Running News Daily

How to review your running year so you can improve in the months to come

THE END OF THE YEAR IS A GREAT TIME TO reflect on your running over the past 12 months – whether your aim has been fun, achieving parkrun PBs or preparing for a marathon. 

A year-end review can help you spot trends, address setbacks and enhance your training for the upcoming year – whether that’s to boost performance or increase enjoyment. To do this, I encourage you to conduct a light performance analysis. It doesn’t require extensive data; instead, ask yourself key questions to start the new year with focus. 

Audit yourself 

Begin by reflecting on your goal-setting from a year ago. What were those goals? Are they still relevant? Perhaps you achieved several PBs or completed a couch to 5K programme and need a new challenge. Alternatively, you might need to scale back this year if your previous goals were unattainable. Remember, running should be enjoyable, and it’s normal to experience ups and downs. 

Then take a closer look at your training, racing and lifestyle over the past year. Use data, along with the self-reflection questions to follow, to score yourself from one to five in the areas identified. This will guide your goal-setting and action plan for the year ahead. 

1. Physical 

This covers your overall fitness, strength, endurance and injury prevention. If you’re more experienced, you might use data from apps such as Strava or Garmin Connect, or a detailed training log. This can include metrics such as mileage, heart rate or HRV measurements. For the performance-minded, consider lab testing such as lactate and VO2-max testing. If you’re less experienced, focus on how your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) might have changed in different training sessions and races as the year went on. 

● Endurance Review your total volume over the year in distance or time. Were there gaps in consistency owing to injury, motivation or life events? Have you included longer runs regularly? Do you feel your heart rate or effort has reduced for similar paces, or are you able to sustain your pace for longer periods?

● Speed and power Analyse improvements in shorter races compared with longer ones. Use the RW race-time predictor to see if you align more closely on longer or shorter races, or if you are well balanced. Reflect on your training: did you include a mix of long runs, intervals, fartlek sessions, hill workouts, tempo runs and recovery runs? A well-rounded training plan leads to balanced improvement. 

● Injury and strength Track how many injuries you’ve had, and their severity and causes. Has strength training supported your running? Use strength and flexibility tests such as knee-to-wall tests and sit-and-reach tests to benchmark yourself against norms for your age. 

2. Planning and performance 

This section looks at your approach to training plans and race performance. 

● Race pace vs training pace Are you performing consistently in races compared with training? Do you feel you underperform or overperform in competitive situations? 

● Variety Did you include races of different distances and on various surfaces throughout the year? Or did you stay in a comfort zone with your favourite or strongest type of race? 

● Splits Evaluate how you pace yourself during races. Do you start too fast and fade, or do you

3. Mindset and wellbeing 

Your mindset and emotional wellbeing play a significant role in your running performance, as well as in maintaining your motivation and consistency. 

● Motivation and enjoyment Did you maintain enthusiasm for running or were there periods of low motivation? Identify factors that contributed to any highs and lows. 

● Anxiety and pressure Did you regularly feel stressed or anxious about your running or performance? Consider your goal-setting and whether you have the right balance between process and outcome focus. 

● Race nerves and focus Evaluate how you handled race-day pressure. Did you feel confident and focused or did nerves affect your performance? Assess your mental approach to tough runs and races – did you stay positive and push through challenging moments? Did you explore any mental techniques such as positive self-talk or mantras for key moments in races? 

● Consistency and commitment Look at how disciplined you were with your training. Did you skip runs or stay consistent? What external factors affected your behaviour and how well did you handle those disruptions? 

4. Recovery 

You can follow the perfect plan with a good mix of training, but if you don’t recover, your fitness gains will be limited and you’re more likely to pick up injuries. Various pieces of data can help you monitor recovery, such as sleep tracking, heart-rate variability and the ‘recovery’ metrics from most GPS watches. Often, however, you’ll know if improvements are needed by answering some key questions: 

● Sleep and rest Assess how well you prioritised rest, including sleep quality and duration. Poor recovery can lead to fatigue, injury and decreased performance, so reflect on how (or if) you balanced your hard training with adequate rest. 

● Nutrition and hydration Did you fuel properly before during and after runs? Did you hydrate adequately, especially during long runs and races? Have you noticed patterns between nutrition and performance? Did you effectively plan and practise your race-day nutrition? 

● Health and vitality Did you frequently catch colds or infections? In the run-up to key races, did you keep doing the simple things, such as using hand gel and taking any supplements you might need? 

● Injury recovery Did you give yourself enough time to heal, follow rehab exercises and ease back

Write these down as a simple action plan with up to five priorities. Create objectives that are realistic and motivating, balancing short-term achievements – such as improving your pace or increasing weekly volume – with long-term ambitions, such as completing a marathon or getting a personal best. 

Lastly, remember that running isn’t just about performance. Think about how to add enjoyment to your running, such as participating in races of different distances or on various surfaces. Consider joining a club or training group to maximise the social and mental health benefits of running. 

Combining all of these lessons will help you get more from your running in 2025, whatever your goal may be. Good luck! 

(12/07/2024) Views: 118 ⚡AMP