Friday, February 05, 2010

Goal Time

The other day, I was reading the Running Room magazine, and there was an article about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) Strangely enough, that evening, Laura brought home a pamphlet from school about SMART goals too - the acronym works in English and French (Spécifique, mesurable, accessible, réaliste et bien défini dans le temps.) So that got me thinking: time to set a smart goal for the marathon.

I will complete this year's Ottawa marathon in a time of _________

Ah, there's the challenge, what is my goal time? I've never done a marathon, and have no clue what to expect for finish time. I have done well in 5K, 10K and half marathons before, so we'll play with numbers via McMillan.

DistanceBest TimeProjected Marathon
5K0:20:533:23:35
10K0:44:563:30:52
21.1K1:42:513:36:55


Are you F-ing nuts? Call me defeatist, but I think we can all agree those times are "Whack".

Let's work backwards. If we are willing to lend some credence to the McMillan tool, let's plug in an arbitrary 3:45, and see what kind of effort that relates to in the 5, 10 and half...

DistanceEstimated TimeBased on Marathon
5K0:23:053:45:00
10K0:47:573:45:00
21.1K1:46:413:45:00


Way more reasonable... I think. I could probably manage those times right now (save the half) on a good day, with proper conditions.

Let's expand the search to 4 hours...

DistanceEstimated TimeBased on Marathon
5K0:24:374:00:00
10K0:51:084:00:00
21.1K1:53:484:00:00


Ahh, now that I could probably do.

Goal 1 - Make it through training!
Goal 2 - Finish
Goal 3 - 4:00
Goal 4 - 3:45

5 comments:

tarheeltri said...

Very doable. I find the McMillan tool much better for working backwards. By the way, I got a Pool-Mate watch from Swimovate last weekend and already conducted my testing. It's in the hands of a swim coach now. Cool stuff!

Phil said...

Very cool on the Pool-Mate watch. I didn't see the review on TriDaddy-- you must be holding out for an Endurance Mag exclusive. Anxious to read an honest review.

Xavi Garcia said...

Totally correct and realistic your approach!

Enjoy the training!

Good job!

Cheers from Hong Kong!

"XTB" Xavi.

Martin Dinan said...

Knowing you Phil, I think you could easily aim for a 3h40 marathon...with possibly a 3h30-3h35 finish if the conditions are right (e.g. injury-free, cool weather, good training).

Cliff said...

Hi Phil,

My best 5 k is 19:24
My best 21 k is 1:39 (with a stomach ache!)

Reading your post..I think 3:30 is very doable for me as well :)

Thanks for your time calculations :)

Now I think I can go faster as well.