Racing
My mate Jon emailed me today and asked whether I used racing as a goal or a way to improve by making myself push harder wearing a bib. He raised a good point as this year I have raced over 20 times already and expect to finish the year with about 25-28 races under my belt. Albeit there are a few park runs in there, these still test you and even though you aren’t wearing a race number, as such, you’re still going to put your in the ‘pain box’ and leave nothing on the course.
A lot of runners get nervous pre-race and I’m the same. My family knows you tread carefully when I have a ‘goal’ race rather than a race I’d consider an excuse to test myself. Everybody gets nervous but this is not an excuse to avoid racing. I love racing but the only person I’m really racing is myself. The feeling of going faster than you have ever gone before is , to quote Visa , priceless. It invigorates your training and helps you see all the hard work you’re putting in is accomplishing something. If you don’t race how can you measure progress?
I know some runners run for the love of running, and that’s great, but I love running as much as anybody (you may have noticed that?) but I also love racing. The feeling of going faster than you ever thought you could and hanging on when every thought is about stopping or slowing. Racing teaches you so much about yourself, things that can’t be taught while you amble along smelling roses and enjoying the ambience of the day. Don’t get me wrong there’s a time and a place for recovery and easy runs but nothing beats the sheer exhilaration of racing.
Racing has the added benefit of forcing you to push yourself harder than you normally would in training and this is a good thing. You ain’t going to run until you come close to vomiting in training. (well you can but it’s easier with a race number, there’s a time and place for putting everything on the line.) Maybe racing every other weekend is a tad overboard but when you’re chasing PB’s and catching them on a regular basis it becomes a drug, and I am addicted.
A runners Connect article articulates the whole racing yourself into shape better than I could
Racing yourself into shape: The pros, cons, and specific advice
Planning the perfect training schedule is always a delicate balance between doing what is “fun” (ripping 200 meter repeats, 24-hour relays with friends, and racing every weekend) with the optimal physiological adaptations needed to continually run personal bests. Unfortunately, even when you have the ideal training plan designed, things don’t always go as smooth as you might like.
Injuries, sickness, or a difficult spell at work can sometimes leave you out of shape with a long list of races on the schedule that have already been paid for. Or, you might be involved in a running club or race series that requires you to run in all its events, despite not being conducive to your marathon build-up. Whatever your circumstance, you might find yourself in a situation where you have a strong obligation to race often yet still want to make positive fitness gains. While not without its potential pitfalls, it is possible to race yourself into shape.
In this article, we’ll cover the positives and negatives of racing yourself into shape so you can decide if it’s the right choice for you and also provide some helpful tips for how to effectively implement this training strategy.What to watch out for
Sometimes racing yourself into shape can’t be avoided and it might be the best training option you have available. In this case here are three common issues you need to be wary of:
You’re not going to hit a PR at every race
Given the training load, your current fitness, and your lack of race specific workouts, you can’t expect to PR often, if at all, when you’re racing yourself into shape. You should consider these races as high intensity, fitness-building workouts. As such, you should expect that running what would normally be an easy race pace for you to feel hard, or for your effort to not be adequately reflected in your finishing time.
Not running well can ruin your psyche
Along the same lines, it is very important that you not let these bad races impact you mentally. Even when you understand that you’re training through a race it can be difficult to run poorly and get beaten by runners who don’t normally beat you. It’s important that you remember the bigger goals ahead of you and stay mentally strong through the weeks you’re racing yourself into shape. Otherwise, you’ll destroy your confidence and try to over compensate during your other workouts during the week.
Races are still harder than a regular workout
While you’re using the race as a workout in your mind, races are still harder on your body than a normal workout because you’re not staying within a certain effort or pace range. Even if you say “I am just going to do this race as a tempo run”, it almost never works out this way – you’ll always run as hard as you can when the bib is on and the competition is there. This means you’ll need to be extra cautious when it comes to recovery and overtraining physically. Likewise, you need to be cognizant that you don’t burn yourself out mentally or get stale from racing too much.
The benefits of racing yourself into shape
While racing yourself into shape is a tricky, high-risk way to train, it does have a few benefits that can help you improve, both short-term and long-term.
