With the holidays around the corner, spending an extra few dollars on your next goal race or the gear to get you there can challenge the budget.  With so much giving to do, here are a few ways to stay on track by taking advantage of some great bargains.

Register early and save big!

In many cities, and for lots of walkers and runners, a big local race is often a yearly goal, regardless of what else is on the calendar.  Oftentimes, these races offer deep discounts for next year’s event when you are at the expo for this year’s race, or via email at what may seem like a far too early time to make the commitment.   Registering early can save a large percentage of the last minute or race weekend fee, and can help you commit well in advance and stay on track. Consider it, especially if you have maintained a pattern of registration for some of the same events year in and year out.

Want a fitness test without paying big bucks?  Try cross country or an all-comers track meet.

Many recreational runners and walkers don’t consider themselves cross country or track and field athletes, but these races are often low cost ways to mix things up and compete between big goal efforts.  Many all-comers track meets only charge $5-10 to compete, and provide the most fail-safe, flattest course on which you can measure your 5K or even 10K fitness – a track.  Although the change of scenery found on the roads may be more your style, an indoor meet during a snowy winter or a lit track on a dark night may prove a better alternative for a hard effort every once in a while.  Since cross country races for adults tend to cater towards club athletes and not the general public, they tend to have modest fundraising expectations and lower entry fees.  Cross country may also provide a solid shorter alternative to longer trail runs, with much of the same types of course challenges and fun.

Run a Relay!

You may want to take part in a local event, but may not be quite prepped to run the entire distance or able to justify the entire entry fee unless you are well prepared.  Some longer races offer relay options, which are a way you can both share the experience with friends as well as take part at a lower price point.  Again, the earlier you register, the better the price!

Crack the code!

Before you sign up for your next race, consider if there may be any discounts to that race for groups to which you already belong.  Check your email for discount codes you may have been sent through a running or walking club, a local retailer, a gym or fitness center, or another running connection you may have.  If you know you have a group of individuals or part of a club that may want to run a race, go ahead and ask if you can get a discount for bringing a group.  The worst the race management can say is no, and for a couple of seconds of checking your email, the worst you can find is nothing – this time.  $5 or 10% off might not make a big dent in your budget once, but over the course of a year or two, taking advantage of any code available to you can make a difference, particularly if you end up saving others a few more dollars.

Many races exist to help others, and there is a time when a full donation is the appropriate thing to do and is done gladly.  However, taking advantage of opportunities to save here and there can help allow each of us to race a bit more, which helps everyone involved.

Every runner or walker has a slightly different style.  Each of us move a bit differently, but if you are looking for a few quick and subtle tips to start with as you begin to train for a goal race, or are an experienced athlete looking for reminders, here are a few key concepts to keep in mind when trying to move efficiently.

Relax and drop your shoulders

Hunched up shoulders are tense shoulders.  Tense shoulders take energy away from where you need it and result in a fatigued feeling well before you have earned it.  Try to keep your shoulders low enough that if your arms hang at about 90 degrees, your hands will brush your pockets (or where your pockets would be) when you swing your arms.

Keep your head neutral

As you run, ideally your body should stack up in a column leaning barely forward. If your head is tilted forward looking at the ground or your chin is up due to fatigue, it disrupts the efficiency of this line and quickens the onset of that achy, tired feeling many athletes get in their upper back toward the end of longer efforts.  Keep your eyes on a spot around 15 yards ahead so your head sits in line with the rest of your spine, and avoid the distraction of an achy upper body for a few more precious miles.

Concentrate on a crisp stride cadence

Many athletes grow up assuming that longer strides will help an athlete cover more ground, faster.  While it is true that while sprinting, you might cover more ground per stride, your stride rate is pretty quick.  Concentrate on the rate aspect of the equation, rather than the distance.  When you take long, bound-y strides, all that time in the air just results in a greater decrease in speed by the time the next foot hits the ground.  Concentration on keeping a crisp stride rhythm can provide a welcome distraction when tired, and also helps keep your body in line.

