Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals

Goal setting has been a major theme of my life since I got my first homework planner in junior high.  It turns out that there is quite a lot of science behind setting and accomplishing goals.  The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Half-Marathon Training sums this up in an acronymically succinct way:

When setting your goals, make them S.M.A.R.T. goals:

• Specific and clearly defined;

• Measurable;

• Attainable but challenging;

• Reward yourself;

• Time-based

More on each of those points later.  Today, let me say that between the heat (95 degrees), deer flies, snakes, and unusual human wildlife in the area on the upswing of a long 4th of July party weekend, I was questioning my S.M.A.R.T.'s for the entire 44 minutes it took me to run the 3+ miles required by the regimen.  The saving grace came at the end.  As a good friend from a country way south of the border (where the heat, insects, and reptiles are all somewhat more voluptuous than they are here north of the 42nd parallel) told me on more than one occasion,


"It sure felt good when I was done."


My stats are below.  But HATS OFF!!! to my daughter, who ran a full *7* miles during this tropical wave while I was plugging along to accomplish my paltry 3.3.  She managed to meet up with some older gentleman wearing a bright yellow straw hat while on her trek. He asked her how she was handling the deer flies (ponytail), and snakes.  She hadn't seen any snakes (I've seen 5 since I started), so he offered to show her the tangled one he was carrying in a cooler.  


Huh?


Who knows?!  She politely declined, finished her run, and was left to wonder where the saner people hide on days like today, apparently not on the running trail.  :)


Até amanhã...


7/2/11 - 3.3 miles | 44 mins | 4.5 mph | 372 kcal