recovering." But while I was running the lower loop of Central Park on a beautiful spring day, spying greenery on top of glass buildings and dreaming of water, I noticed that while I ran over 2 miles, I was shy of 30 mins. I read recently that people should get 30 mins of aerobic exercise 5 times a week. So, I said to myself, you're close to 30 mins, run until you reach 30 mins. So I did. But when I hit 30 mins, I noticed I was just shy of 3 miles, so what did I do? I told myself, "Just run to 3 miles." And I did.  But this is what I do a lot on longer runs or whenever I feel really tired: I set a short attainable goal, reach it and then push the goal back, and repeat.
 


Now, if I could only find a way to make this strategy work for 26.2 miles.

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