It makes sense to plan ahead for all those factors you can control, and leave yourself with the best possible chance of having your best race experience.
The days leading up to race day are always an exciting time! You have been training for weeks, or months, and the days just seem to get shorter and shorter as the big one approaches. Everyone is looking forward to the race ahead, and you’re possibly visiting a place you may have never been before…fun times!
It can also be a time of high stress too – many new situations to take account of; uncertainty about how the course is going to be, and do you have a plan, a strategy for the race? Do you know how to focus on positive thoughts and emotions, rather than the negatives that seem to be everywhere?
If your race is going to be your first one, you have many factors to think about and plan….even if you are an experienced runner, there is still plenty of room to make mistakes, and race day is the not best time to experiment. It makes sense to plan ahead for all those factors you can control, and leave yourself with the best possible chance of having your best race experience.
We saw the need for runners to have access to professionally presented and supportive information that would enable runners to be covered for those critical factors that can have a huge impact on race experience. We created our positive race workshops to provide Vacation Races runners with everything you would need to prepare you for your race on the day before race day. Here are 5 reasons to come to one of our exclusive race preparation workshops:
- Your mind – it’s easy to pretend that what we are thinking doesn’t have any impact on our performance – the reality is far different however. Check out our earlier post on learn to focus your mind, and your body will follow. I have yet to meet an elite athlete who has set out at the start of a race thinking anything other than they want to perform at their best. Our race preparation workshop will give you the tools you need to switch your thinking from negative, to positive – it’s surprising how effective this can be, and what a difference it can make to your race experience!
- The course – ok, so you’ve checked out the course map, and had a glance at the elevation profile; looked scary, so you quickly moved on, pushing fear into the deep, dark recesses of your mind…and then you realize at mile 8 that the slope you thought you saw on the elevation profile is really much more of a climb than you thought, and your heart sinks as you start to struggle with 5+ miles to go. Our workshop looks in detail at the course for each of the Vacation Races series, so you have a clear idea of what to expect, and that you’re prepared to deal with it as well.
- The plan – do you have a race plan? Any idea on how to pace yourself? Is your race at higher altitude than home, and you’re not sure how you’re going to react? Every goal needs to have a detailed plan of how to achieve it, otherwise, it just becomes another opportunity to recognize that next time, I need to set myself a plan…Our workshop will guide you through how to split up your race into smaller, manageable chunks, and how to gauge your pace so that you don’t set out too fast, and then struggle.
- The vision – our mind is an incredibly fertile and creative environment. We often use our imagination in negative ways, creating fear and anticipation way before we have even had a chance to assess the situation objectively. Imagine developing a clear, positive, detailed, visualization for how you want your race to be – our workshop will lead you through the steps to create your own visualization that you can also practice and hone before the race – believe me, it’s wonderfully powerful!
- The joy – we put so much pressure on ourselves so much of the time, that we often forget why we run. Isn’t it because we enjoy it, it makes us feel good, and our race is an opportunity to connect with that, rather than bury it away inside somewhere? Our workshops will reconnect you to your joy, reminding you of your special why. Being joyful is a wonderful, and natural, place to be!
I came into this workshop feeling very nervous about my race and lacking a clear race plan, though I had trained very well. After the workshop, I felt confident in my training, and much more grounded in my race plan and the race course. It was very helpful to develop a race strategy, and to develop a positive and powerful visualization. The workshop allowed me to relax and to remember the joy that I experience when running. The race was a PR for me, but more importantly it was the most joyful race I have ever run, and I attribute that to the workshop.
Melissa, from CO, on the Zion 2015 Race Preparation Workshop
Active at Altitude is the Official Training Partner for Vacation Races, and provides race preparation workshops on the Friday morning before each of the Vacation Races series. The workshops are an exclusive event for Vacation Races, and provide runners with a comprehensive guide to help them plan for the race the next day. We look forward to seeing you at the races soon! Please contact us if you have any questions about our positive race workshops, or any other aspect of our services.
