Set small, attainable goals. If you have an ambitious goal, such as running your first marathon, make sure that you have smaller, attainable goals with measurable results along the way. They'll help you track your progress and prevent you from getting bored or discouraged. If your goal is to complete a half-marathon, first try to run a 10K or shoot for a personal record in the 5K. An added benefit of setting smaller, attainable goals is that even if you don't meet your ultimate goal, you'll still have achieved other accomplishments along the way.

三、制訂幾個能夠做到的小目標。如果你有一個雄心勃勃的計劃，比如要參加你人生中的第一場馬拉松，那么就需要設立一些能夠做到的、在整個過程中可以衡量成績的小目標。這些目標可以幫助你追蹤自己的進步，并防止你在中途感到煩悶氣餒。比如，若你的目標是完成馬拉松的一半距離，那么首先試試跑10000米或沖擊5000米的個人紀錄。而設定能夠做到的小目標的另一個好處是，即使無法達到終極目標，你也在這個過程中取得了其中的一些成績。

Pick some fun goals, too. Not all your running goals have to be performance-related. Come up with some creative goals, such as running a race on a holiday, running a race for charity, or reading a book about running. Non-performance-related goals can keep you from getting totally discouraged if you get off track from your other goals.

四、還要制訂一些有趣的目標。不是所有的跑步目標都必須與你的成績相關。想一些有創意的目標吧，比如在假日舉辦賽跑，或搞慈善賽跑，或者閱讀一本關于跑步的書籍。如果你放棄了其它目標，這些與成績無關的目標也能防止你感到完全的挫敗。