{"id":9785,"date":"2024-01-12T21:15:56","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T14:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=9785"},"modified":"2024-01-12T21:15:56","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T14:15:56","slug":"how-to-set-a-marathon-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=9785","title":{"rendered":"How to Set a Marathon Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">I<\/span> don\u2019t remember how or why I decided I was going to break four hours in my first marathon. Maybe I\u2019d heard about a friend who did it and it sounded impressive while also somewhat attainable. Maybe I thought because I\u2019d run just under two hours in a half marathon, I could maintain that same pace for twice the distance.<\/p>\n<p>Spoiler alert: I couldn\u2019t\u2014and I didn\u2019t. The effort of running faster than I should have for as long as I could meant the end of my race was pretty miserable and involved a lot of walking.<\/p>\n<p>Setting a time goal for your first marathon can be so fraught that many people suggest not even doing it\u2014just aim to finish the race. But even multi-time marathoners can struggle to choose a marathon goal that strikes the right balance of doable-but-challenging without the help of an experienced coach.<\/p>\n<p>Time goals aren\u2019t the only kinds of goals runners should be thinking about, though, and they certainly shouldn\u2019t come out of thin air like mine did. Here\u2019s how experts recommend you approach setting marathon goals\u2014yes, plural\u2014for your next 26.2.<\/p>\n<h2>The purpose of a marathon goal<\/h2>\n<p>The marathon is a daunting endeavor and an enormous commitment. Having a goal \u201cis a way of focusing in order to organize ourselves around what\u2019s really important to us,\u201d says sports psychologist and avid marathoner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esaulmovement.com\/bio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.esaulmovement.com\/bio\">Emily Saul, LMHC<\/a>, founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esaulmovement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.esaulmovement.com\/\">E Saul Movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For instance: Though our goal may be to set a personal record of 3:40, what that goal really represents is our desire to make progress in our running.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline text-h5 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-to-set-a-marathon-goal\/\" current-title=\"How To Set a Marathon Goal That\u2019s Actually Realistic\" current-image=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1188181750-425x285_418x278_true_70.webp\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2023-07-12\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-to-set-a-marathon-goal\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-to-set-a-marathon-goal\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-to-set-a-marathon-goal\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOften, the time you pick is not significant, other than it\u2019s something you\u2019re stretching toward,\u201d Saul says. \u201cGoals help us to be more purposeful and create accountability and motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>How to approach setting a time goal<\/h2>\n<p>Certain time goals loom large in the running world: The Boston Qualifier, the sub-4, the sub-3. But, \u201cpicking your goal based on what you\u2019ve heard is important in the world, or simply a standard that exists, without a real sense of whether that is a reasonable physical goal for you, is not a good reason to pick that goal,\u201d Saul says.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, your time goal should line up with your current fitness and how much you predict that fitness may be able to grow over the next 16 to 20 weeks. (And if that happens to align with one of those big milestones, great!)<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve run a marathon relatively recently, that\u2019s often the easiest way to set a goal for your next one. But don\u2019t just arbitrarily subtract a few minutes from your last time: You\u2019ll want to consider factors like how that race felt, what the course and conditions were like, and how much time you\u2019ll have to train for your next race.<\/p>\n<p>The math gets trickier if it\u2019s your first time tackling 26.2.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe marathon is very much a learned distance\u2014you don\u2019t fully understand it until you\u2019ve done it,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/coachcorkyruns.com\/about-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/coachcorkyruns.com\/about-me\/\">Elizabeth Corkum<\/a>, a New York City-based running coach, personal trainer, and founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/coachcorkyruns.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/coachcorkyruns.com\/\">Coach Corky Runs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Corkum suggests running a half marathon first to get some information about your current fitness. Just don\u2019t make the mistake of doubling your time and making that your marathon goal. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/sports\/sports_nut\/2014\/10\/running_calculator_introducing_slate_s_marathon_time_predictor_a_better.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/sports\/sports_nut\/2014\/10\/running_calculator_introducing_slate_s_marathon_time_predictor_a_better.html\">Multiplying it by 2.2<\/a>, or doubling it and adding 10 minutes, are usually more accurate predictors.)<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not uncommon to hear you shouldn\u2019t even be thinking about a time goal for your first marathon; that it should be \u201cjust for fun,\u201d or just to finish. Coach and professional runner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.runningjoyfully.com\/about-kaitlin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.runningjoyfully.com\/about-kaitlin\">Kaitlin Gregg Goodman, MPH<\/a>, disagrees, saying running for fun and running for time are not mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Time] is much harder to predict for a first-time marathoner, and you should have a healthy respect for the distance, and a healthy respect for the unknown. But it\u2019s absolutely appropriate to have a time goal you want to target\u2014<em>and<\/em> a goal that you want to enjoy [your race].