When we run, the fiercest competition is ourselves.
Your own personal best is breathing down your neck. It’s better to compare yourself with yourself than to do it with someone else. Everyone has different talents and abilities. But you are still the same person. We need a good way to compare ourselves with ourselves.
This is where the time trial comes in. If you run a regular time trial of the same distance and even on the same route, you have an excellent way to see if you are improving or not.
One could do that alone, but it helps to do it with others whose presence motivates us to be better. All of my best times for every distance has been achieved by running with others in a race or a race-like environment.
A short all-out 5k run does wonders for our confidence. It makes us believe that we can run faster. It also helps our heart and lungs become used to faster running. I have found that a regular time trial makes me a better runner.
I enjoyed this article about time trials.
On Wednesday we had our first official time trial with 22 people joining in.
There is another one coming up where we expect a lot more people. That will be on 17 November and will have medals and prizes. It will also practically support education and employment for those who need it most.
Keep running
Stephan
Running with a Friend 