You can have a huge VO2max, great running economy, process lactate like no one’s business, consume a gazillion calories without an ounce of GI issues, not have a single ache, perfect weather, have a solid taper, and still have a shitty performance in an ultramarathon, not because of anything other than where your mental energy is and has been. 

Having a ‘Why’ constructed through values is one way that I orient myself on a journey. They, being values, provide a bearing to the direction you want to go. Goals on the other hand are the values in action. They are the waypoints to the journey.