January 15, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode of the Dogs Per Mile podcast, host Bridget continues her series on entering your Runner Era by guiding listeners through selecting the right race. She shares personal anecdotes, emphasizes the importance of timing and location, and provides essential tips for making a race memorable. Bridget encourages new runners to thoroughly research and consider various factors to ensure a positive race experience.
• Importance of timing for optimal performance
• Evaluating local, destination, and virtual race options
• Significance of organizational quality and race amenities
• Understanding pacing strategies and time cutoffs
• Role of community support in enhancing race experiences
• Creating a personalized race checklist for effective decision-making
Please share this episode with anyone you think might benefit from it!
Chapters
01:55 Bridget's First Race Experience: Lessons Learned
10:00 Timing and Seasonal Considerations for Races
11:35 Local vs. Destination vs. Virtual Races
18:34 Making Your Race Memorable: Key Considerations
24:44 Researching Races: Tips and Resources
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you pick a race that you are excited for, you
are visualizing, that's going tokeep you motivated during the
training cycle.
That's going to keep yourconfidence going.
Hey, runners, you're listeningto Dogs Per Mile, where we're
making running work for yourlife, not the other way around.
I'm Bridget, with over 13 yearsof running experience and
(00:22):
approximately 4,892 dogs seen onmy run.
I'm now here to help you findyour own path to running
happiness.
Ready to run on your own terms.
Let's get going.
Welcome back, runners, to theDogs Per Mile podcast.
(00:44):
I am your host, bridget.
This is part two of Enteringyour Runner Era series.
Last week, we went over how topick your perfect race distance
based on your goals, based onyour lifestyle, and so if you
have not already listened tothat, please pause, go back and
pick that out so that way, youcan come prepared for this next
(01:07):
episode to pick the right racefor you.
So today we are going to diveinto which race you want to do.
Do you want to do a local 5k?
Are you doing a destinationhalf marathon?
What are some of the commonpitfalls that new runners fall
into when they are picking arace?
What things are on racewebsites that you need to know
(01:31):
about that, you need to beprepared for and how can you
make sure that you are comingaway with a memorable first race
?
We're going to go over thattoday, so that way, you have a
race that aligns with yourlifestyle, your goals and your
budget, because some of theseraces can get pretty expensive.
(01:52):
Let's dive in.
So I need to tell you about myvery, very, very, very first 5K,
or my very first race.
Actually, generally, my firstrace was going to be the Color
run, which was a popular I thinkit's still popular.
It may be, I don't know Apopular run back in 2012, 2011.
(02:15):
It was going to be the colorrun, where they throw bright
colors at you, wear a whiteshirt, this, that and the other
thing.
But then I found a local 5k atQuassy Amusement Park in
Connecticut that was giving backmoney to a dog rescue and since
that was my major drivingfactor and running I signed up
for this race with zero researchbeyond.
(02:35):
They give money to dogs.
It is at Quassy.
That's all I knew, nothing more.
That's all I knew, nothing more.
I did approximately zeroresearch into this race and it
(02:56):
was a 5k, so and I had beendoing the couch to 5k run walk
at my local Planet Fitness.
So I at least felt moderatelyconfident that I was ready to
get over the finish line at thisrace.
And I did not realize thatthere was no aid stations.
Aid station is when they passout water or gels or band-aids
or things like that.
So I ended up running threemiles with no water, so that's
(03:19):
not ideal.
And there's no crowd supportbecause you're running at Kwasi
Amusement Park so there's no onecheering you on, and so it's a
little bit sad and depressing.
And I also did not look at thecourse map and realize how many
hills there were.
I learned from then on that Imight want to do just a little
bit more research and read justa little bit more about the
(03:43):
races, and I'm not perfect atthis.
I still sign up for raceswithout reading half of the
information.
I am known in my family for notreading half of the things on
anything.
But I want to help you readthese race sites and help you
pick what race is going to bebest for you, because picking
(04:04):
the right race will really helpinspire your training.
If you pick a race that you areexcited for, you are
visualizing that's going to keepyou motivated during the
training cycle.
That's going to keep yourconfidence going.
That's going to inform yourtraining plan a little bit.
So if we know that you have avery hilly race, or we know that
(04:27):
that race is going to be inwarmer, colder weather, there's
a lot of things that will informyour training, based on what
race you pick and I always wantto try to pick a first race
that's going to have some levelof excitement for you, so that
way, when you are having a badday in your training cycle which
(04:48):
will happen you have thatlittle level of excitement.
So we're going to kind of goover a little bit of like kind
of a decision making framework.
We're going to consider timingof the year.
We kind of talked about timingbefore.
We're going to cover location,location, because location,
location, location matters theexperience that you're looking
for and how to research, how tokind of see what other people
(05:12):
think of races, because if youbuy things on Amazon, you're
reading the reviews, so how doyou know what other people think
of these races?
So let's go in to how we decidewhat race is best for you.
Arguably the most importantthing when it comes to picking
(05:33):
out a race is timing.
Timing is everything.
So really we wanted to considerseasonal timing is the biggest
thing.
We wanted to consider.
Seasonal timing is the biggestthing Really.
Fall races are one of the mostpopular, and for good reason.
(05:54):
The colder weather that fallbrings in is amazing.
For beginners it's an amazingspeed boost because you have
trained most likely throughwarmer weather and then you drop
into a cooler temperature onrace day or closer to race day
and you can feel your speed comeup and you usually have a
(06:14):
better race day when you have afall race.
Spring races do require wintertraining, and so if you live in
a climate where, like me, whereI'm supposed to get somewhere
between 2 and 27 inchesaccording to Apple weather of
(06:35):
ice and snow this weekend inMissouri, so I will not be
running outside tomorrow I maynot even be able to get to a
treadmill, and so you may haveto change your runs a lot.
If you're doing a spring race,you may run in treadmills.
