Building Confidence in Training and Racing

Good morning! ☀️

I'm writing this up with my legs on a lovely burning sensation from my favorite muscle balm.

Sore muscles are what building mileage and speed workouts will do to you.

And so as we slowly shed off our winter layers, racing season is underway.

For me I plan on racing a 5k, 10k, and a half-marathon this year. These are all to continue my multi-year build to a full marathon race.

You see my ultimate goal is to qualify, by time, for the the Chicago Marathon.

As of this writing, I would have to run a 3:10 finish for the 30-39 age group.

(When I become a spry 40 year old, my qualifying time would need to be 3:20. Why take the "easy" route though. I'm going for the 3:10)

You may have similar lofty goals for your racing.

So here are my favorite indicators to help you build confidence in your running fitness and future racing performance...

Easy runs are being done at faster paces

When your easy runs are happening at faster paces, with no sharp increase in heart rate, this means you're running fitness is getting stronger!

Many variables in your body are improving. But the big ones are your running economy and improved cardiovascular system performance.

Resting heart rate is decreasing

When your resting heart rate is decreasing, this is also another sign that your running fitness is getting stronger.

Your heart has a stronger pump of blood with each beat. This means your heart doesn't have to beat as frequently. The heart is a muscle, so take this as a sign that your heart is getting strong!

Heart rate remains stable during speed workouts

When you are doing a fast repeats workout, the ideal situation is seeing your heart rate response stay stable throughout the workout.

A stable heart rate shows that your body is able to take the higher intensity running, and that you're running just under the limit. This is especially true if you're running at the correct pace prescription.

If your heart rate is not staying stable, but instead spiking up and staying there, then you're not ready to take on that prescribed pace. Your body's lactate levels are increasing exponentially, so your heart rate has increased to address this increased load.

Power remains stable during speed workouts too

If your running watch measures your Power output, you can use those numbers as an indirect measure of running form.

Power, measured in Joules per second, tells you how much push off you're doing with your running.

If your power output remains stable during a speed workout or any steady paced run, then you could interpret this that your running form is stable too.

A drop in running Power could not only mean a decrease in running pace, but also degrading running form.

So let's say your running pace is constant, but your running power is decreasing, then your running form is likely getting worse.

Total weekly mileage covers your goal race distance and more

A common misconception is that you have to run your race distance during a training run.

This could work for much shorter races like a 5k or 10k, but a half-marathon and longer, running the race distance during training isn't necessary.

Let's say you're training for a half-marathon.

If your total weekly mileage equals to 13.1 miles or more, then you are plenty ready for your race. You can race confidently with that weekly mileage total.

Some runners however still would like to tackle the mental hurdle of actually accomplishing the distance before the actual race, and that's okay.

The issue with taking on a full race distance during a training run is that there likely won't be much more room for running for the rest of the week. This is especially true for beginner to intermediate runners.

(Advanced runners will be running 50+ miles a week!)

Remember that you have to avoid overtraining, and taking on a sharp increase in mileage from one week to the next places you at risk of injury.

These are some of the hard data that I use for myself and with clients to know that running fitness is improving.

These numbers can give you confidence that your running is getting stronger and that you're building up to your goal race performance.

Got questions about your training? Let me know! Happy to help.