You don’t have to workout alone
Perhaps my favorite benefit is that you don’t have to “workout” alone. If you do a majority of your hard running alone, it can be nice to have competitors along with you to help push you to better performances and distract you from the mind-numbing task of running hard for 10k. Along the same lines, having “training partners” can help take your workouts to the next level, especially if you’re having trouble pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone.
You can easily measure progress
One of the hardest things about executing long blocks of training without racing is that it’s often difficult to notice imperceptible gains in fitness. It’s difficult to compare how 10×800 meters compares to a 2 x 3 mile tempo in terms of quality or progress each week. When you race yourself into shape, you can pretty easily track your progress from race-to-race, even on different courses (using familiar competition as a barometer). It can be a boost to the confidence if you’re progressing each time you race.
Gain experience racing
You can gain a lot of racing experience from racing frequently. Veteran runners can get more practice at events outside their normal comfort zones and beginners can hone the racing skills they’ll need to set big PRs down the road. Lots of things can go wrong during a race (watch malfunction, falling, shoes coming untied, learning to time your kick) and racing often can expose you to these different experiences so you’ll be prepared should they happen at a goal race.
How to race yourself into shape
Now that you understand the potential benefits and pitfalls of racing yourself into shape, here are some helpful tips for implementing this strategy into your training schedule should the need arise.
Don’t taper for each race
To ensure that racing yourself into shape doesn’t become just racing each week without progressing towards a bigger goal you’ll need to keep your overall mileage high. Don’t shorten the distance you run the day before the race and consider adding a few miles to the warm-up and cool-down to keep your overall mileage high.
Don’t try to squeeze everything in, but don’t neglect any one system for too long
The race needs to take the place of one of your workouts for the week. You can’t run a long run, speed workout, tempo run and race in one week. That is simply too much quality, even for a well-trained runner. The race should take the place of one of your quality workouts.
However, you need to make sure you don’t replace the same workout each week or you risk leaving that energy system behind. If you skip your long run every week, you’ll be sacrificing aerobic development. Meanwhile, substituting a race for a tempo run is a close approximation, but it isn’t exactly the same physiological energy system, so don’t be fooled. Mix up the workouts and race distances you run to make sure you’re hitting all your energy systems.
Space out your races
The biggest mistake runners make when they are trying to race themselves into shape is thinking they need to race every weekend. Not only does racing take a physical and mental toll, but as noted above, you still need time to train. You should be racing no more than once every two weeks, although spacing your races out by three to four weeks would be even better. Remember, it takes 7-10 days to realize the benefits of a workout, so if you race every weekend, it will be difficult to see measurable gains.
Implement these three suggestions and be wary of the potential pitfalls of racing yourself into shape and you’ll increase your chances of success when coming back from injury or partaking in a long race series while still keeping your eyes on the big goals ahead. As always, ask your coach if this is a good strategy for you and we would be glad to help.
After yesterdays post about trusting in your training I put this into practice today at the Fremantle half marathon. As with last weeks 10k I went out way too quick but decided to ‘roll the dice’ so to speak and see where it would take me. It took me to the lead pack for the first 10k and then even to the lead at around the 17k mark. I felt good at this point but when the two other runners put in a push I was able to maintain my pace but not increase it. I kept the first two in sight and probably finished within 30 seconds of first and 15 seconds of second place, so one very happy runner. To add to my podium (and best ever Fremantle finish) I also set a new PB (PR for the American’s amongst us) of nearly a minute, 1:15:01. With hindsight it would have been nice to get a couple of seconds quicker and get in the 1:14.xx territory but still over the moon with the time.
So what have I learned about today. I have yet again ran faster than I ever though possible and am determined to build on this for the Rottnest half in a few weeks and then the World Masters in early November. It seems this distance training is the way to go as I have never had such great times with previous training methods. As well as the extra distance I am racing at least once every 2-3 weeks and I think this compliments the distance , as most training is at a relaxed pace. Racing is never relaxed and I try to maintain the Matt Fitzgerald recommended 80%/20% rule, with 80% at a relaxed pace and 20% at a tempo or race pace. A good way to do this is the 5k park run on Saturday mornings if there is one in your neighbourhood. ( http://www.parkrun.com )
As I talked about yesterday Fremantle was meant to be an ‘indicator race’, one where you would test yourself but no spend too much time in the ‘pain box’. Unfortunately I failed in this respect. Deciding at around 10k to hang onto the leaders was always either going to end in a big PB or disaster. I trusted in my training and luckily this time it was a big PB. It could have gone the other way of course but this time , yet again, I didn’t have to pay the piper. I’m sure he’s out there waiting for payment but not today Mr.Piper !
