I was reading over my Peak Performance newsletter this morning. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting on getting much out of it. I don’t really do New Years Resolutions. I just set goals. I’m not concerned with suddenly stopping training because I got too busy. But I’m really glad I decided to read it, because the first tip was to do a pre-mortem on your resolution or change or goal.

What’s a pre-mortem?

You start by assuming you failed. I know. It’s not a good feeling. But by thinking three, six, twelve months in the future and imagining that you missed your goal, you can work backward and identify the obstacles you might encounter along the way that would cause you to fail.

This can work for regular life goals like getting a promotion or for running goals, like a mileage goal or a hopeful PR.

Putting it into practice

Personally, I wanted to try to use this technique to see what I might be up against in my coming training cycle. My loose goal at the moment for my half marathon goal race is to PR. I’ll narrow in further on a performance goal when I get closer to the race. But say I don’t get a PR that day. Why wouldn’t I have done that?

The most likely explanation would be didn’t train right. This isn’t likely, since I’m following a good plan that’s already worked for me. But say this was what happened. I would have had to miss a lot of training runs. I’d probably be injured again and couldn’t train at the right level to make significant improvement. So let’s explore that further.

Further dismantling the (imaginary) roadblock

I’m trying to get over an ITBS injury right now. I feel like I’m on the other side of the problem at this point. That said, I’ve definitely slacked on the ITBS routine in favor of yoga…and sleeping in a little. That’s something I need to get back to immediately, lest I stop healing.

That said, I also have to prioritize sleep to make sure I recover enough during the week. I’m okay sleeping in on the weekends, but I need to make better use of my time at home after work on weekdays. It’ll help ensure I’m in bed at a reasonable hour. That means getting meals prepped on Sundays so that I don’t need to spend weekdays cooking too.

Prioritizing sleep also requires setting a weekly schedule so the boring parts of life like doing laundry and cleaning the floors are already accounted for. Writing down what I want to complete during the next day before I go to bed will also set realistic daily schedules and keep me on top of tasks. I work best with schedules, and I know that already, so I can play to that strength too.

Life could also get in the way and cause me to miss training, but I believe the chances of this are really low. I’ve run through a lot of life getting in the way already. Granted, that was in the summer, and it’s a lot harder in the winter when it’s cold and dark outside all the time. Having the right gear helps, and I have the right gear for sure. (I got a lot of Tracksmith items over the last couple of months. Clothes designed for New England winters are definitely capable of grappling with Texas winters.)

If I plan a route beforehand, it’ll make it as easy to get out of the house on groggy morning autopilot and get the runs done before work. Later in the cycle, days will be getting longer and I’ll be able to run after work too.

Post-pre-mortem

I probably didn’t think of every difficulty I’ll encounter over this training cycle. But thinking through these and planning for them will help keep problems from piling up and crushing my training. I’m glad I got that email this morning. This is a great mental exercise to help prepare for the next training cycle to approach your goal most prepared to reach it.

I recommend signing up for Steve Magness and Brad Stulberg’s monthly email digest too. I’m planning on reading their first book, The Science of Running, when the Advanced Running Book Club picks it, and when it comes out, I’ll read Peak Performance too.