Writen By: Simone Kay
Do you have a S-T-R-E-T-C-H goal?
I have set myself a goal … to quality for the World Obstacle Course Racing Championships.
YIKES!!!
This is a STRETCH goal becuase it's stretches me in so many directions. It stretches my ability to believe in myself; it stretches my confidence, my endurance, my patience, my knowledge, my capacity to manage feedback, my capacity for change. And like so many stretches in life, it makes me feel just a little bit uncomfortable, even though I know it's good for me.
There are a few personal obstacles that I need to conquer before I get there and to help me get through it I will blog on my experience, to remind me of the important pieces of this journey and so that I can look back and hopefully learn something worthwhile from the experience.
Why do I do this in a blog? Because every little bit of support helps when there is a big goal to be achieved and because someone reading this might have some advice, commentary or feedback that will give me the motivation I may need on a bad day to keep going.
This day, TODAY, I am optimistic and motivated.
I have revved up my motivational mental engines with a double dose of Rocky Balboa in the new movie “Creed” and a revisit of his first epic Rocky movie. I have an good baseline level of strength, endurance and overall fitness after 12 months of consistent exercise and movement training without injury. I have the experience of 6 Spartan obstacle races behind me. And now, at last, I have found my goal.
As a 40 something year old mother of 2 young boys with my own training business I recognise that this is a selfish goal. That’s kind of why I like it. When I achieve it, I will own it.
Spartan have a saying “you’ll know at the finish line” and it’s true. Upon completion of every Spartan obstacle race that I have done I have been able to analyse my performance and know whether I really gave it all. No-one else is responsible for the race I run … just me. The reality for me is that I have not yet really given it my all.
In every event that I have done to date I have found my own excuse. At the first event I was the trainer supporting and motivating my team - a simple way of taking the focus off my own performance. In subsequent events, a similar thing happened, whether I walked along side those that I had trained, or whether I ‘picked up stragglers’ in need of motivation, at the end of the race this was my ‘excuse’ for an acceptably average performance.
After my first stadium race in February this year I realised that my body had potential, and quite frankly, so too did my mind. But it is a truly scary thing to say to yourself I can do better, and then to say I will do my best. My BIG BAD Goal scares my to bits!!
This Saturday begins the 12 week countdown to the Spartan Stadium Race at Suncorp. This is the first event I will take on in 2016. It will be a 6km run (up and down stairs) with 35 obstacles. A distance comfortable enough to run at pace and sufficient obstacles to challenge me mentally to keep going. I really do get excited just thinking about it.
My preparation right now has me running about 10km a week on trails at a comfortable pace of between 8 - 9 mins / km; doing 1 - 2 strength training sessions with my PT focusing on upper body strength and speed and my own personal give back to myself of daily Tai Chi. Today, I had a massage for the first time in a year. I think this could also become a regular piece of the program!
I feel ready to ramp it up and see what happens.
The ramping up - this is my S-T-R-E-T-C-H goal. This is the place I will go, to see if I can in fact go there.
Already over the last 12 months I have realised that what I thought was hard work, is not. I have realised that I have a tendency to slow down and push back when things begin to hurt, and I have realised that there was a gap between what I thought I was prepared to do, and what I actually was prepared to do.
Now I am ready to ‘suck-it-up’ and really find out. There comes a time, for all of us I think, when we simply find ourselves asking the question - what am I really capable of?
When you are ready to ask this question, and when you are ready to find an answer, something will LIGHT YOU UP. You will find something that burns a fire deep inside and stirs you to action. You will find something that scares you to bits and gives you so much energy that you just can’t let it go. Challenging myself to make this qualification for the OCRWC is my such thing. This is my stretch goal.
What lights you up?
