Targets

I'm never going to hit the 5 a day fruit 'n' veg target that the Government says we all ought to be aiming for. Somewhere amongst all the nicknames I go by, the term 'salad dodger' sits firmly and fairly. Whilst as a toddler I'm told I couldn't get enough fruit cake, only one of those two ingredients ever had a starring role in my upbringing from then on.

By similar decree we should also (apparently) all be striving towards another target of at least 30 mins exercise, 5 times a week. This I would argue is implausible, if not impossible, for a different reason. Namely that half an hour's run actually takes 2 hours.

Now I know it's human nature to react by thinking that one doesn't equal the other, but in the same way our subconscious can see £9.99 as a bargain and £10 as too dear, we are being misled. Let me explain.

Up until last week (ignoring my injury) my progress has been pretty good. Times have been tumbling week by week, I've begun to resemble someone that knows what they're doing and I'd become much more efficient in getting from A to B. I am of course talking about how long it takes me to get to the start line.

I once asked a very successful colleague what one piece of advice he could offer that had set him apart from his peers and his reply was simple. "Fail to prepare and prepare to fail."

Now preparation is key in all kinds of ways but perhaps none more notable than in sports, where the 'pre-match routine' has become crucial. Linford Christie for example would mentally "get into the zone", focussing solely on the piece of track in front of him and blocking out all exterior distractions. More recently you'll see the prevalence of athletes listening to their iPod for the same effect, which I remember caused a big stir in the commentary box when Barry Cowan did so in between games at Wimbledon as he tried (and failed, after all he was English) to topple Pete Sampras.

I mentioned that the Doctor recently recommended 30 mins of stretching exercises each day to strengthen my knees. The truth is I shouldn't have needed telling. I quit playing junior football for my local team because of the pain in my legs after each match. A specialist diagnosed me as having particularly tight hamstring and calf muscles, but that it could be fixed by doing certain stretches. Suffice to say I didn't do as I was told and so my new routine is agony albeit should get easier as I become more supple and stretch the muscles more and more. (Why not have a go and see how easy/difficult you find them?) Nevertheless having quickly learnt the lesson of the importance of injury prevention, this now forms part of my own pre-match routine.

Add to that getting changed, making sure all the equipment is fitted correctly and spending the time leading up to my run making sure I'm hydrated and fuelled to the correct levels and all of a sudden my preparation is pretty lengthy.

After my first run back from injury last week the pain in my knees was replaced with pain in each calf muscle from the warm-up. By the time I'd realised it had become too painful to stretch them again, as I should have done in a warm-down which again has now taken on new importance.

So throw in the time to warm down, cool down and get a shower and all of a sudden my half an hour spent running forms just part of a total 2 hours. Suddenly that 5 a week target looks more challenging.

Last week I had a meeting with the regional head of a multi-national bank that sets their staff no targets. Their hierarchy decided a long time ago that for a variety of valid reasons they were proving counter-productive. The result? Higher staff retention borne from enjoyment of working in a non target-orientated workplace. Remuneration based on overall contribution and not short-term success in achieving pre-defined (and commonly based on quickly outdated so therefore easily achievable/impossible to achieve) results. And therefore no pressure to lend money for the sake of it, thus leading to them currently being one of the strongest and safest banks in the world.

I guess ultimately it comes down to whether you're a carrot or a stick person. At University, for example, I'd always leave my coursework until the very last minute and it couldn't be put off any longer. Hence my only obscure claim to fame being that Zoe Ball read out my email on her Radio 1 breakfast show, telling me to go to sleep and that she loves my surname!

On the other hand the Great North Run represents (if you'll pardon the Carry On imagery it conjures) a huge carrot being dangled in front of me, with loads of positive reasons for me to do it.

In amongst the helpful advice that I've had, one or two people have suggested different targets for me to aim for in completing the Great North Run, most commonly beating the 2 hour mark. And there's nothing wrong with that. But for me my only target is to complete it, preferably without collapsing, getting fit in the process and raising some money for a very worthy cause.

MM