I have been trying to figure out how to write this post for about a month now. You have all heard from us about the importance of setting goals that are measurable, but what happens when you can’t fulfill them?! Usually that results in disappointment, giving up on yourself, and falling off the band wagon with wellness as a whole sometimes. Well the reality of goal setting became very real to me about a month ago. My older brother Micah decided to sign up for running the Buffalo NY marathon in January. His reasoning behind this big goal was that it was something he has always wanted to do, to help get him back in better shape, and of course (like many) to improve his health to be around a long time for his family. When I found out he signed up, it sparked my interest as I was needing a little kickstart to my exercise routine. I didn’t have much desire for running the full marathon, but I learned that the half runs the same course as the full and starts at the same time so I signed up for that.
I was super excited to train and bond with my brother during this experience. I was doing well with my training and celebrated many new personal records along the way, until I hit about 10 miles in my training and the chest pain ans shortness of breath came on. I have a congenital heart murmor that has never given me problems until now. Well I thought maybe it was the wind, the temperature, or the humidity, but everytime I tried to do my runs after that (no matter what the conditions were) the pain persisted and the shortness of breath would come on during the longer distances. I decided I better get checked out…and after many tests, Dr. Shah, PLH cardiologist politely told me, “what your mind wants to do and what your body is going to let you do are different.” At that moment, Dr. Shah confirmed I am never going to be able to engage in long periods of vigorous activity like running a marathon, biking long distances, etc due to my heart condition. Well it was an easy decision to not run because it’s really not worth going into cardiac arrest and dying from it, but it did challenge me personally as I was not going to meet my goal…and that doesn’t happen real often for me.
This last weekend, we cheered my brother on in the Buffalo Marathon and he did great! It was so much fun to be a part of his success. I have decided to adjust my goals and run in shorter races like 5 and 10k’s of which Dr. Shah thought would be better for me. This experience showed me how important reality is in setting goals. Even though I follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly, running a half marathon was not in my cards. This applies to many other goal setting principles. When setting goals, you need to think about what’s most realistic and achievable for you and your body and your capabilities. Many times, I’ll have patients look at the BMI chart and say, wow…the last time I weighed that was in high school and they are now in their 50’s. Well obviously that weight is not realistic, so let’s compromise and meet in the middle.
Life is about give and take and prioritizing…. and we are here to help you with that! Our whole STRIVE 2 Survive team really makes efforts to practice what we preach in efforts to be good role models for our patients and participants and we are human just like you which does include bumps along the way. In my next few posts, I’m going to discuss some other highlights of our trip. We took our 83 year old grandma with us and she continues to show us how to make the most of life….stay tuned!
Above is a picture of “Team Likness”. Tabby had shirts made for all of us to help cheer Micah on. They were all pretty comical! My shirt said, “that’s not sweat, it’s your fat cells crying,” my Dad’s said, “RELAX! You’re not going to win!”, and Micah’s said, “26.2…I need a new hobby!”
-Kelsey
