Before I took up running in my mid thirties I was a golfer. An avid golfer. My ambition was to be the Club Champion at Sedlescombe Golf Club. I was obsessed with achieving this goal.

In the month building up to the event I would practice harder than anyone else in the club. Hours on the putting green, the last person left on the driving range at night and long weekends on the golf course perfecting my course strategy.

At a best guess I probably played in 10 Club Championships. At first I wasn’t very good, around a 12 handicapper so never had a realistic chance of winning. But the more I practiced the better I became.

One year I went into the 2nd round (the event was 36 holes), 3 shots off the lead, playing in the penultimate group. I made the turn (9 holes) in 33 shots (4 under par). The excitement levels were through the roof, “this is it” I kept telling myself. But as the final group approached the 9th hole and we waited patiently on the 10th, whispers came through that Ben Evans, was 5 under par for his first 8 holes.

My heart sank, along with it my golf game. I shot +6 on the back nine whilst Ben Evans went on to shot a course record 65. He also went on to play on the European Tour for a number of seasons.

A few years later, once again primed from hours of practice I shot a first round 72 and entered the 2nd Round with a 3 shot lead. On this occasion all 36 holes were played on the same day and as the afternoon wore on I got progressively tired and my golf game suffered. A youngster off a higher handicapper than me, fresher and with more self confidence kept his nerve to take the title.

I never won the Club Championship! I never achieved my goal! 😥

But the morale of the story is that the goal fuelled my determination to succeed. It encouraged me to practice harder and as a result my golf game improved. I got the opportunity to represent the club in over 20 matches, on some of the best golf courses in Sussex. I was able to partner Ben Evans and David Wicks Jnr (also now a professional). My lower handicap allowed me to take part in some of the best tournaments in Sussex and sometimes further afield.

I became one of the lowest handicappers in the club. This in itself meant when playing practice rounds I was able to compete with the best players, something I wasn’t able to do a few years earlier.

I won numerous other tournaments including the Sedlescombe Matchplay and the Presidents Cup. I won the respect of the members and the club professionals. I gained so much by being inspired by my goal and trying to achieve it.

The same applies to running. Having a goal gives you the motivation and purpose to train. It can give us that determination to push through those tough sessions and head out the door when it’s cold or raining.

If we can achieve our goal and run a personal best or our first marathon for example, then brilliant. But it’s important not to put too much emphasis on that goal race. Adding pressure to a specific event will nearly always result in failure.

I hyped up the Club Championship so much, that some years I was so nervous I just couldn’t even get the ball in the hole from a few feet. I was my own worst enemy.

So when your goal race comes around, relax. By using the goal as motivation to complete your training plan you have already succeeded. Your fitness might be the best it’s been for years?

You might find that running for longer distances or times has become easy. You might find you are now able to run with quicker runners who in the past you would have been too daunted to even join on a training run.

There might be more respect from other runners coming in your direction. So before you even step on that start line, give yourself a massive pat on the back for getting through your training plan. Whatever happens on race day, whether you achieve your goal or not, it doesn’t really matter. After all, this is only a hobby.