What's my (finish) line?

OK, I am really dating myself by bringing up the old game show What's My Line? I loved it as a kid. Kitty Carlisle and those cat eyed glasses...what's not to like?

Anyway, last night during a one hour ten easy bike (was supposed to be 90 minutes but darkness came along and stopped that) I got to thinking about "finish lines," or goals. We all have goals of some sort in life, short term and long term and pie in the sky goals. I think a life without some goals is not very interesting.

Finish lines are all over the place--from retirement to buying a vacation home to getting the kids out of college without them setting themselves (or anyone else) on fire. Obviously, you need goals in your fitness training in order to make yourself get out there and sweat. And personally, I think you need four types of goals in fitness training: immediate, short term, long term, and pie in the sky.

One of the things I learned in a seminar regarding diversity in the workplace was about setting goals that are in these four categories. It's important to have some goals you can achieve quickly without a terrible amount of blood, sweat and tears, because otherwise, you will fall short of your ultimate finish line and -- and, well, you'll give up.

If all you have are long term or pie in the sky goals, you may be doomed to failure and disappointment. Your pie in the sky goal may be this: "lose weight." Well, that's nice. It's a good goal. I myself have that goal. Constantly. But when faced with a nice slab of chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, that goal seems kind of distant in my head. It's not going to send off any chimes other than a dinner bell.

Your long term goal may be to "lose 15 pounds." Better. That's a number, something you can see and touch on a scale. But IMO, still rather vague. Once again, the cake is gonna win in a knockout.

So perhaps your short term goal would be "lose two pounds a month until I have lost 15 pounds." Now this goal is closer to today rather than someday. This goal means you need to start now, not when it's convenient. A lot of people use goals like these as motivations, and they often work. Problem is, at least for me, when the goal is reached, I'm done. I'm back on the cake plan. And I can still see me cheating on that cake in the interim because I will plan to give up something else to make up for it later. I'm a great negotiator regarding cake.

Now, let's say your immediate goal is this: "to eat no more than ___ thing that is considered a sweet or dessert per ___; to eat at least three servings of steamed veggies per day; to give up butter/mayo; to only drink alcohol on weekends; to leave the table when I am satisfied but not yet full...." This is a right now goal. This means starting with the next meal or snack. This means you can have that cake, but you can't have any more cake--or pie, or candy, or cookies, or sweet tea-- for the next __ days. This goal is touchable, feelable, doable, and tangible. And it doesn't really have an end date, although your mindset may be that when you reach X pounds of weight loss, you might go back to butter on your bread twice a week or one more glass of wine per week. It's a goal that teaches you to eat smarter and better, and has a much better chance of succeeding.

Now, as to fitness, I like to list my four term goals out in writing.

Pie in the sky goals: to stay lean and well muscled as I age; to stay out of a wheelchair and off of a walker; to be able to enjoy physical outdoor activities well into my late 80's, to beat my husband at ping pong.

Long term goals: to finish a 70.3 next year in the cutoff time, to run a full marathon in the next 2 years in less than 5 hours, to get on an age group podium in an Oly tri and a sprint tri, to do a bike century.

Short term goals: to increase my averagebike speed to 15-16 for easy rides and 16-18 for moderate to hard rides, to increase my long run pace back to around 11 min mile, to increase my short run (5K) pace back to around a 9:45 mile, to be able to swim 600yards in less than 15 minutes without puking.

Immediate goals: increasing the amount of time I spend on the aerobars by five additional minutes each bike ride; to be able to ride up the Los Rios Hills at no slower than 12 mph (I'm closing in on that!); to increase my long bikes to 3 hours by October; to be able to run 45 minutes easy with heart rate at aerobic pace and cover more than four miles (I'm closing in on that too); to practice my arm strokes in swimming to improve my form, especially on the right side where I seem to drop my shoulder too quickly; to quit eating sweets at night and for sure, eating no more bread at dinner!

In my above goal scenario, my immediate goals are doable. They are doable pretty quickly, with some work and sweat on my part. And doing the immediate goals moves me closer to my short term goals, and long term goals, and even my pie in the sky goals (except for beating my Patient Spouse at ping pong). Each week, I revisit my immediate goals and adjust accordingly. Each month, I revisit my short term goals as well.

And any time I hit a short term and long term goal (or a pie in the sky goal), it's a cause for a celebration. This may mean buying a cheap geegaw for myself or just giving myself permission to take an hour away from housework and read a good book. Goals are important, but so are celebrating them with yourself. A pat on the back is an excellent motivator.

Tonight I'm off for the day. Tomorrow is a swim, Saturday is a 2 hour bike, and Sunday a long run. In the 100 degree heat. I love Texas!