All things training. Mostly advice and tips but maybe questions, general comments, or who knows what else.
My last planned “race” of the year is coming up this weekend. I’ll have run a total of two races this year, both virtual, and I did a stair climb very early in the year.
Meanwhile, my training also wasn’t up to the level it has been in past years.
So what will I be doing as next week starts? I’ll be recovering.
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This past weekend, I ran my first “virtual” race. However, it wasn’t my first run of this type. Back before virtual races were a thing, we called what I did Saturday a solo time trial.
Whatever you want to call these efforts, some of you have been doing these events this summer already and I suspect many more of you will be doing so this fall. It’s the nature of the world we live in right now. I just wanted to offer some thoughts and advice on how to handle the virtual races you might be racing this fall or how to think about ones you have run after they are over.
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Did you feel different on today’s run than yesterday’s run? Do you generally feel different today than yesterday?
If you answered no to either, I’d ask you to think more deeply about how you feel today and how you felt yesterday.
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What do you do late in a race? When you need to go a little faster, how do you respond?
If you’re like most runners, you dig deep. You push yourself and strain for that last possible bit of effort. It makes sense. Run faster by exerting more effort.
Is this the best way to run faster, though?
When we start to dig, we strain. We tense up and fight against ourselves. Our muscles tighten up and work against each other instead of working in coordination with each other, one muscle relaxing as the opposing muscle tenses.
These days, you can see a lot of workouts on social media, not to mention websites like Strava and Garmin Connect. Some of these workouts are impressive, maybe look interesting, or just look like something fun to try.
Have you ever thought of “borrowing” a workout you’ve seen online? While I won’t say never do so, I would like to urge you to use extreme caution if you do so.
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