So what next. This was week 2 of my five week racing calendar. Week off racing next weekend so it’s back to good old double days and a long run with the boys Sunday. After that it’s off to Rottnest Island for a week with the family. I shall use this time for some last minute marathon training and it’ll be the first of a two week taper. Not too much distance, just a 10k run every morning and then maybe some speed or tempt on the afternoon. Aiming for about 80% of my normal training workload. This reduces to two easy 10k’s the week of the marathon.
Still plenty to do but for the moment I am just enjoying the post race glow you get when you achieve something you thought beyond you. Final word from Raf, the best coach on the planet from the Running Centre, Perth, ( http://therunningcentre.com.au ) “Ticking boxes consistently means success will continue to breed success”.
Tomorrow is the Fremantle half marathon. I’ve ran this race at least 5 times but the last two have been disappointing, both times finishing just over 80 minutes, and just outside the podium places. In both cases I had entered the race in a racing ‘slump’ of sorts. My 2013 times were a distance memory and the objective was to try and get close to my previous best times. I had convinced myself that 2013 was the finally year of running PB’s and the times reflected this.
Fast forward to 2016 and I’m hitting PB times again and have a new passion for running, not that it ever really left me truth be told. Where as previously I’d look forward to my one run a day, I now have two. Distance wise this has helped enormously and it seems to be the answer , for me anyway.
So can I PB tomorrow at Fremantle ? I’d say no at the moment. The 10k win last week took a lot of out of the legs and as I mentioned in a post earlier in the week I’m a believer in a day a kilometre to recover after racing. Also with the Rottnest half marathon in 2 weeks and the Masters Marathon 2 weeks after that I have two goal races to aim for. Fremantle, tomorrow, should be more of an indicator race. A race were you set yourself a goal time, normally just short of a PB time, one that will test you but not do the damage a PB run invariably does.
Of course if there’s a podium place up for grabs all this ‘indicator’ talk goes out the window. ! The 10k and 21k race start together and it’s a trait of the Marathon Club that you can decide en-route which race you decide to complete. I remember last year at the DeepWater Point 7.5k/15k race I was sitting in 5th place at the half way mark and doing the numbers realised I was 3rd for the 7.5k. A medal was too good to miss, so even though I planned to run the 15k I sneaked over the line for the 3rd place in the shorter distance and then continued for the second lap anyway. So rather than finish 5th with nothing I had a medal for 3rd in the shorter race. I did take a bit of a ribbing from the boys afterwards but as I said to them at my age chances of medals are becoming slimmer and slimmer, you got to take them when you can. It’s all about the bling.
So back to Fremantle tomorrow, as an indicator race it would be nice to get a 1:17.xx time, anything quicker would be a bonus and be dependent on how I pulled up from the 10k last weekend and also conditions on the day. Currently as I type this post I’m listening to the wind and rain outside, not perfect conditions. A lot can change overnight of course. As with all races you need to trust your training. If you are an experienced runner you normally know within a few minutes what time you will run. The shorter the distance the more accurate of course. For a 5k I can get to within 30 seconds, a 10k probably a minute and a half maybe 2-3 minutes. So anything over 1:19.xx would be deemed a bad race, but I would be playing the ‘tired legs’ card to keep up my confidence for Rottnest in two weeks. It’s important to be in the right ‘mind space’ for racing. Racing is a very mental thing and the right attitude will certainly gain you a few minutes. You need to trust in your training and don’t be intimidated by the runners around you. No point going out too hard with runners who will run a lot quicker, it may feel nice to punch above your weight initially but with running you will be found out. That being said because we live in such GPS watch dominated times I sometimes feel we hold ourselves back as per our training plans and goals. The days of the racing at ‘suicide pace’ and hanging on seem to be behind us, I mean imagine running without a watch, just by feel.
So far so good. Having a lie in this morning helped and no running gear made the lunch time run difficult. I did run the lunchtime 10k in a pair of speedos once but that’s another story and was the result of a stupid comment alone the lines of ‘if Iceland beat England at football I’ll run in a pair of budgie smugglers !’ . There is evidence of said smugglers but I want to keep some resemblance of followers.