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You may even want to set three different time goals, Goodman suggests. A \u201cC\u201d goal that feels very attainable but still something you\u2019d feel proud of, a \u201cB\u201d goal that\u2019s a bit more of a stretch, and an \u201cA\u201d goal, for \u201cif all the stars align, it\u2019s amazing weather, you get a tailwind the whole way,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDream big\u2014see what\u2019s possible, because sometimes, if that day presents itself and you haven\u2019t allowed yourself to visualize it, it catches you by surprise. Be open to the possibility of being faster than you ever dreamed.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWhen you think about your goal, it should energize you.\u201d \u2014Emily Saul, LMHC, sports psychologist and avid marathoner<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Be flexible<\/h3>\n<p>Setting a time goal isn\u2019t an exact science, and it may be what felt like the right amount of challenging at the beginning of your training cycle was a bit of an overreach.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re consistently not hitting splits in your workouts\u2014Goodman says the workouts four to six weeks out from the race are key\u2014or if your goal marathon pace still feels difficult to maintain for longer stretches, that may be a sign that your goal could use an adjustment.<\/p>\n<p>And while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-long-to-train-marathon\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-long-to-train-marathon\/\">marathon training<\/a> is almost always going to feel hard, you shouldn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re constantly depleted or needing multiple days to recover from runs.<\/p>\n<h3>Know that outcome-based goals aren\u2019t everything<\/h3>\n<p>The numbers on the clock when you cross the finish line are just one metric to measure success in a marathon. But the problem with only setting outcome-based goals is \u201cyou can\u2019t know that you\u2019re successful until the end,\u201d Saul says. \u201cAnd there\u2019s so many opportunities to get in your head or get caught up in the pressure of performing when it comes to focusing only on that outcome-based goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why Saul recommends runners set both process-based and experiential goals in addition to (or instead of) an outcome-based time goal. A process goal can be anything related to your training\u2014maybe you want to work on running your easy runs easier or getting consistent sleep during your build-up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I work on a process goal, I\u2019m going to get to the starting line of the marathon and still have no guarantee what the outcome time is going to be,\u201d Saul says. \u201cBut I\u2019m going to be able to look back at my training cycle and go, I\u2019m already successful because I worked on that and I got so much better at that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Experiential goals are about the experience of running the race and how you want it to feel. Maybe you commit to using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/positive-self-talk\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/positive-self-talk\/\">positive self-talk<\/a> or to making sure you stay fueled and hydrated through your race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhereas you don\u2019t have control over lots of factors that influence your outcome time, you have almost complete control over those experiential factors that are based on what\u2019s going on inside you,\u201d Saul says. \u201cIn my experience, the runners who feel in charge of what\u2019s happening to them and are successful along the way end up running the best they can. Those experiential goals are the pathway to helping an outcome-based time goal happen, but it doesn\u2019t work the other way around\u2014if I just focus on my time goal, that usually creates more mental and emotional barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>It\u2019s okay to not have a time goal at all<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re searching for a training plan online, you may notice most are organized around what pace you expect to run. It\u2019s easy to assume that if you\u2019re training for a marathon, you\u2019re supposed to have a time goal.<\/p>\n<p>But having a ballpark idea of how fast you\u2019re going to run isn\u2019t the same thing as having a time goal, Saul says. And if running for time isn\u2019t meaningful to you or feels stressful rather than motivating, there\u2019s no need to do it.<\/p>\n<p>Running sans time goal may just make sense based on life circumstances, Corkum says. For instance, maybe you signed up for a race but then had an unexpected family situation and weren\u2019t able to train as much as you\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of throwing in the towel and not doing the marathon, sometimes the balance is, \u2018Okay, this is still really meaningful to me, but I also recognize that I can\u2019t be killing it in the way I thought I could.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also totally possible to have outcome goals that aren\u2019t tied to the time on the clock. Maybe you want to finish the race feeling like you\u2019ve \u201cemptied the tank\u201d or with a smile on your face. Or perhaps you want to be an amazing pacer for a friend running their first marathon and have a time goal in service of someone else.<\/p>\n<p>Just don\u2019t lie to yourself and pretend you don\u2019t have a time goal when there\u2019s actually a number in your head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a backdoor attempt at tricking yourself into feeling less pressure,\u201d Saul says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think that\u2019s an effective way of actually addressing the anxiety or worry.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>How the right goal should feel<\/h2>\n<p>Whether or not you\u2019re hitting your splits in your workouts is one clue as to if you\u2019ve chosen the right goal. But what might be even more telling is how your goal makes you feel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you have a goal that makes you anxious or decreases your energy or gives you a sense of dread, that\u2019s an indicator that your goal is not a helpful goal,\u201d Saul says. \u201cIt\u2019s creating a defensive or protective response rather than an excited response. When you think about your goal, it should energize you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I don\u2019t remember how or why I decided I was going to break four hours in my first marathon. Maybe I\u2019d heard about a friend who did it and it sounded impressive while also somewhat attainable. Maybe I thought because I\u2019d run just under two hours in a half marathon, I could maintain that same &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}