Podium Power System – The Fitness Test Within a Virtual Race!
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Ribbons have been awarded in Track competitions for years, and the traditional colors of Pink, Green, Yellow, White, Red & Blue have represented the different places that are earned in the end: 6th through 1st place, respectively.
When I coached Track, I would often mention to my kids that “It’s a great day to collect blue ribbons.” I wanted to create the image that yes, its possible to attain things if you work for them and get rewarded.
Now, most virtual races will have you compete, the money goes to a charity, and you may get a medal in the mail as a result. Its more about the participation in some cases, but its hard to stay competitive with it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept of virtual races to extend the causes that these races are raising money for. It is a great way for people to ‘race in the race’ from a distance.
However, there is a trend of pushing just mere participation as the goal in any race, and I just KNOW there are competitive people out there who are desiring to do something competitive.
That is why I created the Podium Power System’s structure. There is no direct cause to support here. Yes, it is for profit, but it is also setup for you to earn something as a result. You will be tested, measured, and rewarded by set standards of time and by age group. There is always something to shoot for with so many ways to test.
You could use GPS at first, or a smartphone app. Later on, you may do a treadmill test for a couple months, and then test yourself out on the track when the weather is good. When you do the 2 Mile Trials, it gives you common baseline measurements of your general fitness level. If 2 miles is a good test for the military to use, its a great test for the average person to use in discovering their abilities.
For too long, you may have been judging your current fitness based on a race that was months ago. Or maybe just a 5K a few weeks ago. If you run different races, its hard to judge a 5K versus a 10K or half marathon time. With a steady, time-tested and similar route of a 2 Mile Trial on a frequent basis, you will have a better standard to test yourself with.
For myself, I have a great 1 mile loop around my neighborhood, it goes around the campus that I work at. This is a repeatable, easy to do test, and its easy to judge where my fitness is at. I just KNOW where my paces are at for a mile pace in a 5K, since the 2 Mile Trial is basically 2/3′s of a 5K run. You aren’t beating yourself up with a hard race, but a general test to see where you are at and be easy to recover quickly from.
Virtual racing is becoming a very common thing among serious runners. Races can vary from distance to distance, and usually involve doing a certain distance on a set day or weekend. You simply do it on your own time, record your times & mileage with technology like GPS watches or smartphone apps, send it in, and get a medal.
It is becoming pretty popular since you can usually do a 5K or 10K distance within the comforts of your surroundings near your home. If you are like me, I like to run a 5K course near my apartment. It has 2 loops and is easy to follow, and simple to gauge your progress or status on.
I have now come up with a way to do a virtual race, but use it as a fitness test and motivational strategy to use.
I will be releasing this new system in a few weeks. It revolves around the 2 Mile Trial as a fitness test you can use.
2 Miles is a time-tested distance to use in gauging cardio fitness levels with the military, specifically the US Army. They have plenty of data online for everyone from recruits and current soldiers, to see where they are ranked in their times.
I have taken this data and created my own unique ranking system out of it. It is not the same, but is similar to the US Army’s standards they have set.
However, after going through the numbers, I saw that some numbers are pretty easy paces for some top level runners, even in area 5K results I’ve seen.
For instance, a runner I am good friends with is 50 years old and just as fast as this 37 year old guy. We have paced each other on club runs and in races as well. Her times are comparable to mine, and are ‘off the charts’ compared to the military ratings. She is faster than some male times for instance.
So, I decided to ‘amp up’ this ranking system for even those top level runners (because I know they are out there) to give them something to aim for, outside of the basic charts I created.
Keep posted here for more updates on the Podium Power System and when it is fully released very soon!
The PPS is going to change the way you look at the traditional methods used to measure your fitness (like just a plain old race time) and help you maximize your training time with timely goals to achieve!
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