I’ve yet to meet a runner that didn’t want to run faster and get a new PB. Sure, plenty will say they are not bothered by times and they just run for the fun of it. And in the next breath they are talking about the goal for their next race or parkrun is to be faster than the last one.

We don’t need to be super competitive to want to set new personal bests, and the fantastic thing about running is that we don’t have to be going after the win to get those PBs.

But here’s the thing: many of us make the mistake of trying too hard. We set our time target, no matter how conservative or ambitious, and that target is where we put our focus on race day. As a result, we go out too fast, we panic about putting time in the bank in the early part of the race, and we get sucked into the lure of getting “that time”. 

But I believe this is a mistake. Instead, we need to focus on the process, not the prize. If we execute the process well, the prize of the PB will be ours – and with a lot less stress and a lot more joy.

How do I know this? I’ve lived it and I still live it. At a recent parkrun I did just this. I put all my focus on the process of running rather than the final finish time. Having not run a parkrun event for over a year and still testing my recovery from months of some strange respiratory issue, I had no idea of what I was capable of. I had a target in mind of course, but I knew that if I were to focus just on that, it would consume me.

Instead, I put my focus on the process of running. I broke the course down into chunks and ran each of those chunks paying attention to running form, breathing and pace in that moment. It was still hard – very hard! But I was confident that if I followed the process of running, and used those skills that I teach other athletes, and ran each chunk well, then I would achieve my target time.

Not every chunk went to plan, but most did and in fact they were run better than I had predicted. As I crossed the line I was amazed to see that I was 30 seconds faster than my target time!

The longer the event, the more critical it is the follow the process and not the outcome. At least with a 5k, the misery of over-egging it or the frustration of under-pacing is done with pretty quickly and we usually have another opportunity to try again soon.

But with half-marathons, marathons and ultras, that pain can be prolonged for many miles!

So, it’s all good and well me saying “follow the process”, but what process is that? And that’s a great question!

And it’s exactly why I believe we all need to learn how to run. There are skills we all need, and it’s these skills that make up the process.

Through my blog posts, workshops, coaching and ‘soon to be revealed’ online courses through the RunTeach Academy (exciting!), l share what these skills are. The RunTeach Academy will teach you how you can take these skills and create your own personalised process so you can go and smash those PBs!

In the meantime, you can start by breaking down your runs and races into chunks and running those chunks well – one chunk at a time. You may not be able to do this for a whole run yet, but the more you practice, the better you’ll get.

Happy Running,

Chris.

The post A better way to get a PB! appeared first on RunTeach.

Us runners love Saturday mornings! No matter what the weather, we’re up and ready to parkrun. But why do we do it?

Of course, it’s for the community, the laughter, the cake and most importantly: the opportunity to set a new personal best time!

If you want to run your fastest parkrun, here are my top five tips:

1. Warm up

We all know we should do a warm up, but how many of us actually do? The crazy thing is, if the warm up is done correctly, it only takes a few minutes but it can have a dramatic effect on the outcome of your parkrun time.

2. Have some goals

I know what you’re thinking – another lecture on goal setting. But this is different, this is breaking your parkrun up into sections and then having a goal for each section. Likely, you’ve run your target parkrun loads of times, so you’ll know which parts are slower for you and which parts are faster. You can use that information along with the remainder of the tips to create a plan for your best ever parkrun.

3. Get a good start

I’m not necessarily talking about getting right to the front, but that of course can help as long as we don’t get in the way of faster runners.

No, when I say get a good start I mean stay relaxed. Go out at a pace you can maintain – don’t hoof it off the start just to burn out five minutes later. In fact, it is better to run a slightly slower first half mile or so, and then wind up the pace so you can fly through the rest of it.

4. Pacing

For most races (I know, parkrun isn’t a race…), you will always set your best times by aiming for even, consistent pacing. Of course, there will be some variation on hills, winding sections and where the terrain changes, but keeping as close to consistent as you can almost always wins. This can be really tricky over 5k because the temptation is to go out hard and hang in there. But as per tip 3, it is often best to go out ever so slightly more relaxed and then rack it up to race pace. Doing this will give you the edge in the second half and may even mean you run the second half faster than the first!

