Race Day Advice
Can you almost see the finish line? Taste the possibility that you might soon be able to have a social life? Or has the race suddenly sprung itself upon you and all of a sudden you realise that whilst technically you should be tapering, in reality you really need to start training!
That’s right, race day is nearly here so take a breath, don’t panic, acknowledge all your hard work, or all your good intentions, and remember fondly how much you love a race! Whatever your training has looked like here is my top practical and mental prep advice that, as always I’ve learnt from my own running triumphs and disasters!
Remember How You Got Here- Training for an event is not all sunshine and rainbows, sometimes it’s hard work, hard work that isn’t too often shared on social media or Strava. Getting up early when you’ve had a tough week, or fitting in runs when all you want to do is curl up on the sofa with your family is tough. Sometimes it’s looking at the snot, the tears, the blisters, and the gut-wrenching exhaustion square in the eye and owning it. Knowing that you’ve shown up, owned the bad runs when at times it hasn’t been perfect, should give you the strength to stand proud on the race day start line.
No training cycle is perfect – and it shouldn’t be - this is just a rough guide, don’t panic if yours doesn’t look like this, we’ve had Christmas and the New Year to also interfere with your training cycle.
30% of your runs should be “Good Runs.”
If all your runs were good, then where would the progress be? And if all your runs were too easy, are you really challenging yourself?
30% of your runs should be “Bad Runs.”
If all your runs were bad then something is wrong with your training, you might have pushed yourself too hard, overtrained or not realised that your life stressors could be having an impact on your training.
30% of your runs should be “OK Runs.”
If all your runs were ok, where is the fun in that? We don’t want them to be just ok, you need to have a balance of amazing runs and some absolute shockers! Sometimes the thrill of the training cycle is experiencing the highs and the lows. Who wants to post “another ok run” on Strava!
Do you have a plan for the race itself? - Are you going to turn up, run as fast as you can for the first 5 miles then hang on for grim death? Are you going for a time? A new pb? Or are you going to use it as part of a bigger picture training run? You don’t have to have a plan for the race itself, but sometimes having a rough idea of how you are going to run the race helps calm the nerves and stay focused.
How do you stick to your race day plan? This is such a hard question to answer, if you feel good at the start of a race how do you know if the first few miles are too fast and that you’ll regret it later? Use your GPS watch as a guide, a tool that will help you in those early miles. Aim for a 10/20 secs slower than race pace start for the first couple of miles; this ease you into the start, find your bearings and get into your running rhythm. Then stop looking at your watch and run-on feel, a comfortably hard pace, not easy to describe as we are all different, but a pace that you can continue to run at but if you went any faster your legs would start to burn, and you’d feel a bit sick.
Stay Present- Whilst you are running you might get freaked out; this pace wasn’t in your head, it could be faster or slower than you had in mind, and this info could have an negative impact on the rest of your race. Run the mile you are in, try not to think about keeping up this pace for another, however many miles, just say to yourself, yep, I can keep going in this mile.
To help you stay present, make use of the body scan technique. Starting at your feet working up your body, check in and ask yourself, does anything really hurt? Is anything really going to fall off? Your body knows the best pace to run at and it will naturally find it. Listen to those internal cues, your breathing, your posture, your foot strike, just try to enjoy the freedom of just running. Every race is different, no two races are ever the same due to outside influences that we can’t control. But in every race you can learn so much, develop skills, resilience, and determination, try not to hang too much happiness on the results of one race.
Run Your Own Race- This is a tough one bearing in mind what I’ve said previously, if you are used to running with someone, who sets the bar on the pace? Whose internal cues do you listen to? I have forgone races in the past because I didn’t feel confident enough to say I was going to run my own race; I’ve stayed with a friend because she felt poorly for her, only then to out sprint me at the finish line claiming glory for beating me (seriously!). I have also experienced being left for dust when friends have said they’ll run with me, which has left me feeling rubbish. I’ve also been used as an excuse because someone didn’t feel 100% so they would run with me! Nothing like feeling like the booby prize! All this to say, decide on what your own race is and don’t be distracted from it by others.
Be Prepared- Ok this sounds obvious but, for the love god, check the weather forecast! Be warned, your race day might fall on exceptional weather conditions that can add another layer of challenge, torrential ran or a heatwave, extraordinary weather can have an impact on your whole experience, but not always necessarily in a negative way. Sharing adverse conditions can often bring an additional element of camaraderie to an event that adds an unforgettable element to your whole experience. But it’s important to be prepared in advance for it, adjust your expectations, your kit, your post race plans, take the pressure off and then you’ll be able to remember fondly, in years to come how you conquered that race, and not tell a story about how you ended up in hospital with hypothermia…
But most importantly look forward to the race itself, it’s a time to celebrate all of your hard work!