Engage your core

The less your midsection vacillates or rotates per stride, the more efficiently your body can move forward.  Drawing your navel to your spine (figuratively) and using that tightened core to help your posture can make it easier for your legs to cycle under you efficiently, your arms to swing front and back, instead of side to side, and for your body to get to the finish line with less strain and hopefully less time.

There are innumerable exercises to help athletes improve their efficiency while striding (try these suggestions from a previous blog post). Sometimes these can be intimidating to recreational athletes, but these small tweaks can make a difference without feeling the need to completely overhaul your form. Experiment and see if the suggestions above can make a difference.

Over the course of a 13 or 26-mile effort, music can be a welcome distraction.  And after a few of these, bands or music along the course become a part of the day worth looking forward to.  Occasionally, there are some renegade bands or neighborhoods that will greet the athletes streaming by with some unexpected tunes, but more likely than not, there are some tested and true tropes that will appear like the daily mail.  See if this rings true for your next goal race or brings back fond memories of your last.

Fanfare

Goal races like marathons or half marathons are often signposts indicating the culmination of weeks and months, maybe years of hard work.  Race organizers know this, and rarely miss a chance to set the tone with music usually associated with the grandest stages and ultimate opportunities.  “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” can set the mood, or in the case of the New York Marathon, a ritual playing of “New York, New York” after the starting cannon sounds.  These songs mean to celebrate your achievement, and with a wink, remind you how awesome it is that you get to do such an amazing race as the one you are doing right now!

Movie Tunes

Without a scientific study it is hard to know for sure, but no experienced marathoner would be surprised if the Rocky theme was awarded the most played song award.  Those familiar notes are there to remind you that you are in a fight! You can win! All that training is going to pay off! “Rocky” along with the song from the opening credits of Chariots of Fire, and “Eye of the Tiger” are not there for subtle encouragement and secondary meanings.   Those songs are played and received as direct reminders of your purpose and your ability.  Listen and heed - the finish line is coming!  While the Chariots of Fire tune is a good song for the first few miles when the runners and walkers are thick across the road and optimism is high, playing “Rocky” or “Eye of the Tiger” too early implies that you should be tired and need encouragement.  Those are best deployed for the second half of the race.

Cover Band Music With an Inspirational Sweet Spot

Any band signing up to play along a half or full marathon must consider what overtly or even vaguely inspirational songs are in their wheelhouse.   Failing that, they must consider if they can play any songs that have lyrics related to running or even just the word “running” anywhere in the song. For many cover bands, this list includes “Runnin’ Down a Dream” by Tom Petty,  “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, and  “Where the Streets Have no Name” by U2. For the guitar alone this last one works wonders on the tired spirit, but when you belt out “I wanna RUN” for that first line, you know you are legitimately helping people!  Urban selections might include “Runnin’” by the Pharcyde or “Tightrope” by Janelle Monae.  With a barely more subtle subtext than the overt anthems, these songs help to remind you (in case you forgot) that you should be running, moving, walking, progressing.  Just in case you did indeed forget.  Failing that, many of them have a good beat, which works just as well.

Highly inappropriate or sad songs

Sometimes, the best-laid plans go awry, and the playlist wasn’t quite as thoughtfully considered as it might have been.  For example, “Tears of a Clown” is probably not a winner (true story – it has been played), and other sad songs might greet a walker or runner who has the misfortune of passing a band who is now playing on vapors, exhausting the last drops of their repertoire.   Sometimes, a cheer station or a neighborhood lets loose with a song that nobody remembered had a line or two of completely inappropriate language or verbal imagery.  Better bet is to play the same solid songs three times each rather than a ballad, a sad song, or an explicit tune played over the loudspeaker to the entire neighborhood.  It might be boring to the band, but the runners and walkers only get the one moment.   A few depressing thoughts as well as a smile due to the randomness of the choice can occur as a result of these.  Even concurrently.  Additional note:  “We are the Champions” or “Celebration” by Kool ‘n’ the Gang should never be played unless the finish line is in sight.  That’s teasing!


High School Bands and Various Cultural Music Sources 

Sometimes school bands volunteer to support the local athletes in the big race or a band with a specific cultural musical specialty signs up to help.  What they may lack in anything resembling tunes that relate to running, they often contribute doubly in energy and spirit.  Sometimes it is their tunes and even the actual incongruence of the music with the situation that end up resonating as a fond memory in the days and weeks after the race.