5. Fast finish

So you’ve started out steady, then ramped up the pace and are now flying at full speed. You’re coming into the last 1/2 mile (800m) or so and it’s really starting to hurt. But I know you’ve got more! Use the power of your brain to find something deep down inside and start to wind up the pace even more. As soon as we know a race is coming to an end, our brain releases the brakes and stops trying to protect us from overdoing it. Use that to your advantage and either maintain your race pace or start to creep it up. Get to know the landmarks on your parkrun and use them as triggers to increase pace. As you come into the last 100m, give it everything you have. Contrary to how you may feel at this point, it is the time to relax into it and let your body fly!

So there you have it. My five tips for the fastest parkrun ever. You may want to build up to this and set a target date for a few weeks in the future. Use the events between now and then to practice little bits of your strategy. Above all else, enjoy it…oh, and don’t forget your barcode!

One more thing…why not check your current running form with our run assessment? You never know, a small improvement could lead to a big PB!

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I know what it’s like. You want to get faster but at your level of running you don’t feel good enough to run intervals. Sprints and fast bursts of running are for those elite club runners over there – not for you. You’re quite happy going for an easy run and maybe one day you’ll do intervals. A few more parkruns and then you’ll think about it.

I hear you!

You run harder to get some space, weaving and dodging. Before you know it, you’ve run the first kilometer far too fast! That’s another PB out the window. “Ah well, there’s always next week” you convince yourself.

Be Different

Now imagine something different… “Go!” and you’re off. The crowd behind you is cheering as you run. Looking straight ahead, you are confident and strong as your start strategy unfolds. There is room around you. While you still need to watch out for slower runners in front, they are spaced out and no longer a trip hazard. You are able to run at your pace and you run the first kilometer bang on target. Now you can focus on getting that PB feeling strong and in control of your breathing. Bring it on!

Let’s Pretend

Imagine that you control your breathing. Imagine that you have the confidence to run at your pace. You have the room off the start line to allow your arms to drive and your knees to lift. Imagine that you know you have a kick – that you can sprint when you need to.

Now Stop Pretending!

The good news is that you can make this a reality. Yes, even you!  Let’s face it, most of us don’t want to run intervals because they are hard. We are afraid something in our body will break or fall off. We imagine the elite runners are far more resilient than us. “If the ordinary runner like me does a few sprints, it would kill me!”. “I’m not built for speed work, my legs are too heavy”.

We make all the excuses, but we are scared. Scared it will hurt. Scared we can’t do it. Scared it will somehow destroy what we love about running. So scared, that we take the easy option because it is exactly that – easy. But easy doesn’t get us better in anything we do.

We convince ourselves that we don’t care about speed. We don’t care about getting a good time. “I’m doing it for the experience”. “I’m not bothered by my time”. But as soon as we have finished an event and we did get a good time, the first thing we put up all over social media is “New PB yay! Wahooo!!!”. “I did it!”.

Let’s stop pretending to ourselves that we don’t care. In all the years that I have been running & coaching, I have rarely met anyone who genuinely doesn’t care about their race times. Let’s hit that fear head on and get some speed work done. And you know what, it doesn’t have to be as painful as you imagine…

Let’s Play!

Intervals come in many guises – and they don’t need to be serious. One of the most playful ways of adding speed work into your running is by doing fartleks. Fartlek is a Swedish word that means “Speed Play”. A typical fartlek session may involve a couple of km at an easy pace. Then you pick a landmark (lamppost, bin, tree, etc) and say to yourself: “Right, I’ll start a sprint from there and continue on for 2 lampposts (trees, bins etc)”. Then return to your easy pace and repeat multiple times. Vary the distance of each piece of hard running, and vary the intensity. You can also vary the intensity and length of the recovery sections. Doing this with other runners and taking turns calling out the start/end points can be brilliant fun. You are in control, and you can challenge yourself as much as you want.

If you run with a group or club they may do skills sessions that involve interval-based games. These are fantastic for building up the fundamental skills needed for running. They build the speed work right into the session without you even realising. There are so many ways that this can be formulated, and it’s lots of fun.

Results!

The result of adding speed work into your running is unmatched. Your energy system is being challenged from the top-down. You are building a higher threshold and tolerance for more efficient fuel use. You are also challenging your nervous system and encouraging it to integrate the various parts of your body for faster and more efficient movement. Your breathing will improve, you’ll get stronger and fitter – and you’ll PB more often! By the way, if done properly, nothing will break or fall off – apart from perhaps a bit of body fat!

If you do an appropriate warm up and cool down, you are also helping to reduce your injury risk – across all your running.

So next time you are asked to join in with a skills, speed or intervals session and your immediate reaction is “no way – that’s not for me”…

STOP! THINK! BE BRAVE! GO FOR IT!!!!!!!

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