Goals

Definition

Identifying what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it including measuring that achievement.

Why?

Part of our philosophy is providing answers to the Why of your Questions. The most powerful answer is "I don't know"

If you don't know you will start thinking, investigating, analyzing, discussing with others and from that process you will learn the most.

So thinking about the Why in setting goals is Step 1

Is it for you really necessary to set goals?
Sometimes it is too easy to find an answer. Just look at your last event and if it has crossed your mind that you have the feeling you could do (or wanted) to do something better then Yes, it is necessary for you to set goals.

So there is your first (and most important) answer on the Why:
- You want to (also known as Intrinsic Motivation)

Other answers may be:
- It helps to focus on the process
- It will build confidence
- It is a huge help in building a TrainingPlan
- It will help organizing your time
- It will help organizing your resources

How To - Step 1

Ask yourself the question: Will you go to the airport and take just a plane without thinking where you want to go?
Perhaps if you think about it as an adventure (and there you have your Goal!) but probably not, you have done all your research before you buy a ticket.

The same goes for setting goal(s) in sport:
- What is your destination?
- Based on your history, is your goal achievable?
- Will your goal give you motivation?
- Is your goal enough challenging?

How To - Step 2

If you are satisfied with your Goal, it is time to split them up in smaller parts: "SubGoal(s)"
These smaller parts will help you measure if you are on the way to achieve the big Goal.
Think about where you want to be half way the plan, on a quarter, on three quarters.

If you have a specific date on which the Goal has to be achieved, then you use time to measure your subGoal
What will i achieve in 5 years and to achieve that, where should i be in 2 years, 1 year, 6 months, next week

This is probably the phase where you will need some help from a Coach.

How To - Step 3

The result of Step 2 is that you have a framework which you can start filling with specific workouts and best practice is to think backwards. Start with your subGoal. Last week is always a Taperweek, 2-3 weeks before Taperweek is BuildUp with specific workouts based on your (sub)Goal, small Taperweek, 3 weeks BuildUp with focus on BaseTraining.

For sure this is the part where you want someone to have a look on your puzzle. Especially the balance of (hard) workouts with enough rest in the week itself and progressing over the 6-7 weeks towards your sub(Goal)

Foundation is always key. Building a house is best done with a solid base, so is building your body. It is better to build up slowly then to go to fast in long or hard efforts.

Congratulations, you have build a solid plan, did enough thinking, hopefully feeling excited to start with it, so time to Execute the plan!

Execute your plan

The last part of setting goals is executing your TrainingPlan and while you do your workouts keep on monitoring yourself, how have you done, how did you feel, was the workout easier or harder then you had planned or thought of before.

So it is wise to keep a logbook of some sort. That is why we choose for TrainingPeaks where you are able te log your workout both by devices (heart-rate monitor, power) and yourself. Both give your coach great feedback for Analyzing and adjusting the TrainingPlan.
No trainingplan is perfect, it will always need some adjustment on the way.
No trainingplan is rock-solid, if you not feeling well, train more easy or do no training at all.

Conclusion and more Tips

Setting goals is important, you simply can't life without them (on every front, not just sport)

Choose your goals wisely and if you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it.

Split your goals into subgoals and build a plan around it.

Your goal should always be a positive thing.

Keep a log in your progress and executing the plan.

Keep the goal in your own control, you can't influence what someone/something else is doing. (opponent, the weather, the judge).

Be realistic, honest and humble to yourself, not to hard and not to soft to yourself.

Execute, Monitor, Analyze, Adjust, Enjoy (repeat)

Examples

- I will complete running a 5km / 10km / half marathon / marathon / ultra-run
- I will complete cycling a 20km / 40km / century / double century / gran fondo / climb a mountain
- I will break a personal record
- For a year round, i will do at least 1 yoga workout every week
- In free style swimming i will learn to breath both sides.
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