That being said the major things add up. The workouts, the consistency, the coaching, the mental aspect of training combined with the little things mentioned above can bring a person to PR in a race that they have spent months or years training for. Missing one, or more, can also reduce you to tears at the same event.
Here is one of the crappy things about our sport and trying to run a great race on one day. Even after doing everything right, it can go wrong. Jeralyn is one of the young ladies I get the pleasure of coaching. She is a superb runner, maybe one of the best I will ever get to directly coach. J-poe is a great girl, great student, just great. But two days before her peak meet in Sioux Falls last weekend, she went home sick. Bummer. She tried to run the best race she could but at a meet like that, you need to bring it.
That goes to show you that no matter what you do, be it the small thing or the big things, sometimes it just does not go your way. Other races you show up and blow it away. Sometimes you know why, sometimes you don’t. So what is the moral of the story or the lesson learned (because there is always one of those two)? Try something new with your training. Add something small that you think will improve your racing.
But better yet, do everything you possibly can to put the odds in your favor. So that when that day comes along that you dream about during your training runs, you can have a day that you dream about.
Have I ever mentioned the fact that cross country is my favorite running discipline? Well it is. In Nebraska this is the best training time of the year by far. Late September to the first early snow of the season. You can get some great training in. Nike meet in Sioux Falls, Living History Farms, Holiday Run. Wish my season was a bit longer.
