Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Pre-Race Prep

#5. Get it in order.

If you're like me, and you make massive plans, only to be rushing at the last minute, you'll love this one.

-- Running 10 miles tomorrow, unless you've been logging 70 miles a week, probably won't help you.

-- Running 5 miles tomorrow, on part of the course, either the hills or the flats, probably will. Just make sure it's at an easy, easy pace. (Kudos if you're fantasizing the race at that point during the run.)

At this point, it's all about the race. Easy mileage into the race. Cross-train. Run one day and not the other. Take both days off. Let's relax and store up some energy.

Everyone has their pre-race routine, and I'm not going to presume to impose mine on you. I tend to run a few miles on the 2 days before, a ton of stretching and a maximum of 2 miles the day before. But do what feels natural.

An underrated part of this. Get sleep. Particularly Thursday into Friday. 8 hours. (If you can get that heading into Saturday, congrats).

Also, don't eat anything strange or new on Friday. (Tomorrow, if you do, and you go wrong, there's time to recover). If you're going out drinking with friends Friday night, keep it to a (relative) minimum. This isn't rocket science, just common sense.

And above all else, enjoy. Some of you are trying to hit the NYC Marathon qualifying time. Some of you are running your first half ... ever. It's going to be a great day.

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