God knows I know all about this one and while I might have All Ireland titles and some very good times to my name, I have had a host of bad races.
Don’t let the defeats go to your heart and the victories go to your head is an expression I try living by. With that being said, here is some advice about getting over a bad performance and making sure you don’t get into a negative cycle
Think positive
As cliché as it may sound, “glass half-full” individuals tend to perform better over the long-term than “half-empty” personalities. As acclaimed sport psychologist Stan Beecham notes in his best-selling book Elite Minds, “Those who can finish even the worst of competition and training periods by noting where advancements were made will almost always outperform those who first point out failures.” What to do?
Begin with an old-school checklist. No matter your disappointments, write a list of what is going well. Perhaps you averaged more overall volume than ever before. Did you implement a new strength routine? Perhaps you tried a different race strategy. Even if it didn’t work out, that is an experience that will benefit you later.
Remember to begin with the positives, because there are always positives. Mitigation can also be powerful. Did your marathon not go well due to heat and humidity? That is not an excuse - it is a mitigating circumstance. Letting yourself off the hook is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Treat the race like you had run well - take a rest
One of the most common mistakes in endurance athletics is doubling down (aka intensifying training ), when training and racing are not going well. But nine times out of 10, those who double down dig themselves into a further hole and exacerbate whatever issue is contributing to their poor performance. I see this so much when two runners compete, and one runs well the other does poorly. The person who ran well is conservative over the next few days, allowing the body to recover and thus allowing further good performances. The person who ran poorly is frustrated and takes that frustration out by training harder, thus digging further into the hole.
As the late great British coach Harry Wilson used to say, “Rest is not the absence of training, but rather part of it.” One of the best ways to begin hitting your reset button is to begin by taking a step back. My recommendation is a typical 20 to 22 rest cycle, consisting of six to seven days total off from running (I recommend walking for continued blood flow ), followed by 14 days of “day on, day off” running. On these days, you will alternate between short 25 to 30-minute runs for “on” days and no running for “off” days.
Request a second opinion
Very few individuals can be wholeheartedly objective about their own training, particularly when things are not going well. If you’re struggling with your training, have a knowledgeable and trustworthy coach or advisor review your logs. Often an in-depth look into the training and lifestyle habits of most athletes can be the key to reversing a downward trend. It is worth noting that fitness and performance plateaus will happen in running, as with any other endurance sports. Have you been implementing the same training volume and intensity for years and years? If so, you may want to make a few tweaks. While finding a sound philosophy that suits you is important, approaching training and racing the exact same way each year and expecting different results - well we all know what that is called.
If poor performance persists, get bloods checked
Deficiencies in key elements such as magnesium, potassium, and particularly iron are often directly related to fatigue, reduced oxygen transport, and underperformance in athletes. Even for high-performing runners, I recommend a full blood panel be drawn annually to check your critical stores.
Regarding iron in particular, levels that most physicians view as “normal” are often well below what is optimal for a long-distance runner with performance-based goals. Be sure to have both your haemoglobin and serum ferritin protein levels checked to get a comprehensive picture of your health.
Poor performances are par for the course
As I mentioned at the start, I have had great days in running and then days that were shocking. At some point in your competitive journey, every long-distance runner will see a period of decline and injury. It’s normal. Hitting the reset button and effectively regaining both your physical and psychological prowess is a combination of both rest and training-based assessment.
If you take the time to address these issues intelligently and with purpose, you will have a higher likelihood of returning to top performance. Persistence always wins out. It can just be difficult to see sometimes.
For more information like this you can download my book and audiobook version at www.everardpilates.com/book
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