There are several strategies for scheduling and executing tune up races and when done right, they can enhance your fitness and boost your confidence for the big day.
But, if they’re not done right, they can add extra risk, like not recovering enough, and unnecessary stress to your schedule.
On today’s show, I’m going to talk all about tune up races. You’ll learn:
- when to add a tune up race for maximum benefit and minimum risk
- how to run your tune up race to best prepare you for your goal race, and
- alternative ways to use tune ups in your schedule
If you’re gearing up for a spring race and looking to add tune-up races to your schedule (or already have and might be worried it’s too close or too much), this is a must-listen!
What is a Tune-Up Race
So what is a tune up race? It’s any race that happens in the weeks or months before your main goal race.
It is a planned part of your build up and is in service of your more important race. It is usually a shorter distance than your goal race, but it doesn’t always have to be.
Now, if you just love to race and every race you run is your goal race, then I wouldn’t say you are running tune up races at all. I suppose you are not really running goal races either, if everything is your top priority, but that’s a different episode.
When we talk about a tune up race, it’s one that we are running as a part of our training for the more important race.
How we choose to run those tune ups will depend on what we need to know or work on during our training.
We might deliberately run it slower than we are capable of. We might choose to run it all-out. Or we might choose to run some kind of combination of that to address a specific concern or weakness.
I’ll get into the details for each strategy in just a minute.
Why Tune-Ups Are Important
The two main reasons you want to race a tune up is for race practice and as a fitness check.
If you’ve heard the phrase “nothing new on race day,” this doesn’t apply to tune up races. A tune up is the perfect time to test out new gear, fuel, drinks, and your entire race morning routine so that you know it works in a race environment.
Even more important, you’ll learn what doesn’t work so you have time to ditch the duds without ruining your real race.
It’s far better to work out the kinks and misfires on a race that you don’t care that much about, so if your tune up is a disaster, you can learn from it and adjust your strategy.
Take fueling, for example. Even if you’ve been practicing with your fuel in training, it can be a completely different experience to your tummy when you are running hard. You might find that your favorite gel tastes terrible or you can’t chew your gummies when breathing hard.
A gear test is another thing you can learn from in a tune up. That cute new sports bra or those new compression socks might literally rub you the wrong way and that’s far better to learn in a shorter race.
To get the most out of the tune up race, you want to treat it as a dress rehearsal for the big day as much as possible.
That means getting up at the same time of day, eating the same breakfast, doing the same shakeout run, visualizing the course, and all the other details that you will go through.
By practicing everything to the tiniest detail, you can be calmer and more relaxed on the big day because you’ve done this before.
Besides race practice, a tune up can tell you a lot about your fitness.
If you can easily cruise through a half marathon a month before your marathon, that tells you that you are probably in good shape to run around that pace twice as long.
But if you hop on the struggle bus at mile 4, that probably tells you that your goal pace is a bit too aggressive.
If you are using a 5k to prepare for a 10k goal race and you run it at 10k pace, the effort should feel comfortably hard. If there’s no way you could run twice as long at that pace, or if it felt way too easy, it’s time to consider adjusting your goal.
There are two main ways to run a tune up race and then there’s a third, hybrid strategy.
The first strategy is to race the tune up as hard as you can.
The benefits of the all-out strategy is that it gives you a good assessment of how you deal with racing at your highest level.
Racing hard is hard as it forces you to stay under control at the beginning, turn the heat up in the middle, and then race your heart out when your body is fighting for you to stop. If you can knock out the best half marathon of your life, you’ve got a good shot of a great marathon in the weeks to come.
Even better, you might walk away with a new personal record and a new confidence boost.
There are lots of online calculators that can convert your race distances to help you predict what you can race at any other common distance, but be sure to take them with a grain of salt as they are not accurate for every race or every runner.
The downsides of an all-out tune up is that there is a little more risk of injury, it’s harder to recover from, and it’s less specific to the longer race. Let me take those one by one.
The more time that you spend in your red zone, or all-out effort, the higher your risk of injury. Too much speed can come at a price and for many runners, that potential cost is too high before an important race.
The other cost of all out is that you’ll need more time to recover than you would need had you run it slower. That could mean a few extra days off or of easy running, potentially sacrificing a more race-specific workout.
And speaking of specifics, if you are racing an all-out half to prep for a marathon, for example, you are not practicing marathon pace. Yes, running at all paces at times is great for all distances, but the closer you get to race day, the more like your goal race you want your workouts to become.
The Second Strategy is Goal Race Pace
To avoid the downsides of all-out racing, the second strategy for your tune up is to run it at your goal race pace.
