I’ve achieved all of the big (to me) athletic goals that I’ve set myself so far apart from two.
The first of these is to qualify for the Ironman World Championships, held annually in Kona Hawaii. My best attempt at that was at Ironman UK in 2016 when I was 30 minutes off qualification time. I simply wasn’t fast enough on the day and would have needed a year or two more of hard consistent training at a point in life when it just didn’t suit. I guess I didn’t want it badly enough at the time.
The other goal is to run a half-marathon in 1 hour 18 minutes. This will require me to shave 3 mins and 45 seconds off my previous personal best of 1:21:45.
have audacious goals
jump onboard
a group all hurtling towards similar goals is almost unstoppable
The reason for this being the goal is a post for another day, but it’s personal. I’ve long been looking for the right time to go for it, when I felt in decent enough condition to enter a race for which I felt like I could hit it having done a decent period of training. With the lack of social events throughout the lockdown periods, I’d been able to run with greater consistency than any other point in the previous few years.
It was always a consideration that if anyone else was up for it and planning on running a similar pace then that could be enough to make me commit.
So you can imagine my delight when I got an email from my favourite sports nutrition brand, Tribe, back in February. They had prepared a package which included race entry into Dorney Lake Half-Marathon on 22 May 2021.
Not only that but the incredible deal included the following:
- 2 boxes of their delicious energy bars
- Training Plan to get me to the start line whatever my target time
- Tribe branded jumper or cap
- Facebook and Whatsapp groups for community support
Stunning!
Tribe’s target for the project, which they call Tribe 10%, is for everyone taking part to knock 10% off their previous PB. It feels great to be part of a community all working towards the same specific goals.
Click here to read Tribe’s Page: Tribe 10% Project
If you’ve read anything else I’ve written (SWAN – The Best 6 Weeks), you’ll know that I am a firm believer that accountability around my goals will improve my chances of achieving them, hence I jumped at the chance to get involved in this amazing journey.
I am literally so excited for the event on 22 May, the thought of setting off from the start line as a pack of runners all targetting times similar to mine will be exhilarating.
But also across the 12 weeks since the training programmes started, until the event, the camaraderie has been and will continue to be incredible.
Conversations in the Whatsapp group have ranged across topics from trainer selection to pacing of training runs to injury prevention and treatment of niggles.
The written programme is supplemented with high quality live video sessions for strength and conditioning, flexibility and stretching.
So my message is one of gratitude to the guys at Tribe. As I think you already know, you are onto a great thing, an amazing community. But also to everyone else reading this, have audacious goals and when opportunities like this come along, jump onboard because the momentum that comes from the social structure of a group all hurtling towards similar goals is almost unstoppable.
Or so I hope… I’ll keep you updated but it’s going well so far.
Want to keep up with me, either at Dorney on 22 May (I think there are still a few entries available!) or otherwise for updates on my progress, drop me your details and I’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing…
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