Few of us lace up our running shoes just to pass the time.

We don't run as a casual hobby; we run because we want to change. We want to get healthy, we want to feel younger or stronger, and perhaps most importantly, we want to prove that we can do hard things.

Conventional wisdom tells us that the best way to lock in that change is to sign up for a race immediately. The logic is simple: Put money on the table. Circle a date. Create a rigid container for your training. Once you pay the fee, you are "invested," and the fear of wasting that money forces you out the door.

But I have found that for me, the "Sign Up Early" advice comes with a glitch.

In the past, whenever I committed to a race months in advance, life seemed to take it as a personal challenge. A family crisis would pop up. A work complication would materialize. I’d get sick or injured. The moment I made it "official," the universe seemed to conspire to keep me from the starting line.

So, I developed a different strategy. I call it Shadow Training.

I have done this for almost all of my races, including the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 10k I just completed. I didn’t post a countdown on social media. I didn’t tell my friends. I didn’t even tell my family until the day before.

I enter a period of silence. I train as if the race is mandatory, but I keep the commitment invisible.

I woke up early. I put in the miles. I do all the hard work of an athlete preparing for a competition, but I keep the pressure of the "event" at arm's length.

It is a psychological sleight of hand. By treating the race as a "maybe" on paper, but a "yes" in my legs, I remove the anxiety. I let the consistency come from an internal desire to be ready, rather than the external fear of wasting a registration fee.

And it works. When race week arrives and the calendar remains clear, I finally emerge from the shadows and click "Register." I stand at the start line not exhausted by months of public expectation, but simply happy to be there.

Respect the Progression

Whether you choose to sign up months in advance or use my Shadow Training method, there is one universal rule for beginners: Don't eat the elephant in one bite.

A common mistake I see is new runners trying to tackle the largest goal immediately. They go from the couch straight to signing up for a marathon.

My advice? Start small.

Find a local 5k. Once you crush that, look for a 10k. Do a couple of those before you ever look at a half or a full marathon.

This is where Shadow Training shines. While a lot of big-ticket races do get sold out in advance, the small local ones almost never do. You can often sign up the very day of the race. This gives you the freedom to train without the stress of a deadline. You can worry about advanced registration months from now when you are ready for the big leagues.

For now, use these shorter distances to learn your body. You need to figure out your fueling, your recovery, and even your bathroom strategy for race morning. These are real logistics you have to manage, and they are much harder to figure out when you are staring down 26.2 miles.

Master the routine first; the distance will follow.

And this is why I love the quiet approach. You can build this consistency without the fanfare. You can work out the kinks in the shadows.And then, when you know you are ready, you just sign up. You show up to the starting line on your own terms, without the burnout of a long, public countdown.

So, pick a race. If you like the security of putting your money down early, do it. But if you prefer the mystery of the shadow, that is okay too.

Whatever gets you to the start line is the right way to train.

Keep moving.

Lavanya