So not run today, (I am assuming I don’t break tonight and sneak out for a slow 10k?) which just leaves tomorrow pre-race. I’ve planned an early morning brekkie with my Wife, read the papers and spend some time on the internet researching blogs and ‘stuff’. Maybe even check out a few sites on the best way to run a half marathon. All the good advice normally goes out the window when the guns goes off. The first 1-2k’s is nearly always run way to fast and before you know it you’re in Threshold and VO2 territory. This is a place you cannot stay for too long, if you try tit will end in tears.
A half is a good distance as you have got time to work your way into it, and finish strong, without the need to redline it straight away; unlike a 5k or a 10k when really it’s on from the gun. That being said you’ll always have your runners who you aspire to match or beat and when they go you normally follow. On Sunday I’ll be setting the pace around the 77-79 minute finish time; around the 3:40min/k pace. Depending on who turns up that may be enough for a top 5 finish. This will go out the window of course if any ‘real runners’ decided to pop along for a tempo run. If that happens it’ll be all about going under 1:17 and an age group win.
In any race you need a goal and a few alternatives if the first goal all of a sudden evaporates. For me on Sunday it’s a top 5 finish first (this could be a stretch goal!); then a sub 1:17, then an age group win and finally a sub 1:20. The last two years I achieved none of these with a 6th and 7th and both times running 1hour 20minutes and change. I may have won my age group last year but it was still a disappointing run. You can normally predict your half time if you have done enough of them and your training has been respectable. A marathon is a different animal and can always throw up the odd curve ball to totally destroy your pre-race predictions.
Sunday will also be race two in my five race, 6 weekends series. Next weekend I have a week off before another half on Rottnest Island ( http://www.rottnestisland.com , a magical place and I’ll be spending a week there after the half with the family. This is a ‘Matthews’ tradition as I have done the Rottnest full 10 times and each time me and the tribe stay on the Island for a week afterwards) . After my week break on Rottnest I return for the World Masters 5k on the 29th October and finally the reason for this training block the World Masters on November 6th ( http://www.perth2016.com )
There is the opportunity to race the Rottnest half starting at 7:30am and then the 10k starting at 10:30am, but that would be silly, wouldn’t it….?
Week 2 in my 6 week ‘race window’. Started the week with a double recovery run. well you’d be mad not to really. Two nice and easy 10k’s, one by myself this morning while watching another sunrise and the second with Mike and Jon at lunch. As we had all ran the 10k yesterday there was much discussion on important things like heart rate, VO2 max (Mike’s favourite subject bar none!) , threshold and how long one should spend in the pain box. Actually in Mike’s case we were all wondering if he was anywhere near the pain box for the duration of the race as his heart rate suggested otherwise. This leads me on to this afternoons post. The good old fashioned David ‘Sugar’ Cane immortalised pain box.
This is somewhere you need to place yourself if you want to improve on your previous PB, reach a set goal or are in the heat of battle within a race. The more time you can survive in the pain box the better. To be your best this little box needs to be embraced and one needs to open the door, step inside , close the door behind you and curl up in the fetal position. The longer you endure the pain box the better the final outcome. Similar to paying the piper, eventually the piper needs to get paid and when that is can determine how your race is going to pan out. If all goes well you can survive the pain box and come out the other end stronger and with a faster PB and renewed confidence, if it goes wrong , well then it doesn’t end well. Confidence takes a beating and you reassess your whole running career. On the bright side the door to the pain box will always be open and there’s always next time, but to improve unfortunately you will need to spend some serious time in there.
It’s fun this racing lark isn’t it? Well actually it isn’t. If you’re having fun you ain’t anywhere near the pain box and you ain’t racing. It needs to be gut busting, leg smashing, heart beating pain but when it all comes together the rewards are well worth it, but it ain’t fun. On the flip side I’m a big believer in the more time you spend racing (in the pain box) the better runner you will eventually become. The ‘no pain, no gain’ adage describes racing to a tee.
