Race Week Need to Knows!

Race week and Race Day Prep

Race Week!!!

You have hopefully been training and been building towards the event for between 6 weeks and 3 months, yes things probably haven’t gone right and you have had to miss 20% of your training, but you are ready, and if not you really aren’t going to get any fitter at this point so preparing for race day is all you can focus on now.

Mentally preparing. Answer the following questions

What does your gold standard want to achieve in the race? What would make you ecstatic?

The silver standard you would be more than happy with?

The Bronze standard, the minimum you want to achieve in the event?

How are you going to approach the race? start fast and hold on, start comfortable and build, walk the hills and run the flats, run the first half and endure what you need to to finish the second half, run with your friend till the last few km then finish what you have in the tank.

What are your biggest fears of going wrong… List them

*Go through these fears and address what that would mean for you and how you will deal with it.

Some of my examples,

roll my ankle - walk for a bit take Panadol and push through if possible.

Collapse with no chance of reaching any of my gold, silver or bronze - throw my hands up and get a ride

Chafing, blisters, knee niggle, - put Panadol, plasters, and strapping tape in my bag

Hating it and the event is way harder than I thought - just slow down and enjoy it

Tired and feeling like I am dying - make small goals, make a chant, do my best, have a talk to myself and keep going

Things usually do go wrong, just be aware of how you want to deal with things and you don’t have to waste precious energy worrying about them.

Eat, sleep, hydrate, and recover are the keys to race week.

• Eat what you usually eat, safe tummy foods

• Sleep is essential for recovery - get your 7+ hours each night, the night before the eve of the event is the most critical for a good sleep, often the night before the event you are arriving late and staying somewhere new, nervous, prepping, different bed, so the night before the eve of your event is the one you really need to get a good sleep.

• Hydration - make sure you are getting your required 2-3 L a day so the body is prepped and ready to go race day, on race day be aware of what electrolytes they are having at the drink stands, you may prefer to use your own or just have water if you aren’t sure how your stomach will react to an unknown substance

• Training - Don’t just stop running, at this point, you won’t get any fitter but you don’t want to let your legs forget how they work, so do go out for 2 or 3 short runs over the week, usually at race pace to keep the legs fresh, light, and remembering what they have to do.

• Mobility and or a massage, get the massage early in the week though to release any knots, the mobility you can continue during the week, if it is new don’t overdo it though.

Race day

Race day anxiety, most of us get this, I always do and like to be there in plenty of time to warm up, and go to the toilet a few times before going to the start line.

Breakfast - this can be challenging to eat when your race is starting at 6am or a late start at 10am. Find what works for you, I will usually get up early and have a lighter version of my usual breakfast an hour or 2 before the race start.

Food during the race, if your race is less than a hour you don’t need anything, a 1.5 -2hr a drink during, maybe a Gu, or lolly, if it is hot then tipping water over your head is essential to keep your body temperature down.

Longer events, hopefully you have practiced with foods to see what you feel comfortable eating out there, carbs and protein. Drink a little every 30 minutes and eat something small every 40 - 60 minutes.

Clothing - tried and true outfits, nothing new ideally, to prevent the likelihood of chafing.

Warm up!! Do not fear that you are going to use up valuable energy, you will be better off for it, the blood flowing, the joints moving freely, the initial anaerobic puffing out of the way.

Spend 10 to 15 minutes doing running, strideouts, high knees, bum flicks, sidesteps, squats, leg swings stiff leg jumps, get all the muscles awake, activated and moving freely.