2023 Season Preview
My 2023 season will be my first post collegiate track season. I dabbled in some road races this past fall, but have always considered the track my bread and butter. I prefer to focus on process goals rather than outcome goals, but still see the value of establishing a few outcome goals. My philosophy on goal setting is to set a few outcome goals, and to let them be after that. They can provide some motivation and serve as a reminder of the level of excellence you hold yourself to. Put them out there, but don’t obsess every day about them, and rather focus on ‘the work’, and ‘the process’. An old teammate used to say, “set your goals high, then let the work fill in the gap between where you are and where you want to be.”
My outcome goals for this coming season are relatively simple. I’m training to make the USA Indoor/Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which is the pinnacle of track in the country. Qualification comes with time standards, which become my de-facto time goals (~3:37 1500m, ~3:57 mile). Having this as a goal reminds me of the level of excellence I need to embody in my training day in and day out. However, process goals provide the ‘how’ and give a blueprint to achieving my outcome goals. I have always found, and the research backs me up, that being where your feet are and focusing on process leads to consistency, and sustainable growth. And anyone who has been successful in the sport of running will tell you how important consistency is for success. Below are a few examples of process goals that I hold myself to:
8 hours of sleep/night
Enough calories to fuel training day in/day out
Any sort of soft tissue work 2x/week
Strength training 2x/week
Emotional steadiness throughout the season
Being present in the part of the season we are in
Patience
With my goals established, a great calendar of races fell into place that will hopefully give me some great opportunities to reach my goals. For this indoor season, this entails 3 races in 4 weeks with the goal of hitting a qualifying mark to get into the USA Indoor Champs on Feb 16-18. I will open up with a mile/800 at a low-key meet at South Dakota State on Jan. 21. Following that, I will head out to Boston University to race a fast mile. After Boston, depending on how things have shaken out, I will either race a 3,000, or another Mile at some point in the next two weeks. This blog will provide updates after each race, so you can follow along here, as well as on my socials. Thanks for reading!