Sorry, I had to do it! : P I'm still in awe of how perfect my wedding day was! Love you, Omar! :)
I am talking about preparing for RACE DAY! It can be a nerve racking, anxiety ridden, wonderful, emotional, experience preparing for your first race, a new race distance or EVERY race! I tend to get jitters before every race but preparing properly the day before can make a huge difference in your performance, how you feel before the race, and how you feel afterwards.
So here are some of my best tips to feeling great, feeling prepared, and performing your best on race day!
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!
Hydration is always an important factor when partaking in any sort of athletic activity, so it is obviously not different for running. For longer distances, hydration should start at least one whole day before the race, if not two. Make sure to drink TONS of water the day before and stay away from soda, coffee, and alcohol, all of which tend to have dehydrating effects.
And if you read my post about my first half marathon, then you already know why properly hydrating DURING your race is extremely important.
Don't try anything new
Make sure the way you are training, is the way you will do things when running your race.
-Don't try a new food on race morning that you haven't tried eating before a training run. You never know how it may make you feel, if it will make you sick, give you cramps, etc.
-Wear the same clothes and shoes you will wear for the race. You may think wearing new shoes or clothes on race day will get you even more pumped up but it could result in chaffing or blisters.
-Sometimes they offer a sports drink and water at the water stations placed along the race route. If you haven't trained with one or the other, stay away from it.
-Same goes for food along the race path. Some will offer food or energy gels or things of that sort. I was tempted to try some gel energy packets they were giving out at the last race but ended up deciding not to since I had never tried that before.
Load up on carbs the night before (for longer distances)
This isn't as important if you are running a shorter race, such as a 5k. But for longer distances, you will want to be sure you eat some carbs so you will have plenty of energy to get your through the race. Don't go crazy and stuff yourself to the brim thinking the more carbs you eat the more energy you will have. You know what they say, carb overloading could lead to carb UNloading, and just possibly in the middle of your race :P Eat a normal portion size that you would regularly eat.
Trim your toenails!
I ended up learning this one the hard way. I read this tip on the Internet and even trimmed my nails the night before, however, I obviously didn't trim them enough. Two of my toenails came partly unattached from my toe after my half marathon :\ Gross, I know! But if you think about it, your toes are banging into the front of your shoes for at least a couple of hours so some damage is bound to happen if you don't take the proper precautions!
Have everything ready the night before
Make sure to have the clothes and shoes laid out that you will be wearing for the race. Have your iPod, headphones, armband, etc. all laid out with your keys so you will be sure not to forget any of it. If you picked up your race packet early, go ahead and pin your bib on your shirt. Have your breakfast prepared and waiting for you so you can eat it as soon as you wake up and have plenty of time to digest it before the race.
Get to the race site early
Some races are so huge that you could easily get stuck in traffic or not be able to find a parking place and have to walk a long ways, causing you to be late for the race. Get there early, I suggest at least 45 minutes early, so you won't have to worry about missing the race you've been preparing for. If you are picking your packet up on race morning, I would suggest getting there at least an hour early. This will give you time to go pick up your packet, pin your bib on, get your timing chip attached, return the rest of the items in your packet to your car and get back to the starting line.
Stretch
This is a no-brainer but make sure you stretch really good before you start your race. This goes along with getting there early. If you happen to show up late, the last thing on your mind will probably be stretching. No stretching could lead to injuries. So get there early and get some good stretches in!
Don't start off too fast
The excitement of the gun going off and the crowd of people rushing from the starting line can easily have you going way faster than you ever ran while training. This will obviously lead to you tiring out more quickly and could result in a miserable race. Ignore the speedsters around you and focus on your race pace or even slightly slower than your planned pace. After the sprinters take off and the walkers fall back, you'll find your pace.
I'm sure everyone has their own regiment when it comes to preparing for this kind of "big day!"
What are some of your tips for preparing for race day?!
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