Hype man

One of the many great informal traditions of a large running and walking event is the occasional neighborhood individual equipped with a microphone, a speaker, potentially some background music, and a great deal of energy.  Kudos to these folks, willing to just call out bib numbers, shirt colors, Sharpied names, and other filler for hours.  Never underestimate the power of having your name called over a loudspeaker, and never underestimate the ability of a well-timed musical distraction to make the finish line seem just a bit closer.

The recently held Berlin Marathon lived up to its potential for fast times and then some, with Dennis Kimetto shattering the existing world marathon record by 26 seconds and becoming the first human being under 2 hours and 3 minutes.   If you are keeping score, that is an average pace of 4:41 per mile, or essentially the equivalent of running 105 laps around a track and hitting 70 seconds on each one.

Performances like this can seem so many light years away that the average athlete may feel that they can barely relate.  Yes, Kimetto covered 26.2 miles in an amazingly fast time, but looking beneath the surface, races like his can yield connections that can encourage us all, even if we are in the middle or the back of the pack.

1. 1. It took the encouragement of a mentor for Kimetto to give running a serious try. Kimetto runs with many-time marathon winner Geoffrey Mutai in Kenya.  As detailed in the Chicago Tribune, Kimetto was a subsistence farmer who Mutai invited to train after basically seeing him lope through the streets with a good looking stride.  Many of us didn’t come out of the womb destined for marathoning.  A key health issue or charity push, the desire to accompany a friend or relative, or a life transition may have caused us to finally shift into action.   If you are new to the sport or don’t have a lot of athletic experience, console yourself that before 2008, neither did the world record holder, and he still believed in himself enough to aspire to big goals.

1. 2. Sometimes big goals come as the result of a steady progression. Dennis Kimetto has run several marathons before, and has had a lot of success, but he certainly didn’t break the world record on his first try.  He ran 2:04 in 2012, 2:03 in 2013, and has now run 2:02 in 2014.  While obviously this is WAY easier said than done, his accomplishment is the result of steady improvement.  Sometimes we can benefit from setting a target fairly far away on the horizon, and committing to small or medium length intermediate goals along the way, even if the journey is several years in the making.  The sense of accomplishment then comes from achieving the goals and for having the courage to be patient and persistence on the road there.

1. 3. A Personal Best is Personal – no one sets your goals except you. Dennis Kimetto could be forgiven for thinking he hard run the fastest he ever might – after all, he just ran the fastest time in all of history. However, in a feature article from the IAAF, he is quoted as saying “Actually, I think I could still be a very good runner 10 years from now, at 40.”  No one has the right to set boundaries on your belief.  When training, it is important to know your capabilities so you can make smart choices, but you have the right to make a goal for yourself, completely independent of arbitrary standards such as Boston, your personal best, etc.  What is important now is that you uphold and aspire to the standards and capability that you believe you have – not what society or the media might label as outside of the norm.

1. 4. Keep it simple in the race

The Berlin marathon benefitted from the mano a mano duel Kimetto  staged with his mentor Geoffrey Mutai.  Although we aren’t yet  looking for Must See TV or world fame with our distance exploits, having a complicated race plan can sometimes add more stress than it is worth.   Some top quality races have huge fields of aspiring world class athletes, but the race may become strategic as a result.  If a fantastic time is the goal, nothing beats an old fashioned foot race with one or two people.  The mind can’t drift and so stays alert, and the athlete is able to race at the optimum pace indicated by training.  Toward the end you can race for the finish, but until then remind yourself of your confidence, tell the truth about your training log, and wait patiently for your turn.

Training hard for your big fall goal race is the most important things you can do to increase the odds of success on your big day.  Putting in the work may not mean that a challenge or two may yet await when you finally pin on your bib number.  Here are a few tips to keep in mind when preparing to greet the morning with a resilient mind.

