Week 3: Process vs. Performance: Avoiding the “race-day” workout mentality
Social media culture, and specifically Strava, provides a great opportunity for social engagement with other runners. But that connection can very easily slide into comparison and feed the desire for external validation, and soon every workout turns into a performance to be displayed rather than a training stimulus to be executed. This performative approach often sabotages long-term development in favor of immediate validation. Understanding the difference between training and racing mindsets is fundamental to marathon success—and one of the hardest lessons for ambitious runners to learn.
Training vs. Racing: Why the distinction matters
Every workout in your training plan serves a specific physiological (and psychological) purpose, distinct from the goal of racing. When you approach training sessions with a racing mentality—chasing splits, competing against training partners, or trying to "win" every interval—you are optimizing for the wrong outcome and might be undermining the very adaptations you're hoping to stimulate.
“Racing” a workout is often harder to identify internally than to observe externally (aka you can call it when your friend does it, but you have no idea when you do it). It is also very likely that it is unintentional and you are not consciously aware that you are “racing”. But there are signs.
Physical cues that you’re overexerting can include, but are not limited to: fading, slowing down, or losing form towards the end of reps or at the end of the workout; feeling light headed or sick to your stomach; feeling like you could not do another rep at that same effort or pace if you had to at the end of the workout; feeling so sore the next day that it is difficult to run with good form.
Mental cues that you’re too performance focused on your workout include, but are not limited to: getting frustrated when you are not hitting your “goal pace” or that the effort feels too high for the pace you are running; worrying about what the workout will look like on Strava and what people might think; dwelling on excuses for why the workout isn’t going well.
Each workout targets specific energy systems and physiological adaptations. For example, a tempo run develops lactate clearance and threshold power. Long runs build aerobic capacity and fat oxidation. Intervals improve VO2max and neuromuscular coordination. “Racing” these sessions turns them into fitness tests rather than fitness builders.
“Racing” your workouts feels productive because you're hitting impressive times and getting immediate feedback. But this approach creates several problems: you accumulate unnecessary fatigue, develop poor pacing habits, and often end up too tired to execute subsequent sessions with appropriate quality.
Coaching Tip: Before every workout, remind yourself of its specific purpose. Ask "What adaptation am I trying to stimulate?" or simply “What am I trying to get out of this workout?” rather than "How fast can I go on this?" This mental shift transforms training from performance to process.
Training by Effort
One of the most powerful skills you can develop is the ability to execute workouts by effort alone, without external pace validation. This approach develops crucial internal awareness while removing the external pressure that turns training into competition.
Your body doesn't experience pace—it experiences effort. Environmental conditions, accumulated fatigue, hydration status, and countless other factors affect what pace feels like on any given day. Training by effort teaches you to hit the right physiological intensity regardless of external variables.
Practical Implementation:
Plan a workout every couple weeks to execute entirely by feel, leaving your watch “at home” (but don’t actually leave your watch at home because that would be crazy, we still need our kudos)
Use descriptive effort scales: "comfortably hard," "breathing elevated but controlled," "could maintain for 20-30 minutes"
Focus on internal cues: breathing rhythm, muscle tension, perceived exertion
Runners who develop strong effort-based pacing become more confident and adaptable racers. They can adjust to race-day conditions, respond to tactical moves, and maintain appropriate intensity even when their watch fails or displays unexpected numbers.
Coaching Tip: Practice effort-based training during different conditions—hot days, tired legs, unfamiliar routes. This builds robust pacing skills that translate directly to race-day success.
Life Happens: Adjusting the Plan to Make Flexibility a Strength
Rigid adherence to prescribed paces when your body isn't prepared for them is a recipe for poor adaptation and potential injury. Smart training requires constant adjustment based on your current state, and this flexibility should be viewed as training wisdom, not weakness.
Common Scenarios Requiring Adjustment:
Poor Sleep or High Stress: When you're running on minimal sleep or dealing with significant life stress, your body's capacity for high-intensity work is compromised. A prescribed tempo run might become an uptempo effort; intervals might become strides or hill repeats at a more manageable intensity.
Environmental Challenges: Heat, humidity, wind, and altitude all affect performance. A 6:45 tempo pace on a cool morning might require 7:15 effort in 85-degree heat. The physiological stimulus remains appropriate even though the pace changes.
Accumulated Fatigue: Sometimes your legs just feel heavy. This might indicate incomplete recovery from previous sessions, the early stages of illness, or simply normal training adaptation. Adjusting intensity preserves the training stimulus while respecting your body's current capacity.
Travel and Schedule Disruption: Jet lag, unfamiliar routes, and schedule changes all impact training execution. Maintaining workout structure while adjusting intensity keeps you consistent without forcing inappropriate stress.
