RACE DAY TIPS FOR DISTANCE RUNNERS: What to do in the days leading up to the big day

You've done the hard work.......  You've consistently dragged yourself out of bed early in the freezing cold to commit to your training, or went out on those hot, humid days to not get off track.  So how do you make the most of the event and capitalise on your efforts?

Here's my top 10 must do's as race day closes in:

#10:  REGISTER EARLY:  Firstly, registering early commits you to the event, thus committing you to your training on a more specific basis.  Often the reason why people get off track with their training.  Secondly, you don't want the frustration of doing all the hard work, to find that there's been a sell out by the time you get online with your credit card in hand.

#9:  WEAR YOUR RACE GEAR:  It's no doubt common knowledge by most that you should 'bed' your shoes in to avoid blisters or other nasty uncomfortable surprises on race day so I'm not going to nag on this point.  What IS however often overlooked is your other gear.  It may come as a surprise that shoes are not the only thing you wear to a race, (well for the non-nudist folk anyway lol).  With that in mind, items such as your shirt, shorts, or socks can play havoc should you not test them out prior.  Your new fancy 'highly recommended' socks may have a seam that creates a point of friction, turning to blisters.  Your shirt may just happen to rub under the arm causing chaffing, etc etc.  You get the idea.

Work out what you intend to wear for the event, and wear this during some of your longer runs.

#8:  FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH THE COURSE:  There's not much point in running 50km's a week on flat bitumen, just to find that it's a hilly, technical single track trail run.  Or vice versa.  Ideally, if it's a local course, try to go out for a few sessions on the actual route to get familiar with the terrain, turns, or other conditions that may throw some interesting challenges at you on the day.  You have enough to contend with on the day let alone having random obstacles come up along the way.

Most well organised events will have on their website a course map and sometimes some course notes if it's fairly lengthy and/or challenging.  Be sure to check these out, and especially where you are able to park on the morning.  CBD events can sometimes see people missing the start of their race as they didn't consider parking restrictions or the sheer volume of entrants taking up what parking may have been there.



#7:  TAPER DOWN ACCORDING TO YOUR RACE & TRAINING:  Don't overtrain!!!!!  In fact, it's a widely accepted rule amongst distance runners that "it's better to be undertrained than overtrained at the starting line".  I find myself sounding a little hypocritical as I rite this point, sitting here majorly overtrained 2 days out of a marathon.  The purpose for this is because I was not actually training specifically for this event, but merely entering as I didn't want to miss it.

The length of tapering, and strategy behind it will vary depending on a few variables.  The event length, the amount of training miles your doing, and your personal recovery rate (which varies from one person to another).  By considering these items, one can strategize their way to their perfect taper plan.

#6:  PRACTICE WHAT YOU'LL EAT:  Don't make the stupid mistake that myself along with many others have made on race day by eating something on the morning or during an event that you haven't tested on training runs.  Just because you've eaten this particular item before and it hasn't caused any issues, that doesn't mean it's ok for you whilst running.  The tummy can become quite sensitive for some people (myself included) and can make an intended PB possibility turn to an utter mess of discomfort and misery should you not manage this item carefully.

Be sure to get into a routine of WHAT you eat, and WHEN you eat it in conjunction with your training runs.  Find what works best for you on your tempo runs as well as your long runs; as your race day will be somewhere between the conditions of these.

#5:  HYDRATE CORRECTLY:  The importance of good water levels in the body is often overlooked in terms of performance.  The fact is, water is vital for energy transfer through the bloodstream, so should you be under hydrated before and/or during the event, you will suffer.

Good hydration does not start on the morning of the race by downing 2 litre's of water.  For proper hydration the body needs 3-4 days to take in and stock up levels.

With all this in mind, it must be noted here not to OVER hydrate either.  Over hydrating, or Hyponatremia, occurs when the body is over-saturated with water creating an imbalance of vital electrolytes, with most importance on sodium levels. 

A good sign is (a tad bit graphic but needs to be said) your urine should be a real pale yellow colour for the 3 days leading up to the event.  (ideally at all times but that's not always manageable).  Should it be a bright yellow, you are under hydrated; whereas completely clear may be a sign of over hydrating.  Be sure to manage this item closely.

#4:  SLEEP:  The night before the big day can be a little unnerving.  So much so that insomnia is a common threat to a runners plans.  The good news here is studies have shown that the sleep you get 2 nights before the event plays a higher role than that of the night immediately before the event.  ie, If your race is to take place on a Sunday morning, be sure to get a good nights sleep on Friday night.  Should you struggle to get some shut eye on the Saturday night, it's not going to affect your performance as much as you may think.

