‘It was just a training race, it wasn’t really important…’ How many times have I heard that phrase thrown about?
Using races as ‘training’ or to ‘monitor progress’ can be really useful. Let’s face it, plenty of people are training because they want to be better in races, even if it’s just beating their previous Parkrun time. Whilst the majority of people are running for fun, they still get that kick out of clocking a personal best at a 10k or half marathon.
When you start planning out your calendar for 2024, you will have races which are less or more important to you. Coaches generally class these as A, B & C races. The ‘A’ races are the big ones, maybe 1 or 2 a year, such as a big marathon, ultra or triathlon event. The ‘B’ ones are the other events which are still of ‘some importance’ and the ‘C’ races may be local time trials or Parkrun etc.
Early in the year, you can use ‘C’ and then ‘B’ races to ‘see where you’re at’ and learn from them. To do this you first need a plan, so start by asking yourself these simple questions:
> How important is this event in the grand scheme? You might think that even the smallest event is important, maybe you’re desperate to beat your mate at the Parkrun on Saturday, but that’s hardly an event to build your season around. So have a real think… is it ‘A’ (2-3 per year), B or C?
> Why are you doing it and what do you want to get from it? Sometimes that’s a harder question to answer than you’d think… Maybe you’ve entered a half marathon 6 weeks before your full marathon, because everyone has told you that’s the thing to do. Maybe you just enjoy a certain event or maybe it’s just social? There’s nothing wrong with targeting a big event because you simply want to enjoy the experience, or doing Parkrun every week because you enjoy the social catch up with friends.
> How can you use the event to your benefit? Put a plan together, create a list of things which you feel that you need to achieve and then devise a process by which you can achieve them. Spend some time reflecting on season’s past, what stuff did you really struggle with on race day? Do you struggle with pacing? Blisters? Have difficulty eating breakfast?
These things will fall into 2 categories, those which are generic to everyone and those which are personal to you. For example, generalised strategies may be correct pacing and correct nutrition. These things can be applied to everyone. Personal things are specific to you, maybe you suffer from extreme anxiety? You should have a process for dealing with those things and like everything else, it requires practice. Use your C & B races to fine tune your skills, but it won’t happen unless you sit down the week before, decide what you want to achieve, formulate a plan, then more importantly, execute it on event day.
This kind of stuff typically has everyone nodding their heads going “yeah… agree” but very few athletes actually sit down in the week prior to B & C races and write down a list of things they’d like to achieve and how they will achieve them. It’s textbook coaching advice, but it’s rarely applied.
Here’s some other stuff to consider for ‘training races’
1. Don’t use it as an excuse
“Yeah… today is just a training race… I did a really long run yesterday and I haven’t rested so my legs are still tired, If I hadn’t ran yesterday, I would have beat you today”…. So why are you actually taking part? If you’ve identified some things that you can learn from the race, then fine, but don’t manufacture excuses to justify why you didn’t do well. Shoulda, woulda, coulda… nobody cares, not even on social media. Take the positives from it and be happy.
2. It’s hard not to be disappointed
To follow the point above, if you turn up to a race fatigued because you’re ‘training though it’ then you probably won’t do your best. That’s fine, so long as it’s part of a bigger plan and ‘there’s a point in you being there’. But when you perform badly, you’ll probably still be disappointed… Don’t turn up tired, perform badly, then go home disappointed. You knew what to expect, it’s absolutely fine.
3. When it’s time to test yourself, commit and lay it on the line
Turning up to an event having rested for a few days and mentally committing to do your best is very hard for many people. The reason being, they’re about to find out if they’re really as good as they hope they are. Even turning up to a local Parkrun and committing to do your best time can cause extreme anxiety for some people, You’re laying it all on the line and you’re about to find out the truth! Social media, published results and Strava don’t help with these situations as people feel that everyone is watching! It doesn’t matter whether you’re running 18 minutes or 38 minutes, it’s good to add a little pressure every once in a while and test yourself. Don’t worry about anyone else and stay off Strava, this is about you.
4. Make your mind up and stick to it
> You are taking part in a local event on Sunday which is a ‘C’ race, but you don’t want to miss your long 18 mile run the day before, as your marathon (A race) is only 12 weeks away and that’s far more important to you. So you do the long 18 mile run Saturday (the right decision) then race on tired legs on Sunday.
During the long run you start worrying… maybe this is really going to leave you tired for the event tomorrow? Maybe you should cut the run short now and go home? You continue the run but don’t enjoy it and then the next morning, you wake up and your legs are tired… (as expected). You then have a really negative day and feel down about underperforming at the ‘C race’ as well. Well done, you’ve ruined both workouts, you win the star prize!!
The long run was critical in the big picture, commit and get it done, don’t worry about the day after. Have a positive run and tick that box towards your season’s main goal. On Sunday, you knew you were going to race on tired legs, so just go and enjoy it, not every race has to be about performance and you cannot be at your peak and PB at every event.
5. Never make the assumption that training relates to racing
The final thing I’d say is never assume that training data will translate to racing. It doesn’t matter what ‘data’ you’ve been producing throughout the week. The only thing which will tell you how well you’re racing, is racing. A training schedule is just a process of physical conditioning and a race is so much more. We’ve mentioned above the anxiety issues for many people, which is why they may choose to clock fast times on Strava without ever turning up and enjoying the experience of an ‘actual’ event.
- Plan your events
- Categorise them as A,B & C
- Stick to your plan and don’t start changing priorities
- Accept you won’t run a PB at every event
- Know that ‘some’ anxiety and ‘testing yourself’ is good, whatever your ability
- Always enjoy it…
Regards
The Endurance Coach
We offer coaching from £40 per month for triathletes and runners. We also offer lactate threshold and VO2 Max testing with consultation for £60, to help you better structure your training. Find details on the menus above.