Create quantitative and qualitative goals

Your primary goal may be to finish, or to hit a certain time, and that may be the guiding light in your training thus far.  However, consider all that you have learned or are learning about yourself along this journey. Having goals that take into consideration this gained knowledge and experience, as well as the memorable nature of the accomplishment can be important in case the primary goal appears far off or doubtful during a rough part of the race.  Intermediary time goals, goals to keep a certain attitude or pace through various distance markers, goals to consume certain amounts of fuel or fluid at certain times, even goals to promise to smile and enjoy the last few miles or to take a selfie at the finish line can occupy your brain and keep you on track to your ultimate quantitative goal.

Break down the race into smaller pieces

A half marathon or marathon can seem quite daunting when considering the full length.  If intimidated or feeling nervous, concentrate on one part of the race at a time.  Focus on making it through each 5K or 10K, to the top of the hill ahead, the tree around the bend, or even just to the next mile post.  Building a pile of small “wins” along the way can build a growing confidence that will form a crashing wave of certainty once the finish line is closer than the start.

Plan your focus for when a rough patch occurs

Rough patches are common for almost all marathoners and half marathoners.  These periods might mean a mile or a few where the progress seems much more hard fought than anticipated.  Oftentimes, these patches dissipate and a second wind of confidence follows. Experienced racers can look back and use previous experiences to remind them of the temporary nature of the difficult stretch, but first timers must also be armed with a quiver of motivation when the going seems unexpectedly difficult for a time.  Perhaps you had a personal motivation for starting your training, a charitable goal, a family member to which you’d like to pay tribute with a great effort, or other talismanic aspect that served as a catalyst for this entire endeavor.  Plan to remember your primary motivation and the reasons why you embarked from the starting line, and even remind yourself with a piece of clothing, or even a note written on your hand or arm.

Wear your heart on your sleeve (or better yet, your name on your chest)!

Spectators love to have something to yell besides “Yay!”  “Go!” and “Great job!”  Savvy racers looking for a bit of encouragement label themselves to give the crowd something to shout.  Even if they aren’t truly your personal cheering section, an enthusiastic spectator yelling for you individually can be an irresistible attraction to carry on.

Station your supporters at strategic points on the course

If you do have the luxury of a bit of a cheering section, consider where you will likely have a tougher time.  Certainly between miles 18 and 22, vocal support can help temporarily delay or distract you from the final challenge of a marathon’s last few miles.  Knowing where you will see family and friends can also provide the intermediate goals mentioned above, as well as the visual representation of the motivation you need to be strong and maximize the benefits of the training you have done all these weeks.  Some racers are fine as solo competitors, but oftentimes the trip to the starting line has taken a bit of a village of support.  Enjoying that village’s encouragement along the way can help make the far side of the finish line even that much sweeter.

Many of our runcoach trainees are in the middle of heavy training for their fall goal races.  As some of the most challenging weeks of the year, this period can often seem like one step after another beyond the comfort zone.  Experienced runners will recognize this as a normal part of the training cycle, but if experience is not yet on your side, here are a few tips for making it through the heavy load to the restful period of the taper.

Your full body of training is preparing you – not just the long runs

It is easy to get very caught up with your weekend long efforts, and if one goes poorly or has to be skipped due to an unforeseen circumstance, it can be scary to be even a bit off track.  Don’t forget that the efforts you make throughout the week – harder ones as well as the key recovery days, are building a tapestry that provides your safety net.  One snag doesn’t mean disaster, and staying confident despite a setback can be good practice in case your race plan doesn’t go absolutely smoothly on the day either.

It’s ok to “look down”

Heights can be scary, unless you are standing on a firm foundation.  Your many weeks of work have stacked up, and now you are attempting very challenging tasks.  The good news is, you are prepared!  Don’t be afraid to look back at your training log to see where you’ve come from when you started.  Be encouraged that if you have been able to ascend so far and are doing ok, you will be ok to keep it up just a few more weeks.

Plan for dessert

If your challenge is staying motivated as the training has become more difficult, consider planning something fun to look forward to at the end of your goal race.  The planning and anticipation can be a bit of a healthy distraction to keep your mind off the hard parts to come and to keep the goal race day and its aftermath as a red letter day to look forward to rather than be fearful of.

