Endurance Goals: Slippery but Bonding
Endurance goals for runners and walkers can be a slippery topic.
We come to endurance running and walking from many different backgrounds. Some of us were on track teams in high school. Others got into the sport late in life. Our paces are all over the place. We have lots of different ambitions. We have differing numbers of races under our hydration belts. Not all of us run all of the time. Not all of us walk all of the time.
Put simply, if there is a more diverse group of athletes than those of us who will get together on a Saturday morning for a group run or will compete in a race, then I don’t know what that group is.
But, I believe that my wife, who is an endurance walker and has coached others to complete half marathons, spotted the commonality for me last night.
We were chatting about this topic, and she said to me, “Kirk, our goals keep changing.”
That’s when it struck me:
What unites us as endurance athletes is that we enjoy goals that keep changing!
If you become a SpryFeet.com subscriber, then you answer some questions for me that some would say are intrusive:
- What is your SINGLE BIGGEST FEAR when it comes to your training and racing?
- What is your SINGLE BIGGEST FRUSTRATION when it comes to your training and racing?
- What’s happening as a RESULT OF THIS FRUSTRATION?
- WHAT have you tried so far that HASN’T WORKED?
- If you had a magic wand, what would be the IDEAL SOLUTION for you?
- What is your SINGLE BIGGEST QUESTION when it comes to your running or walking?
As I explain here, “I have MANY ideas for future products, but it is NONSENSICAL to create any of them if none of them will address your challenges.”
In fact, I now am completing research for my next book, and the book’s topic came to me from SpryFeet.com subscribers’ answers to these six questions.
As I was looking last night at some new subscribers’ responses to those questions, I noticed another common theme:
We all have goals, but they are never enough.
For example, one SpryFeet.com subscriber is satisfied that she has completed a marathon, but now she wants to know how to get faster.
Another example: Another SpryFeet.com subscriber wants to know how to transition from completing 5Ks to completing 10Ks.
Each of us reaches a goal and then wants to change the goal to something else.
Put simply…
Our slippery goals unite us.
I am grateful that I get to be surrounded every week by people who are all over the place when it comes to their endurance running or walking but are united by their shared drive to keep improving.
And, I am grateful to those of you who trust me enough to share your challenges with me on my subscription form. To me, it is a sacred trust that you have placed in my hands to support you as an endurance athlete.
So, on this Tuesday of the week of Thanksgiving here in the USA, let me say, “I am grateful for you, my readers and subscribers!”
Please weigh in.
What have YOU noticed that binds us together as endurance runners and walkers? How does that make you feel more grateful about the sport? Please leave a comment below!