You may have to run in reallycrappy climate.
So that's another thing to keepin mind.
Summer races are fun.
(06:56):
I've done a few summer.
I did a summer half marathon,which was one of my other sub
two hour half marathons had somuch fun.
But I've also done Hospitalhospital hill half here in
Kansas City and it is the worst,worst race performance wise of
my entire life.
Because why, why running gods,is there a half marathon the
(07:22):
first week in June in KansasCity?
That goes up all of the hills,and I mean all of them.
So we want to kind of look atthat.
And then winter.
So I like a winter race.
I think it's fun.
I don't like driving in winterrace to winter races, and so the
travel to a winter race may bea little bit difficult.
(07:43):
So you may be, you know, youcould be doing a winter race
where it's winter weather, oryou may be traveling to a warm
climate in winter, so you may begoing to Florida or California,
you know, that's why the Disney, that's why Disney races are in
February is because it's coolerin Florida and it's considered
a winter race.
(08:04):
So think about the time of yearand that goes along with your
training time.
So when would you need to betraining for this race?
And now we also want to thinkof time of day.
So when you're looking at thestart time of these races, some
of them are starting relativelyearly Morning races are most
(08:24):
common.
So you're most likely going tosee ones that start at seven,
eight, maybe nine o'clock in themorning, so you're not starting
crazy early.
There may be some like early,early ones like six o'clock, so
those are most common and itmost likely aligns with your
training runs.
You're most likely going to bedoing morning training runs, or
it's easier to align your runswith that, especially if you're
(08:47):
a morning runner.
Evening races I know there's aton in Vegas.
Vegas does a lot of evening andnighttime races.
They can be fun, but it makesme nervous because you have to
figure out how you're eating allday.
So that can be a little bittricky when it comes to planning
.
So you can still be excitedabout that Vegas race day, but
(09:08):
you also need to figure out howyou are going to be eating.
And then think about yourtraining season.
Think about when your life getsbusiest, when your life gets
slowest.
And my life can be busier thanothers.
My busy time is Valentine's Day.
I work in chocolate and thebusiest time of year for me is
(09:29):
Valentine's Day.
So if I were to be starting atraining cycle, I wouldn't want
the peak of my training to be inthe first few weeks of February
, because that's crazy to me andwhen I used to work in higher
education, august was a crazymonth for us, for move-ins for
college students, so I wouldmake sure that that was never my
(09:51):
peak time of my race training.
So look when you're the busiestand look when that race would
be.
That's another thing to reallykind of take into consideration
when you're looking at the raceday.
Research the average temperaturefor that time of year for your
race.
For example, when I did theKansas City Marathon in October,
(10:14):
it's typically a cooler raceand I researched that it would
be probably in the 50s.
Unfortunately it was in the mid60s, so I got a hotter
temperature than expected.
But you always want to researchwhat the average temperature is
so you can know that going intoit, is it normally warm, is it
normally cold?
So make sure you research theaverage temperature for the time
(10:37):
of year for the location of therace and then make sure that
your training cycle matches yourpersonal schedule.
So if you have a vacation goingon, that's fine.
You can't, you don't need tonot train very much because you
have a vacation, but you do justwant to make sure that you have
these things kind of just inthe back of your mind.
(11:00):
So now, now that you've narroweddown a little bit of your, your
timing, we're kind of thinking,basically you've kind of
narrowed down, like I'd ratherhave a spring race or a fall
race or a summer race.
You have a little bit betteridea of that.
Decide where.
Where are you going to run?
So really there's three optionstwo big ones and one less big
(11:25):
one.
So there's local, which shouldbe somewhere that you can easily
drive to without having tosleep somewhere else, or a
destination race.
And then our third option is avirtual race.
Let's cover what the point, whatthe advantage is, and why you
would pick a local race.
Why are you not going to goanywhere?
(11:46):
So what's nice about a localrace is it's familiar.
If you are a creature of habitlike me, you can train on that
course, you can run that route.
I run the Rock, the Parkwayroute here on Ward Parkway often
.
So I know the ups and downs,the hills, the turns, and that's
nice for me.
(12:06):
You know what the weather isgoing to feel like because you
live there.
You know how it's going to be.
You know where parking is Ifyou have high parking anxiety
when it comes to race day.
I don't know who possibly hasthat Not me.
You have all that and there's alot less of travel logistics.
You don't have to worry aboutsleeping in a hotel.
How do I get there by publictransit?
(12:28):
How do I get there by driving?
Is there going to be this?
Is there going to be that?
That is a lot of stress.
Another advantage of the localrace is you can build in a
support network to see you onthe course, because if you're
new to running, believe it ornot, the people cheering you on
(12:51):
on the course make a hugedifference.
So if you've ever run a racethat had nobody cheering you on
is entirely different than whenyou come around a corner and
there are hundreds of peoplejust cheering you on, even if
you don't know who they are.
If you do a local race, you'remore likely to have your spouse
(13:12):
or your children or your friendsor your coworkers be able to
meet you at different stops.
I love being able to see myfriends at races, my friends at
races.
I love tracking them, findingthem, screaming at them, to
cheer them on, because I knowhow much it touches me when I
can see them when I can wave atthem.
So a local race lets you talkto your friends and tell them
(13:35):
like, hey, I'm running this race.
I really, really, really loveit If you would be able to show
up at any of the mile stops.
That's going to help you.
That's going to keep youinspired to want to keep running
and want to show up for them.
So a local race is going tohelp keep you going.
A destination race I call itplaying the away game.
(13:58):
You're traveling.
You're traveling to a newlocation and it could be a
location you're familiar with.
It could be a location you'renot familiar with, but it has an
adventure factor to it.
You're traveling to somewherenew.
You're traveling to some.
You're running a differentcourse.
You it's kind of like a littlemini vacation.
You have to run in a differentarea.
(14:19):
You have to pack and travelwith your clothes and your shoes
.
