Why should you race before your goal race

If you have a goal race on the horizon, a great way to get yourself ready is by doing a tune-up race, which will help you see where your current fitness is at. It also helps you to assess how your training has been going and what you need to tweak before your goal race.

By running a race in advance of a more important one, you can see if you are prepared, moving in the right direction, or if you might require a change of plan or more specific preparations. (It also serves as a speed workout.)

Pick a tune-up race a few weeks or months out from your goal race, shorter than what you are training for (so if you’re training for a half-marathon, pick a 5K or 10K). 

Why run a tune-up race?

Tune-up races are the perfect opportunity to practice your race-day routine, including what you do before, during and after the race. You can practise waking up early, eating a pre-race meal, wearing your race gear and apparel, getting to the start line with time to spare and using the facilities before the race. It can also give you some exposure to race-day anxiety and adrenaline, help you practise your hydration and execute a sound race plan in terms of pacing. After the race, you can also experiment with how to refuel and recover as you resume training.

Some runners will use a tune-up race to run at the pace they hope to maintain during their goal race. This could mean running a half-marathon at marathon pace or completing a 5K event at 10K race pace. This strategy will help develop your confidence running at your goal race pace.

Another strategy for planning a tune-up could be on the course of your goal race, which can help familiarize yourself with the route, the terrain, the elevation and specific landmarks along the way.