So Fremantle half next weekend. One of my favourite half marathons and one where I will ask questions of myself and my ability. There will be some quality pain box time and I’m excited just thinking about but it will not, and never will, be fun. That bit is the recovery run afterwards recounting stories of the race and then blogging about it, that’s fun…
After this mornings race I couldn’t wait for my recovery 10k. As I mentioned in a post earlier in the week a recovery run is using muscles that are fatigued from a previous hard workout. This means the recovery allows you to ‘smell the roses’ so to speak and also is doing you some serious good. Too good to miss really.
At the race earlier in the day I was speaking to a running hero of mine Chris Maher. Chris has a marathon best of 2:34 at 38 and was still running sub 2:40 marathon times well into his forties. When I was first starting taking running seriously in 2008, pre my first Comrades campaign, Chris would regularly kick my butt on the shorter distances. He still loves his racing as much today as in his prime , just now his competition is women and younger kids, as well as runners of his vintage. (albeit a good standard as Chris still ran a 3:03 marathon recently in his sixties) He gets the same thrill of the chase as I or any runner does when they are tested by competition and their own goals.
In 2013 I thought I had peaked and after winning the Bunbury Marathon in that year (my one and only marathon victory) I was ready to step up for a sub 2:40 marathon assault. This ended in a couple of near misses, 2:41.58 and 2:41.14, but ultimately I lost my love of racing and running in general as I failed on 3 or 4 more occasions to go sub 2:40. I wrote of 2014 as a bad year after such a good previous year. In 2015 Raf from the Running Centre took me under his wing and although i never broke the 2:40 he steered me to a new way of training which I have continued to use and has started to reap rewards.
So 2016 has seen me break my 5k, 10k and half pub’s. All times I thought beyond me. How long can this continue ? Who knows but I’m enjoying the challenge and like Chris love the competition and if I can keep at the front of the pack for a year or two more so be it, but when I eventually return to the pack look out because I’ll be coming for you….
Well it seems distance really is the key to improvement. With a month of twice a day running in my legs and after 119k pre-race kilometres for the week I managed to run a 20 second 10k pb for a first place finish at the WAMC Peninsula run this morning. I have been making a bit of effort reducing the sugar intake and my diet on the whole has always been pretty good, so it must be distance. Maybe you can add in the weight reduction which comes with the extra distance. I’m probably 2-3kg lighter than normal which will also be a bonus.
The proof will be in the pudding so to speak as I have 4 more races over the next 5 weeks. I did promise myself a week off next week but the Fremantle half marathon is one of my favourites and not to be missed. Can I push myself in each race or do I treat one as an indicator race and set a slower than race pace goal with the Masters Marathon coming up. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to enter a race and not give 100%+ , put a race number on and it’s on for young and old…
So lesson learnt from today. You don’t have to taper too much for a 10k, although I did run only once yesterday. Discussing the run with Mike and Jon on the cool down we were off the opinion you can just about get away with a 10k if you are in reasonable shape. Jon ran his 3 year 10k pb (it was his first for 3 years!) and he made a big effort not to walk. He has started a run-walk strategy lately in the half and full marathon (not sure if these are planned beforehand!) and he was happy enough to avoid this and run a 38:45. Mike had a disappointing run and this was pointed out a few times by Jon on the cool down, runners can be cruel sometime. he’ll be back next week for the half. Racing is a must if you want to challenge yourself to improve, nothing makes you run harder than competition.
So lets look at the race with the help of my Strava splits. Because this was a 5k and a 10k race at the start you had no idea who was in which race. At around 2k the 5k and 10k course separate. So I was running in the top 3 at 5k pace initially and then when the lead runner broke of for the 5k course it was left to me and one other runner to take up the mantle. We had a good race to about the halfway point and he certainly pushed me faster than I was comfortable with but I figured worse case I’d blow up and still podium so went ‘all in’. This proved the right choice as at 5k he dropped off and I was left alone to ‘hang on’ for a victory. The pb was a surprise , and a very pleasant one, as the course is not really pb friendly. There’s a small hill , a bridge and the wind was a challenge.
Looking at the splits I did slow down in the last 3k but in my defence there was a head wind and I was ‘goosed’. Maybe there’s more in the tank, we’ll see. For the moment I’m enjoying the feeling of a good pb as I really felt these times were beyond me. Right, lets get ready for Fremantle half next week, I shouldn’t run this evening but funnier things have happened and if I got a text from Mark again who knows….
