Learning the art of goal setting and failure

I've written down goals for years and I love going back through my journal and seeing that I have achieved many of my goals. What I have to realize when saying that statement is that I didn't achieve my goals over night. Many of them took years.

This weekend was a big reminder that failing to achieve a goal isn't really failure, it's just another step closer. My goal was to run a 1:35 half marathon. I ran a 1:40 and was dying. I started off to quickly, got caught up in the pace and then couldn't sustain it after mile 10. After a day or two of sulking, I realized that I'm getting closer and closer to my goal time!

My favorite example of "failing" is my 2008 Marine Corp Marathon. I had my sights set on a 3:35 time. I thought I was doing it correctly - eating well, doing track workouts, running lots of miles, sleeping well, etc - to get slightly injured 2 weeks before the race and thus not feel great during the race. I ended up running a 3:41:05 - yup, 6 seconds off qualifying for Boston (they gift you the seconds, so a 3:40 qualifying time is really 3:40:59). The next year, however, I ran a 3:34 and felt great. My body needed that step - that piece of the puzzle that reminded me to not overtrain, to listen to my body and to have fun! Because really, when it's not fun, it's not worth doing.

so, with my "failure" in my back pocket, i propose my new BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) for 2011 - run a 1:35 half marathon!