Coach Tip Tuesday: A Longer Goal Isn't a Better Goal

Before I ever imagined that coaching endurance athletes would be my full-time career, I worked as an Assistant Editor for NBC at the Cross-Country Skiing venue of the 2006 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Torino, Italy.  With the final Olympic Trials currently taking place to determine who will be on Team USA representing the United States of America at the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, France, I’ve been thinking a lot about my time in Italy.  Working at the Games was an amazing experience on so many levels, but one of the most important things I learned while I was there is what makes an event - and by extension, any goal that an athlete sets - significant.  (Spoiler: It’s not how long or “big” the race is.)

A Gold Medal is a Gold Medal

Literally dozens of different sports are contested at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Under the umbrella of those different sports, there are several more different disciplines being contested.  And finally, within those different disciplines, there are dozens of different events.

I think we would all likely agree that a gold medal is a gold medal.  Therefore, someone who wins a gold medal and is declared to be the Olympic Champion in one event is just as awe-inspiring as an athlete who wins a gold medal and is declared to be the Olympic Champion in a different event.  The length of the event where the gold medal is won is rarely something that registers on our radar.  For instance, in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles.  In those same Games, Eliud Kipchoge won the gold medal in the Marathon.  Would anyone reading this consider Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s gold medal to be less significant or impressive than Eliud Kipochge’s because her event was literally 99.99% shorter?

The Fallacy That Goals Need to Be Longer and Bigger

I ask this question because all too often I observe age group athletes placing tremendous value on the length of a race or event.  This is especially true as it pertains to their own personal training and racing, but they honestly assign value to the length of what their age group peers are doing, too.  Whether they are aware of it or not, by doing this, athletes then devalue shorter events.  I can’t even count the times that an athlete has told me that they won’t travel “just” for a 5K race or “just” for a sprint triathlon.  Additionally, when athletes set goals, a common reason that they set a particular goal is simply because it is the next distance “up” from what they have completed before.  When this happens, it’s not uncommon for athletes to think “less of” something shorter and/or not to want to set a goal for a shorter event.

A common pattern that unfolds goes like this: Once an age group athlete does a 5K, they want to do a 10K.  Once they have finished a 10K, they want to do a half marathon.  After a half marathon, their next goal is often to do a marathon.  And then, once that same age group athlete finishes a marathon, it’s not that uncommon for them to look to do an ultramarathon or to switch sports entirely.  Why?  Because when there isn’t something longer to do, athletes often struggle with setting goals.  

Whether they are conscious of it or not, when considering what goal they should set next, their internal dialogue often goes something like this, “What’s longer and ‘bigger’ than what I’ve already done?”  As athletes progress through the lengths of a given sport (such as going from the 5K to the marathon distance in running or from the Sprint Distance to the IRONMAN distance in triathlon) and finish each distance, they are often left feeling at a loss or even bereft, especially when they complete the longest (or the most reasonably long) distance of a given sport because there isn’t something clear that is “next”.

I’ve discussed in the past how goals and races are actually two different things.  A goal is an objective or thing that you have determined to be more important to you than other things.  Races are the settings where athletes seek to accomplish their goals.  This is a nuanced distinction, but it’s a very important distinction.  While there are some limited circumstances where the race may actually be the goal because of the experience of it (such was the case for me when I ran the Great Wall Marathon in China), I’ve learned that this is actually the exception for most athletes, not the rule.  Goals are accomplished at races, but the race itself isn’t (and shouldn’t be) the entirety of the goal. 

All too often, athletes do set goals that are based entirely on what distance a race is, meaning that the only goal that they’re setting for themselves has to do with the distance that they’ll be covering on race day.  And this method of goal setting is flawed and problematic because it’s honestly not an authentic goal; it’s not tied to the athlete’s authentic self.  It’s based on a superficial aspect of the race (its distance), and not on something that truly has meaning and significance to an athlete. 

Quite frankly, setting a goal that is based entirely on the distance of a race is “easy”, because it doesn’t require an athlete to do the thoughtful, time-intensive, and hard work of examining their own selves and determining what drives them or what is significant or meaningful to them.  What’s “next” in terms of the goal that they’re setting is laid out for them; the athlete isn’t coming up with a self-initiated or creative goal for themselves outside of that.  Or, the athlete is coming up with a different goal, but it’s a secret goal.  Many, many athletes have told me “I just want to finish” over the years in response to my asking them what their goal is, but my experience has shown me that they don’t usually actually mean that.  

