How to Set Goals for Your Next Race

If you are going to be running a race soon, you probably have a goal for yourself. Maybe it is to set a personal record (PR) for yourself or maybe your main goal is to finish the race. When you are thinking about forming these goals, here are some tips for setting those goals and helping you walk away from the race feeling accomplished about your efforts rather than throwing yourself a pity party because it didn’t go perfectly.

I always encourage the athletes I work with to set an A, B, and C goal for any race they do. Rather than having a single goal (e.g. “set a new PR” or “run X pace for the race”), having 3 different goals allows wiggle room for the unexpected on race day: poor weather conditions, GI distress during the race, unexpected cramping during the race, or being up the night before with a sick kid.

These different goals are tiered goals to still encourage dreaming big but also realizing that unexpected things can happen on race day.

‘A’ goal = This is a ‘shoot-for-the-moon’ goal.

This goal might be something that seems a little out of reach, but on a perfect day it would happen! Don’t be afraid to DREAM BIG!! Ask your training buddies, significant other, or a coach what they think you are capable of. They may push you outside your comfort zone and challenge you a bit! An ‘A’ goal leaves you feel like you’re walking on clouds when it happens. And at the end of the day, even if you don’t meet your ‘A’ goal, you still have two other goals to fall back on.

‘B’ goal = This goal should be within your reach, but still challenge you a bit.

Your ‘B’ should be a little more attainable and leave you smiling about your effort after the race. Your ‘B’ goal is something that should happen even if you don’t have a perfect day. You’ll still have to work for it, but if you have one or two things that don’t go to plan, you can still achieve it.

‘C’ goal = A goal that would leave you satisfied and knowing you gave your best effort.

To have all of the stars align on race day is hard to come by. At almost every race I’ve run, I can think of something that didn’t go as planned, which is why there is a ‘C’ goal. This goal allows the unexpected to happen but for you still to be successful and leave the race knowing you gave it your best effort. Sometimes this goal for me has been ‘to finish the race.’ Even that in and of itself is a big accomplishment for everyone!

Take time to think about your goals, and then write them down on paper as it makes them much more real. Then tell others! If you don’t want the whole world to keep you accountable via social media, tell your closest friends because they’ll continue to love you no matter how you do. In the end, running a race should leave you feeling accomplished and ready to sign up for the next one.

And remember, the goals you set for yourself don’t always have to be based on time. They could be: finish the race feeling strong, have no GI issues, take no walk breaks, have negative splits, etc. People run races for different reasons, so make the goals fit your situation so you can feel satisfaction when crossing the finish line.