Choosing your 2016 racing plan

January 16, 2016

Choosing your 2016 Racing Plan – Coach Mason Cathey

What are your goals for 2016? What races are you scheduled for this year? Why those in particular? What does your training plan look like?

Your coaches take time to plan out your weeks, months, year, while possibly even keeping the next four years in mind.

I have talked with a couple people already this year and asked them about which races they are doing.  Which ones are you planning on doing?  Why would you train with specifics, log the details, and then choose races somewhat randomly?  How have you chosen which races you’re doing?  Are you choosing by where you get a free entry, the location of the race, the race distance, the prizes, the week it is held, the level of competition, the race distance, or the qualification process?  Are your goals focused on place, PRs, beating specific people, or hitting certain benchmarks?

***Reminder*** I wrote this early to mid-January***

It is mid-January and already I watched a young lady compete in a marathon at Disney on January 10^th. (She was an athlete I coached in her collegiate 2007-2008 seasons.)  At Disney, she was aiming for an Olympic Trials marathon qualifying standard and for background information, she ran 2:52 in 2015.  The closing deadline for hitting the Trials mark was January 17^th and you could qualify either by a half or full marathon qualifying time.

(In 2008, my parents came to watch me coach the young lady I mention above. I was coaching at UCF then.)

For the 2016 Trials, the standards for women are 1:15 (half) or 2:45 (full).  For men it’s 1:05 or 2:19 respectively.  For this young lady the difference (2:52 vs 2:44.30) requires 19seconds per mile faster in the marathon than what she’s already run.  That is significant and I believe very hard to do alone.  Disney was not the best choice for her in chasing her goal. 

Consider the following: Other January 2016 Olympic Trials qualifying races:

34 women qualified at the Jax Bank 13.1 on January 3, 2016.  Maybe she didn’t go to that race in nearby Jacksonville because she is better suited for the full than the half.  At the Houston marathon this year, 24 women ran faster than the standard.  Last year there were 14.  This year there were zero from Disney.  Last year there were zero from Disney. 

Looking at the final tally, there are 257 women that ran the standard in the qualifying window (August 1, 2013-January 17, 2016).

Her goal was to qualify for the Olympic Trials Marathon.  She is a great girl, but I don’t believe she chose the right race to qualify.  With a few other opportunities the week prior such as Jax Bank or the week after Disney such as the Houston Marathon, I think she didn’t have someone in her ear and bugging her on her Training Peaks account guiding her towards a more competitive and successful race towards her specific goal.  Don’t mistake Jon, Nick and I’s continuous push to be anything but support to you as you develop and strive to achieve your goals. Allow us to help you and guide you.

And best wishes to all the US Olympic Team Trials for the Marathon on Feb 13 in Los Angeles, CA!