Goals...

Napolean Hill once wrote "what the mind of man can conceive and believe, he can achieve"...
To validate that statement, all we have to do is look around, read history or simply look at our own lives to know that we are capable of unbelievable accomplshments.
Stephen Covey talks about establishing your mission and vision and once established, decisions become easier. Chet Scott from Built to Lead teaches that it all surrounds your core.
As I think about this journey to the starting line at Ironman Wisconsin, I believe a set of goals will be absolutely critical to my success. Not just a training plan with specific mileage goals, intensity levels and aerobic/anerobic threshold level improvment, all necessary in preparation for the race, but I believe goals that will get me up in the morning when every fiber in my body is giving my mind an excuse to lay in bed.
I have the training plan established which is my road map, but for this post, I want to establish my goals for the race. I have several reasons why I'm doing this, some I wrote about in my first post, but here is what I hold myself accountable to:
Goal #1 Finish!
Goal #2 Finish in less than 13 hours
Goal #3 Weigh less that 190 lbs
Goal #4 Find out what I'm capable of physically/Mentally
Goal #5 Be moved and Inspired
Goal #6 Inspire someone else

It's as simple as that really, to do it and say that I did it. That would mean allot to me.
But that won't get me out of bed when it gets tough, or keep me from cutting a tough work out short, or keep me from picking up that cookie when everyone else is and I'm telling myself, "hey, you worked out today, you deserve it!" (no I don't by the way)
What will keep me going, getting out of bed and getting to that finish line has to be bigger than myself.
Watch the Ironman World Championship in Kona or see a true story like Rudy or the new movie The Pursuit of Hapiness and you see that their accomplishment was driven by something much bigger than themeselves. The man who completes his first Ironman in 6 months after watching a man with ALS do the same thing, racing to raise awareness for this dreadful disease.
Completing an Ironman is not a big deal, it happens all the time, but completing one IS a big deal, to me. I don't have a disease I am running for, I don't have a story that would be worthy of air time, but I have something that means a great deal to me, and that reason is because....... I said I would. I could not tell my family or my close friends that I'm doing this and then quit. It's not in my make up to look you in the eyes and just say " I couldn't do it".
So as I'm running, riding or swimming and it hurts to keep going and I want to quit, I'll think of them, because it's important I do it.

Have a great 2007!