I recently saw an article on how weather conditions affect your racing and what conditions are generally ideal for different distance races. Interesting but how does this help you?
I also was talking with my daughter about the course for an upcoming cross country race she’s running. It starts with a quite challenging hill. She was concerned about this but I reminded her that everyone in the race has to go up the same hill.
Sure, different runners will handle different course or conditions challenges differently. Some are stronger in the heat, some are stronger on hills, and they will have an advantage when facing those conditions.
However, we all do have to face the same course and conditions and there’s nothing you can do about those things other than go in with a plan to handle them the best that you can.
Stressing about the course and conditions or other variables out of your control isn’t going to help you race better. Remember that everyone is facing the same thing, come up with a plan that allows you to use your strengths to handle the challenges to the best of your ability, then execute. That’s the best you can do.