"Define short term goals"
The process of working towards a long term goal should be broken down into a number of steps, and you should plan to focus on only one step at a time.
Short term goals are the steps in the ladder of success.
In competition, what kinds of short term goals do athletes have? First there are “outcome” goals. Examples are – win a race; beat an opponent. These are the hardest to achieve as the outcome is not entirely in our control but also relies on how others perform. Then there are “performance” goals – run a particular time, clear a particular height. Coaches prefer working with performance goals rather than outcome goals because performance goals are easier to monitor and manage. Finally there are “technique” goals – such as, start fast and decisively when the gun fires; hold form through the finish line.
Best results are probably obtained when all three types of short term goals are in mind.
Attributes of good short term goals include – realistic and achievable – specific and measurable – allow you to take control – target a particular time or time frame (rather than “sometime”) – and are couched in positive terms.
An example of a short term training goal - if this week I ran a session of ten 200m intervals averaging 45 secs, then next week I might repeat the session and target 44 secs average.
An example of a short term racing goal - run an even paced 800 metres in 2:40.
Racing Principle #5 - Define short term goals.
The process of working towards a long term goal should be broken down into a number of steps, and you should plan to focus on only one step at a time.
Short term goals are the steps in the ladder of success.
In competition, what kinds of short term goals do athletes have? First there are “outcome” goals. Examples are – win a race; beat an opponent. These are the hardest to achieve as the outcome is not entirely in our control but also relies on how others perform. Then there are “performance” goals – run a particular time, clear a particular height. Coaches prefer working with performance goals rather than outcome goals because performance goals are easier to monitor and manage. Finally there are “technique” goals – such as, start fast and decisively when the gun fires; hold form through the finish line.
Best results are probably obtained when all three types of short term goals are in mind.
Attributes of good short term goals include – realistic and achievable – specific and measurable – allow you to take control – target a particular time or time frame (rather than “sometime”) – and are couched in positive terms.
An example of a short term training goal - if this week I ran a session of ten 200m intervals averaging 45 secs, then next week I might repeat the session and target 44 secs average.
An example of a short term racing goal - run an even paced 800 metres in 2:40.
Racing Principle #5 - Define short term goals.
