Take Care in Setting Goals
I had a lesson in goal setting a couple of days ago.
Now that I am almost fully recovered from my injury and surgeries, it’s time to get back in shape. I figured riding a bike would be good exercise.
I started out with a two mile, fourteen minute ride. One thing I have learned when getting older, it’s better to not go too hard to fast, or the injuries stifle any progress. I also know that if I do a little bit each day, that consistency will build upon itself, and soon, I’ll be doing a lot more each day.
The computer geek part of me likes to record my progress. I also know that if I record my daily progress, I am more likely to do the task each day, knowing that I don’t like to see holes in my data. So, I have been recording each day the distance I bike, and how long it takes. I’ve been doing this for eleven days and have missed only twice.
So, my distance graph is going up, and my Miles per Hour is staying pretty much the same with a tiny improvement. I decided that my goal is to make those two graph meet. From 2.0 miles at 8.6 MPH, I have gotten up to 4.5 miles at 10.2 MPH. They are getting closer. Cool. I’m getting better.
As I was pedaling along Sunday morning on my longest ride to date, I was trying to calculate in my head how far and fast I have to go to make my Miles be more than my MPH.
It’s like I was watching a baseball coming at me wondering why it was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
All I have to do to make my Miles greater than my MPH is: ride for more than an hour.
Duh!
It doesn’t matter how fast or how far, if I ride for more than an hour, my Miles will be greater than my average Miles Per Hour – by definition. And no matter how fast or far I go, if I don’t ride for an hour, my distance will never be greater than the average MPH.
So, I guess I didn’t choose the right goal. I need to set a distance goal or a time goal. Riding for an hour without injuring myself will be a big accomplishment. And if I can consistently do that exercise every day, I will get back in shape.
