05.22.07
Post-it Notes
I’m excited about Freihofer’s. I’m excited about the opportunity to have a good fast race. I’m excited to be racing as part of a team to help the team place well. I’m excited to see what the past 5 months of blood (well, not really), sweat, and tears has gotten me. But, as Dave mentioned in his post about racing with the men, the women’s team has a cutoff of 18 flat for a 5K.
Other people have confidence I can break 18, my workouts have improved drastically and suggest that I should be able to run close to 18, but as much as I want to have confidence, I’m hesitant. So…to beat this potentially self-defeating demon before Friehofer’s I decided to resort to an approach I used in high school, which ended up having great results: post-it notes.
I started this practice my junior year, but my senior year really stands out in my memory. I had 3 post-it notes on my bathroom mirror stating my 3 goals of the season. These goals were stated actively, as in “I am racing at State.” As I met each goal, the old post-it note was replaced with a new one complete with a new goal. Although I’ll only have about 2 weeks of post-it notes under my belt by Friehofer’s, I have plastered my goal time around my apartment. There is a post-it note on my bathroom mirror, one right above the sink, and one on the door so I see it every time I leave my apartment.
Hopefully, by next Thursday, I will have beat the confidence into my head. Sub-18 here I come!
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joan said,
May 22, 2007 at 8:27 pm
does your apartment look like this?
Diana said,
May 22, 2007 at 8:41 pm
How’d you know?? I told you I am going to beat the confidence into myself!
Jason said,
May 23, 2007 at 9:57 am
Diana,
It would be great if you could actually post a picture of one of your post-it notes on the blog. I can relate to the idea - I have a similar story, but my “post-it” was a pink Valentines Day card from a girl that broke my poor little 14-year old heart. I wrote my goals on the back of the card and hung it next to my bed. I still have it. Concrete goal setting works!