Be SMARTER with your exercise!!

I went on the excellent Leadership in Running Fitness (LiRF) course run by the FRA last week. I have to admit to having gone on the course thinking it might teach me things I already knew and that it was more of a stepping stone to further qualifications. But it was, in fact, an excellent course from which I took plenty of thoughts and plenty of new ideas.

One of which was the idea that we should be SMARTER in what we do. Quite a few people will have come across the idea of “SMART” objectives in their work but I wonder how many take such a simple, workable principle and apply it to their running, cycling etc?

Although this might seem likely a slightly “odd” topic for a blog about sports injuries etc, the fact is that the more motivated we are, the more we have a set goal in mind and a plan to train towards it, the less likely we are to get injured.

So, a recap on SMART and, in particular, how it might apply to our activities;

S – Specific

For a goal to be worthwhile, it needs to be specific and not general. For example, having a goal to be able to “run faster” is not specific enough. Having a goal to run a certain time for a certain distance or, for example, to achieve a PB at a certain distance is specific. If that all sounds a bit daunting, consider having a “standard” run that you do on a regular basis and let your goal be, for example, to run that same route 10% faster than you do now within 3 months.

The “specific” tag would also be satisfied by having target races at which you want to either achieve a certain time or a certain placing. For example, my two goals this year are to a) finish Wasdale and avoid the cut-offs and b) to do a better time at Ben Nevis than I have done previously.

M – Measurable

This ties in to the above, in that any goal you set yourself must be clearly measurable, so that you can see whether you have achieved it or not. For instance, the goal “to be fitter” is a difficult one to measure and one that might not easily be discernable by you. Quite often, when we’re training, we don’t realise the progress we’ve made until we achieve a measurable result (such as a faster 10k time etc) because the changes are gradual.

So set yourself a target that you can clearly say either “yes, I achieved that” or “no, I didn’t”. Again, setting a definite time for a distance, or setting a percentage improvement over a distance would be clearly measurable.

A – Agreed

Now this might sound like an obvious one when we’re setting a target to ourselves, but is it agreed? How many times do we enter events and then, when the event comes around, we’re not even on the start line? It sounded like a good idea at the time, but the truth is we were never really committed to it.

When we are committed to something, we’re more likely to stick at it, we’re more likely to set a sensible plan working towards it and we’re more likely to see the “bigger picture” rather than worrying about short-term problems in our training.

So, I’d suggest, next time you’re getting carried away entering events, stop for a moment and consider your commitment towards them and, therefore, whether you internally agree with your objective.

R – Realistic

Now this is a toughie isn’t it? Again, how many times do we get carried away with bravado in a conversation with others and agree that, yes, I’ll give that 50-miler a go next month!! Daylight dawns and you realise you’ve gone and committed to doing something that is outwith your capabilities within such a timescale (and I’d stress the timescale, because we all have the potential to do much greater things than we currently achieve).

So, having set a goal, it’s really important to stand back and check that it is achievable. Do you have the time to train? Is there enough time to train between now and the event? What skills and resources will be needed to achieve your goal and are they available?

That doesn’t mean you don’t push yourself with the goals you set. Indeed, you must! For example, my goal to get around Wasdale is, I know, achievable because I have done far longer runs on those same hills but, at the same time, I realise that from my current base fitness, with a slight knee niggle and only 7 weeks until the race, it’s a goal that will stretch me and require me to be fully focused in my training. However, for me to set a goal saying I wanted to be in the top 20 or to finish in 5 hours would be totally unrealistic.

Similarly, whatever your goal, check that it is one you have to work for, but not one that is so demanding that you will surely suffer disappointment.

T – Time-recorded

Any goal needs to define a timescale within which that goal should be achieved. So, if you have a target race, that’s easy because it will be the race date. If you don’t, then you will need to set a time limit for yourself. For example, if your goal is to break 50 minutes for a 10k, you need to set a timescale within which that should be achieved. It may be a season, it may be a calendar year, but you need to be able to look back at that point and reflect on whether you achieved your goal and what affected the outcome.

So that sums up what we traditionally called “SMART” objectives. The LiRF taught me that UK Athletics are now promoting an “ER” on the end to add two more criteria, as follows;

E – Exciting

How ridiculous, you might think. If I’ve set my own objective, of course it will be exciting. But again, how many times do we set ourselves a goal and not fully commit to it because, deep down, we’re not really that bothered about it.

From my own point of view, this clearly happened to me towards the end of my road running era as I took to the fells. I entered several road races with PBs as my goal. But the truth was, I wanted to be out on the fells, not running on the roads and so my motivation wasn’t there. I wasn’t at all excited by plodding out miles on tarmac.

So, stop and think for a moment whether your objective is truly exciting you. Is there another objective which would truly excite you? Perhaps one you’re a little frightened to admit to yourself? It took me a good while to finally declare that what excited me was having a go at the Bob Graham Round, and therefore committing to it as a goal. Be daring!

R – Recordable

A bit obvious, perhaps, but an objective needs to be recordable. This goes back to the first couple of criteria, of specific and measurable.

I came back from the LiRF, got out a piece of paper and put down my objectives. I was honest with myself, tried to make sure I stretched myself rather than staying within my comfort zone but, at the same time, admitted what would excite me.

Give it a go yourself and you may be very surprised at the motivation it gives you in your training. And perhaps I’ll see you out running on the hills, zooming past me on your bike, heading off to the gym to do some specific strengthening exercises or, indeed, on the massage table, committed to shaking off those niggles that have been holding you back and determined to hit peak physical fitness and be generally SMARTER!