After weeks and months of logging miles in preparation for your race, the big day is almost here.
What do you do in the days leading up to a goal race?
Hopefully, you’re respecting the rules of the taper.
Also hopefully, you’re not dealing with a case of the taper crazies.
One thing that you should be doing in the days leading up to your race is to put your race day plan together. Read more
This post/episode was originally released on 20 January 2017.
How do you plan out your race schedule?
Do you plan your race schedule months in advance? Or do you just sign up for races willy nilly with the plan to figure it out later?
And perhaps the real question is does it even matter?
In a word, maybe.
Honestly, determining whether or not you should worry about how you schedule your races comes down to you and to your goals.
All of these reasons, and probably a dozen more, are perfectly valid reasons for signing up for a race.
If you are thinking about running multiple races in a condensed time frame, you need to really dial in on what your most important goal is.
And once you’ve done that, your race schedule can really start to take shape.
There is nothing wrong with running multiple races in a short amount of time.
There is, however, something wrong with RACING multiple races in a short amount of time.
If hitting a certain time goal is important to you, you can’t plan on running every race hard unless your races are at lease several weeks apart.
Doing so is going to do one of two things: result in injury or result it sub-par finish times.
Basically, when it comes to your race schedule you can't have both quality and quantity. #runchat Click To Tweet
You can definitely have one or the other, but trying for both is asking for trouble.
A little bit of planning goes a long way, y’all.
When you are looking at what races to add to your calendar, do yourself a favor and think for a few minutes before you put in your credit card information and hit the registration button.
I had a coaching call a few weeks ago with someone that had a list of races she was thinking about running this year, but wanted to get my perspective on things as a coach. Was she being too ambitious? Should she reconsider her plan?
The first question I asked her after she told me the dates of the races she was thinking about running was to ask her what her goal was.
She’s thinking about making a serious run at a BQ this year.
So we need to focus her race schedule on quality and not quantity this year.
That doesn’t mean she can only run one or two races.
When we looked at the different races and race distances that she was considering for this year, it turned out that she could definitely run almost all of the races she was thinking about running this year because they could serve as workouts on the way to her big goal of qualifying for Boston.
If she collects a PR or two along the way, that’s fine. If she gets some awesome bling, that’s cool too.
But by being clear on what her goals are for 2017, we were able to put together a race schedule for her that gives her the best chance at being successful with her number one goal.
Does the planning of your race schedule influence how successful you may be? Absolutely! #runchat Click To Tweet
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When I was younger, my favorite thing about the end of the year was the annual “best videos of the year” countdowns on MTV and VH1.
Judging by the lack of music videos shown on either channel these days, I’d say it’s safe to assume they don’t look back at the year’s best videos anymore, eh?
As the new year approaches, I’m legitimately excited for what is in store.
I have big plans (and goals) for my running, for my business, and (most importantly) for my family.
I’m guessing that you probably have some goals in mind for the new year as well, yes?
With the new year still fresh in your mind, what have you done to ensure that 2016 will be your best year of running ever?
You may not be able to guarantee that on December 31st you’ll look back on this year as your best ever, but you can definitely stack the deck in your favor.
How?
Press play on the video for a little more detail, but here is the abridged version.
Finally, the Coterie is open!
In the Coterie, We Run Together
It’s taken a little while to get to this point, and everything isn’t perfect just yet, but the Coterie is ready to add some new members to our group.
In a word, it’s a team.
The Coterie is a virtual team of runners from around the world (literally, we already have a member in Australia!) focused on improving as individual runners while simultaneously supporting each other from afar.
This group has been put together with the feedback of many of the founding members from the very beginning, and it will continue to be shaped and molded based on the feedback from the current members.
There is, however, one thing that will never change and that is my commitment to work with each runner as a individual and to create workouts and training to help each runner meet his or her goals.
So while you could make the argument that the Coterie is just a fancy label for a group training program, that isn’t remotely true.
There is no one size fits all plan for each member to adhere to, because each member in the group is pursuing different goals and is on a different timeline.
Therefore, each member needs to be following a different plan in order to be successful.
Let’s be clear on one thing, I’m creating the Coterie to help runners reach their goals and to help me make a living.
I understand that not every runner can afford to hire a coach on an individual basis, but I know that just about every runner can benefit from the expertise of working with a running coach whether their goals include injury prevention, getting faster, running farther, improving their health, or anything else.
So for the past year or so, I’ve been trying to figure out how to help runners as individuals for the cost of not going out to lunch once a week.
And the solution is the Coterie.
When you sign up to join the Coterie, you get access to my knowledge, experience, and expertise.
What you don’t get is unfettered access to me.
If members want more access to me for phone calls or Skype sessions, that’s fine and can be added on an a la carte basis, but otherwise I’ll be checking email, Facebook messages, and training plan notes once or twice daily and replying to members at that time.
That’s honestly the difference between being in the Coterie and hiring me (or many other online running coaches) for one-on-one coaching.
If you’ve never thought of working with a running coach before, it might be time to give it a second thought. And with a 30 day, no questions asked, money back guarantee you’ve got nothing to lose!
The Coterie may not be for everyone, but if you’re at all interested click this link to learn about the other perks of membership and for information on pricing options.
And if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask! Shoot me an email ( dizruns {at} gmail [dot] com ) and I’ll be happy to do my best to answer every question about the Coterie that you have!