A competitive athlete since childhood, I find it incredibly difficult to keep a fitness routine if I’m not working toward a goal. After recently training (and completing!) a marathon, I compiled a few of my best tips for accomplishing a big goal.
Tell people about it
My mom is the opposite of me on this. She likes to wait until everything is buttoned up before breathing a word to anyone. For me, telling everyone that I was planning to run a marathon was amazing accountability. I couldn’t back out without admitting defeat to about 30 people. Thanks to my competitive spirit, that was enough to ensure I followed through.
Just do it – financially
I’m convinced that someone should have paid ME to run 26.2 miles, but that was not the case. I’ve found that whether I’m doing a race or attending a fitness class, I’m less likely to skip out once I’ve paid the money.
Imagine your victory
For me, victory was making it across the finish line. During a hard run or when I was feeling nervous about the race, I’d think about how accomplished I would feel when I ran across that finish line.
Make it a part of your to-do list
Keeping a fitness goal takes accountability. I added workouts to my daily “to-do” list and treated them like another project that had to get done. I also used my Google calendar to schedule workouts like I would a meeting. This helped me ensure that I wouldn’t double-book myself and that I had the time to fully commit to the workout.
Balancing a fitness goal with a full-time job and personal life is no easy feat and things will come up. When this happened, I would either re-schedule the workout for another time, say no to something else (like skipping a happy hour with friends), or give myself a little grace and take the day off.
Reward yourself
My fitness goals always have many mini-goals within them – all of which are celebrated! After a sprint workout (my least favorite), I always treated myself to a yummy smoothie or green juice. And when I hit the big mile marks (10 miles, 15 miles, etc.), I bought myself a cute piece of clothing that I’d been eyeing. My treats weren’t a purchase every time. After long runs, I allowed myself an afternoon on the couch with my favorite Netflix shows.
Have you ever set and accomplished a major fitness goal? We’d love to hear what it was and your advice for achieving it!