The longer your event, the more important this aspect becomes.  Not necessarily for physical performance, but more so the mental side.  For example, if you've got a marathon or more on the cards, the mental endurance for these events is critical.  Be sure to consider this need and match the supply to the demand.

#3:  FUEL UP ACCORDING TO YOUR EVENT:  There is a heap of contradicting arguments out there as to whether 'carbo loading' is beneficial or detrimental to your performance.  Not having a PhD myself nor conducted detailed studies it would be inappropriate for me to say which is right or wrong on a broad scale.  However, what I can say is that energy levels become of vital importance when you intend to put in 100% on race day.  The longer and/or more intense the race, the more important this topic becomes.

It is my personal plan to fuel up well 48 hours out from the event, mainly because I do not intend carrying unnecessary weight in the gut that the big 'night before pasta party' can do to you.  Digestion takes time so don't think that because you ate that huge bowl of spaghetti the night before that it will of great benefit.

Limited fuelling could see you run flat before you finish, making those last few km's quite challenging indeed.

Overdoing this aspect can do you a disservice by adding extra weight, and also requiring the body to be utilising vital energy supplies to processing and digesting that food, rather than utilising this energy for your intended purpose:  Surging towards that finish line!!!!

Be sure to not only consider the energy itself, but also vital minerals and vitamins that the body will need throughout and after the event.  This item becomes more and more crucial the longer the event length.  Potassium, magnesium and sodium to name a few play a huge role in keeping the body functions and muscle contractions in order, and become depleted very quickly in marathon and ultra marathon runners.  Be sure to adequately stock up on these before and possibly during the event if conditions require it.

#2:  PRE PACK YOUR GEAR:  Don't leave it to the morning of the race to go finding that odd sock or locate where the kids have put your race bib.  These morning arte often an early rising as it is, let along having to deal with getting all this together as well.  You want you pre race routine to be as comfortable and easy going as possible.  Lay all your gear out in an easy to see, clear space and check that your typical breakfast supplies are in stock.

Allow yourself every opportunity to get the head into the right space rather than running around crazily looking for your gear all morning, and having to rush to the start line all hyped up.




#1:  GET UP EARLY:  Set 2 alarms, one being across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off.  Firstly, if you're like me, it takes the mind and body a little while to fully get into action on those early mornings.  But more importantly why I get up earlier than needed for the race, is you need to have breakfast around 2 hours before start time.  This will give the gut plenty of time to digest the food properly, so this process is not having to occur while you're trying to push up that nasty climb.

Again, having all this time on your hands before the race allows you to just relax and enjoy the experience which is essentially the reason why we run isn't it????











With the above tips in mind, you're now ready to go about your race in best form.  You've trained well, and now you've prepared yourself in such a way to give you every opportunity towards a rewarding outcome.  Whether this is a podium, a PB or merely a memorable finish.

Plan ahead and you're sure to be rewarded!!!!!

TRAINING FOR YOUR FIRST HALF MARATHON: The journey into distance running

The humble half marathon has in recent years outgrown all other event distances by far.  Many are labelling this event as the 'ideal race distance'.  Maybe it's because it's tagged with the age old 'Marathon' brand, but more reachable for the less crazy folk who don't wish to put in the training that the full version demands.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not suggesting this is easy.  In fact it will still offer quite a challenge if you're coming from the typical 5-10km running range.  21.1km is a fair distance by any standard, and to think that just anybody can get up and do it without obstacles would be naïve.

Firstly, I'd like to add that most people looking up this type of info are already into the running gig a bit (or more) and researching info for continual improvement.  Which is a great audience for this topic.  Should you be perusing through here coming from a ZERO running base, can I highly recommend to take this info in your stride (pun intended, lol), and look towards building up a base level of weekly mileage first and get through to at least running 8-10km's single runs comfortably.

So how do you make the leap up to the half?  In one word "strategically".......... Not the word you were expecting?  haha, I bet not.  Why do I say this rather than typical key words like "hard work, consistency, dedication," etc?  I say this because it is my personal belief that your success in finishing your first half marathon doesn't have anything to do with the race itself.  It's whether you get through your training successfully without injury.  If you find yourself arriving at the tapering stage of your training schedule, you're sure to finish on the day. (assuming you don't come down with a virus the day before, but that would be just bad luck!!!!)  Sadly, many people don't make it to this point.

You can work as hard as a mule, and be as committed as an Olympian, but unless you can 'think on your feet' as you fumble your way through your training you are at risk of becoming part of the growing statistics of people who don't even make it to the starting line..........  That's certainly not an ideal position to be in.

