Most of you are familiar with the concept of "specificity of training," which states that the closer we get to our peak race/event, then the more specific our workouts become in terms of mimicking that race/event. This approach takes on many faces. If an athlete is aiming for a peak race during the fall season, I don’t encourage them to focus intently (key word) on this race during the other seasons. Why? I know the training will get more intense as the big event draws near, so I don’t want athletes consumed (key word) all year long by a single event. Otherwise, mental burnout may be around the corner.
Instead, during other portions of the year a runner would focus on “the journey” (i.e., the training and the process goals) and not “the destination” (i.e., peak event, outcome goal), which means it’s beneficial to back off in terms of how much mental energy is put into these peak races when there are still 6+ months remaining. When the A-race is drawing near, then it makes more sense to visualize yourself on the race course. If we did this all year, as some runners do, then we might end up consumed/obsessed with the event, which can lead to mental burnout (or feelings of discontent), which is different than physically overtraining. Let the mental engagement build throughout the year, rather than having it to be omnipresent from the onset. As the peak/fall race season approaches (e.g., less than 2 months away), then a runner can change gears and begin to focus on the peak race for most workouts.
The spring season is often the time for other peak races. During the winter off-season phase, a runner can make subtle shifts month-to-month in terms of prioritizing certain types of workouts and how much emotional energy is given to spring racing. However, a primary reason I encourage athletes to delay this mental shift toward “race mode” is due to the weather and the principle of specificity of training. The winter off-season is the phase of training farthest away from a peak race that’s in the fall, so a runner doesn’t need to be thinking too much about spring or fall races if he/she lives in an area where winter weather is in full effect and there is still snow on the ground. When it’s January, keep the focus on other goals. For example, carry the “gym-rat approach” through the end of February with the goal of transforming the body as much as possible via ST, XT, and PT (physical therapy).
Moreover, if the specificity of training is still relatively low in January, then I doubt that runners are mentally in-tune with their spring races during those winter workouts, which is fine, so they should not force the issue. There’s no reason to put dents in confidence. Again, put that mental energy back into ST, XT, and PT. Rather than dabble in a grey area of “mental training” (or lack thereof), I encourage runners to wait until late February or March to get fired up for spring racing (assuming they have a peak spring race on the books).
Knowing that all the off-the-field aspects of training were solidified in the winter will lend itself to enhanced confidence at the start line of spring races. But without legitimate dedication to these aspects of the off-season, the changes won’t happen. It takes many, many run workouts to build a solid fitness base, and the same truth applies to ST, XT, and PT. No physical therapist or chiropractor has ever said, “Just do those exercises here and there once or twice per week and you’ll be fine.” That would be rubbish. You can’t fake fitness and you can’t fake functional corrections in the body. It either is, or it isn’t. Injuries are not mysterious; no person is “unlucky” in that regard (unless perhaps it’s a matter of rolling an ankle in an unseen pothole, for example). Stronger, leaner, more resilient athletes become stronger, leaner, and more resilient with less chance of injury because they beat the hell out of their bodies (in a good way, without overdoing it) for a long, dedicated off-season. This is evident when reading/ listening to post-race championship interviews. Therein lies lots of motivation to prioritize ST in the off-season.
Moving forward, when peak fall season rolls around and the training priorities have shifted, confidence will increase once more for a few reasons. First, the legs will feel fresher due to ST workouts becoming less intense and less frequent. Second, the key run workouts (i.e., track work and select long runs) will begin to resemble races (i.e., specificity of training). And third, it can’t be ignored that (for most states in the U.S.) the winter and summer weather significantly impact performance. To reiterate, why would I encourage runners during the summertime to refrain from being mentally maxed-out on a “race mode” mentality? It’s because a two-hour run in 90-degree weather with 80% humidity offers zero resemblance of the feel of a marathon that is run on a crisp autumn morning. Otherwise, comparing apples to oranges in this way might be causing unnecessary dissatisfaction with these summer workouts.
Again, there’s no reason to dabble in a grey area of mental training that will detract from confidence. Regardless of how well someone trains in the winter, the winter is not the spring (for most parts of the U.S.), so don’t compare apples to oranges. Don’t compare summer slugfests to perfect fall weather. Don’t compare how your body feels in 35-degree weather on slightly fatigued legs to perfect spring weather on fresh legs.
Patience is a virtue, but in this respect, the real virtue is in understanding the body-mind connection, as specificity of training applies to the mental training too; it has to build toward a peak, just like the physical training. The physical and mental aspects of training go hand in hand, and there will be more connections between mind and body when the specificity of training is peaking and the weather is consistently favorable. A final strategy for avoiding mental burnout and/or putting too much mental energy into racing is to not let other runners pull you into too many conversations about big races that are not on the immediate horizon. Tune out and be patient.
The final point here is to keep in mind that a training program is individually designed for you and are customized in a way to avoid mental burnout and physically overtaining. Your OFF days and recovery weeks are the proactive steps in this regard, as well as the reminders in the summertime to do more runs without a watch, find new routes, etc. Hopefully you are feeling invigorated here in October! This is when you are definitely in "train hard, rest hard" mode. I want your mental energy levels to be high, and to be a result of feeling good physically. Every OFF day is a chance for your body to absorb the training, especially as some workouts get longer and/or harder. I want your schedule and the workouts to appear feasible.
Life isn't all flowers and sunshine all the time, but I also don't want the training to be "stressful." Ultimately, we turn our brains off to excel in physical endeavors (that's the model of elite athletics and the neuroscience research), so you can now be hyper-focused on your main event this fall, especially if you were not focused on it too much the entire year, which is a healthy championship mindset. Keep the motivation and energy levels up as we enter into peak fall race season!
Train hard!
Mike