If you are like me, winter seems to take a toll on my running. While I don’t just sit around eating Bon Bon’s all winter, running in cold and icy conditions or running on the “dread”mill is just something that takes a lot of motivation to do.

Now that Spring is right around the corner, how do we snap out of the Winter doldrums and get back to work? Here are a few ideas that have got me out the door after a break in running:

Prepare for your run. If you run in the morning or evening, lay out your running clothes and gear for your run out the night before. Time spent looking for all your stuff when you are half awake is not only a good way to lose motivation, but it’s time you could use to get and extra mile or two in on the road or trail. This is also a great idea the night before a race!

Get up and get dressed! Well this is a given (I hope). If you follow tip #1, this tip will be much easier. On those mornings (or evenings) that you just don’t want to get out of bed or are tired after a long day at work, just change into your running clothes with no expectations. I have always found that no matter how tired I felt, just getting dressed for a run was enough motivation to actually run.

Start slow and be easy on yourself. If you have not been running all Winter, going out with guns blazing and expecting to have the fitness and speed you enjoyed in the warmer months when your training was on point will make you lose motivation. It is not realistic and it is a good way to get injured! It’s OK to start over. Go out with a plan to run one mile and see how you feel. For me, 9 times out of 10, I will warm up and do more. Just don’t do too much too soon, and with work you will eventually get your fitness and speed back.

Find a running group or running buddy. The power of accountability is strong! One of the strongest motivations I have found is knowing that my group or a friend was getting up and waiting on me. Plus, running with a friend that can motivate, push, and talk to you during the run just makes the run more fun. Even if you go to the gym to run, find a couple of treadmills next to each other and no matter what your pace, you can still run together!

Sign up for a race! There is no greater motivation than putting a race on the calendar. REVEL has four amazing races throughout the year to get excited about! The fact is, if we sign up for a race, we will be a lot more likely get out and train. Even after 119 marathons/ultras, this is still something that gets me out the door. Running a marathon or half can be daunting, but with proper training, it will hurt a lot less and be a lot of fun.

I know that if you follow these tips, it won’t take long to get your groove back and be out there killing it a races throughout the year.

Wishing you all a personal record (PR), Boston qualifier (BQ) or a fun finish! GOOD LUCK and I will see you on the course!

Angie Whitworth Pace is a REVEL Ambassador (and legacy runner at the Big Cottonwood Marathon), Marathon Maniac and member of the 100 Marathon Club of North America. She also writes the running blog “Keeping Pace” which documents her journey of running a marathon in all 50 States. http://angiepaceruns50.blogspot.com/

Do you want to be our next featured writer? Email us at revel@runrevel.com for details.

When you think of a “bib,” what image comes to mind? Most likely it’s something draped around an infant’s front at mealtime to protect their clothes from massive food stains and drool.

Or it’s something you strap on at the local BBQ joint on “All You Can Stomach” ribs night. This is also to protect clothes from the aforementioned massive food stains and drool.

As runners, we have our own unique fascination with bibs.

Specifically, the race bib.

When you get down to it, a race bib is really just a piece of paper (okay, these days it’s typically made out of a material called Tyvek) with a number written on it.

The functional purpose of the race bib is for identification and safety so the race officials, volunteers and photographers can determine exactly who that lumbering, sweaty and heavily-breathing person is. And most race bibs have room on the back for your emergency data along with a timing tag.

But once you put a bib on, it becomes something much more than a runner’s dog tag. It’s your official passport to the race and says one thing very loudly: “Let’s run.”

Yup, we love our bibs.

When you go to a race expo and are finally given your bib, how many of you stare at it longingly like you just discovered one of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets? Be honest.

And everyone is a critic when it comes to bibs:

• Is it too big to possibly fit on my shirt?
• Is it too small to properly convey the magnitude of this race?
• Is the design too busy or not flashy enough?
• Who the hell picked that font?
• Will the bib color properly coordinate with my planned race outfit or do I need to switch tops?

Admit it, you think about these.

