Peaking at the Right Time and Running PRs

How does one know how to peak at the right time? How does someone continue to set personal records (PRs) year after year? These two questions can be answered with a simple word..."planning".

When I coach my athletes I am always thinking of how I can help them get faster. But at the same time I am thinking about who they are, their fitness level, their daily routine, their job/home life stresses, age, and what sort of training they have done up to the point they are meeting with Marathon Coaching Consultants.

These are all critical questions and one that I never take lightly. I wish there was a magic formula that I could just say, "Ok Joe, run this, run that, rest, lift, eat well, and you'll PR no problem." But of course that is not the case. I have high school kids on my team at Mountain Point HS who play club soccer during track season. I have adults who can only run 3x/week max due to their job, travel, and family obligations. Then I have clients who are coming off injuries and need to be coached with that at the forefront of my mind.

The reason why I have success with my runners is because I truly try to understand where they are coming from and what is motivating them to come out weekly and train with me. Some clients wish to make it to Boston, while others are quite content jumping into 5Ks every other weekend and not caring about their times...

I usually call "BS" when someone tells me they don't care how fast they run in a race, they just want to have fun and be healthy. It's not that I don't believe what they are telling me, but I think for many individuals, it's safer to say they just want to race, then put out a goal for themselves that they may not achieve. No one likes to fail, so I understand this sentiment.

What I try to get across to my runners (of all levels) is that you first need to understand how fast you are capable of running, so you can train more effectively and efficiently. Why would a person who runs a 5:30 marathon not want to finish in 5:15 or 510? The answer is that they would. And usually it's not that the person needs to train harder, but simply train smarter and with a plan.

And this is where a coach comes in so handy. A qualified coach can put a runner on a program that at the very least will have him/her running a more evenly paced race; but probably with the proper plan, will have his runners dropping times they never even dreamed of...

Case in point, every Tuesday I have track workouts with my adult running group. These individuals are usually 30-40somethings with kids, spouses, important jobs, and are looking to stay healthy. Most of them run about 3x/week but usually have not done too much speed/track running before they joined up with us. It's amazing to see a person's surprise when he/she runs a sub 90-second 400 m who usually runs a 9-minute mile on a long run. They simply can't believe they could ever run that fast...and that's the point, most of my runners (before joining MCC) simply didn't know what they were capable of and over time they have become much more aware of what they can achieve on the roads.

This article from Cool Running puts into more detail the phases of how to run PRs and peak at the right time.

You want to set yourself up for success. It's not a bad thing to first have goals that are pretty attainable because this breeds confidence within you. As you reach these attainable goals, then start with a more far-reaching goal. Give yourself enough time to reach this goal. Put together (or have a coach) put together a plan for you to get you to this goal. Make sure the goals hits all phases of training (endurance, strength, speed, rest/recovery, racing). And listen to your body! More is usually going to get you less results. If you are feeling washed out, fatigued, getting sick, then take the training back a couple of notches and reassess your plan.

I wish you all well out there on the roads...Good luck!