Yeah that's pretty much my thought. People respond differently to pressure though and some people may perform better if they don't feel the pressure of putting their goals out there. I kind of like it.

I've actually yelled at myself during races when I felt myself slowing down, because I knew that I'd said I was going to do XYZ, and I don't like crow.

 

I do get that, but I also think that people shouldn't be so afraid of failure.    I don't really mind if people don't want to announce their goals, but call it what it is (too much pressure, etc etc) and not blame superstition or something.

 

And Dave - I have DNSed when I announced my goals and when I didn't, so there's your proof it's not a jinx.  I also find it a little odd that people would believe that after months of training, their success is dependent on jinxes and whatnot.  Hey, at least give yourself credit that you put in the effort (or didn't).

Talking about DNSs, we are in for SF next year.  Maybe you want a do over?

Good question, as a rule I generally keep all that stuff to myself but more as an don't count your chickens before they hatch type of thing than being afraid.

 

If asked sure I would share my goals, I just do not do it unsolicited or openly.

 

As for Shalane, she wears her heart and emotions on her sleeve and is not the braggadocios type so I have no problem with it.  Whereas my life experiences has taught me to keep my pie-hole closed until the deal is sealed and for the most part I follow that.  lol

Pretty much me. I have generally been pretty tight-lipped about race goals, or sometimes even the fact that I am running a race at all. I guess just superstition - running gods, chickens hatching, whatever you want to call it. But the only person I am worried about disappointing is myself - I know people here will be pretty supportive & understanding no matter what happens, and no one else I know IRL cares. I have been starting to open up a bit more though, I think due to gaining more racing experience.

Of course I always set goals for myself; interestingly I have exceeded them in every race I've done of HM or less (granted not a very big sample size), but fell short in every marathon. Hoping to get off the schneid on that one....

 

I've actually yelled at myself during races when I felt myself slowing down, because I knew that I'd said I was going to do XYZ, and I don't like crow.

I don't really consider it eating crow to say this is what I want to run and then fail to do it, unless I am trash talking or bragging about it beforehand, which I don't do.

No, I just make excuses if I screw up.

My only goal all along was to hit 10 official marathons which I have told maybe 10 people but now 100000000 people know.  I'm at 10 now but 1 shy of what I want . My only bucket list marathon is New Brunswick . Any additional ones such as Boston will be awesome

FYP.

 

I don't really consider it eating crow to say this is what I want to run and then fail to do it, unless I am trash talking or bragging about it beforehand, which I don't do.

Maybe "eating crow" is the wrong expression... it's more like I'm reminding myself that I'm not insane for thinking it's impossible for me to achieve a particular goal, since other (smarter) people besides for me think I can do it.