Saturday, December 14, 2013

Plan to Succeed

This is one of my favorite aspects of running marathons and long distance races. Personally, I have run 3 full marathons and 11 half marathons. In each of these long distance races, I would train according to a plan, then plan the race and plan the recovery. Sounds like a lot of planning.

In distance running, it is mission critical to plan, commit to your plan and be flexible to your plans that change.  In pre-planning, I measure the dates of the race and map out each week. In mapping out each week, I commit myself to this plan and can visualize areas of success and failure.

Failure? Yes, I have to see how the plan can get compromised to visualize a “triage” plan. The “triage” plan keeps me grounded and is the largest measure of a successful race/training season.

Race day is a totally different set of plans. What time to get up, eat before the race, porta-potty location, aid stations, music playlist, do I have the right clothes for the temperature throughout the whole race, do I have enough gels packed, chaffing guard, sunglasses, money, ID, etc.

Post race plans dictate your recovery back to “regular” fitness. For my training plans and race recovery, I follow Hal Higdon’s plans. His plans work on so many levels.  If you want to check out his site, it is www.halhigdon.com or he is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/halhigdon?fref=ts&ref=br_tf
In 2014 I will hit the race circuit hard and may even try a Spring marathon and one in the Fall. If I enter a Spring marathon, training will start in a week or so. Sounds like I need to start planning…..



Happy Running!

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