On Saturday I ran my first ever 5K (3.1 miles) run. Back in December, I had written a goal to complete a 5K for a charity or fundraising event by December 2019. I went a little further with my goal and set a finishing time goal of under 30 minutes. I added the time component following advice from my coach/mentors (Russ & Deric at the TCS Business Summit) to push my goals (which should make you a little uncomfortable) to a little further beyond what you might think a realistic goal. It especially helps if that “beyond” realm seems a little silly, slightly unrealistic (but not impossible) or even a little crazy.
For example, instead of setting a goal to “learn to waltz with my spouse”, take that one-step further. How about “learn to waltz with my spouse and compete in a local dance competition in the next 6 months”? Or better yet, push it even further: “learn to waltz with my spouse and finish in the top 3 of a local dance competition”. Learning to dance is doable; aiming to place in a competition is a stretch – and that’s the point. Even though learning to waltz with your spouse is a worthwhile and totally realistic goal, adding a little bit of crazy is going to up the ante… and by default, the benefits (both intended AND unintended). By setting “uncomfortable” goals, you’re setting yourself up for serious (personal) growth and expansion. Heck, even if you don’t win the dance competition, even competing in a dance competition is a huge win (and think of the massive relationship wins you’ll incur as part of the training and performance aspects).
Also keep in mind that the space where the “little bit of crazy” exists is not very busy. It’s like the space where you go the extra mile. That’s not very busy or crowded either. Not many people go the extra mile or add a little bit of crazy to their goals; there’s plenty of room! By going the extra mile and setting goals well beyond the norm, that’s were success is not only nurtured and cultivated – it’s profoundly accelerated.
I set the goal to run a 5K in under 30 minutes. Keep in mind a couple of things: I positively loathe running. Seriously. Until this year, I had barely been able to run more than 2 miles at a time in my life. Further, I doubt I had ever run more than 20 minutes without stopping. I played team sports in my youth. I find running very lonely. Me running a 5K was nuts (but doable). Attempting to run it in under 30 minutes was batshit (and a significant stretch).
I had specifically written that I wanted to participate in a “charitable” or fundraising type 5K. Soon after I set my goal, I had the opportunity to sign up to for an event to help raise funds for a local family who had tragically lost a relative (young man).
The event itself was on Saturday. Boy it was cold!! Start time temperature was a ridiculous 39 degrees (4 degrees Celsius). And the wind! Oh my goodness.
I’m not gonna lie – it was brutal. My wife kept me going. I’d still be walking right now if it wasn’t for her. I should also thank Imagine Dragons et al on my special 5K playlist I created on Spotify. But I ran the entire race without stopping. There were times where the wind was blowing in my face so hard I could hardly catch my breathe. Interestingly, bellowing the occasional obscenity at the utter absurdity of the brutal cold and wind was effortless!
But the wind reminded me of something: I was alive. The wind was letting me know I was alive. I was running for someone who couldn’t feel it. Perspective.
In addition to firing up my Spotify playlist, I was tracking my run through my smartwatch and the MapMyRun app on my phone. I only checked my watch a couple of times and when I did, it seemed like I was on track.
But then I wasn’t.
I could see the finish line in the distance. I had mentally prepared myself for that final push in case I needed to. There’s ALWAYS enough energy for that final push in a race or celebration (have you noticed that marathon runners in the Olympics ALWAYS run a lap of honor?). The last part of the race was absolutely brutal: uphill into a fierce wind. As I approached the official timer, my hear sank: 32 minutes and a handful of seconds? Are you kidding me right now? Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled beyond words that I had completed my first 5K without stopping, but that time!?
That time was not a welcomed sight at all. Ugh.
I stopped/walked just short of the finish line to let my wife go first through the single file finishing gate. After I crossed the finish line, I stopped both my watch and my app (two different race trackers). I was completely exhausted and wasn’t really paying much attention to the stats on either device. I needed a minute (and a banana).
It wasn’t until a few minutes later that I jumped into both apps and couldn’t help but notice that BOTH had measured the distance I had run at 3.25 miles!? For those of you who missed this in the first sentence, a 5K is actually 3.1 miles. I had run 3.25 miles in 32+ minutes. Apparently I wasn’t the only one to record this anomaly; a couple of other runners had logs showing the same distance. At least I could verify it wasn’t just me. The course just hadn’t been measured correctly.
A little further investigating revealed I had run the first 3-miles in 29 minutes and 17 seconds. Could I have done that final push and completed the last 0.1 miles in record speed? Did I actually achieve my goal of running a 5k in under 30 minutes? Is my watch and app accurate?
I have no idea.
Guess I’m running another 5K to find out.
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