By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

The thrill of setting up my 10K PR, back in 2018

As any racing season moves by, you talk to many runners about what they have accomplished and what they want to accomplish. It is not just the natural flow of things among the people that do what we do, but it is also part of the fun. Most of us love to test ourselves on races because, as Dr. George Sheehan brilliantly stated: “Racing is the lovemaking for the runner. It is hard to pass up”.

PR stands for Personal Record. It can also be stated as PB (Personal Best). There are many variations of it. As we age, some runners reset their PRs every 5 or 10 years. Others live of the former glory when the ran a sub-3 marathon 30 years ago even if they can’t make it to a sub-4, now. And that is OK, too. The “P” stands for “personal”, so it is what works for you and what makes you happy. They key is to not lose sight of the reason we like to practice our sport. Nobody started their running journey so they can run a sub-20 5K or a sub-2 half marathon. All that came in later, and there is a reason for that.

As I mentioned before, while interacting with fellow runners last season, one told me she wasn’t feeling that good for an upcoming 10K race so she would have to settle for not going for a PR. This after a few good races in a row where she did set 10K and half-marathon PRs. I reminded her that the body needs to recover in order to maintain itself strong and injury-free. I also asked her to remember the main reason why she started her running journey and finally suggested to go out there and just have some fun. I must have hit something there because she thanked me and said she felt better.

Brilliant quote by Dr. George Sheehan

Another runner, this one a closer friend, had registered for a half-marathon a year ago and between this time and the race, a lot had happened, including the grueling training for two full marathon PRs, the last one less than a month prior to the race. I insisted that he should just go an enjoy the race, as it had a beautiful course, but he said: “I know you are right, but when the adrenaline hits me at the starting line it is difficult to contain yourself”. In order to shock him I replied: “Yes, I understand, but do you want your friends go through that rush while you just cheer for them, injured from the sidelines because you couldn’t contain yourself?”. At the end, my friend did set a PR, finished strong and felt great, but I firmly believe the advice still applies.

My point with these two stories is that it is imperative to allow our brains to override the adrenaline and the satisfaction of being adulated for our athletic prowess in Facebook and Instagram after a PR. We started to run to get healthier, to lose weight, or fill-in-the-blank-here; and we kept going because we enjoy the freedom of being outside, keeping ourselves in motion, the social aspect of it or fill-in-the-blank-here. So, if you want to keep doing that, be smart and understand that a PR is just a by-product of your running, not your reason.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Please leave me a comment, below.