5 Steps To Prepare For Running A Race

So you've decided you want to challenge yourself and take on a new distance in a race/event setting. It might be your first 10km, marathon (42.2km), or even your first 100 mile (160km) ultramarathon.

We are faced with many uncertainties… do you sign up for the one in 8 weeks? or maybe 12? Will you be ready in time? Maybe you need 12 months?

When it comes to preparing for a race, there is one question you must answer first.

How Long Do You Need To Prepare?

If you've come here for a simple answer, you've come to the wrong place.

Go ahead, close this article and do a google search instead.

You'll find answers ranging between 12 weeks and 6 months for a marathon, to 20 weeks and 12 months for an ultramarathon, or 4 weeks to 4 months for a 10km.

You get the picture, it’s much more nuanced than that.

It's easy to apply general and broad answers to a question like this that ultimately hold little value because they don't consider the context of the person asking.

I will explain how to make that decision so you can make a proper assessment of how your personal context fits into the considerations of what a race prep entails.

Important Things To Consider

There are a number of factors worth considering when deciding how long to prepare for a specific event, some intrinsic to yourself as a runner and some extrinsic based on the parameters of the race itself.

1) Event considerations

Distance

The longer the race, generally the longer you will need to prepare.

Terrain/surface

For example, you could be running on road, trail, sand or grass. A more technically demanding surface will generally require longer to prep to account for the skill development as well as to allow more time to build volume towards the race distance as pace will usually be slower on more technical terrain

Elevation profile

The amount of ascending and descending in the course. A combination of greater elevation and longer distance will require more prep.

Time of year

Different seasons come with different temperatures, humidity, pollen, sunrise/sunset times, etc.

2) Personal considerations

Training history

How long have you been running? The longer you have been running, the more km’s you have in the bank and generally the shorter your prep time.

Injury history

Have you experienced overuse injuries at certain training volumes or rates of increase? Have you suffered a traumatic injury that limits you physically or mentally in some ways? Injuries may require you to take a slower approach to training to allow you to adapt mentally and physically. Or perhaps you find regardless of the training, the longer a prep goes you start to feel injuries onset, so perhaps a shorter more aggressive prep will be better suited for you.

Base fitness level

The more fit you are at the start of prep, the less time you need to be prepared for the requirements of the race.

Race experience

First race? Or maybe you’ve been there, done that? If you are experienced, maybe this means you don't need as long to prepare as you know what to expect and can refine your prep to suit. Or perhaps this means you can use the extra time to increase performance. Your goals will dictate how this translates into preparation time.

Race goal

Generally the bigger your goal, the more you should prepare. Unless something you lack is race experience, then shorter preps may be more useful to increase your exposure to the race environment.

Strength levels

A stronger athlete will generally be more prepared to handle the physical output of a race and can also spend less time and energy doing strength work shortening their prep.

Lifestyle

High stress job? 4 kids under the age of 10? Like drinking every weekend? Your lifestyle will be a determinant in how well you can recover between training sessions. A more relaxed and generally healthy lifestyle will generally mean reduced prep time as you will be able to progress in your training more effectively.

Time available

3 days a week? 6 days a week? 1 hour sessions? 4 hours sessions? How much time you have per day, how many days per week, how many weeks per year, and how long until you expect any major changes with this will also dictate how long you might need to devote to prep.

The 5 Steps To Determine Your Race Prep Time

1) Assess the external factors.

This will tell you where you need to get to in terms of training numbers, weekly volume, weekly ascending/descending, and time on the specific race terrain that will leave you prepared to complete the race adequately. I find roughly getting to at least 120% of the race numbers (i.e. for a 42.2km marathon, doing 50+km a week) is a good starting point.

2) Identify your goals for the race.

This helps you determine the specific outputs and performance stats you’d need to achieve. For example, if you want to run a marathon in under 4 hours, you will need to run an average pace per km of 5m 40s.

3) Assess your current level of fitness.

Make an educated guess on how long it will take you to achieve your goals based on the other intrinsic factors above.

Generally speaking, about a 10% increase in volume per week will be suitable to manage fatigue and increase performance. On the flip side, it’s nuanced, and it really depends on all of the personal considerations we listed above.

4) Create your training plan.

Allows for a 1 week buffer for every 6-8 week blocks of “needed prep.” For example, if you determine that you need 16 weeks to prep for a race, you should allow up to 18 in case you need to pull back slightly or life circumstances disrupt training. This can help remove the pressure and avoid trying to push through fatigue or injury.

5) Rinse and repeat.

Every great plan is just an educated guess, so collect information throughout and apply your learning into your next prep as you gradually refine it until you can consistently find the right amount of time for your next race prep.

Prepare For Success

So next time you are training to run a race, go through the steps, make sure your preparation is solid, and I guarantee you will get to that finish line with a sense of achievement.

And if you need help, there is a sixth step… you can hire a coach (oh hey, I’m a coach).

I do this every day, the coaching and the running (my running day streak as of today is 882).

I can help guide you through this process and apply a more broad range of knowledge and experience to the decision making process, as well as provide ongoing adjustments throughout the prep to help you achieve your best on race day, when it counts!

If you’d like to discuss a potential coaching position working 1-on-1 with me, get in touch for a free discovery call by sending an email to daniel@merakiperformance.com.

Yours in running and life,

Daniel Lucchini