Running Resolutions for 2021
For me, 2020 was a bittersweet running year. While COVID-19 upended the race calendar and running traditions, I appreciate still being able to continue running outdoors which brings a shape to my day.
As races began to be canceled, I turned to online running challenges. And, I have to say, I did improve in these monthly challenges. For instance, I did a mile challenge in August; whereby I started the month with a time trial for the mile, then did a weekly workout at my goal pace for the mile and, finally, did another time trial at month's end.
Moving forward, my running resolutions for 2021 are:
Keep a Written Training Schedule
In an earlier post (HERE) I used this quote from former University of Oregon track coach, Bill Bowerman, on the importance of runners having a written training schedule, "Written schedules are probably the simplest possible way to make specific assignments for workouts. The runners don't have to wait for a busy coach or assistant to tell them what to do. And being provided with their assignments for at least two weeks and up to three months in advance, runners are better able to coordinate their class and exercise schedules, work, study, and recreation times." I’ll admit it, I’ve drifted away from a written schedule. For 2021, I'm taking Bowerman’s advice! I’m going to: 1) plan out my run training each month, 2) have a monthly challenge (along with the mile, my monthly challenges last year were for: long run, elevation gain, and 5K), and 3) hold myself accountable to my running schedule by checking it each day. The picture above shows my written training schedule for January, in which my monthly challenge is for the long run and a big checkmark is made each day the schedule gets checked.
Aim for “Better” Rather Than “Getting Faster”
To start the year, I’m going to continue with monthly challenges. (If and when a race calendar reappears, I’m going to really enjoy a 12-week training build-up to a selected race!) In addition to last year‘s monthly challenges, I’m adding tempo runs to the mix. While I was generally successful in past monthly challenges, there is still LOTS of room for improvement! For more years than I care to remember, I’ve selected and completed a variety of runs in the hopes of obtaining personal bests and “getting faster”. What these monthly challenges have taught me is that sometimes I did the workout not as intended. In 2021, I’d like to focus on doing these training runs “better”. For instance, with interval runs, one tendency of mine is to run the repetition portion of the interval faster than scheduled, which typically results in me being exhausted before the scheduled number of intervals gets completed. This year, I want to focus on better pace judgment, so I’m not left exhausted by the end of the workout.
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Thanks for reading! Are your running resolutions perhaps a little different for 2021 or maybe remain a model of consistency and stability? Drop me a line:).
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