Here we are, the week of your marathon!!
There are 3 things you can do to get ready:
1. Keep all of your thoughts about Sunday’s event positive!
Too much stress the week of a marathon will take its toll on your physical capabilities and performance on Sunday. This week is all about positive thoughts – there’s nothing else you can do to prepare, other than some easy runs, preparing your running gear, and the 2 other keys below. Just remember, YOU ARE PREPARED and you WILL DO WELL on Sunday. The most important thing is to absorb as much joy from this experience as possible.
2. Create Your Race Plan: Mentally plan out how you’re going to run on Sunday. Take caution in starting too aggressively (which is likely to biggest reason for a slower than anticipated time). It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the event...or have your competitive juices kick in when the gun goes off...or even to just forget to check your pace with each mile marker.
You’re going to be jacked up with the crowd and festivities. So again, RELAX.
Plan your race out in segments and make sure you have plenty of gas in the tank for the home stretch. Check your times at each mile. For example, if your goal is to finish in 4 hours, you should be averaging about 9:09 per mile. If you have a Garmin, you’re all set. If you do not, other options include running with a pace group, or plotting out what your ideal time should be at each mile marker.
Also, you might consider having two goals, if a finishing time is important to you. A “I’m happy with this time” goal and a “I’m totally thrilled with this time” goal. As an example, before I got injured I would have been “happy” with finishing in 4 hours and 15 minutes, and “thrilled” with finishing at 4 hours or less.
3. It’s Time to EAT! Starting on Wednesday, the goals is to maximize glycogen storage in muscle, which means you need to eat more complex carbohydrates than you normally do.
Remember, all carbs are not created equal. Some supply energy very quickly (with very quick corresponding “crashes” in blood sugar) while others provide a slow, steady stream of energy. Carbohydrates are classified by numbers between 1 and 100, called the glycemic index (GI).
Complex whole grain carbs are generally lower on the GI and filter into your system more slowly. Foods that are low on the GI list tend to keep your blood glucose stable and give you a steady supply of energy, allowing you to maintain your longer runs for longer periods of time. Wednesday through Saturday you want a lot of low GI foods – whole grain starches like bread, past, rice, cereal & beans.
A simple carbohydrate is high on the GI and dumps into your blood stream very quickly. This is what you want to consume during the Flying Pig. And whatever strategy you’ve been using for pumping sugar into your system, stay with that system. Gels, sport drinks, or whatever, don’t mess around with changing your approach - whatever got you to this point will work for you on Sunday.
Remember, you are creating an experience that you will remember vividly for the rest of your life. Go out on Sunday, enjoy this incredible milestone, and soak up as much of this experience as possible!!
An ideal training schedule for this week is this: Adventure Boot Camp on Mon/Tue/Wed, or the latest on Thursday. 3-5 mile easy run on Tuesday and 2 – 4 miles on Thursday. Complete rest on Friday and Saturday.
26.2 on Sunday. I'll see you there!
Your friend in fitness,
HealthStyle Fitness, Inc. 4325 Red Bank Rd Cincinnati, OH 45227 513-407-4665, x-105 www.CincinnatiFitness.com
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