“I can’t” is almost always just down the block from “I will”

Oftentimes the hardest part of a training cycle or race is closer to the end than the beginning.  You are a bit tired and have been stretched, maybe mentally and physically.  You might be wondering if you have what it takes to go all the way.  These thoughts are completely common, but experienced racers know that often the time between these thoughts and the time when the finish line feels absolutely within reach are almost always pretty close together.  If you have been training for 12 weeks and you only have four to go, consider that 2-3 of those weeks will have a decreased demand as you taper and doing the math, you only have about one week of tough stuff to endure.  If you have made it through 12 weeks, the fact is that you can definitely make it through one more.   Take one day at a time and look forward to the moment when you can sniff the finish and you can rejoice in getting through the forest of heavy training.  You’ll deserve some congratulations not only for the training itself, but staying calm and confident despite the occasional storm.  Savor the feeling!

Technology has improved our lives in myriad ways.  GPS devices have allowed us to track our endurance efforts, recording our pace, distance, heart rate, and many more metrics besides.  While providing a wealth of information, our relationship with the technology can become complicated and far more entangled than we could have possibly imagined.   These devices are best as a tool to help us train effectively and analyze where we have gone.  While possible that your GPS device can provide some accountability, take this quiz and see where you are on the spectrum of maintaining a healthy balance and perspective with your wrist-born tech.

Do you always round off your runs or walks to an exactly even number (5.00 miles, 3.50 miles exactly, 40 miles precisely for the week, etc), even if you are doing a lap around the parking lot or go up and down your driveway three times?

If your answer is yes, you probably enjoy order over chaos, and completion of your goals.  You might also like to look at tidy numbers on the screen. None of that is bad in and of itself, but it is always good to remember that training has a purpose and shuffling in circles for 27 meters to make a full mile doesn’t really make you any more prepared for the race.  Consider spending a week where you purposely don’t end on an even number in any run.  Encourage yourself that your achievement of the total includes the experience of the effort along the way and that your training need not be 100% perfect 100% of the time to be in a position to achieve your goals on race day!

Do you have a floor or ceiling pace under or over which you never go on training run / walk days?

If your answer is yes, you probably are trying to faithfully complete your training efforts at the paces prescribed by your runcoach pace chart.  However, always make sure that you listen to your body.  If you have a sore / tight muscle, feel tired from the prior day’s workout, are sick, or have another legitimate reason to be in true recovery mode, it is fine to slow dow.  Occasionally what felt like your easy pace turns out to be 30 seconds per mile or more.  Recovery is key to being prepared for the next hard day.  Sometimes, that requires doing a little less and easing off a bit (and being ok with that when you look at your watch).

Now that you have a GPS device on your wrist or in the palm of your hand, do you find yourself checking your pace almost reflexively every 50 meters along your route?

If this sounds like you, you might be just excited to have a cool toy to consult. But, with constant reliance on the watch or app (which is not always 100% accurate due to trees, weather, and other factors), you might also be at risk for missing a chance to understand and gain a feel for what your race pace or other paces might be.  While you might want to keep careful track of your mileage, occasionally pick a route you of which you already know the distance, and run it without your watch, gauging your effort based on what you perceive to be the pace.  You can log the miles accurately as you have measured it previously and using your total time, can figure the pace. However, you have taken an opportunity during the run to stay in touch with your instincts and listen to your body.

Do you avoid certain routes because of spotty satellite reception (and the shorter distances/ slower paces you might be given credit for on your device as a result)?

If your answer is yes to this one, you are human! We all like to see our best selves recorded and the greatest return on our efforts.  However, if the preoccupation with the numbers is causing you to miss out on tree covered paths, excellent trail running, and safe routes on bike paths that travel through tunnels, consider mapping these on the computer and manually entering in the distances, or just noting your estimated differences when uploading your info.

Data is helpful, but we should not become overly reliant on it.  As humans, we can use machines and technology to help us to our goals, but nothing replaces the individual effort and commitment we all need to achieve our goals on the day.  Continue to trust in your ability and instincts. Let your GPS devices and apps be tools, but only one of many, in your arsenal.

