Avoid Feeling Fenced In

I’m running the Athens Marathon in November, so I can’t let a little thing like a business trip get in the way of my training. A recent visit to Singapore, though it was packed full of events, was actually a good thing since there are so many open spaces and it’s pretty easy to find a nice route for a long run. So, I set aside time to do some training.

Everything seemed perfectly planned. I chose a hotel that sits on the Singapore River, where I could go out the back door and immediately be on my running trail. I figured out the route from there to the Singapore Sports Hub and back that would give me the 22km I needed per my training program. I scheduled no appointments before 10am, and I made sure to go out by 5:30am so I could finish my run and have time to get ready for my day without rushing. I had a hat in case it rained and sunscreen in case it didn’t. Off I went.

About 4 kilometers in, I realized something: I had forgotten about the F1.

Singapore hosts an annual Formula One grand prix, which had taken place 2 weeks earlier, and the barricades are still up in many places. My running path went right through the grandstand area, and the space was still fenced off.

Turning around was not an option; my goal was 22km, not 8, so I needed to find another way rather than finding another goal. Fortunately, as I was figuring out my route, I had looked at a few different options before picking this one. A quick right turn would put me across a bridge and onto a different path, and when I got back to the hotel my GPS watch read 22.73km. Mission accomplished, just not quite the way I had expected.

I talk with a lot of people about the value of planning, and a common response is “What’s the point of having a plan when things will change anyway?” I understand that concern; after all, no matter how well you plan, there’s always something that can go wrong and disrupt you. These folks are missing the point, though: the plan is valuable, but what’s even more valuable is the planning itself. During the planning process you define a specific goal, figure out what it takes to get there, identify the challenges along the way, and review a variety of options. When something goes wrong, it’s a lot easier to find another way to your goal because of all the knowledge you gained during your planning. If you’ve gone through all the thinking and know about the other options then, when one plan suddenly falls apart, all you need is a right turn across a bridge to some new path. This isn’t about having a Plan B (and Plan C and Plan D and…), it’s simply a matter of understanding your environment and your capabilities through the planning process, then using that knowledge when you need it.

During that trip I led a couple of planning workshops and also gave two talks based on my Marathon Grand Slam experiences. Funny how the two topics came together in that one moment.