Last week Mary (Food & Fun On The Run) wrote a great post about why she PR’d at the Chicago Marathon. I also enjoyed Carrie’s post (on Family Fitness Food) about her Half Marathon preparations. These inspiring women got me thinking about what I can do this week to prepare for the Army Ten Miler.
My training is just about wrapped up, but my racing preparations need to start now.
1. First and foremost, I need to get more sleep this week.
That will be easier after I take my son back to college at the end of his Fall Break!
2. I also need to focus on my diet, and eat well. Both Mary and Carrie mentioned cutting back on fiber, which I’ve never thought of, even after sufferring horrible postrace GI issues. I usually eat a pretty high fiber diet, so this week I will try to cut back–but not too much!
3. I usually try to drink plenty of water the day before a race, but I have slacked off on my water consumption lately, and probably should spend the whole week trying to drink more water.
I will try to remember to use my Waterlogged app to keep track!
My three biggest challenges this week:
- Managing work stress, so I can get enough sleep!
- Driving my son back to college–5+ hours in the car. 🙁
- A late-week, out-of-town business trip.
How do you prepare for a race?
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Sleep is sooooo important. Good luck with the prep. 🙂
Sounds like a great plan. Sleep, water – especially with the traveling. Thanks for sharing my post.
I do think there's something to the fiber thing. So many people have GI problems during races, I think our bodies have to put a lot of effort into digesting fiber which is usually a good thing, but when our bodies are working so hard running, they just can't do it all.
Good luck with the race!
**tiptoes away sans, well, TIPS :-)**
Good luck! My biggest thing is needing to relax, I stress way too much!
I hope you're able to rest and relax soon!
RELAXING is huge for me. If I stress myself out leading up to a race, horrible things will happen. It’s practically a rule. I’ve never heard of the waterlogged app, but it seems like a great idea! It’s downloading to my iPhone right this second. 🙂
Drinking water is the biggest thing that I need to work on, especially before I have a race! I ran an impromptu 5K one time and didn’t drink anything the night before or the morning of and I it was the hardest race of my life! I had an easier time with my half marathon…it’s crazy how much proper hydration can make a difference!
I cannot believe you can even function on 5 hours of sleep. My brain self-destructs with lack of sleep….and my body/brain keeps telling me I hungry when my problem is fatigue, not hunger. Very interesting re: fiber! Will be interested to hear if that helps.
I seem to be able to do OK with 5 hours of sleep for a day or two — but I can't do it for long!