Most of us are well acquainted with the need to hydrate during long workouts.  If you need a refresher, check out what we’ve written before on some basic rules for hydrating effectively.  Once you are committed to the plan of periodic hydration during your workouts, you will need a strategy for how to transport that fluid along the way. There are many different ways of doing this, one for every personality and preference.  Check out a few great options, and find out which one will work best so that fluid planning is less a chore, and more a pre-requisite for heading out on the door.

Old School Bottle

There are some folks for whom this article is hardly necessary.  Grabbing a water bottle tchotchke from your last corporate retreat, the one the kids won’t need for soccer until the afternoon, or a fresh bottle of your favorite sports drink from the corner store, you can set off on an 18 mile jaunt with a basic water bottle in your hand and hardly notice it is there.  Benefits: If you bought fluid from the 7-11, you can just toss the bottle when you are done at the nearest trash can.  If you brought a bottle from home, this is probably the cheapest option out there.  Drawback: If you like your hands free, this route is not for you.

Hand strapped bottle

If you are unafraid to have weight at the end of your arm, but don’t want to think about gripping the bottle, this option might just be for you.  Often, these curve to mold your hand, and allow your mind to wander without worrying about dropping the goods.  Benefits: Reusable bottle is an environmentally sound choice, feels a bit more comfortable than a basic bottle.  Drawback:  These types of bottles are not typically very large.  You might need a couple or won’t have enough for an extra long route.

Backpack with straw

Popular with ultrarunners and those who like their hands free, this is a solution that allows a runner or walker to have a ready source of fluids while not needing to grip the goods with a hand or feel the weight around the waist.  Benefits: Hands Free, keeps weight of fluid distributed evenly across the back.  Drawbacks: Not everyone likes drinking out of a straw, and these systems are not nearly as cheap as a basic water bottle.

Fluid belt

This is a very popular option, but some athletes find the extra weight around the waist is a distraction if time is the primary objective.  Small bottles are secured at places around a belt, worn throughout the workout. Benefits: Hands free, can add more bottles for some models and increase the amount of fluids you have on hand.  Drawbacks: If you are sensitive to extra weight around the middle or a bit of bouncing, this isn’t for you.  Also, the individual bottles can be fairly small, requiring multiple for extra long efforts.

Water fountain

Although ideally, your long efforts will include some calorie replacement as well as water consumption, an option always remains to plan your route where you know you can enjoy regular interactions with water fountains.  Benefits: Hand free, no weight, water is often cold.  Drawbacks: Risky as you never know if maintenance/ construction, or other unforeseen issues might scotch your plans, requires some additional source of calories – bar, gel, etc.  Also this method requires you to stop moving for at least a few seconds.

As fluid replacement is such a crucial aspect of your longer training, it is well worthwhile experimenting with a solution you will stick with as your training will greatly benefit with a solid plan in place.  Whether one of the solutions above fits the bill or another one is more your style, it is worth the effort to become consistent in this practice and reap the fitness benefits.

Whether you have just signed up for your first goal race or if you are in need of a new or different pair of shoes after hundreds of miles, here are a few terms that will help you navigate the local running / walking store. Familiarize yourself with the below and hopefully your helpful shoe salesperson’s jargon won’t overwhelm you when it comes time to choose the right shoe for you.

Neutral

If you are a neutral runner or walker, you don’t need too much support to get your foot striking and pushing off in a generally textbook fashion.  Neutral shoes don’t provide excessive stability mechanisms or other overtly corrective technology.

Pronation / Supination

These two terms commonly come up in conversation when discussing how a foot strikes the ground and what it does after landing.  Pronation is the inward roll of the foot after landing.  Some pronation is fairly normal, although some athletes over-pronate which means rolling inward much more severely.  This can in some cases lead to knee soreness and other over-use issues, and a shoe that helps guide the foot along a more neutral path might be suggested.    Supination, on the other hand, is the outward rotation of the foot after it hits the ground, which may cause other overuse issues or just an uneven wear pattern in your shoes.

