Setting and reaching goals

Hope is not a Strategy -- Vince Lombardi

Cecelia competed in the Oregon State 6A High School Cross Country Championship meet in Eugene Oregon recently. Last year she was an alternate on her team which meant that she got to workout and to travel with the Varsity team but she did not get to actually race. When she came home last year she said that she really wanted to run in that meet but said that she knew that she needed to step up her game in order to do so.

To help her, I led her through a discovery exercise where we assessed what went well, what didn’t go so well out of her cross country season last year, and what she likes about running. Then we looked at where improvements need to be made and where to focus on her strengths.

 Finally we set interim milestones to work towards the big goal of racing in the Championship.

 Her first activity was to work on her long, steady, running and to build up her mileage base. The first milestone was to complete her first half marathon. Since we have run the Shamrock 8k together every March for the past five years we decided to set the target event for this first phase as the Shamrock Half Marathon. I wanted her to avoid running the miles too fast so as she incremented her long run mileage I ran together with her. We spent fourteen weeks running every weekend together moving from eight miles to fifteen miles and from about an hour of running to two and half hours of running.

March finally arrived and with it the Shamrock run and a statement from Cece that she wanted to complete the run in under two hours as a goal time.On the morning of the race it was pouring down rain and a cold 38 degrees. Within the first mile we were soaked. Since there were huge puddles all over the roads we were running some extra to try and avoid them. The Shamrock Half is not really an ideal course for a first half marathon as there is a long four mile uphill section between six and ten miles. We slogged through the hill with burning legs. I encouraged her along as I was mindful of the time. We made a pretty fast finish with Cece having a good kick at the end of the race to finish in 1:58. First milestone done!

The second milestone for Cece was to try and set new best times during the spring outdoor track season. Going into the track season with a good mileage base from the half marathon prep was really beneficial. The track season is a great place to work on building the speed necessary to compete in the Cross Country Championship. Personal bests were set in the 800m race, the 1500m race and the 3000m race–basically every event that she ran. One of the many highlights during the season was that Cece got to run for her first time in historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in the Distance Medley Relay during the Oregon Relays. Things were looking pretty good for Cece to meet her long term goal.

The third milestone for Cece was the summer training between the track season and the cross country season. This turned out to be the most challenging milestone because Cece was juggling working at the pool as a lifeguard and swim instructor, swimming on the summer league swim team, and trying to find time and energy for running on her own time. Summer came and went with fewer miles logged in her running journal than hoped for, but it is also important to have a fun final season of summer league swimming and to have a little spending money and work experience. A lesson in conflicting priorities and time management.

The final milestone was the 2015 Cross Country season itself and running well enough to race in the varsity races and be one of the seven on the varsity squad. Back to school means a more structured schedule of coursework and of running workouts. Senior year also brings the added complexity and stress of the college search and application process as additional activities to coursework and sports practices. A few fast freshman joined the team this year so Cece had her work cut out for her to maintain her spot. Hard work in the meets and in the practices and striving to hit goal paces during the interval sessions all contributed to Cece toeing the line on that rainy and windy day in Eugene as the girls assembled for the Championship race.

It is difficult to make it to the 6A Championship race in Oregon, but with planning and perseverance it is possible.

Cece said recently to me that she had never had such a long term goal before that she has completed. Teaching about goal setting and interim milestones, dealing with setbacks but still doing today what helps towards the long term goal, and viewing activities as building blocks for each other are important life lessons that I am happy to have helped Cece to learn this year. But now it is a time for celebration a year in the making.