Adapt

When running, or planning for a race, there is a great phrase which is “control the controllables”. Basically put, focus on the things which you can influence and ignore all of the other things which are going on which you have no way of changing or making any difference to. The greatest of these “uncontrollables” in my book, is the weather. Whatever the weather is, that is what it is going to be on the day of the race.

For races which I have done, there have been some where the weather was ideal for me – cool, even a bit damp, not much in the way of wind – and some where the weather has been the total opposite – warm, humid, hot even. I would say that my preference for the weather for the race is what I would call a “nothing” kind of a day. Not too hot, not too cold, not too windy, not too wet. A day when nothing is really happening weather wise. I guess you could also call this the Goldilocks type of weather for a race – when it is “just right”.

But the reality is, with most races taking place through Spring, Summer and Autumn, then you are going to get lots of days when it is not “just right” and being able to cope with that when it comes along as a vital skill when it comes to racing. Ideally, through the training for any race, you come across days when the weather is not to your preference and that gives you the opportunity to test yourself in those conditions.

“feeling like a boil in the bag chicken”

Some previous training runs stick out for me, for example. I recall training for the Manchester Marathon a couple of years back, which was due to happen in Spring but got moved to October. Training through the summer for that race involved one morning where, as I left the house, it began to rain quite heavily. I nipped back in, put on a waterproof jacket and headed out. A couple of miles in the rain eased, the clouds began to clear, the humidity went way up and I then spent the rest of the run (which was about seventeen or eighteen miles I think) feeling like I was a boil in the bag chicken. Less than ideal.

The flip side of that was a winter run, when, though I was properly layered up – long-sleeved base layer, t-shirt and waterproof jacket – the wind was so bitingly cold that after about twelve miles in I was wishing I had a jumper on as well as I was absolutely frozen at that stage. That was one of these runs where the hot shower at the end of it was the highlight, never mind the miles which had gone into getting there.

“every run is a learning experience”

I am sure we all have stories of runs like these, where things have not worked out as we would have hoped, but every run is a learning experience and with this kind of knowledge, then going into a race, you have an idea of what you might be facing.

I have to say that, for my training for Rotterdam Marathon this year, while the weather did not really play ball – I ran in sleet, ice, rain, snow and occasional cold winter sunshine – it was good preparation for the actual race and on the day the weather was almost Scottish. Rain overnight, drizzle on the way to the start line and in general a grey, overcast day, with just a bit of a breeze to contend with. Really not bad at all.

“I really suffered”

One of the key reasons I had signed up for Rotterdam was my desire to run a Spring marathon, training through the winter, as opposed to an Autumn marathon, training through the summer. The Venice marathon, which I ran in October last year and you can read about my experience here, was warm and humid on the day itself and I really suffered in those final few miles.

But my point of writing about this – yes there is a point to this – is that while you cannot control the weather, what you can control is your approach to the race itself, you just need to be aware of the conditions which you are facing and make adaptations to your plans. I have gone into races with a plan to try for a certain time and then realised early on that the conditions were going to have a negative impact on my attempt and as such I had to adjust my pace.

“early miles… risk coming back to bite you”

The challenge is to recognise this at the time. It is easy to get swept along in the early stages, where the running feels easy and the early miles drift by, almost without you noticing, but those easy feeling early miles, where you are perhaps running a bit ahead of your goal pace (or in the worst cases a lot ahead of your goal pace) risk coming back to bite you much, much later on, particularly over the longer distances of a half or full marathon.

My fastest marathon time remains in Barcelona in 2019 – but even there I went in with an ambition to go much quicker than I did on the day. As the sun rose up over the Catalan city as I was waiting at the start line and the early morning chill which I had walked through to get there quickly faded into the distance, it was clear to me that this was not the day to blast all out. When I got to about nine miles and saw this runner being helped to the side of the road by the medical staff, and then at fifteen miles when we all had to go to one half of the road to let an ambulance by, this was really driven home that the decision I had made within the first five kilometres of running to ease things up a bit had been the correct one.

“easy to wish the conditions were different”

Now all of this does not mean that I gave up trying, of course not. It just meant that I adapted what I was attempting to do to meet the conditions I was facing at that time. On another day, things could be totally different, but race day is THE day. It is the only day the race is going to happen, the only day that you are going to be on the course, so while it may be to easy to wish the conditions were different, that is not going to help you get round.

In Scotland this year, the weather through Spring has been pretty poor, continuing with cold temperatures, sometimes damp conditions, the occasional foggy day, and the very rare day of sunshine. My run this morning with my friend Jeanette, was the first time in months where the sun actually broke through the clouds, the heat shot up and in the final few miles of our twelve mile run, I felt like I was baking a bit again. It is almost as if we have gone from winter straight to summer and bypassed Spring altogether.

Beside Union Terrace Gardens in Aberdeen

This was a good reminder of the impact which conditions can have and how important it is to take them into consideration, but not to let them dominate everything about the race. While it is not something which you can control, there are lots of things which you can control and adjust to handle the conditions better.

You can decide what to wear. You can decide how much to drink (I run with a drink but often take on more water from the water stations in a long race). You can decide on your pace. You can decide, in the race if it is sunny, to run in the shade if any is available (this can make a big difference). If there is water on the course, you can pour it over yourself to cool down or take a sponge and wet it to cool down. While a lot of what I am talking about here relates to races in the heat, there are, of course, similar things you can do to combat wet and cold races too.

Earlier in the week, I had run with my friend Gavin as he was visiting the city and this was an early morning run down at the beach in Aberdeen which started in the rain. While these two runs were only a few days apart the conditions were fundamentally different, I guess that is the joy of running in a place where there is no such thing as bad weather, there is only the wrong choice of clothes.

Great to run with Gavin this week

Running is not all about racing, of course, but if you do choose to take on the challenge of a race, it is all about focusing on the things which are in your gift to influence. While you cannot – and indeed should not – discount the weather, you certainly cannot do anything about it. All you can do is prepare as best you can for what lies ahead, and then be flexible about your approach on the day itself. Remember, finish lines, not finish times are what are really important. And there is no better feeling than crossing that finish line and getting that medal – knowing that you have done the best you can do in the circumstances of the day.