MY SMART GOAL

by Kathleen McGuire

My GoalI want to increase my physical activity and exercise each day in order to lose a little weight, get fit, and improve my quality of life. I want to start this through going for daily runs, because this seems like an activity I could enjoy and whenever I see people running I always think that I wish I could get into that. Not only will I enjoy running, I believe that I will be preventing future health problems that arise because of lack of exercise.

Specific - I want to start by going for a jog every day and by the end of the 4 weeks I

want to be able to run 1.3 miles in 12 minutes.

Measurable  - This goal is measurable

because I'll be able to time myself each time I run I can time myself. I also have an elliptical machine in my house

that I could use to time myself on (though I'm not sure if this is quite the same as running.)Achievable - When I took the fitness test, I ran 1.09 miles in 12

minutes, and I haven't done any running in a long time. This is why I think that if I get into a routine and go running regularly for a month, I'll be able to improve that to 1.3 miles. The book says that for my age group 1.3 miles is right in between Good and Adequate, so I feel

that that is an appropriate goal to set

for now.

Realistic  - To be realistic, I'm not going to start right off with running for an hour a day or anything like

that. Instead, I'll start with going out every

day for 30 minutes and jogging/walking. I do

have 30 minutes each day that I can do this, and after a week or so I'm going to try to limit my walking and jog the entire time, or as long as I can. I'm going to

buy some new running shoes and I'll be sure to

bring a water bottle with me every time. I'm going to get a friend to

run with me so that she/he can hold me

accountable to it and I won't be able to make excuses and get out of

it.Time -  I hope to be

able to run 1.3 miles in 12 minutes by the end of 4 weeks. After this, if

I find that I really do enjoy running then I'm going to try to keep it

up.

Factors

Reinforcing Factors- I got my sister to go out with me a lot of the time and it gave us time to hand out and talk a little, so I began to look forward to our runs/walks.Barriers- I tried to pick a goal that had as few barriers as possible, but laziness certainly was an issue. Making time was also problematic because I could often think of something else I could do.

Predisposing Factors- I value physical health and I have learned (through this class and others) that this is important. On the other hand, my parents never encouraged me to keep fit.Enabling Factors- Going for a run is free, and even if weather is bad I can use my parent’s treadmill.

Resources

My sister who went out running with me New running shoes that made the whole thing more

comfortable Water bottle Money to buy previous 2 Free to go out for a run                         

I tried to go running every day, and I only missed a handful of days. At least once a week I ran on the treadmill I timed myself for 12 minutes and I kept track of how far I ran. If I ran, there’s an !, if I didn’t there’s an X, and if I ran and timed myself there’s a time.

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat

Week 1 1.09 ! X X ! ! !

Week 2 X X ! ! X 1.13 !

Week 3 ! X ! 1.22 ! ! 1.23

EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT

Unfortunately,I didn’t completelymeet my goal.I think this may be partly because my goal wasn’t realistic enough. While I still can’t run 1.3 miles in 12 minutes, I have improved a lot! I’m going to try to keep running and continue improving.

I started out and it took me 12 minutes to run 1.09 miles. Now I can run 1.23 miles in that time. I feel that I did a good job and maybe could have worked harder at it but I am happy with my results. At first it was difficult to stick to it but after a while it became like a habit. That’s the main thing that I want to remember: that it’s worth it to push through the unpleasant time until it feels comfortable, because that’s when you reap the benefits.