Guest Post: To Improve ...by Pat Walsh

 ** To Improve **

For many of us we would always like to be running a little better, a little quicker and further up the field but what do we do about it?
I am writing these articles in an effort to help concentrate minds as we move towards a New Year and hopefully get back to all the races we loved.
* Plan
* Perform
* Evaluate

Plan: We pick a Goal and train towards it, but is it adequate?
Is our goal time realistic? Can you improve from your current fitness to that goal in the time period?
Does it cover all parts of what is required on race day? Is it fast enough if it is a short 5k. Has it a stamina component if it is 10 mile or half marathon. 
We do need to train specifically for the key event we want to perform in. 
Note… the same training week-in week-out will not cover from 5k to the Marathon.
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Perform: We perform on the day and hope it goes well. But maybe if we prepared better, we would perform better. 
Were you rested, hydrated and fuel on board. 
Did you have the right clothing and shoes for race day? 
Did you know the course at some level and know where the hills were or maybe where you might have some headwind miles?
Did you have a realistic pace and target based on your training? 
It is pointless putting months of training and letting yourself down by not mentally preparing yourself for the actual run.
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Evaluate: And finally to the last stage. Take a day or 2 and have a realistic look at the overall race. 
What did you do well?  
What could you improve on? 
Where could you have trained better? 
Do you need more speed work or tempo runs?
Would it help if I lost a few pounds? (Be kind please)
Ask a trusted friend or coach who knows you for a realistic opinion?
Look at your Garmin and see your pace / Heart Rate and could you have gone quicker at some stage or maybe should you have been slower at the start.
All key learning and vital if you want to improve. Write down the key points and be positive.
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I do think this last phase is where the majority of us never properly engage. We drive blindly forward towards the next goal without any tweaking or changing of our weekly routine, when some obvious improvements may be overlooked. It is the Irish Way.
So maybe I have some of you thinking about a better way. I will expand on some of these stages at a later time.
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But if you want to just run for the fun, to clear the head and don’t care about any of the above, you are more than welcome to do that as well. In fact I’m surprised you have even read this post down to here. There is plenty of room for us all whatever we want. 
Be inclusive, Be tolerant of all.
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Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend. Enjoy your run wherever you are and if you are doing DCM virtual I hope it is the last Virtual that you ever run. Actual is the new Goal.
A dream without a plan is just a wish💖
#pwr #NoMoreVirtual #smile