So if you are tuning up with a 5k for a 10k race, for example, you’ll run the 5k at your slower 10k pace. This will help you practice pacing and control at the actual pace you plan to be running which provides excellent feedback for you and your coach.
Not only is running race pace more specific, it’s easier! That allows you to recover more quickly and jump right back into training.
The only downside to this plan is that you are not practicing the all-out feeling that you should feel at the end of an all-out race. You can get close in training of course, but if you have struggled with not racing your hardest in the past, you might want to try it in a race you don’t care about. Go into the race giving yourself permission to blow up and whatever happens, happens. You might end up surprising yourself.
And actually, there is another downside of racing your tune up at a slower pace. It doesn’t feel like racing! Can your ego handle not racing your best? Are you going to feel bad when looking at your results, knowing that you were holding back the whole time? Many runners really struggle with this, especially when they are always wanting to do their best. It takes control and confidence in your training to purposely under-race. But if you can do it, it might just be the best thing for your training.
But racing all-out or racing goal pace are not the only ways to race a tune up. There are several other strategies.
Some runners love to throw a 5 or 10k race in the middle of a long run during marathon training. It breaks up the boredom, you get to run with people, and you also get the support of the aid stations. You can choose to race it hard or not and depending on where it is in your training cycle, you might not need any more recovery time than you normally would from a harder long run.
An advanced technique is to use a race as a part of a longer speed workout. You could race a 5k, run a couple of easy miles, and then run another hard 5k, before cooling down. Again, you get the support and energy of the race environment during what might normally be a grueling workout on your own.
And finally, one of my favorite ways to execute a tune up is with a specific plan to work on something that you’ve struggled with in the past.
Let’s say you’ve always gone out too fast in every race you’ve ever run causing you to crash and burn by the end. (Don’t feel bad–most people do this until they learn not to.) Deliberately practice not doing this in your tune up by creating a strict pace guide for the first 25% of the race. If your tune up is a half marathon, tell yourself that you must run deliberately slow, perhaps 30 seconds slower than marathon pace, for the first three miles. After that, the race is yours to run as you wish.
Or perhaps your issue is the opposite. You’re good at pacing, but you struggle with a solid final kick. Your tune up strategy is to run very easy the first 75% of the race, then crank it down as fast as you can for the final 25%.
So ask yourself what went wrong at your last race and where can you improve? That will tell you how to run your tune up.
When Should You Schedule Tune Up Races
Okay, I’ve told you why and how to run a tune up. The next big question is when.
Race too early in your cycle and it won’t tell you much about your fitness months from now.
Race too close to your goal race and you risk leaving all your energy in a race that you don’t care about.
Let’s go over the most common race distances and when a tune up is a good idea.
For the 5k, unless you are lucky enough to have a mile race scheduled, your best bet is another 5k. Plan to race one a few seconds per mile slower than your real goal pace 2-4 weeks ahead of time. Another great strategy is practicing a cutdown, running each mile a few seconds faster and finishing strong.
10k racers can put a 5k or 5 miler on the calendar 2-4 weeks ahead of your goal race. Whatever pacing strategy you choose, it should feel at least “comfortably hard,” yet not totally exhausting.
For the half marathon, you’ll want to start backing up those tune ups to allow more recovery time. I recommend planning a 10k tune up, 3-4 weeks out. If you want to add a second, earlier tune up to give you a baseline fitness check, that could be planned in the 6-8 weeks before your goal race.
And finally for the marathon, I like to schedule a half marathon tune up 4-6 weeks before your race. It is possible to race a half three weeks away from the marathon, but that is usually best reserved for your longest and hardest long run. If that’s also the best time for your tune up, it’s better to keep that one at no faster than marathon pace to minimize injury and recovery risks. Feel free to add on an extra long cool down so your total mileage for the day ends up where you need your long run to be.
You can also sprinkle in some 5ks or 10ks earlier in both a marathon and a half marathon build up, but be careful with this strategy. You don’t want those other races to distract you from your real goal or take you away from workouts that are better suited to your goal race. We did an episode last year all about over-racing, so be sure to check that out if you want to go more in depth with that.
Tune up races can be a fun and useful part of preparing to race your best on your big race day. There are several different strategies for executing them, so be sure you know what you are trying to work on and what you are hoping to improve upon before the gun goes off.
And remember, a successful tune up race doesn’t guarantee a successful race just like a disastrous one doesn’t mean you’ll fall apart on your goal race. But practice does make progress as long as you learn from it.
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