2021 Goals

Happy New Year folks 😊 Going to give a quick recap on last weeks training before delving into talking about goals in general and my goals for 2021!

Last week was the 5th week in a row I averaged just over 50 miles for the week. Having dealt with various injuries from August to November its good to string together over a month of consistent training. As most who read this know I don’t really worry too much about mileage goals but I know when I’m getting 50 mile + in each week it usually means consistent solid training for me. The week consisted of 6 days running with 2 harder days; a tempo session on Thursday and a longer run on Sunday! Tempo session actually was down for Wednesday but track ended being covered in frost and so my brother and I pushed the session to Thursday. Luckily the track wasn’t covered in frost on Thursday instead it was covered in snow ☹ We deemed it still runnable but just had to be careful. Anyway I got a decent 5 mile Tempo in 27.23 averaging 5.28 with the following mile splits:

· 5.33

· 5.32

· 5.32

· 5.27

· 5.19

Happy with that in not ideal conditions, although there is no such thing as ideal conditions around this time of the year! Legs were heavy and tight for a few days after this so got some very easy running in over the next few days before getting in 12 miles yesterday in 88 mins. Pace was slower than intended but felt as though this as fast as the body wanted to go, said I’d listen to the body and follow suit!

Ok So GOALS! I know this is something people can obsess about too much and some people make goals and forget about them a week later. I personally think its important to set goals. It gives you something to strive towards, gives you the motivation to put in the effort in when things are tough to makes the goals reality and also its just good to dream and have hope towards something! When making your goals make them tough but also attainable.

Also really important to focus on the process and not necessarily the outcome! What do I mean by this? Ok so say one of my goals is to break 2.25 for the marathon this year. What this does mean and how do I get there? Well I need to focus on the now and think about what do I need to in the short term that will yield a result in the long term. So I need to do the following:

· Put together solid weeks back to back

· Remain injury free (which means I will have to work on my strength and weaknesses)

· Build a solid base to be able to handle the rigours of marathon training (So essentially be fit to train)

· Look after nutrition, hydration and recovery

All of the above are factors I can focus on right now which will in turn make my long term goals achievable further down the line. I’m a big believer in setting short term goals that tie in and can aid your overall long term goal. This gives you focus in in the short term and in the now and can allow you to build on little WINS that will give you the confidence you need to attack your bigger goals! So in essence don’t focus on the outcome focus on the process and the outcome will look after itself.

OK, so below are the specific time Goals I have for 2021:

Looking at these goals I think these are all tough but realistic and achievable targets. Can’t wait to look back at the end of the year and see what I’ve ticked off! To achieve this I will need to focus on the bullet points listed above and ensure I’m doing all of these. Obviously races are a no go at the moment however they will come back, for the mean time I’m going to aim to complete a Time Trial every 4 weeks. It might not be necessarily over the distances mentioned above but over a mixture of distances to test myself and also to mix it up for a bit of fun. Time Trials gave the runners I coach something to aim for at the end of last year so anyone out there struggling with motivation I’d highly recommend setting these as targets!

Another goal I have this year is to complete 2 Marathon Blocks. I was just starting the taper for Rotterdam Marathon last March when the world stopped, however I know that block gave me a great base to run a 5k PB over the Summer. So at beginning of February I am going to start a Marathon block which will lead to a Marathon Time Trial/ Effort in Mid April. Which I’m really looking forward to and hope to document the training towards that in this Blog!

If you have any running goals you want to achieve or if you just want to get a bit more consistent and are looking for a bit more accountability email me @ noelcarrollrunning@gmail.com for info on my online coaching plans!

Have a great week folks and thanks for reading 😊

Noel