A personal record or personal best (frequently abbreviated to PR or PB) is an individual’s best performance in a given sporting discipline. It is most commonly found in athletic sports, such as track and field, other forms of running, swimming and weightlifting.
Source: Wiki Definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_record
Let’s not beat around the bush here – the majority of runners who enter a marathon or ½ marathon or 10 km run are doing it for the personal challenge. Less than 1% will actually put in the time and effort of an elite runner: that is training twice a day, doing 100-160 miles a week.
For professional athletes, a best time is nice to achieve but it is not the total measurement of how the athlete performed.
Yet if you talk to many non-professional runners, you would think the time element of a PB is the only component that defines a PB. Runners’ can be upset for days recounting the story of how they could have beaten their PB if they just ran that bit faster, or runners’ depression sets in when they haven’t seen sight of a best time for days, weeks or months.
Parkrun (a worldwide free 5K event that happens every Saturday) sets out some performance elements:
- Personal best time
- Personal Parkruns you’ve completed
- Number of times you have volunteered to help the Parkrun community
Defining a Personal Best in a Run
If a PB = Best Performance, then a PB can relate to a culmination of many aspects, that can be treated like milestones. In addition to time, you can have a PB in your preparation, conduct and effort.
This means you can have multiple PBs in an event:
- How much preparation did you really put in?
- Were you able to put in more than your effort on the day?
- Have you PBed in your conduct? ….”Hmmmm” I hear you say…
Conduct
Your preparation should have included reading up on the rules of conduct for the event. Follow the guidelines below and you can say you PBed in your conduct. These are some typical rules of conduct:
- For road events, keep on the inside close to the curb unless you’re over taking. In places like the UK & Singapore, keep on the left, unless overtaking on the right.
- Drop all trash into a bin to keep the course clear and safe for other users and to prevent “run-away” trash.
- Dropping your trash on the floor can cause other runners to slip/skid/trip causing them injury
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- Dropping your trash on the floor can create “run-away” trash:
- Dropping your trash on the floor can create “run-away” trash:
- If you run past the bins, then hold onto your trash until you come to a checkpoint. There are several bins there to deposit your rubbish.
Believe me, you have the strength to carry a couple of grams to the next checkpoint….I drag a 10kg tyre! It just takes a little more effort and 1km is short compared to the distance you will achieve! In the Singapore Marathon there are bins about every 20 metres in the ECP area.- If it is a gel packet, then put it into your short’s pocket/underwear or for women put it into your bra top. For the “euwwers” out there, you are smelly and sticky anyway, or carry a small bag for your trash.
- Thank the volunteers for their time and help. They’ve been out longer than you, setting up and then waiting to help & encourage you. At the Singapore Marathon, many will have been setting up checkpoints since midnight, and then waiting for runners from 04:30 onwards. Give them energy and they will give you energy back.
- Look out for each other. You are an immediate hero when you help someone.
Effort
The effort you can expand will depend on both your physical and mental preparation. On the saying “90% mental, 10% physical” Ross, a sports scientist, says:
An athlete who lacks talent is exposed, as a junior in many cases, and never reaches the Olympic Games. An athlete who has abundant talent, but lacks the mental edge, may fade into obscurity because they don’t have the drive or discipline to train, or because they don’t compete well.
The athlete who lacks confidence or self-belief stands out among the crowd eventually – they reach the “highest level of insecurity”, if you will, before being exposed, often spectacularly. On the other hand, the athlete who lacks talent often disappears into the middle of the pack and obscurity. Perhaps this is why we have identified mental aspects as so crucial, the source of the 90-10 principle?
Source: http://sportsscientists.com/2010/02/the-mental-edge-thoughts-and-opinions/
And finally an element that very few seem to spend time on is visualization. This can be done in bed some days before an event. This can help you go so much further than you expected as it can keep you positive throughout the event.
So next time you talk about your PB, remember you can PB in other areas other than time.
Tips for Runners at the Singapore Marathon
- Use rehydrating salt (@ 60cts a pack in the pharmacy). Found every 2 hours is good enough for me.
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Sung to the melody of Eurythmics “Here Comes The Rain Again”
If you are a 4 hours onwards marathon runner, the sun will suck out your energy.
Carry a water bottle that you can refill at the hydration stations. You will be thankful you had one when 1.5km to the next checkpoint feels “forever” long after 30km in the hot blazing sun on the open road…and as you’re pouring water over your head to cool yourself down, you will overtake gaunt faces wishing they had brought their own bottle to do the same between checkpoints.
