Honest Race Day Advice
Can you almost see the finish line? Taste the possibility that you might soon be able to have a social life? Yes that’s right, race day is nearly here so take a breath, acknowledge all your hard work and remember fondly how, at one point, you thought all those long training runs would never end. So now all your physical prep for the starting line is done, here are my top practical and mental prep advice I pass on to all my running club members, as always learned 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 your long solo run when you just want to 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.
At times during the race, it will be hard, but the hard miles will pass, and subsequent miles surprise you, and you may learn so much about yourself, who you are and what you are made of. That should be celebrated, not many people put themselves out there on the line, literally, in lycra for all to see, and once that is put into perspective, then the nerves will turn into excitement for the day itself.
Have A Plan (and stick to it!!)- Are you going to turn up, run as fast as you can for the first 5 miles then hang on for grim death? Or try to tick off as many pb’s within the 10-mile race? Are you going for a time? A new pb? Or are you going to use it as part of a bigger picture training run? Or it could be that this is going to be your very last race, so it’s got to be perfect before you hang up your running shoes?
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!
If you’ve raced recently and have any advice you wish you’d known and want to pass on, please leave a comment below!