As I have some spare time I’ll plug the ‘6inch’ trail marathon I’m running on December 18th this year. The only time I really get on the trails in a racing capacity. Much prefer the concrete myself but once in a while it’s good to mix it up. The race was a ‘fat ass’ (free entry and self supported) the first year I ran it in 2009 and it has grown from about 20 runners to a 350 sell out. Very popular and if you are ever in WA around the end of December I highly recommend it. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com )
The atmosphere at the end of this race is particularly friendly as it’s mainly ultra-runners who tend to be a more ‘sociable’ animal than the normal marathon racers. Not that marathon racers aren’t social but in a different , more competitive, way. The ultra community really are just nice people who are more interested in you and your journey, not your time. I bet some of them haven’t even got Strava accounts…. a funny bunch.
Having a blog can sometimes come home and bite you. My mate Mark had read my first post of the day and knew a text inviting me for a ‘relaxing’ 10k would be too much for me to resist. He was right. Not sure what happened with the ‘relaxing’ part either as we finished with a sub 4:30min/k average. No worries it was nice to run my ‘old faithful’ of a 10k for the 146th time and the first time with company. The 10k run soon disappeared as we chatted about everything to do with running as we’re both training for the World Masters in Perth in November ( http://www.perth2016.com ) Mark has been unlucky over the last few tears with injuries and this has been compounded by his Wife finding the addiction that is Triathlon’s. Add in 3 Daughters including a set of young twins and Mark and Emma have their hands full. The planning involved in both adults getting their exercise fix and also spending enough family time with the girls will always be a challenge and one so many runners face. The one benefit of maturing with age, and trust me there isn’t many, is the kids are growing up and my three daughters are now at an age where Mum and Dad aren’t as important as they once were. Friends have started to become more important in their life. In one respective this is sad but , always being the optimist, I get more ‘Kev’ time which means more running.
That being said there really was no excuse to run today with a 10k race tomorrow but as I have always maintained I love to run and I can justify that this is not a ‘goal’ race and as such no need to be totally rested, and it’s only 10k, what can go wrong? A 10k needs to be respected. You can fake a 5k, normally run a half marathon at a reasonable pace and always give the marathon the respect it deserves. A 10k can come back and bite you if you go out too fast, normally around the 7-8k mark. When you run out of fuel and the tank is empty the last 2k can be testing. as with all races it is better to start slow and build into it. This is something I can never do. When the pistol goes it’s on and I always charge straight into the threshold zone. I’ll do the same thing tomorrow and wouldn’t really have it any other way….
So after a month of running twice a day and hitting new distance records weekly it’s time to see if this has translated to better racing. I have a 10k this weekend and would hope to be able to run around 35 minutes, quicker if the conditions are good. A 10k is a testing distance because you invariably go out at 5k pace which is fine for the first 5k but then the wheels can fall off. K’s 6-8 are the testing ones and this is where you need to dig deep. The final kilometre you can normally find something and when you smell the finish line it’s amazing the kick you can produce.
This year I have run five 10k races and this has helped me drop to a PB time of 34:41 earlier in the year on a flat and fast course. When you’re chasing PB’s the course layout is important. My PB course was three laps of a lake so there was no turns and it was completely flat. Couldn’t have asked for a better course. I went out too fast and led for the first 8k until I heard footsteps behind me and I was well beaten into 2nd place. Because of the layout I was never able to look behind me and had no idea where the rest of the field was. With 3k to go I was dreaming of glory but it was not to be. It was still a PB time and the first time I had run under 35 minutes. This was a goal I had been chasing for a few years.
Should I have ran with the pack and then raced for position rather than go alone ? Tough call. It was a good PB so really you can’t argue with the time. It was nice to lead the race and have the lead bike in front of me albeit only for 8k. As I get older this time at the front of the pack will be limited and eventually I will slowly work my way back down the field. That is the way of getting older but I’ll be working as hard as possible to make the journey as slow as possible.
So to sum up this mornings post, if you are racing this weekend trust in your training. If you have done the work you will be rewarded, running is the most honest sport. Don’t be intimidated by the occasion, trust in your ability and enjoy the experience. Racing is one of the best ways to improve because you will vary rarely push yourself in a training session the way you do with a bib on your chest and a target runner ahead of you.
