Introduction
In the United States, the relay race is becoming one of the most popular running events. It was 2012 when one of the most popular relay-style events, Ragnar Relay, had around 72,000 participants. There are different types of relay races. And the styles vary vastly. That means when you are thinking about taking part in a relay running event, you have to ensure that you are preparing yourself along with your team.
Prepare Your Team For A Relay Running Race
Every sport and competition comes with both loss and win. Having a sportsman spirit is essential. But you have to try your best to win the race. That is why preparation with your team is essential and following the right training and plan will do you good. Now, you might be thinking about how to get the proper preparation for your team. Here, in this article, we will help you with a guide to preparing for a relay running race with your entire relay team.
1 Add Double Run To Your Training
For all those less experienced runners, the most challenging thing is running multiple times per day. In case you haven’t run more than an hour in a single day, it will be best if you perform a few of your longer training runs in different segments and break up the runs into three distances. You can always implement this for those team members who are having the same issues. When you are completely focused on winning, perform some double workout days during your training segment.
2 Train For The Particular Time For Your Run
Always remember that timing is extremely crucial for running relay races. There is a high chance that you need to run at least one of your legs very early in the morning or middle of the night. It means you need to overcome the challenge of running well when your body wants to sleep. In order to overcome this challenge, we will always recommend you to practice your running very early in the morning and middle of the night. As it is a common issue, it will be the smartest way to practice with your complete team.
3 Without Warming Up, Learn To Work Hard
Running well without warming up is an art, and you, along with your entire team, have to master that art form but it has to be done carefully or you will experience injury. As we have mentioned in the above section, you might have to run early in the morning or middle of the night, and you will not get enough time to warm yourself up.
That means your team needs to prepare themselves in such a way that they will all be able to run their best even when your legs’ veins are sleeping or sitting cramped. Here, implementing some dynamic stretching will help a lot.
4 Practice On Similar Trail And Road Conditions
When you are preparing for a relay running race, you might know that the most popular relay races from organizers such as Ragnar happen both on the trail and road. It means your leg is going to run on some type of trail. In case you’ve never been to a trial before, you need to focus on that.
You also consider the same scenario for your team. Your team member also might not have experience in running on a trail or the experience of running both on road and trail; you must consider the preparation with your entire team.
5 Hone Your Orienteering Skills
The most challenging part of a relay race is navigating your way through the entire course. Running on unknown trails and roads is pretty common. It is also usual to find yourself running alone on the road and trail.
Sometimes the trials might not be well marked, and here, you need to rely on your course map in order to figure out the direction. Here, you and your other team members need to have developed orienteering skills.
6 Plan With Your Team
Proper planning wins every day. And when you’re running a relay race, you have to be well prepared with proper planning. We will always ask you not to leave logistics until the last minute. Beforehand, decide who will run which legs.
Proper planning is required with your entire team for the relay race event. You will only be able to win the race when you have the perfect plan to execute and work on. Also, ensure that all your team members are aware of the planning.
Prepare To Win
Always remember that only preparing yourself is not enough for a relay running event. You have to ensure that your entire team is in proper sync. Only team practice and preparation will be able to give you assurance. So, prepare to win.