You have to make sure you haveyour routines dialed in.
You need to have your morningfood and nutrition and mobility
and you can't forget anything.
And you have to have all thatplanned out.
You have to know how you'regetting to the start line.
You need to know how you'regetting back from the start line
(14:41):
Bag drop off?
Are you traveling alone?
Are you traveling with family?
Are you adjusting to newconditions?
Is it hot there?
Is it cold there?
Are you in the mountains?
There's a lot of things to takeinto consideration.
So it can be quite an adventureand it can throw you for quite
a loop, but a lot of my bestraces have been when I've gone
(15:04):
races away from home, because itforces me to have come prepared
, it forces me to think abouteverything else.
The thing you do have to keepin mind is sleeping.
I become a very nervous sleeperthe night before a race,
regardless if I am home or away.
So dialing in your nighttimeroutine is really going to make
(15:26):
that big difference.
But you won't have the familysupport as much as you will in
an away race or away run.
But it is exciting to seesomewhere new, to try and see
some beautiful features.
There are races that go throughnational parks.
There's races that go throughmountains, that go through ocean
(15:47):
well, not go through the oceans, but go by the oceans.
There's some gorgeous runs thatyou can do if you're willing to
be adventurous and trysomething new.
And there's ones that gothrough major cities and you can
run on roads that never, everclose except for that one race,
and so that's really exciting todo.
And so if that's, you seekadventure, and that's the type
(16:09):
of person that why you'rerunning is because you're, you
want to try something new andyou're adventurous consider
doing a destination race, andthen the last kind of race would
be a virtual run, and so theseare ones where you sign up and
they are flexible with yourschedule.
So if you have a little bit ofanxiety when it comes to race
(16:33):
day you're worried about showingup and the weather being shit,
it being hot, it being cold, itbeing snowy or whatever they
usually give you a a set amountnumber of days where you have to
do the distance in, and thenyou just submit your time by
submitting your Garmin or yourApple health or whatever to
(16:54):
prove that you did that distance, and so what's nice is you pick
the route so you can run onyour comfortable route.
You don't have to travel.
There's no stress like that.
A lot of them will mail you amedal and a lot of them partner
with charities, so you're beingable to give back.
So they're a really greatoption if you're wanting to try
(17:15):
it out and you have a lot ofstress around the crowds of a
race, because some races can bevery large and can feel very
crowded, and if that's somethingthat's really nerve wracking to
you but you want to have thatsense of accomplishment, this is
another really fun and kind ofout of the box way to do it, and
I think it can be a sense ofcommunity that is really not
(17:40):
seen as much.
I want you now to kind of thinkagain.
Do you value more convenienceand, potentially, community in
your race, or are you lookingfor adventure and excitement in
your race?
After this?
I also want you to researchlocal running clubs and see what
races they recommend or whatraces they put on, and look at
(18:04):
the travel costs and see whatmakes the most sense, because
you got to think about when itcomes to travel costs flights,
gas, car hotels, food.
So really think about whatmakes the most sense and weigh
those pros and cons, especiallyif this is your first race.
So kind of weigh your pros andcons when it comes to that and
(18:25):
go back to that vision of yourfinish line and how you want to
feel and how you want to seeyourself over that finish line.
Now let's talk about what isessential for a race to be
memorable and not a shitexperience, and how to avoid
disappointment and kind ofbuyer's remorse on a race,
(18:47):
because I know I've done someraces where it was a womp womp
never sign up again.
You really want to look for arace that is well organized and
you want to look for races thatare put on by big organizations.
Honestly.
So your local running store orrunning groups are really great
(19:07):
places to look for these sort ofthings.
So if it's a largerorganization, they typically
have their shit together.
They typically are moreorganized when it comes to
making sure the race daylogistics go well.
They'll have better signs out.
They'll make sure everyone hasgood communication.
Packet pickup makes sense.
It's not kind of feeling likehaphazard and figure it out
(19:29):
there.
It's a lot more catered or alot more accepting to new people
who this is their first time,because some races that are
smaller or put on by smallorganizations just assume that
you're already a runner and youknow what's going on and they
don't feel it doesn't feel asexciting.
And I know.
When I did my first race, Iremember the feeling of going to
(19:50):
the expo, my first halfmarathon, the expo in DC and how
exciting it was to seeeverything and pick up my bib,
and it was just that's what.
That's what stuck with me andthat's kind of why I keep doing
them.
Having something exciting likethat really will pull you in and
(20:12):
you also want to look to see isthere good course support, do
you see?
So the way you find that out isyou can look in the information
on the website for the race.
You, you can look in theinformation on the website for
the race.
You want to look in the map andsee how often, if any, do they
provide course support?
Do they have aid stations withwater, with gel, medical porta
potties?
Look at the race map and lookdo they provide that?
(20:33):
As a new runner, it'sdefinitely something you're
going to want.
I think it's really helpful toat least have those checkpoints.
For me, it's definitelysomething you're going to want.
I think it's really helpful toat least have those checkpoints.
For me, it's like a safety netthat you know that if something
goes wrong, you at least knowthat in the next one to two
miles you can get help.
Someone will be there to helpyou, and then someone will be
(20:55):
there to give you water or cheeryou on.
The next thing, that is reallyreally big, and I don't think a
lot of new runners know abouttime cutoffs, and so, until you
know how fast you run, it's notsomething that you know to look
at, and when races have, howlong they can keep the roads
(21:19):
open.
That's basically what it comesdown to, and it tells you you
have to be able to maintain Xpace on this race in order to
stay on it, and they usuallyhave a sweeper person at the end
, and that's just so they canreopen the roads to traffic and
cars, and what you need to do islook to make sure your pace is
going to match that.
You need to do is look to makesure your pace is going to match
(21:40):
that.
