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Runners World Articles: Archives - January 2003

Back to the Future

To plan your running future, you need to evaluate your running past. Here’s how.

The most important 45 minutes of your new running year should not be spent running. That’s because a year’s worth of great running doesn’t just happen-you need to plan it. The best way to gain control of your running future? Take a few minutes and recount your recent running past.
So pull up a chair and grab a pen. The only parts of your body that will get any exercise over these next 45 minutes are your writing hand and your memory.

RECAP YOUR RUNNING
Whether you have a well-organized running log, a pile of scribbled notes, or just am mind full of memories, spend 15 minutes reviewing the past 52 weeks of running. Looking at a calendar will help. Jot down some quick, honest answers to the following questions:

1. What were your running successes?
Here you’ll want to list your best running moments from the past year, such as the workouts that produced the greatest results; the racing tactics that helped you achieve faster times; or the mental strategies that kept you excited about running.
2. What weekly mileage worked best?
Examine both the number of miles that kept you running well without injuries, and the number of running days per week that seemed optimal.
3. What about racing?
Take stock of how many races kept you running well without any burnout. Also, evaluate which race distances motivated you enough to train regularly without stressing you out.
4. What didn’t work?
Focus on those times when you failed to achieve a goal, were hampered by injury, or struggled with lack of motivation. More to the point, examine the periods immediately preceding the trouble spots to try to determine the causes.

SKETCH YOUR RUNNING FUTURE
With the answers to the above questions in hand, take another 15 minutes to come up with a list of actions that will serve as the guidelines for your next running year. Be sure to include:

The Strategies you plan to use to build on your running successes from the last year.
The number of days per week you’d like to run, and the number of miles per week you’d like to average.
The lessons you learned from what didn’t work in 2002.DREAM A LITTLE
Now use these last 15 minutes t write down what you would like to achieve with your running during the upcoming year. Record at least your top two or three objectives, and more if you want. Think along these lines:
What do you want to get out of your runs-relaxation, stress release, more vitality?
Is there a performance goal that you want to attain, such as finishing your first marathon, trying an adventure race, or running a specific time?
Can you make a connection between running and the rest of your life by challenging a sibling to finish a race, introducing a friend to running, or taking a run/walk/hike vacation with your parents or children?

Okay, your 45 minutes are up. Keep your notes in a prominent place, and refer to them often as you chart out your weekly training schedules. By highlighting what worked and what didn’t, your look back at 2002 will help you write a new and improved running history for 2003.

Running Resolutions
Adopt these four resolution to ensure great running throughout 2003:
1. During every long run I will find a way to have at least 10 minutes of fun, and I will appreciate the sense of accomplishment afterwards.
2. As part of every speed session I will warm up and cool down adequately, and I will finish the workout feeling as if I could have done 1 or 2 more miles or repeats.
3. In every race I will start more slowly than I plan to average per mile so I can finish strong.
4. On every easy run I will, in fact, run easy. If that means letting the Penguin pass me, so be it.