Not Over at the Finish Line: Being Ready for the Days After your Goal Race or Virtual Event

For those of you that have been committed and diligent at following the RunSport Virtual Clinic this year, and if you have spent the last 14 weeks learning, training and setting small daily goals for yourself, I encourage you to think about and plan for the days after you have completed the last training session: what does the rest of your spring and summer look like?  We have no idea where the finish line of the pandemic is, but we do know that having small goals to focus on, and regular exercise is helping us stay healthy.

The clinic training has allowed you to plan for training in your life. Over several months, you have committed to a training schedule that has taken you closer to your own individual goals, whether it was consistency, health, greater fitness or simply learning. From taking care of your body with stretching and good meals, to planning the training in your weekly life, you created a forward momentum that has become a constant part of your life.

What I’d like you to be aware of, is that without even knowing it sometimes, athletes have a huge emotional - as well as physical - investment in their goals. The larger the perceived event, the larger the investment and when the event is all over, there is sometimes a feeling of letdown as all that energy dissipates into your last big effort. Without the goal pulling you forward, there is an emotional void and a sense of letdown or post race blues after the adrenaline wears off. This is totally normal behaviour and being prepared for the week after your goal race is as essential part of season planning.

I encourage you to take a week off from structured training sessions. You don’t have to stop moving altogether, but you might want to give yourself a break from structure and performance goals that are inherent in the plan you have been following. This is a mental break as much a chance to rest your body. In this break, you can walk, run, hike, bike, swim, do yoga or strength. Just be gentle and enjoy the break from a structured schedule.

If you do want to take a whole week or two off from training, I strongly advise that you have a re start date and plan – this is really important for people who have trouble motivating themselves to train or to start training. These are people who drag their feet getting out the door, but once they are out there, just love it and are really happy at the end of the session. Know yourself and plan for YOU!

Here are 10 more tips for creating your ‘what’s next’:

1. Did you enjoy the training? Could you do it better? You can simply follow the training plan from the beginning again. You can stay in the same group, change groups or blend 3 groups together. There are many training plans out there, many of them for free and it’s the ‘how’ that is the key. You have a lot of ‘how’ under your belt, so you can try out another plan and use the skills you have gained.
2. What would work better for you? Do you want a personal trainer, to switch up your sport, or simply find a better time of day to train? Do some honest reflection.
3. Find another virtual race to train for: check out the calendar at BC Athletics for information on other virtual events that are happening. To support local events and your community, we have the Navy Run https://navyrunesquimalt.com/ and the Goddess Run https://www.goddessrun.ca/ and the Oak Bay Half  https://oakbayhalf.com/
4. Check out Run Guides and add your location to find events near you. https://www.runguides.com/
5. Check out the BC Athletics Race calendar here: https://www.bcathletics.org/CalendarResults/
6. Put that extra energy to good use. Plan on a few projects or goals that don’t revolve around training or racing. Switching gears and getting some other things done provides a nice balance to the single-minded focus of big sport goals. Choose some alternate sports or activities for a while, and ones that you can enjoy with your friends, partner, kids etc. A good way to know when you need a different goal is to ask if your current training is adding to or taking away from, your life. Sometimes we need to prioritize things that we want, however, if the sacrifice is too great, the balance is off.
7. Reflect on your race and your training and review your process. Reflecting is a great process for appreciating your accomplishments and finding a sense of purpose and happiness about things you love. If journaling isn’t a smooth process, then simple lists will do. Make sure you include things that you did well and things that need improvement when looking at your training. List 5 goals you accomplished during the season and 5 workouts you loved. Note 5 things you want to learn or improve upon.
8. If your virtual event ended in disappointment, wait several days before writing your review and give yourself time to absorb the experience before making decisions. All experiences are opportunities to learn, and while disappointment is hard to take initially, it is often the thing with the biggest hidden gifts of making us more resilient, smarter and appreciative of the good moments.
9. Live in the moment AND think ahead. While most people think only of their next race or week, great training plans encompass development in 2–4-year spans. It is in the ongoing persistence and patience of many months of training that progress is made!
10. Sign up next year for the 2022 RunSport training clinics – we will be back in January 2022!

Run For Joy!

Lucy Smith