Time isn't what matters most!

We are all guilty of becoming obsessive about our Garmin data. It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers. What I love about coaching kids and high school athletes is that our focus is strictly on effort and placing. Often adults can focus too much on times and forget the reason why we race in the first place. I am often guilty of worrying too much about numbers when in competing. In training, I have my athletes sign up for road races for a few different reasons. You can gain a lot of confidence from racing opposed to doing a workout on your own.  Another reason is to give the athlete a chance to test their fitness. We are constantly improving throughout a 12 or 16 week training program. We also use races as workouts. We don’t peak for road 5ks and often times it’s the second workout of the week for these athletes at the end of the week with high miles on their legs.  I firmly believe that doing these races makes you more competitive. They teach you how to race and how to truly push yourself for the day that matters. The beauty is that time in these races don’t matter. Regardless of if you PR or not, you are adding up solid training in the bank that will positively impact you in your goal race.  It’s hard to be prepared for anything in life if you don’t practice. Think of racing a few times in training as a great way to practice for your goal race. There are so many lessons outside of time that a runner can learn from by toeing the line of a small local race. Look at these build up races as dress rehearsals for the big show. Put zero pressure on the outcome and focus on giving your absolute best effort regardless of the weather, course terrain, or day you are handed. Good luck! *Spewak Training coaches are accepting new clients. Please feel free to reach out to us contact@spewaktraining.com to learn more about our training services.*