"I Had An Inexplicably Bad Race!"

Last year one of the masters luminaries in my local running club wrote in its newsletter (I'm paraphrasing here):

I was well-trained, well-tapered and well-fueled, but I just couldn't get it together during the race. Oh well, sometimes it just happens that way.

My reaction upon reading this? "Wrong!"

I've heard these words or similar from the mouths of athletes dozens of times. Invariably I ask for a quick peek at their training log.

Sometimes that stops 'em cold. "I don't keep a log."

I think (sometimes I even say), "Can't help you then. And you'll continue to get blindsided. It will just happen that way, again and again."

If I do get a look at their log, I might be driven to say, "How come you don't detail your food intake/energy level/emotional state/sleep sufficiency/life stressors?"

On the occasions I'm lucky enough to peruse a thorough, well-considered, log—one I might call a log with heart and soul—it typically takes me less than 5 minutes to identify the source of the problem.

Perhaps another 5 minutes' conversation will suffice for me and the athlete to jointly devise a strategy that will remove the Inexplicably Bad Race (or at least that type of IBR) from the realm of future possibility.

I say this not especially to brag on myself. Many capable coaches might justly make this claim.

My point is two-pronged:

• Provide your coach (or if you're self-coached, your analytical self) a complete picture of all factors that influence your performance; and
• Everything influences your performance!