One fun trick that I have ifyou are planning on doing the
half marathon and you are on theslower side of the pace, look
for a race that also has amarathon built in, because
usually that means that if thecourse is planned correctly, you
will get some of the time thatthe marathoners are also running
(22:01):
that course, if that makessense, because a lot of times
they'll close the course aftertwo or not two, three, maybe
four hours and that may notalign with your pace time.
So if you pick a race wherethere's a marathon, they may
give it up to six to seven hoursto finish, and so that may work
better for you.
So really make sure that thecourse time matches with your
(22:22):
pace time so that way you don'tget your heart broken and have
that feeling of just that you'renot just that, it's just a sad
feeling.
So I want to make sure thatit's aligned with your pace.
Another thing that if you arenew to running especially again
(22:44):
I don't want to feel like I'mbeating a dead horse but if
you're running a half and you'rescared about going out too fast
or not knowing how quick to gohow quick to go is look for a
race that has pacers.
I cannot say how much I lovethe pacers that run for the
(23:05):
Kansas City runs.
They are absolutely fantastic.
They keep you motivated.
The ones that I've had theywill walk up certain parts of
the hills at the pace that I'mat and then they run and they
are inspiring.
They are absolutely wonderful.
So if you are a new runner, lookfor a race with a pacer Hands
(23:27):
down.
It will make your runningexperience so much better.
You can go to the expo and talkto them.
You can kind of help figure out.
They have like usually havelittle pacer bands that can show
you you're going to run mileone at this time.
Two, three, two, three, four,whatever it will make all the
difference in the world.
Plus, you'll have, you'll feellike you're part of a community,
you'll be able to talk withother runners and it's perfect
(23:49):
for new runners, absolutely.
And also look for races thatlook like they have really good
crowd support, and I know that'sreally hard to know if it has
good crowd support, and this iswhere we're kind of maybe go
over reviews and a little bityou can also tell by where the
course is if it goes on like asmall trail.
I have done one in Chicago andit went on a cute little trail
(24:12):
but there's no people on theside of it.
Where ones in New York or inKansas City you have people
cheering on the side of the roadand so a little bit of people
cheering you on it makes a worldof a difference.
And then make sure any of theraces that you're looking at
you're reviewing the amenities,you're reviewing the cutoff
(24:32):
times, you're looking at thecourse and you're making sure
you're kind of putting these alltogether in a list.
Okay, so we've talked about alot.
Let's put it all together withsome effective tips so you can
go sit at your computer, yourphone this may be a big screen
(24:56):
activity, as I like to call itand do some effective race
research.
So I want you to kind of look atsome few places I have
mentioned where you can look fordifferent races.
Look at different local runningstores.
Look at they.
A lot of them have like a tablewith a bunch of pamphlets out.
You can also look on theirsites for what the races in your
(25:16):
area are.
Online forums will have a lotof great races listed where you
can find out information aboutthem.
A lot of red flags that youjust kind of want to keep your
eye out for is a lot of weirdhidden fees.
I don't see that too much, butit's there Vague details or
(25:37):
consistently negative reviews.
If you just see a lot of peoplesaying a lot of negative things
, it's usually not worth it.
If you know a lot of runners inyour area, ask other runners.
I know me.
I love to talk about all of theraces I have done, if anyone
ever asks me about any of theraces I have done, I will tell
(26:00):
you every single thing about itEverything I loved, everything I
hated.
I will tell you everything.
So ask them.
Ask them what their favoritepart about the race was.
Ask them what their leastfavorite part about the race was
.
Ask them about are there anylogistical elements that they
should know about?
Ask them was the course as hardas it looks?
Ask them any question you canthink of.
(26:22):
It's really, really important.
And then make sure you createsome backup plans.
Just have some second optionsready, just in case.
I know I've had things come up.
I've had weather come up and aplan of doing a race and it just
snowed it out and I couldn't doit.
So make sure you have a couplebackup plans, just in case.
(26:42):
So take out another piece ofpaper.
We're going to create a littlechecklist.
You're going to get on yourcomputer and you're going to
create a list of three to fivepotential races.
I want you to research theirpros and their cons, based on
all of the information we havegone over before, and I want you
to rank them by priority, onwhich ones are most important,
(27:03):
which ones are your number oneand which ones are your least
ones.
And then I need you to.
Basically, I want you to DM meon Instagram and tell me which
ones are your top three and Iwant to help you decide.
So DM me at dogspermilepod, atInstagram, and I want to help
you pick your first race.
So, thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you.
(27:26):
I'm so excited for you to signup for this race, whichever one
you chose, and are you soexcited for the next, the final
part of this, which is going tobe how the fuck am I going to
train for this race?
So, in the final part of thisseries, we are going to talk
about the different ways thatyou to train for this race.
So, in the final part of thisseries, we are going to talk
about the different ways thatyou can train for a race, the
free ways that you can find thetrain, the ways that cost money,
(27:48):
and we're going to figure outwhat way is going to be best for
you, so that way you can get tothe start line, get over the
finish line and hopefully onlybe crying because you're so
fucking proud of yourself.
So don't forget to pleasesubscribe, to please share this
podcast episode with anyone.
You want to run a race with youand they would like to think
(28:11):
about what race they want, soshare it with a friend.
Please comment, please rate,please subscribe.
Share it with the world.
Share it with everyone.
If you hate them, you love theworld.
Share it with everyone.
If you hate them, you love them.
Share it with everyone.
And until next time, keepcounting those dogs, keep
running and I will see you inthe next one.
Thanks for sharing another milewith me today.
(28:39):
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First, hit subscribe whereveryou're listening to this right
now.
It's the best way to make sureyou never miss an episode.
Second, if today's show helpedyou or inspired you, please
leave a review.
Your words help other runnersfind their way to our community.
Lastly, want more runningadventures?
Follow at Dogs Per Mile pod onInstagram, where I share daily
(29:03):
motivation, behind the scenesmoments and plenty of pictures
of my two running coaches, yogiand Maple.
