BIG RUNNING GOAL TIP 1: Break your goal down and chip away at each kilometer and training session one at a time

Whatever distance you’ve signed up to run, or are considering, if it’s enough of a stretch from where you’re at right now, it could feel completely overwhelming, and make your knees wobble just at the very thought of it.

These are perfectly normal feelings, and I’d even suggest they’re good ones! Because they’re a sign of your courage and ambition in setting this goal, and I applaud you for that.

But you don’t want to let the scale of your goal deter you or daunt you too much - or you might not end up taking it on, or see all the training through to get to the start line.

A helpful approach here is not to focus too much on the ‘summit’ of your goal before you’re ready. Instead, focus on the first few steps, and then the next ones. In other words, don’t focus too much on the race day distance you’re building towards, just focus on chipping away at each training session, one at a time. Particularly when it comes to your long runs, whatever distance they may be.

And slowly but surely your mileage will increase and you’ll be covering distances you haven’t before. And in time, those distances will start to feel easier too. Before you know it, you’ll be edging your way up that summit and should feel proud of how far you’ve come.

This can be a really valuable strategy for race day too. Even when you line up at the start line, don’t focus on the complete distance in its entirety. Break it down into smaller, more digestible distances and focus on each of those one at a time, and they’ll collectively get you through to the finishing line!

Click here to see all 6 tips to get ready to take on your big running goal