Coaching Tip: Develop a pre-workout assessment routine. Acknowledge your energy, sleep quality, and stress level. You can even consider scoring/rating it or using biometrics. Use this information to inform intensity decisions, not just pace targets.
Reframing "Failed" Workouts
When workouts don't go according to plan, the immediate tendency is to label them as failures. This black-and-white thinking misses the valuable information these sessions provide about your current state, recovery needs, and goal appropriateness.
What "Bad" Workouts Actually Tell You:
Recovery Status: A workout that feels harder than usual might indicate you need more recovery between quality sessions. This information helps you adjust future training to optimize adaptation.
Goal Appropriateness: Consistently struggling to hit prescribed paces might suggest your race goals need adjustment or your training needs modification. This is valuable feedback, not personal failure.
Training Load Management: Some sessions will feel difficult simply because you're in a productive training phase where fatigue is accumulating. Understanding this helps you distinguish between concerning patterns and normal adaptation stress.
External Factors: Sometimes workouts struggle because of factors outside your control—weather, work stress, poor sleep. Recognizing these patterns helps you plan better and adjust expectations appropriately.
The Growth Mindset: Instead of asking "Why did I fail?" ask "What is this telling me?" This reframe transforms disappointing sessions into valuable data points that inform smarter training decisions.
Coaching Tip: One “bad” workout is no cause for panic nor a strong signal to adjust training. However, consecutive “bad” workouts or noticing half or more of your workouts are going worse than anticipated suggest that you should honestly evaluate the factors contributing and consider an adjustment.
Process Over Performance Over Time
Marathon training is a months-long process where the cumulative effect of consistent, appropriate training matters far more than any individual session. Embracing this long-term perspective protects you from the performance trap and builds sustainable improvement.
A string of perfectly executed, unremarkable workouts creates far more adaptation than sporadic spectacular sessions followed by forced recovery days. The body adapts to consistent stress applied over time, not to occasional impressive performances.
Athletes who can resist the urge to maximize every workout often see the biggest improvements. They save their best efforts for when they matter most—in races—while building a massive foundation of consistent, appropriate training.
When training is systematic and controlled, energy reserves are also maintained for quality when it matters. Racing every workout depletes these reserves and compromises your ability to execute the sessions that drive the most adaptation.
Similarly, the psychological energy required to "perform" in every workout is exhausting and unsustainable. Training should generally feel controlled and manageable, building confidence rather than creating constant pressure.
Athletes who train with restraint often surprise themselves on race day. They've built enormous capacity through consistent training while maintaining the physical and mental freshness needed to access their full potential when it counts.
Coaching Tip: Aim to finish most workouts feeling like you could have done a bit more. This restraint ensures you can maintain quality throughout your training cycle and arrive at race day with energy reserves intact.
Strategies for Practical Implementation
There are a few tools you can use to ensure you are managing your training effort and avoiding “race” performances.
Workout classification system:
“Green” Workouts: Sessions that are done completely by feel without looking at your pace or other metrics. These ensure you are getting the most appropriate physiological stimulus. Aim for these to be 40% of your workouts.
“Yellow” Workouts: Sessions where you have a conservative pace target, consciously set slightly slower than what you think you could be capable of on an “average” day. These should build confidence in your ability to hit paces without overexerting. Aim for these to be 40% of your workouts.
“Red” Workouts: Sessions that are actual race days or race simulations. These are efforts where you know in advance you are going to empty the tank and you will need extra recovery afterwards. Aim for these to be 20% (or honestly less) of your workouts.
Another 80/20 Rule: This is just a simpler way to frame the classification system above. Aim to finish 80% of your workouts feeling controlled and sustainable. Save the remaining 20% for key sessions and tune-up races where performance matters.
Biometrics and Recovery Indicators:
Heart rate variability patterns
Resting heart rate trends
Sleep quality scores
Subjective energy ratings
Motivation and enthusiasm levels
Adjustment Protocols: Develop standard modifications for different scenarios—what do you do when it's hot? When you're tired? When time is limited? Having these protocols laid out in advance removes decision-making pressure and maintains training consistency.
Coaching Tip: Have I convinced you to take it easier on workouts, but you still want to show off to your friends and max out on Strava kudos? Totally. Here is a secret: people are WAY more impressed when your workout looks like a progression. Start your reps or tempo a little more conservatively and give us that beautiful bar chart we all want. Guaranteed 30% more kudos and comments.
The goal of training is not to prove your fitness daily but to systematically build it over time. Every workout is a brick in the foundation of your marathon performance. Focus on laying each brick properly rather than admiring individual bricks, and the resulting structure will be stronger than you imagine.