And what about your race number? You could write a doctoral thesis on the psychology of race numbers. I can’t tell you how many people I know (myself included) who hope that they get one of those cool numbers when they register:

• 666 (So you can “run like hell”)
• 911 (Now they know who to call)
• 999 (1,000 adjacent and makes me feel like a rebel)
• 1,000 (Rounded numbers rock, apparently)
• 1,001 (“The Arabian Nights” palindrome)
• 1,111 (We get excited when we see it on our odometers… ever more so on our chests)
• 1,999 (so you can party and run like it’s 1999)
• 2,001 (A running odyssey)
• 9,999 (like 999 but 10x better)

And there are so many more numbers we could add to the list, right?

We also like getting the low numbers, even if we won’t admit it out loud. If you had a choice between 73 and 4,286 which would you take?

Me too.

While walking along before a race don’t you scan the crowd looking for your “bookends” (the people with numbers right before and after yours)? If you do find them, I’d wager you say “Hi” because apparently you’re racing kin and you have the perfect icebreaker… “I couldn’t help but notice your number.” And what about when you see a man and woman standing next to each other with consecutive numbers… a running couple, right? I bet they have matching Halloween costumes too.

Then there’s the recent trend in “bibbage” (if it isn’t a word, it darn well should be), which is personalized bibs.

Now when you enter races like the REVEL Race Series, you can get your name sprawled across your bib. Well, bibs are kind of like a runner’s license plate anyway, so it only makes sense that we can get vanity plates now.

And what about the challenge of attaching the bib to your race shirt? To the running rookie, it can seem like a Herculean task. The standard tool is the “safety pin.” And let’s be honest, we’ve all proven at least once that those things aren’t as “safe” as their name implies. Anyone got a Band-Aid?

Some people place their bibs high up on their shirts like it’s a superhero insignia, while others prefer to have them down much lower. Some runners attach them to their fuel belts with clips or hang them off of their shorts. Some people get really tricky and strap it to one leg or fold the bib so only a thin strip with the number is showing (going all minimalist). And every race you get a few newbies who attach their bibs to their backs, like it’s the number on a football jersey. These are also the same people who wonder why they never see any race photos of them posted. Please feel free to enlighten these poor misguided souls as to proper bib placement.

One of my favorite night-before pre-race rituals is the “pinning of the bib,” where I spend way too much time attaching a race bib to my shirt making sure it’s not too high nor too low and definitely not tilted (heavens no). I can spend upwards of 10-15 minutes “Goldilocking” my bib, making sure it’s “just right.”

So if you spy me at the REVEL races this year, you’ll see me proudly displaying my perfectly centered race bib with my name emblazoned on it and sporting a really cool number that makes me the envy of everyone around.

And hopefully no drool.

Run on!

Scott Device is a reformed couch potato who discovered distance running in the fall of 2008 and hasn’t stopped since. He hails from Los Angeles CA and has participated in 8 REVEL events.

Do you want to be our next featured writer? Email us at revel@runrevel.com for details.

With proper downhill training for a downhill race, you can experience notably fast times, reduce muscle fatigue during the race, and minimize “delayed onset muscle soreness” that is typical after any marathon.

The best way to reduce the effects of the unique forces in a downhill race is to train using what is known as “repeated bout effect.” This training effect occurs when a session of running downhill in a workout (a “bout”) provides a protective effect in subsequent workouts of the same nature. After recovering from normal muscle damage and soreness from a downhill session, you can recover faster, and experience less soreness, after subsequent workouts.

This “repeated bout effect” regimen should follow a measured and meaningful schedule that allows time to recover and adapt from one session before the next one. The intensity of the downhill workouts should be very light in the early sessions, and with short distances. Over time, the intensity and distance gradually increase.

A proper training schedule for a downhill race should incorporate two major elements to maximize the gains from a downhill course, while minimizing the effects of eccentric force: (1) repeated bout effect sessions over a number of weeks, with gradually increasing intensity and distance; and (2) regular practice of using proper downhill form. With both of these training elements in your training regimen, you should be well prepared for any downhill race.

Looking for online coaching to maximize your training and race day efforts? Consider the REVEL Online Coaching Program designed specifically for downhill racing by REVEL’s own veteran marathon coach! Our REVEL Coach has run every one of REVEL's races, and is familiar with the unique demands of downhill racing.