Each of these individuals below is training for long-term marathon personal bests.
They all are working outwards, running farther and faster injury-free.
I tell each of my athletes to focus on the positive aspects of every single run, even when they’re not their bests. It’s essential to find the wins, the big and the small, and celebrate them.
Results
Yesterday, three athletes nailed their race running the RBC Brooklyn Half. I’ve currently been working with them to help them achieve their personal best times with their running and racing goals. One thing in common that all of my athletes did was focus on their recovery and fueling strategies leading up to race day to adequately prepare them for the humid conditions they were up against, and they all finished strong and injury-free. TWO HUGE wins to celebrate!
Runner Race Recaps
Thomas Briody went into this race with the plan to take it as a fitness assessment. We wanted to see how he felt along the way due to a minor knee injury setback. We agreed it’d be best to keep his long-term marathon goal in mind during our most recent coaching chat and only push the pace if his body felt 90%.
Tom pulled out a 1hr30minute marathon, pacing__, pacing, with excellent, consistent pacing, and some key takeaways I look forward to working with him on as we begin the marathon build-up! Tom met his goal for today’s race and ran his GMP of a sub-3 hour marathon as a long, tempo runs for the Berlin Marathon, and he did it.
It might’ve been the crazy hydration strategy we had in place leading up to today’s race this week. Just like you have a purpose behind after a workout, having a purpose behind every race is imperative to set yourself up for your A race! Congrats, Tom! I can’t wait to see what’s next for you! #WIN
Magdalena Macak went into this race with a 1:44:13 half marathon PR (07:57 pace per mile). Last month, she ran the SHAPE + HEALTH Women’s Half on 4/10.
After nailing her first marathon on 4.24 and running a sub-4 hour marathon on 4/24, we worked together closely, completing her first-ever interval workout in the track at McCarren a couple of weeks ago, introducing variety and interval training into her program.
Among other recovery tactics, Magdalena has been diligent about sleep, nutrition, and listening to her body when needed. She pulled out a 1:39:15 yesterday by doing so and following our pacing strategy to the best of her ability to keep her running consistently and strong through the finish line while also working on her mental game for the last 5K of the race. Magdalena always finds positive takeaways from her races and has the best attitude while reflecting on her races. Onto the NYC Marathon training block, we go, lady! #WIN
Ranulf Green worked on his fueling strategy for the past month more diligently than ever before, mainly because that’s what he felt truly preventing him from leaping in his time after running his last half marathon on 4/24, where he ran a 1:40:35.
Yesterday, Ranulf followed his pacing strategy diligently, field correctly the entire way, embraced the heat, gained resilience, and one step closer towards his long-term Hm GOAL, walking away with a 3-minute personal best of 1:37:14.
Stopping at the water stations to fuel his body when he needed it most prevented him from fatiguing later into the race and listening to his body’s needs when he needed to most! #WIN
Speaking of inspiring, All three of these athletes started to run in their adult life.
Takeaways
Staying present to run the mile you’re in never disappoints. It’s essential to take it one step at a time and break down the course into smaller segments to set yourself up for success and not overwhelm your mind with thinking about the 13.1-mile marker.
Comparison is the thief of joy. There’s a truth to cliches! Compare yourself to no one but yourself. After all, you should evaluate your ‘why’ for running’s and perhaps, that will allow you to keep your comparison game to no one but yourself.
Remember to breathe and establish a breathing pattern that works for your body’s needs during your training. Doing this can make or break your race. Please don’t take my advice from me. See it from the success stories of these athletes above for yourself! Setting yourself up for success with racing strategies to prepare you to tackle all of the uncomfortable things we all face in any race will make you proud of yourself rather than disappointed at the end of your race, regardless of the outcome. Remember that one race does not define it. It’s just a stepping stone in your running journey.
Accept it. Reflect on it. Talk about it. Learn and allow yourself to grow!
Do not pull anything new on race day. Shake off those race nerves with the proper warm-up, depending on the length of the race. Work with your coach or your running friends to figure out the best method for you! Anything you do during your race, you should practice during your training. That’s why you train. Right? I know you’ve heard this before, but why not repeat it! Trust your training! It never disappoints!
Look for the opportunities during your training to set yourself up to have a great race day. Even if it’s not a PR, running a great race injury-free is a win. Finishing a race not super dehydrated is still a win. There are MANY wins to celebrate in any race at any distance. Find at least one and write it down beforehand to step up your mental game and have something positive to reflect on before and after your race. During your training too. It helps to look at these goals before any long run or hard workout!
Speaking of wins, celebrate ALL of them. The big and the small victories. It doesn’t matter! The fact you got to the starting line of a race is a win. Do you know how many people don’t run in our world? MOST! That’s a fact. Preparing yourself for success, persevering, and building resilience with every training run and race breeds progress.
Like Eluid Kipchoge said in his latest documentary, Kipchoge: The Last Milestone says, dare to be different.
YES, WE CAN! AND WE DID.
Congratulations, Thomas, Magdalena, and Ranulf! I’m incredibly happy for each of you on your successful races. I am honored to continue to be a part of your running journey!
ONWARD!
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There’s something for everyone and everything for you with a personalized coaching approach I offer at Runwithalli® Coaching.
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