72. Developing Race Day Goals: How to Assess Your Fitness

Race day is approaching for athletes! Many people are looking back over their cycles or thinking ahead to what their goals will be for races this fall. How do you know what kind of shape you are in and when should you narrow down your goal for race day? When does an athlete generally get a sense of what sort of shape they are in? What are some of the key things you look at as a coach to see what type of shape an athlete is in? Mileage Consistency History/Experience Key workouts over time Long runs & feedback from athlete Some people like to have more aggressive goals and other people don’t like to put time goals on themselves: know what type of runner you are! How soon before they race are you really able to give an athlete a race plan with paces? How much will the taper & cooler temps add to their performance? Will race day weather impact your game plan? Should you get a pace band this far out? Do you recommend mile by mile pacing or more effort based? Are their ways to do this without getting to antsy?