If you had to take time away from racing for any reason, you may feel a bit anxious about racing again for the first time in awhile. You can think of this as a comeback race. It’s an opportunity to get back into racing after time away. Here are some ideas for how to choose your ideal comeback race to set yourself up for success.
How to Choose Your Ideal Comeback Race
Plan it out far in advance
When you need to start training again for your comeback race it’s best to choose a race at least a few months away. If you are willing to wait until the next season to run your next race that would give you plenty of time to plan and train. Y
Work around other events
If you are already signed up for other races, this is something to consider. Try to spread your races out and make sure you can train appropriately for each of them. Also factor in any personal events that you may have going on.
Consider your ideal running weather
Here in the Mid-Atlantic I don’t usually up for a July or August race because those months are pretty brutal here with the heat and humidity. However, if those months are ideal running where you live, then maybe you should look for races during those months! Think about what weather you will be training in as well.
Find a course that excites you
If you have enough options to choose from try to pick a race that gets you excited. It’s hard to get motivated to train when you’re not truly excited about what you get to do.
Keep it close to home
If traveling stresses you out it may best to keep your upcoming races as close to home as possible, or at least within driving distance. This can take away the stress of having to worry about eating different food, sleeping in a different bed, etc.
Focus on your goals
What kind of race will help you to reach those goals? Do your goals need to be adjusted? Are you trying to PR or just have a fun race or cover a new distance? These are all things to consider when researching races.
Get Social
Maybe you can plan out a race with your running friends or find out where there will be a meet-up with some runners who you have connected with on Instagram.
Check about the race cancellation policy
You just never know what will happen as you get closer to your race, so it’s good to know what will happen if you decide not to run.
Learn from the past
Think about your past races and what has gone well or not well. Do you fall apart on hills? Are your best races ones with alot of crowd support? Do you prefer to run through a busy city vs through the countryside? Learn from what’s worked in the past and use those factors when choosing your next race!
You may also like:
How To Prepare to Train for a Race
5 Tips for Choosing a Spring Racing Goal
5 Strategies For Breaking Through A Racing Plateau
Philadelphia Marathon Training Week 11
What do you consider when choosing a comeback race?
Will you be doing any new races this year?
When do you think we will be able to start racing again?
My wildly irrational gut feeling tells me we will start racing again in September. Right now, I’m waiting until things get more predictable. Ideally, I would like to run the Soweto Marathon in Johannesburg in November. Let’s see!
I’m thinking/hoping that races will start happening again in the summer, but there aren’t usually as many here that time of year!
I’m hopeful that my November marathon will still take place! I think races will start back up in the fall, probably September.
I think you should be good with a November race! I agree about the fall timeline, but I think maybe a few will happen over the summer (Maybe smaller ones that dont involve as much planning).
It’s so hard to plan right now–I have my eyes on a few fall races as potential comeback events, but I’m not considering anything seriously right now!
I think alot of people are doing the same thing!
Very good suggestions. There were a bunch of spring races that were too close together for me to do. Some are now in September which sounds pretty good right about now!
Oh thats great! Its going to be a busy fall for runners!
Can you imagine the amount of runners who will come out en masse when this is over???
My comeback 5K has been postponed. I don’t have the new date, yet, but I will be there when they are. The good news is that maybe I will be able to run instead of walk.
I still hope to do my half marathon in December, but that’s on hold just because I don’t know where I’ll be without my official PT.
Its really gonna be crazy to see all the runners racing once this is over! That would be great if you could run your comeback race. And hopefully even if you need more PT you can get it before your December half!
A good thing to come out of postponements is the rescheduling aspect. I talked about this in my “Coping with Cancellations” post last week, but there’s a half I’ve wanted to do but it always conflicted with another one… now both are rescheduled on different days 🙂
I love fall running, so I’m hoping to be able to take advantage of all the races that are rescheduled!
All good suggestions. I’m preparing myself to have all of my races postponed until the fall which could make for some hectic scheduling!
It could be really tricky to fit everything in!
Great advice! I was already registered for a half marathon in Oregon in late June. I still have hopes that it can be my comeback race, but I know I may have to wait longer. I have no fall races scheduled yet. I think I will just hold off for now.
Late June is tricky. Theres a chance it could be held, but theres also a good chance it will need to be rescheduled. I hope you can run it!
It’s hard to figure out what would be a good comeback race when we really don’t have an idea when it will be! My next race is set for May 31, but I have a feeling that will be canceled or postponed too. I’ll probably just end up going with the rescheduled time for the Carlsbad 5000, which is mid September, and play it by ear about signing up for anything else for a while.
That sounds like a good plan. If races start up again in early summer then I might do some smaller/short races and then aim for a half-marathon in the fall (or whenever my half is moved to).
I truly have no idea when we’ll be racing again. Sooner rather than later, hopefully.
I am signed up for a race end of June, and we had planned to go see my MIL (it’s in a state close to hers). But now who knows?
There’s also a Sept race that a friend is doing, and we could stay with her, that one is in driving distance. I’m in wait & see mode along with the rest of the nation!
There is some hope for your June race, I think! But anything can happen. At least you have a tentative plan for a fall race!
I admit, I don’t really know how I’m feeling about racing right now. I have three big races in 2020 and I’m lukewarm to them because I just don’t know if they’re going to happen or not. Luckily they’re all summer and fall races but still…
Its hard to get excited about anything right now. I would be optimistic for your races but at least you should have time to get yourself ready once everything settles down.
I think course/race that excites is key for me. While I have two or three (I forget now) in June that haven’t yet been canceled, I’m not so optimistic about them. The only one I have on the books after that is Feb. Not CV related, just hadn’t gotten around to the second half of the year yet as I was coming off injury. I think for me if it’s local it will be Central Park, but the idea of a destination race is also tempting. I crowdsourced everyone’s favorite local race a few months back, this is a good reminder to look at that list again
In a way its probably good you dont have anything picked for the second half of the year yet. You can see when all of this settles down and decide what you want to do then. Plus there will be lots of options due to all the postponed races!
Lisa thanks for the information. Great advice to look ahead and be hopeful that we can race by the fall. I have already had my June race cancelled and am holding on to hope my July race may still go on. As you mentioned maybe this is a good time to look for a new race and focus on what has worked in the past. Thanks for the great work!