3 Tips To Help You Train For Your First Race
Your First Race: If you’re looking to try something new in your life and have never participated in a race before, now might be the perfect time for you to set some new goals and try to get this item crossed off your “bucket list”.
But while you might be excited about the prospect of having finished a race, it’s the training aspect that’s going to be the most important for your overall success. So to help ensure that you’re ready come race day, here are three tips to help you train for your first race.
Your First Race
Give Yourself Enough Time To Properly Train
When preparing for your first race, you’re going to want to start out slow with your training. Slow and steady should be your mantra. But in order to do this, you have to give yourself enough time to properly prepare yourself.
To help you know just how much time you’ll need, Michele Foley, a contributor to PopSugar Fitness shares some example training routines for various races you might participate in. For example, if you’re doing a 5K, you’ll want to take about six weeks to train. The longer the race, the more time you’ll need to give yourself. So if you’re wanting to do a half marathon, you’ll want to spend about 16 weeks preparing.
Choose A Smaller Local Race To Start With
Doing your very first race can bring up a lot of emotions and anxieties. With the pressure you’ll likely put on yourself, it might be a good idea for you to start with a smaller local race rather than having your first race be a big one.
According to Amanda Loudin, a contributor to the Huffington Post, there are a lot of benefits for having your first race be a local one. For starters, you’ll be familiar with the area and can run the course multiple times before the actual race—just make sure you watch out for traffic if you’re running on the road, as there likely won’t be road closures and you could get hit by a car.
Additionally, smaller local races are often easier to navigate from a registration standpoint, and you get the benefit of being able to sleep in your own bed the night before the race.
Find What Works For You And Stick With It
During all of your training and preparation, you’re likely to try out some things that might not end up working for you. And while it’s fine to attempt various things with your training in the weeks leading up to your race, Jennifer Van Allen and Hailey Middlebrook, contributors to Runner’s World, advise that you don’t try anything new in the days leading up to a race. Keep your shoes, diet, drinks, and everything else the same so you don’t throw any kinks into your plan just before you’re ready to compete.
If you’re going to be doing your first race soon, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you in training and preparation for the day of the race.