"If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough"

     I recently read the book "No Meat Athlete,' by Matt Frazier.  He covers three main topics:  exercise, a plant-based diet, and "setting big freaking scary goals."  It was that third item that intrigued me, and evidently also most people who came to listen to him speak on his book tour.
     It is that 3rd topic that I have been considering as I start to set my goals for 2014.  No one ever tells you to set big freaking scary goals.  The advice usually is to set small manageable achievable ones.
     Matt Frazier suggests setting big goals, but putting a time-table on them.  For example, what do you hope to accomplish in twelve months, in five years, ten years?

     Running is one of my goals for next year.....specifically, improvement in speed.  I'm really tired of being the slowest turtle out there, even though I know that a mile is a mile, whether run at 7 minutes or 12 minutes.  Runner and author Joan Ullyot says that, "No matter what your age when you start running, you can expect about ten years of improvement.  That's how long it takes to learn the game."  Based on that, I have possibly seven years left to improve if I work at it.

     I watched the Hawaii Ironman Championship this week.  It is available on YouTube.  I love watching this race, even though I have no desire to ever try it.  Athlete Harriet Anderson, aged 78, completed it....the oldest woman to finish.  She has run this race 20+ times!  I cannot even imagine swimming, biking, and running for 17 hours straight. That is inspiration.
 
     So, I will be thinking about setting small goals for next year, and maybe dreaming about bigger ones in the next 5-10 years.  Will you be joining me?