I set another PB tonight! This time over 5km - 23:29 - and I'm stoked! Thats a whole minute off my previous best on that course. (I know, most of you are laughing about how pathetically slow that is, but it is light years ahead of where I was 18 months ago.)
I find doing regular races of varying distances and disciplines is great for keeping motivated. For example over the last month I have done three 5km fun runs, a corporate team triathlon bike leg and a 150km duathlon. This weekend, I have a half marathon and the following Friday a triathlon.
I don't try to acheive a PB at every event, but I have goals in mind for each. I never set out just to finish. I always set a time that I know is achievable, but still a challenge. So for the Rail Trail Duathlon I set myself a goal of 9 hours (I bettered that by 30 minutes), which I knew I would have to work hard for. For the three fun runs, I set out to improve my time over series (I improved from 25:03 minutes, to 25:01 and then 23:29 albeit on different courses). For the bike leg of the triathlon my goal was to average 30km/h (I achieved 33.5km/h). This weekend I am aiming for a PB and will set three targets for my splits (one to achieve 1:45:00, another for 1:47:30 and another for 1:50:00, all but the slowest will be a PB).
Each time that I do better than I had hoped, it spurs me on to do better the next time and to train that little bit harder. I also try to visualise crossing the finish line in the time I am hoping for in the week or so leading up to a significant event (the 5km races I don't usually bother though). The visualisation helps me train and also helps me on race day as I feel like I've done it already. Visualisation really does work, but only if you are realistic about your goals.
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