Be sure to tag me in your runphotos and use hashtag Dogs Per
Mile to share your own dogspotting stats.
I love celebrating yourvictories, big and small, and
thank you for being a part ofthis journey.
Until our next run together,remember every step forward is
progress and every dog you seeis bonus motivation.
(29:25):
Keep running, keep smiling andkeep counting those dogs.
If you pick a race that you are excited for, you
are visualizing, that's going tokeep you motivated during the
training cycle.
That's going to keep yourconfidence going.
Hey, runners, you're listeningto Dogs Per Mile, where we're
making running work for yourlife, not the other way around.
I'm Bridget, with over 13 yearsof running experience and
(00:22):
approximately 4,892 dogs seen onmy run.
I'm now here to help you findyour own path to running
happiness.
Ready to run on your own terms.
Let's get going.
Welcome back, runners, to theDogs Per Mile podcast.
(00:44):
I am your host, bridget.
This is part two of Enteringyour Runner Era series.
Last week, we went over how topick your perfect race distance
based on your goals, based onyour lifestyle, and so if you
have not already listened tothat, please pause, go back and
pick that out so that way, youcan come prepared for this next
(01:07):
episode to pick the right racefor you.
So today we are going to diveinto which race you want to do.
Do you want to do a local 5k?
Are you doing a destinationhalf marathon?
What are some of the commonpitfalls that new runners fall
into when they are picking arace?
What things are on racewebsites that you need to know
(01:31):
about that, you need to beprepared for and how can you
make sure that you are comingaway with a memorable first race
?
We're going to go over thattoday, so that way, you have a
race that aligns with yourlifestyle, your goals and your
budget, because some of theseraces can get pretty expensive.
(01:52):
Let's dive in.
So I need to tell you about myvery, very, very, very first 5K,
or my very first race.
Actually, generally, my firstrace was going to be the Color
run, which was a popular I thinkit's still popular.
It may be, I don't know Apopular run back in 2012, 2011.
(02:15):
It was going to be the colorrun, where they throw bright
colors at you, wear a whiteshirt, this, that and the other
thing.
But then I found a local 5k atQuassy Amusement Park in
Connecticut that was giving backmoney to a dog rescue and since
that was my major drivingfactor and running I signed up
for this race with zero researchbeyond.
(02:35):
They give money to dogs.
It is at Quassy.
That's all I knew, nothing more.
That's all I knew, nothing more.
I did approximately zeroresearch into this race and it
(02:56):
was a 5k, so and I had beendoing the couch to 5k run walk
at my local Planet Fitness.
So I at least felt moderatelyconfident that I was ready to
get over the finish line at thisrace.
And I did not realize thatthere was no aid stations.
Aid station is when they passout water or gels or band-aids
or things like that.
So I ended up running threemiles with no water, so that's
(03:19):
not ideal.
And there's no crowd supportbecause you're running at Kwasi
Amusement Park so there's no onecheering you on, and so it's a
little bit sad and depressing.
And I also did not look at thecourse map and realize how many
hills there were.
I learned from then on that Imight want to do just a little
bit more research and read justa little bit more about the
(03:43):
races, and I'm not perfect atthis.
I still sign up for raceswithout reading half of the
information.
I am known in my family for notreading half of the things on
anything.
But I want to help you readthese race sites and help you
pick what race is going to bebest for you, because picking
(04:04):
the right race will really helpinspire your training.
If you pick a race that you areexcited for, you are
visualizing that's going to keepyou motivated during the
training cycle.
That's going to keep yourconfidence going.
That's going to inform yourtraining plan a little bit.
So if we know that you have avery hilly race, or we know that
(04:27):
that race is going to be inwarmer, colder weather, there's
a lot of things that will informyour training, based on what
race you pick and I always wantto try to pick a first race
that's going to have some levelof excitement for you, so that
way, when you are having a badday in your training cycle which
(04:48):
will happen you have thatlittle level of excitement.
So we're going to kind of goover a little bit of like kind
of a decision making framework.
We're going to consider timingof the year.
We kind of talked about timingbefore.
We're going to cover location,location, because location,
location, location matters theexperience that you're looking
for and how to research, how tokind of see what other people
(05:12):
think of races, because if youbuy things on Amazon, you're
reading the reviews, so how doyou know what other people think
of these races?
So let's go in to how we decidewhat race is best for you.
Arguably the most importantthing when it comes to picking
(05:33):
out a race is timing.
Timing is everything.
So really we wanted to considerseasonal timing is the biggest
thing.
We wanted to consider.
Seasonal timing is the biggestthing Really.
Fall races are one of the mostpopular, and for good reason.
(05:54):
The colder weather that fallbrings in is amazing.
For beginners it's an amazingspeed boost because you have
trained most likely throughwarmer weather and then you drop
into a cooler temperature onrace day or closer to race day
and you can feel your speed comeup and you usually have a
(06:14):
better race day when you have afall race.
Spring races do require wintertraining, and so if you live in
a climate where, like me, whereI'm supposed to get somewhere
between 2 and 27 inchesaccording to Apple weather of
(06:35):
ice and snow this weekend inMissouri, so I will not be
running outside tomorrow I maynot even be able to get to a
treadmill, and so you may haveto change your runs a lot.
If you're doing a spring race,you may run in treadmills.
You may have to run in reallycrappy climate.
So that's another thing to keepin mind.
Summer races are fun.
(06:56):
I've done a few summer.
I did a summer half marathon,which was one of my other sub
two hour half marathons had somuch fun.
But I've also done Hospitalhospital hill half here in
Kansas City and it is the worst,worst race performance wise of
my entire life.
Because why, why running gods,is there a half marathon the
(07:22):
first week in June in KansasCity?
That goes up all of the hills,and I mean all of them.
So we want to kind of look atthat.
