Planning your running for 2020

We will be at the end of 2019 before we know, so if you want your running in 2020 to be memorable and successful then it’s time to start planning. You may not be ready for a new year. However if you want you should at least be thinking about what you want to accomplish next year.

A big part of succeeding in achieving your goals is creating an environment that’ll allow you to succeed. This will allow you to start the new year with a positive mindset and a plan for how you’ll achieve these goals. If you are planning to set yourself some big challenging goals you may need to start the training soon. Be ready to hit the ground running in the new year (pun intended).

Your goals are likely race specific or perhaps distance specific. Is there a particular race you’ve been planning to tick off the bucket list? Is there a goal distance you want to run and lower your personal best times?

If you goals are race specific then you can easily start planning a training plan around these race times. You will need to be aware entry criteria and may have to enter well in advance of the event anyway. Certainly this will be the case for any of the marathon majors and many trail ultra events such is the popularity of them these days. Having a plan of your major races will help you avoid disappointment going into 2020.

Once you have a plan of your major races you can start to plan your training around the dates of these runs.  Work with your coach or structuring your training around a goal race. This will give you a good outline of the training type and load you’ll need to hit the start of the year running.

Planning your goals around a distance specific goal won’t allow for the same amount of certainty in your training. However it will allow you to structure your training load around these plans. For instance if you plan on running a marathon in the coming season. You’ll be able to start to build your long runs and develop your aerobic fitness.

Knowing what you want to achieve is enough at this stage. Building a quality fitness base ready for the new year will let you springboard towards your goals once they become race specific. 

If you aren’t quite ready to set specific goals at least start the thought process about where you want running to take you. You don’t have to make a commitment yet, even considering your goals will start the process of planning for 2020.

Answer this question of yourself: What do I need to put in place now to be ready to go in January?