"Racing on Effort not Expectations!"

Hey Runners, Cyclists, and Triathletes!

Spring has sprung and summer racing is now upon us!  Hope everyone has had a great base building early season and you are ready to roll out some peak performances this year!  Coach here decided to dibble in a 10k a couple weeks ago and relearned a fine lesson that I think all us could stand to hear before toeing the start line this season. My family and I headed down to Charleston SC for the Cooper River Bridge Run where many years ago I was able to set my personal best 10k time.  Now many years later and just a few year shy of the Grand Masters division,  Yikes!  I set my sights on a time goal after training fairly well for the last few weeks. Big Mistake :)

As an athlete most of us have a certain level of competitive spirit and will most likely look at past race results to see where we might fall in the ranks. It's a natural thing and we inevitably  predict our time and where we will finish. Immediately this gets branded on our brains and we never begin to think about the physical side of the race. Goals are important sure, but in attaining them we should show patience and let the right day present itself.

In my opinion, 99% of the time forcing your body(effort) to match your expectations will most certainly produce mental and physical exhaustion.  For me that day it was mile 4 of 6.2 :).  Seeing the mile splits fail to match up with my predicted time I continued to try harder. With heart rate soaring through the roof, mentally I was pushing harder but my body was saying ease back.

Each time you toe the line, the race will present you with a different scenario. Temperature, wind, hills, nutrition, hydration, stress; these are just a few variables that should help me convince you to "Race on Effort not Expectations."  Leave pressure by the waist side and just feel happy to run in the moment.  After all, aren't we all blessed just to be able to compete?  Sure we are and we must remind ourselves continuously to just do your best.  Besides, how much more can you ask than that?  I would take the results of that effort every time :)

Try this "4 R you Ready" thought process and before every race you'll be Race Ready!

# 1   Remove:  Remove any thoughts of a time goal from your head.

# 2   Relax:    Say to yourself, all I expect today is to perform my best.

# 3   Remind:   Remind yourself to be grateful for competing.

# 4  Race: Focus on your effort for the distance and do not focus on your competitor. Besides, they're focused on YOU so you NOW have the advantage :)!

       

No Opportunity Wasted!

Have a Great 1st Race!! 

Coach