And then winter.
So I like a winter race.
I think it's fun.
I don't like driving in winterrace to winter races, and so the
travel to a winter race may bea little bit difficult.
(07:43):
So you may be, you know, youcould be doing a winter race
where it's winter weather, oryou may be traveling to a warm
climate in winter, so you may begoing to Florida or California,
you know, that's why the Disney, that's why Disney races are in
February is because it's coolerin Florida and it's considered
a winter race.
(08:04):
So think about the time of yearand that goes along with your
training time.
So when would you need to betraining for this race?
And now we also want to thinkof time of day.
So when you're looking at thestart time of these races, some
of them are starting relativelyearly Morning races are most
(08:24):
common.
So you're most likely going tosee ones that start at seven,
eight, maybe nine o'clock in themorning, so you're not starting
crazy early.
There may be some like early,early ones like six o'clock, so
those are most common and itmost likely aligns with your
training runs.
You're most likely going to bedoing morning training runs, or
it's easier to align your runswith that, especially if you're
(08:47):
a morning runner.
Evening races I know there's aton in Vegas.
Vegas does a lot of evening andnighttime races.
They can be fun, but it makesme nervous because you have to
figure out how you're eating allday.
So that can be a little bittricky when it comes to planning
.
So you can still be excitedabout that Vegas race day, but
(09:08):
you also need to figure out howyou are going to be eating.
And then think about yourtraining season.
Think about when your life getsbusiest, when your life gets
slowest.
And my life can be busier thanothers.
My busy time is Valentine's Day.
I work in chocolate and thebusiest time of year for me is
(09:29):
Valentine's Day.
So if I were to be starting atraining cycle, I wouldn't want
the peak of my training to be inthe first few weeks of February
, because that's crazy to me andwhen I used to work in higher
education, august was a crazymonth for us, for move-ins for
college students, so I wouldmake sure that that was never my
(09:51):
peak time of my race training.
So look when you're the busiestand look when that race would
be.
That's another thing to reallykind of take into consideration
when you're looking at the raceday.
Research the average temperaturefor that time of year for your
race.
For example, when I did theKansas City Marathon in October,
(10:14):
it's typically a cooler raceand I researched that it would
be probably in the 50s.
Unfortunately it was in the mid60s, so I got a hotter
temperature than expected.
But you always want to researchwhat the average temperature is
so you can know that going intoit, is it normally warm, is it
normally cold?
So make sure you research theaverage temperature for the time
(10:37):
of year for the location of therace and then make sure that
your training cycle matches yourpersonal schedule.
So if you have a vacation goingon, that's fine.
You can't, you don't need tonot train very much because you
have a vacation, but you do justwant to make sure that you have
these things kind of just inthe back of your mind.
(11:00):
So now, now that you've narroweddown a little bit of your, your
timing, we're kind of thinking,basically you've kind of
narrowed down, like I'd ratherhave a spring race or a fall
race or a summer race.
You have a little bit betteridea of that.
Decide where.
Where are you going to run?
So really there's three optionstwo big ones and one less big
(11:25):
one.
So there's local, which shouldbe somewhere that you can easily
drive to without having tosleep somewhere else, or a
destination race.
And then our third option is avirtual race.
Let's cover what the point, whatthe advantage is, and why you
would pick a local race.
Why are you not going to goanywhere?
(11:46):
So what's nice about a localrace is it's familiar.
If you are a creature of habitlike me, you can train on that
course, you can run that route.
I run the Rock, the Parkwayroute here on Ward Parkway often
.
So I know the ups and downs,the hills, the turns, and that's
nice for me.
(12:06):
You know what the weather isgoing to feel like because you
live there.
You know how it's going to be.
You know where parking is Ifyou have high parking anxiety
when it comes to race day.
I don't know who possibly hasthat Not me.
You have all that and there's alot less of travel logistics.
You don't have to worry aboutsleeping in a hotel.
How do I get there by publictransit?
(12:28):
How do I get there by driving?
Is there going to be this?
Is there going to be that?
That is a lot of stress.
Another advantage of the localrace is you can build in a
support network to see you onthe course, because if you're
new to running, believe it ornot, the people cheering you on
(12:51):
on the course make a hugedifference.
So if you've ever run a racethat had nobody cheering you on
is entirely different than whenyou come around a corner and
there are hundreds of peoplejust cheering you on, even if
you don't know who they are.
If you do a local race, you'remore likely to have your spouse
(13:12):
or your children or your friendsor your coworkers be able to
meet you at different stops.
I love being able to see myfriends at races, my friends at
races.
I love tracking them, findingthem, screaming at them, to
cheer them on, because I knowhow much it touches me when I
can see them when I can wave atthem.
So a local race lets you talkto your friends and tell them
(13:35):
like, hey, I'm running this race.
I really, really, really loveit If you would be able to show
up at any of the mile stops.
That's going to help you.
That's going to keep youinspired to want to keep running
and want to show up for them.
So a local race is going tohelp keep you going.
A destination race I call itplaying the away game.
(13:58):
You're traveling.
You're traveling to a newlocation and it could be a
location you're familiar with.
It could be a location you'renot familiar with, but it has an
adventure factor to it.
You're traveling to somewherenew.
You're traveling to some.
You're running a differentcourse.
You it's kind of like a littlemini vacation.
You have to run in a differentarea.
(14:19):
You have to pack and travelwith your clothes and your shoes
.
You have to make sure you haveyour routines dialed in.
You need to have your morningfood and nutrition and mobility
and you can't forget anything.
And you have to have all thatplanned out.
You have to know how you'regetting to the start line.
You need to know how you'regetting back from the start line
(14:41):
Bag drop off?
Are you traveling alone?
Are you traveling with family?
Are you adjusting to newconditions?
Is it hot there?
Is it cold there?
Are you in the mountains?
There's a lot of things to takeinto consideration.