What Makes a Goal Significant

I want all athletes to hear me loud and clear: Contrary to what has become popular opinion, being longer does not make a particular event or race inherently more impressive, valuable, or significant than another event or race.  Your goals don’t have to be set around a race distance that you haven’t done before or just because it’s long.  After all, just because there is something long (or longer) that you could do doesn’t mean that you should do it.  A 5K is just as significant as a marathon.  A 10K is just as significant as a half marathon.  An Olympic Distance triathlon is just as impressive as an IRONMAN.  

Here’s what makes something valuable: What it means to you.  The reason that races and events are significant is because of what they mean to the athletes who are racing at them, not because of the distance that athletes are covering.  Every athlete is a unique person, and thus has unique goals.  What makes a goal significant is what it means to the individual athlete who set the goal.  Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s goal was to become the Olympic Champion in the 400-meter hurdles.  Eliud Kipoche’s goal was to become the Olympic Champion in the marathon.  Both of these goals are meaningful because of what they meant individually to Sydney and Eluid.  It doesn’t matter that Sydney’s event was 0.001% of the distance that Eluid’s was.  So, in both the professional and the age group world, when an athlete has an important goal that they are seeking to accomplish at a 5K, that means that that goal and that 5K are just as significant, meaningful, and important as an important goal that a different athlete has set to accomplish at an IRONMAN triathlon.

Talk to Yourself Like You Would Talk to a Friend

If you find yourself thinking that shorter events are “not good enough”, I encourage you to consider what you would say to a friend or fellow athlete who was saying the same thing.  Would you tell a friend that they need to set a goal oriented around a longer race because something shorter isn’t good enough?  Or would you give them different advice?

This practice of considering what we would say to a friend is a really good one to help increase our own self-awareness and give ourselves a healthy dose of perspective.  It forces us to get out of our heads for a bit, zoom out, and consider something from a different viewpoint.  If we wouldn’t say something to a friend or another person, we honestly probably shouldn’t be saying it to ourselves.  

It’s hard and uncomfortable to admit, but if and when we ourselves devalue something because it’s “just” a certain distance or it’s short, then what we are saying (unless we believe that we are better or superior to everyone else) is that anyone who achieves something in a short race isn’t as good as an athlete who achieves something in a longer race.  Would we really say that out loud to someone’s face?  No, we wouldn’t.  And why wouldn’t we say that?  Because in our hearts, we know that that thought process (that something is only valuable because it’s longer) isn’t actually true.  

You will never have more conversations with another human than you have with your own self.  As such, it’s important to be aware of how we are talking to ourselves and to make sure that we are being kind, compassionate, and honest.

Longer Also Isn’t Inherently Bad

While I am saying that longer events are not inherently better than shorter events, I am also saying that longer events are not inherently worse than shorter events.  The distance of a race is neutral.  It may be true that you actually prefer the training for and the doing of longer races and events.  If that’s the case, then that’s totally fine!  (I myself am one of these athletes; I really, really enjoy long rides and long runs and miss them when I am not regularly including them in my movement practice or training.)  But collectively, I’ve observed that age group endurance athletes have a tendency to value or revere longer events simply due to their length; my point here is that something is not automatically better, more impressive, or more worthwhile simply because it is longer.  

If your goals are oriented around races that are longer, it’s actually of particular importance that you enjoy the training for these events.  All too often, athletes choose races (and goals to accomplish at those races) because they like the longer distance on race day itself and/or how they feel after covering that distance on race day.  But duration-wise, race day is a very small slice of your overall training.  If you don’t actually like or have time for the training in your day-to-day life that longer events like this necessitate, it’s really important to be honest about that and to choose goals and event distances that do align both with what fits into your life with your available training time and - most importantly - what you enjoy doing in training.

If you do decide to pursue longer events, you may find that training for them isn’t enjoyable for you, doesn’t fit within the scope of your life, or just isn’t your jam for any number of reasons.  And if you find yourself in this situation, it’s really important for you to embrace and understand that “going back” to doing shorter events or distances that you’ve done before isn’t “less than”.  The most important thing - always - is that you are doing something that brings you joy.

If you’re someone who just doesn’t have interest in doing longer events, that’s also very okay.  That being said, it’s so important to not compare yourself to or measure yourself against athletes who are choosing to set goals that are accomplished at longer events.  If you really enjoy doing sprint triathlons and don’t have the drive or desire to train for anything longer, that doesn’t mean that you’re any less of an athlete than someone who has goals that are accomplished at an IRONMAN 70.3.  If you enjoy half marathons, you do not “need” to do a marathon.  Do the distances that you enjoy and set your goals accordingly.

The Bottom Line

As you consider what resonates with you, what brings you joy, and what you have the time and mental energy to train for, remember that goals do not need to be long in order to be significant.  Choose goals that are in alignment with your authentic self and that excite you.   That is the true path to joy, excellence, and contentment as an athlete.