How Events Help in Goal-Setting

I maintain a laundry list of events in the right column of this blog. After each of the additions I recently made, I thought to myself, "Oh yeah! I forgot about that one too..." The list of these events grows each year. Each is COMPLETELY different than the rest. Some focus on endurance. Others on strength. Others on anaerobic capacity.

Some of you might be looking at these events just as I looked at MURPH the first time I heard of it. Well, actually I remember the exact first time I heard of it: Brian M telephoned me to tell me that he and Bobby K just finished this workout. It included 100 pullups, 2oo pushups, and 300 air squats. Oh yeah...and you have to run one mile before and after all that. It offered no consolation that the workout could be broken down (or partitioned) into 20 sets of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 air squats!

I vividly remember how I felt. There was absolutly NO WAY that 100 pullups was remotely possible. But a few months later, I had completed my first MURPH workout.

How did it go from impossible to completed? Through goal-setting and planning.

I set my mind to it. I made up a plan. I wrote in my journal. I kept at it. And each week, I did something specific that helped me realize this goal of completing that challenge. It was not a scatter-gun approach or haphazard preparation. I focused on that goal for one day per week. There was a real method to my madness.

Take a look at the list of event in the right column. The list will surely grow. At the writing of this post it includes:

• Fight for Air Climb.
• The MALTZ Challenge.
• MURPH for Miller.
• Chicago Police Run to Remember 5K.
• Police Week Memorial Workout.
• The Warrior Dash.

You may look at these events through the same lens I first saw MURPH. Do not be intimidated. Take these as opportunities to push yourself. To focus your training time. To realize that something difficult is attainable. To win against adversity.

I will help you develop a training strategy for one or all of these events.