EPISODE 77: SHOULD YOU DO A BACKUP RACE IF THE FIRST ONE DOESN’T GO AS PLANNED?
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✅FIGURE OUT THE REASON YOU CAME UP SHORT: Was it the weather? Did you get sick? Were you honest with yourself about your fitness/was your goal reflective of your fitness? Did you train specifically for the conditions you were going to run in? These are questions you need to ask yourself after a race that doesn’t go as planned
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✅DO A DIFFERENT RACE DISTANCE: If a marathon doesn’t go as planned, you could always capitalize on that fitness in a half marathon instead of going for the full 26.2 again. A full marathon is mentally and physically draining. Doing two in the span of a couple months is often not the best course of action and we rarely see this play out favorably
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✅RACE ANOTHER 5K: You can race quite a few 5ks in a season. The recovery time for a 5k is MUCH shorter than it is for a longer distance race so if a 5k doesn’t go as planned, you should definitely lace up and try it again
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✅DON’T SIGN UP FOR A BACKUP MARATHON AHEAD OF TIME: More specifically for the marathon, this could mess with your head and mentally hold you back. Knowing you might be/will be running a second marathon in 6-8 weeks can consciously or subconsciously make you play the first race safer
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✅A BREAK MIGHT BE BETTER FOR LONG TERM SUCCESS: In regards to the marathon, you have to be very hungry and motivated to run a second marathon. Even feeling an ounce of burnout or injury after the first marathon cycle could set you up for another negative marathon experience. Running can be a lifelong sport if you are smart about your training, and there will ALWAYS be another marathon to hit your goal. Taking a break is usually better for your mental and physical health and coming back to the marathon 6+ months later
Doing a back-up marathon if the first one doesn’t go as planned
We have all been there. Train hard, in great shape then something uncontrollable happens on race day. Maybe it’s terrible weather. Maybe our body just felt off. Maybe we got a sinus infection the week of the race. We are chatting today about what to do if your goal race doesn’t go as planned.
Have you ever had a race that didn’t go well?
What did you do after to utilize your fitness?
How do other people react when you fail to reach your goal?
Does anyone really remember or care?
What is the risk of doing back to back marathons?
Can it work?
What are signs you should maybe not try to do the back up race?
Should you only do back up races after the race and not plan for a just in case back up race before?