Minimal / Maximal / Drop

Minimal shoes have reduced the cushioning aspects of a typical shoe to try and encourage a stride which more closely resembles what we would do if not wearing any shoes at all.  Maximal shoes have chosen an alternate route – the more cushioning the better.  Despite these seemingly opposing approaches to finding the perfect ride, many of the popular models in each camp have a very modest drop, or difference in height between where the heel and forefoot sit.  For example, a four inch high heel shoe has a 4 inch drop, while flip flops have zero drop.  Many minimal and popular maximal shoes have 4 mm drop or less, while traditional shoes have 8mm or more.

Heel counter

The firm piece in the heel that helps keep it central within the shoe.

Last

The last is the mold on which the shoe is designed, usually made of a hard surface.  Different types of lasts result in differently shaped shoes, and different ways of lasting can result differences in how the shoes are put together.

It is amazing how rumors or wives tales can be passed among friends or down through the ages, affecting the behavior of thousands without any basis on solid ground.  Even an experienced runner or walker can be operating off of a faulty or outdated instruction manual now and again.  Although we bring up these topics periodically in the blog, they are always worthwhile to review.

More mileage is always better

False.  Training allows you to prepare for the race task, and extended periods of significant volume could allow you to be prepared for very challenging tasks.  It also could leave you injured and unable to do any challenging tasks.   Your runcoach schedule is calibrated to consider what you have done in the past and will help you safely progress, prioritizing the goal of arriving at race day ready to do your best.  This means planned and regular recovery.  Every week will not necessarily include more mileage than the last.  Consistent training over time is the best way to gradually increase your volume, but in many cases other aspects of your schedule can make an even bigger difference than merely just mileage alone.

You must carbo-load before every race

False. Race-organized pasta feeds and a sincere effort to prepare as well as possible often lead participants down a road of excessive consumption the night before a race.  There is scant evidence that loading up in this fashion can effect shorter races such as a 5K or 10K, and even in longer efforts, fueling effectively during the race can often have a bigger say in the final analysis.  Consider also how much a body can process in 12 hours.  Consuming 3 or 4 times your typical size dinner must be dealt with, and that process might interrupt your morning more than any lack of energy you were worried about to begin with.

You can train at your current fitness and still progress

True! Hundreds of thousands of workouts for thousands of plans has reinforced our conviction that a training plan based on paces associated with your current fitness level can allow you to adapt and perform at a progressively higher level.   Training specifically for goal pace sounds like a great idea, but you might not have figured out exactly how far you can progress in the time between the current day and your goal race day.  What if you were actually in better shape than you thought?  What if you didn’t progress as far as you hoped?  Would you still embark upon that pace?  Of course not.  We provide the tools you need to make successful race efforts with confidence, knowing you have done the work to support your plan.  This doesn’t mean that you never have workouts that include paces faster than what might be your goal pace  - your 5K pace will always be faster than your marathon pace, but the data is based on you and your current fitness.

Exercise is bad for you as you age

False.  A widely cited and encouraging Stanford University study reinforced what avid runners have felt for years - that running actually has a positive effect on most aging athletes.  Senior citizen runners tracked for over 25 years have no increased incidence of osteoarthritis issues in their knees, have lower mortality rates, and generally have delayed onset of mobility and other issues related to aging.    Certainly older runners need to take good care of themselves, adjusting their schedule as needed, but sensible running actually appears to benefit a person as they hit the silver years.

Studies have found similar benefits from walking: http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/research-points-to-even-more-health-benefits-of-walking

You aren’t a real runner if you don’t run fast

False.  One of the great things about our sport is that it provides an unlimited amount of access points, from walkers to Olympic sprinters and everyone in between.  Some of us are triathletes and some of us don’t have time to train for longer distances, sticking with 5Ks.  Some of us enjoy track workouts, and others stick mainly to the trails. As the ranks of adult runners and walkers increases, so has the definition of “athlete” broadened as well.  Any arbitrary cut off for what constitutes a “real” athlete could be just as nonsensical as saying that if we can’t match Usain Bolt or Meb, why try.  Count us among those who are glad the sport is inclusive, and we look forward to supporting you as you achieve your personal bests on the road ahead.