So it can be quite an adventureand it can throw you for quite
a loop, but a lot of my bestraces have been when I've gone
(15:04):
races away from home, because itforces me to have come prepared
, it forces me to think abouteverything else.
The thing you do have to keepin mind is sleeping.
I become a very nervous sleeperthe night before a race,
regardless if I am home or away.
So dialing in your nighttimeroutine is really going to make
(15:26):
that big difference.
But you won't have the familysupport as much as you will in
an away race or away run.
But it is exciting to seesomewhere new, to try and see
some beautiful features.
There are races that go throughnational parks.
There's races that go throughmountains, that go through ocean
(15:47):
well, not go through the oceans, but go by the oceans.
There's some gorgeous runs thatyou can do if you're willing to
be adventurous and trysomething new.
And there's ones that gothrough major cities and you can
run on roads that never, everclose except for that one race,
and so that's really exciting todo.
And so if that's, you seekadventure, and that's the type
(16:09):
of person that why you'rerunning is because you're, you
want to try something new andyou're adventurous consider
doing a destination race, andthen the last kind of race would
be a virtual run, and so theseare ones where you sign up and
they are flexible with yourschedule.
So if you have a little bit ofanxiety when it comes to race
(16:33):
day you're worried about showingup and the weather being shit,
it being hot, it being cold, itbeing snowy or whatever they
usually give you a a set amountnumber of days where you have to
do the distance in, and thenyou just submit your time by
submitting your Garmin or yourApple health or whatever to
(16:54):
prove that you did that distance, and so what's nice is you pick
the route so you can run onyour comfortable route.
You don't have to travel.
There's no stress like that.
A lot of them will mail you amedal and a lot of them partner
with charities, so you're beingable to give back.
So they're a really greatoption if you're wanting to try
(17:15):
it out and you have a lot ofstress around the crowds of a
race, because some races can bevery large and can feel very
crowded, and if that's somethingthat's really nerve wracking to
you but you want to have thatsense of accomplishment, this is
another really fun and kind ofout of the box way to do it, and
I think it can be a sense ofcommunity that is really not
(17:40):
seen as much.
I want you now to kind of thinkagain.
Do you value more convenienceand, potentially, community in
your race, or are you lookingfor adventure and excitement in
your race?
After this?
I also want you to researchlocal running clubs and see what
races they recommend or whatraces they put on, and look at
(18:04):
the travel costs and see whatmakes the most sense, because
you got to think about when itcomes to travel costs flights,
gas, car hotels, food.
So really think about whatmakes the most sense and weigh
those pros and cons, especiallyif this is your first race.
So kind of weigh your pros andcons when it comes to that and
(18:25):
go back to that vision of yourfinish line and how you want to
feel and how you want to seeyourself over that finish line.
Now let's talk about what isessential for a race to be
memorable and not a shitexperience, and how to avoid
disappointment and kind ofbuyer's remorse on a race,
(18:47):
because I know I've done someraces where it was a womp womp
never sign up again.
You really want to look for arace that is well organized and
you want to look for races thatare put on by big organizations.
Honestly.
So your local running store orrunning groups are really great
(19:07):
places to look for these sort ofthings.
So if it's a largerorganization, they typically
have their shit together.
They typically are moreorganized when it comes to
making sure the race daylogistics go well.
They'll have better signs out.
They'll make sure everyone hasgood communication.
Packet pickup makes sense.
It's not kind of feeling likehaphazard and figure it out
(19:29):
there.
It's a lot more catered or alot more accepting to new people
who this is their first time,because some races that are
smaller or put on by smallorganizations just assume that
you're already a runner and youknow what's going on and they
don't feel it doesn't feel asexciting.
And I know.
When I did my first race, Iremember the feeling of going to
(19:50):
the expo, my first halfmarathon, the expo in DC and how
exciting it was to seeeverything and pick up my bib,
and it was just that's what.
That's what stuck with me andthat's kind of why I keep doing
them.
Having something exciting likethat really will pull you in and
(20:12):
you also want to look to see isthere good course support, do
you see?
So the way you find that out isyou can look in the information
on the website for the race.
You, you can look in theinformation on the website for
the race.
You want to look in the map andsee how often, if any, do they
provide course support?
Do they have aid stations withwater, with gel, medical porta
potties?
Look at the race map and lookdo they provide that?
(20:33):
As a new runner, it'sdefinitely something you're
going to want.
I think it's really helpful toat least have those checkpoints.
For me, it's definitelysomething you're going to want.
I think it's really helpful toat least have those checkpoints.
For me, it's like a safety netthat you know that if something
goes wrong, you at least knowthat in the next one to two
miles you can get help.
Someone will be there to helpyou, and then someone will be
(20:55):
there to give you water or cheeryou on.
The next thing, that is reallyreally big, and I don't think a
lot of new runners know abouttime cutoffs, and so, until you
know how fast you run, it's notsomething that you know to look
at, and when races have, howlong they can keep the roads
(21:19):
open.
That's basically what it comesdown to, and it tells you you
have to be able to maintain Xpace on this race in order to
stay on it, and they usuallyhave a sweeper person at the end
, and that's just so they canreopen the roads to traffic and
cars, and what you need to do islook to make sure your pace is
going to match that.
You need to do is look to makesure your pace is going to match
(21:40):
that.
One fun trick that I have ifyou are planning on doing the
half marathon and you are on theslower side of the pace, look
for a race that also has amarathon built in, because
usually that means that if thecourse is planned correctly, you
will get some of the time thatthe marathoners are also running
(22:01):
that course, if that makessense, because a lot of times
they'll close the course aftertwo or not two, three, maybe
four hours and that may notalign with your pace time.
So if you pick a race wherethere's a marathon, they may
give it up to six to seven hoursto finish, and so that may work
better for you.