So what I'm saying here is, it's not HOW MUCH you train that gets you there, but HOW you train.  The 2 most important things you should invest in from the outset is:

1. Shoes:  Get professionally fitted and preferably, gait analysed.  Get this right early can save you big time down the track
2. Training Programme:  And by training programme, I mean a proper, personally designed programme based around YOU.  Where you're at now, what you can and can't commit to, and assessing ALL the variables that you as an individual throw into the mix.  I'm certainly not referring one of those online, 5 minute responses that spit out the 'ideal training programme' simply because you put in the event date and length that you're doing.

WHY HAVEN'T I LAID OUT YOUR 12 WEEK PLAN HERE?
Simple........ I don't know you, what your circumstances are, what your goals are, or any of the vital data that makes up the backbone of your programme.

There are a few aspects you need to consider going into a half that you don't normally get faced with on the 10-12km sessions.  Firstly, the time on feet is obviously double.  Not just for the event, but again in the training.  For a first half, you're looking at race times of somewhere between 1:50:00 & 2:30:00.  Where most people come unstuck in training is with injuries relating to soft tissue damage and/or joints between the feet to hips.  These are the areas of most concern for continuous, slow, quality development.  Sadly, I see way too often, posts and other random comments from people who have pulled up injured only weeks before their first big event.  There's a fine line you need to follow between taking it easy, and pushing the body hard enough to encourage development.  This line is easy to manage on 5k-12k training...... Not so easy to recognise with half marathons to marathons. 

PLAN IT OUT FIRST:
One bad decision in the outset of your journey, may determine your fate.  By this I mean, just because you are training, it doesn't mean this training is useful and/or helpful.  To validate your efforts, make sure you utilise the proven sciences of previous research and experience.  Get yourself a QUALITY TRAINING PROGRAMME. 

Next is to make sure that you make it work within your personal, social, educational and career commitments.  Training can take up a fair whack of your free time.  Do not go into this blind!!!! You need to assess and commit to set times that your training runs will take place.  Be sure to present this plan to your family, boss, or others that you are accountable to and express just how much this goal means to you.  It is important for these people to know what you are spending this time doing and more to the point, WHY!

GOAL No1:  FINISH:
Should this be your first half marathon, your first goal is to finish.  Ideally, you may set yourself a target of finishing without stopping.  Seriously, who cares what your time is???  Chances are, you won't remember what this time is in a few years, but you sure will remember that finish line!!!!  Go for that.  Times/pacing etc will become more of a focus as you continue to develop further after you finish this one.

You sure don't want to make your long term memory of this event a horrible, painful, recollection of how you cramped up, short of breath and struggling the whole way through.  Just chill out, soak up the atmosphere, learn from some of the experienced runners and have a blast.  Maybe even share the track with a friend and plan to stick it out together.

SIGN UP FOR YOUR NEXT RACE BEFORE YOU COMPLETE THIS ONE:
To help you keep your cool in this race and not run off as though it's the one and only you'll ever do, why not commit yourself to the next one first?  With this in your mind through the race, you're more likely to hold the right mindset, and follow the previous comments of taking it easy, and utilising the experience correctly.

Secondly, it'll help you keep your consistency moving beyond your race.  Sadly, some people lose a lot of their training efforts post race as they didn't have their sights set on anything else.  Then they decide a little later and have to start all over again.  "If you don't like starting over, don't stop."  Of course a well deserved rest and recovery period is required after a tough session, but you only need a few days to a week for most people.  Even during this time, it's generally useful to have some light activity after 48 hours to help loosen things up.  Leave it 2-3 weeks with nothing as you mull over what you've just achieved and you're heading back towards square one.

"If you don't like starting over, don't stop."

If the next half near you is too long away, sign up for anything else.  a 5k, 12k, whatever.  Get involved and stay on track!

ENJOY THE JOURNEY:
Completing your first half marathon is an awesome achievement.  Let's make it enjoyable at the same time.  It doesn't matter who you are or how much you love running.  Sometimes, the training can become a bit much.  So if you find this, don't worry, you're not alone.  The vital thing about training is it's consistency.  However, today you're just really not in the mood for your tough intervals session........  Obviously it's great if you can stick to your programme as much as possible but if sticking to it 100% is going to end up meaning that you pull out completely because it's becoming too much to the point where you're not enjoying yourself anymore and you're dreading the sight of your runners, maybe it's better you just go out for a nice, relaxing meditational jog.  It's not to plan, but it's far better than doing nothing!

Like I said to begin with, be strategic about how you go into your first half.  In fact, be strategic about running in general.  Running should not be easy, but it should not be a chore either.  Lace up, drink up, build up and get going..................... See you at the finish line!