You trained hard. You tapered right. You visualized the race. And then... it didn’t go as planned. Things go sour. Maybe your legs felt dead, maybe the conditions were brutal, or maybe your mind wasn’t in the game. Whatever the reason, you crossed the finish line feeling disappointed, and that frustration lights a fire in you.

Perfectionism is sneaky. It disguises itself as high standards, motivation, and discipline. For many runners, perfectionism becomes a mental trap that leads to self-judgment, avoidance, and burnout instead of progress.

Ever try to set a time-bound goal and you run out of time?

Yea, me too. That’s a common problem with setting goals with time as a guide. Here are some of my thoughts on the goal setting process and how to approach this dilemma.