So really make sure that thecourse time matches with your
(22:22):
pace time so that way you don'tget your heart broken and have
that feeling of just that you'renot just that, it's just a sad
feeling.
So I want to make sure thatit's aligned with your pace.
Another thing that if you arenew to running especially again
(22:44):
I don't want to feel like I'mbeating a dead horse but if
you're running a half and you'rescared about going out too fast
or not knowing how quick to gohow quick to go is look for a
race that has pacers.
I cannot say how much I lovethe pacers that run for the
(23:05):
Kansas City runs.
They are absolutely fantastic.
They keep you motivated.
The ones that I've had theywill walk up certain parts of
the hills at the pace that I'mat and then they run and they
are inspiring.
They are absolutely wonderful.
So if you are a new runner, lookfor a race with a pacer Hands
(23:27):
down.
It will make your runningexperience so much better.
You can go to the expo and talkto them.
You can kind of help figure out.
They have like usually havelittle pacer bands that can show
you you're going to run mileone at this time.
Two, three, two, three, four,whatever it will make all the
difference in the world.
Plus, you'll have, you'll feellike you're part of a community,
you'll be able to talk withother runners and it's perfect
(23:49):
for new runners, absolutely.
And also look for races thatlook like they have really good
crowd support, and I know that'sreally hard to know if it has
good crowd support, and this iswhere we're kind of maybe go
over reviews and a little bityou can also tell by where the
course is if it goes on like asmall trail.
I have done one in Chicago andit went on a cute little trail
(24:12):
but there's no people on theside of it.
Where ones in New York or inKansas City you have people
cheering on the side of the roadand so a little bit of people
cheering you on it makes a worldof a difference.
And then make sure any of theraces that you're looking at
you're reviewing the amenities,you're reviewing the cutoff
(24:32):
times, you're looking at thecourse and you're making sure
you're kind of putting these alltogether in a list.
Okay, so we've talked about alot.
Let's put it all together withsome effective tips so you can
go sit at your computer, yourphone this may be a big screen
(24:56):
activity, as I like to call itand do some effective race
research.
So I want you to kind of look atsome few places I have
mentioned where you can look fordifferent races.
Look at different local runningstores.
Look at they.
A lot of them have like a tablewith a bunch of pamphlets out.
You can also look on theirsites for what the races in your
(25:16):
area are.
Online forums will have a lotof great races listed where you
can find out information aboutthem.
A lot of red flags that youjust kind of want to keep your
eye out for is a lot of weirdhidden fees.
I don't see that too much, butit's there Vague details or
(25:37):
consistently negative reviews.
If you just see a lot of peoplesaying a lot of negative things
, it's usually not worth it.
If you know a lot of runners inyour area, ask other runners.
I know me.
I love to talk about all of theraces I have done, if anyone
ever asks me about any of theraces I have done, I will tell
(26:00):
you every single thing about itEverything I loved, everything I
hated.
I will tell you everything.
So ask them.
Ask them what their favoritepart about the race was.
Ask them what their leastfavorite part about the race was
.
Ask them about are there anylogistical elements that they
should know about?
Ask them was the course as hardas it looks?
Ask them any question you canthink of.
(26:22):
It's really, really important.
And then make sure you createsome backup plans.
Just have some second optionsready, just in case.
I know I've had things come up.
I've had weather come up and aplan of doing a race and it just
snowed it out and I couldn't doit.
So make sure you have a couplebackup plans, just in case.
(26:42):
So take out another piece ofpaper.
We're going to create a littlechecklist.
You're going to get on yourcomputer and you're going to
create a list of three to fivepotential races.
I want you to research theirpros and their cons, based on
all of the information we havegone over before, and I want you
to rank them by priority, onwhich ones are most important,
(27:03):
which ones are your number oneand which ones are your least
ones.
And then I need you to.
Basically, I want you to DM meon Instagram and tell me which
ones are your top three and Iwant to help you decide.
So DM me at dogspermilepod, atInstagram, and I want to help
you pick your first race.
So, thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you.
(27:26):
I'm so excited for you to signup for this race, whichever one
you chose, and are you soexcited for the next, the final
part of this, which is going tobe how the fuck am I going to
train for this race?
So, in the final part of thisseries, we are going to talk
about the different ways thatyou to train for this race.
So, in the final part of thisseries, we are going to talk
about the different ways thatyou can train for a race, the
free ways that you can find thetrain, the ways that cost money,
(27:48):
and we're going to figure outwhat way is going to be best for
you, so that way you can get tothe start line, get over the
finish line and hopefully onlybe crying because you're so
fucking proud of yourself.
So don't forget to pleasesubscribe, to please share this
podcast episode with anyone.
You want to run a race with youand they would like to think
(28:11):
about what race they want, soshare it with a friend.
Please comment, please rate,please subscribe.
Share it with the world.
Share it with everyone.
If you hate them, you love theworld.
Share it with everyone.
If you hate them, you love them.
Share it with everyone.
And until next time, keepcounting those dogs, keep
running and I will see you inthe next one.
Thanks for sharing another milewith me today.
(28:39):
Before you cool down, here arethree quick ways to stay
connected with our runningcommunity.
First, hit subscribe whereveryou're listening to this right
now.
It's the best way to make sureyou never miss an episode.
Second, if today's show helpedyou or inspired you, please
leave a review.
Your words help other runnersfind their way to our community.
Lastly, want more runningadventures?
Follow at Dogs Per Mile pod onInstagram, where I share daily
(29:03):
motivation, behind the scenesmoments and plenty of pictures
of my two running coaches, yogiand Maple.
Be sure to tag me in your runphotos and use hashtag Dogs Per
Mile to share your own dogspotting stats.
I love celebrating yourvictories, big and small, and
thank you for being a part ofthis journey.
Until our next run together,remember every step forward is
progress and every dog you seeis bonus motivation.
(29:25):
Keep running, keep smiling andkeep counting those dogs.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.