Learning How to Set Goals: The Best Running Incentive

My favorite running buddies:
I realized today that my favorite running buddies are, without a doubt, my kids. Don't get me wrong - there's definitely something to be said about running with a fellow adult runner who can potentially push the pace, and supply, or listen to, actual adult conversation. With kids, though, the raw excitement and awe that exudes from their wiggling, squirming, bodies as they stretch around the sides of the stroller are such contagious emotions, that I can't help but want to push forward and soak in every detail of every curve ahead along with them. Pushing my double stroller can sometimes feel like I'm pushing a ton of bricks through sand. I would push ten tons of bricks down the longest beach on the planet, though, if I got to listen to the accompanying soundtrack that includes the giggles, the incessant questions, and the made-up songs that stream from the two fantastic little people bouncing around ahead of me. I've heard of moms who refuse to schedule runs with their kids for fear of feeling selfish. Considering my three-year-old jumps around the room like an exhilarated, electrified wind-up toy at the mere mention of a "family run," I've never felt in any way selfish for strapping my kids in the stroller and "dragging" them along as extra resistance and cardio training. Just as a precaution, though, I sometimes plan my routes so as to hit a park along the way. If the run doesn't include a park stop, the end of the run will most likely turn into a game of tag between the 3-year-old and the stroller - squeals and giggles erupting from all involved. All in all, I pretty much earn the "Mom of the year" award every time I include my kids in my training plan.

I actually can't think of a single run with my kids that hasn't left me exponentially more energized by the end than when I started. Running with my first daughter when she wasn't much past the "baby blob" stage was certainly rewarding - I was convinced that I was setting some kind of positive example and was getting my pre-baby body back. But running with her as an actual little person - someone with whom you can actually rationalize; someone who also has a painfully accurate and blunt sense of observation - is not only rewarding, but it's absolutely fascinating. At this age, neither girl has any reservations and so gush support and excitement automatically whenever offered an opportunity. At the same time, they're both enormous sponges, waiting eagerly for any new piece of wisdom to soak up and then spit back out when you least expect it.

What is a goal?
So, on a recent run, I attempted to throw in something new and hopefully give my older one something to soak up. I threw out, and then did my best to explain, a term that most adults, me included, still have trouble grasping and understanding. Not actually expecting her to fully comprehend the meaning, I told my daughter that I was going to set a goal. So our latest lesson: What is a goal? In trying to define a goal, in little-person terms, I told her that my goal was to reach the end of the road (three-quarters of a mile ahead), even though I thought it would be hard for me to keep running to the end. I explained that a goal was something that was hard to finish, but we tried to do it anyway. Her response: "Mmm." So maybe that one went in one ear and out the other. She cheered me on for the full mile anyway. (I ended up running an extra quarter mile with "Go Mom, go! I BELIEVE in you!" coming from the little beaming face that watched each step of the way - who wouldn't want to run that extra bit just to hear more of those words in that adorable little voice, especially when they sound more like "Do Mom, Do!")

The interpretation:
Finally, in reaching the Stop sign that marked the end of the run, we all broke out into hoops and hollers (the baby included). "Woohoo!" I heard myself yell. "We did it! We made our goal!" Just to see if I had at all succeeded in my attempt to try and teach by example (setting a goal and pushing forward, even though I thought it might be tough, to reach that goal), I asked the munchkin if she remembered what a goal was. Her response: "Reaching."

In a single word, my three-year-old summed up a painfully difficult concept with a far better definition than I could have ever composed. And with that single word, she gave me a new perspective on what it really means to set a goal: we set goals for things that seem out of reach and then do what we can to ultimately reach as far as we need to so that those same things are right in front of us. The best part is, for a three-year-old, there's no reason not to figure out a way to reach far enough. Her sense of reality is so straightforward and her optimism spills from every pore of her being that success for anyone seems obviously inevitable.

So while an adult running buddy can help me pace myself or can fill me in on the latest gossip as a distraction, I'd much rather take every opportunity to set goals, and then push through any mental blocks to achieve them, for my pint-sized running buddies. It also doesn't hurt to have my very own cheering section whenever I need an extra boost!