• SPECIFIC – Clearly identify what you want to accomplish. Do you want to improve your distance, speed or frequency of runs? Lose weight? Condition for another sport or activity? Make the objective clear in your mind.
• MEASURABLE – Decide how to gauge completion of your goal. Noticeable progress toward the success gives you a sense of accomplishment every step of the way. Making your goal measurable will provide you with built-in motivation to keep you going strong.
• ACHIEVABLE – Push yourself, but be realistic. Avoid setting yourself up for failure by doing a reality check. Is your goal realistic in terms of your lifestyle, time constraints and ability?
• RELEVANT – Keep every aspect of your goal consistent with your pre-determined purpose, but keep your general life goals in mind, too. While running can be a soothing, almost therapeutic hobby, when building performance becomes an obsession and interferes with other areas of life, it’s time to scale back and refocus on getting the most out of every aspect of your life.
• TIMELY – Give yourself a deadline, but allow yourself time to succeed. Deadlines can help you set a pace for successful completion of your goal. For larger goals, like running your first marathon, it may help you to break up your plan into small segments, such as increasing mileage gradually (tapering) over time leading up to the race.

Once you have a SMART goal, share it with others! Having other fitness-minded friends keeping you on track, or even accompanying you in your progress, can make all the difference!

Lastly, reward yourself! Before you even begin working at your goal, give yourself extra incentive to work hard. Knowing you have a spa day, a new running outfit or a girls’ weekend waiting for you can be just what you need to get you out the door when you’re lacking motivation.