Top Tips for Race Day – the essential points to get you to the start line prepared and ready to go.

The Autumn half marathon and marathon season is well under way and I felt this would be a good time to go over the final steps you can take to make all the training over the past months worth their while.

What you do in the final 24 hours will impact on your result. It’s as simple as that. Stress, change in routine, lack of sleep patterns or diet can impact heavily both physically and mentally before the event so it’s important to take measures to minimize them.

I like to be prepared. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 5km fun run right up to the full marathon, I follow the same basic steps over the last day or so to ensure my best chance of enjoying my race.

So here are my Top Tips for Success:

1. Your race number and chip. Check with the race information packs well in advance of the race day to see how you are supposed to pick up your racing chip and number. Sometimes these will be posted out and other times you will need to register either on race day or the days leading up to it. The last thing you want is to turn up without these and not be allowed to run.
2. Plan what you are going to wear. Most of us will have broken in our racing shoes but make sure to have worn your shorts, socks and singlet/t shirt on a few long runs. You never know how these will be until you’ve tested them (see my Vaseline point in the Race day pack section below).
3. Set an Alarm. Even set two alarms! The last thing you want to do is have to rush. You will be nervous as it is and rushing leads to stupid mistakes
4. Plan your travel time. You will need to leave your house allowing plenty of time to get to the event. I remember my first ½ marathon was in London. The start was at the Millenium dome in East London. On this particular morning the Jubilee Underground line was closed due to a train coming off it’s tracks. This led to both myself and another 15,000 odd runners frantically trying to get to the start line on time via any means necessary. The buses were rammed full so I ended up banding with 4 other runners to catch a cab but a friend of mine had to walk/run 4km just to get to the start line. Probably a longer warm up than I’d advise. So do you research especially if you are not from the area the race is being run. If you are driving plan parking. If you are taking public transport allow time for delays. Don’t leave it to chance
5. Meals. Try not to stray too far from what your body is used to eating before a run. Leading up to the event it’s ok to try different options and see what works best but the last thing you want to do is change your diet and experiment the night before or the morning of the race. So maybe save that chicken tikka masala until after the race.
6. Race day pack or bag. Most events will have secure storage facilities for your pre race gear that will be accessible after you’ve finished. Be sure to pack a change of warm clothes and a towel (there is nothing worse than a trip home in wet gear on a rainy day). Vaseline and bandaids/plasters are a great idea for high friction areas especially if its wet. I once finished a race in the rain with blood pouring from both nipples. Aside from being quite a painful it ruined a perfectly good running singlet. I’d also recommend bringing something to eat and drink as well as a roll of toilet paper for the portaloos. Enough said!
7. Make sure you are clear with what you want to achieve form the race (and stick to that). This is something that you would have been thinking about well before race day. Is it just to finish? Finish under a certain time? Regardless in your preparation you should have an idea of what you want to achieve. My advice is stick to the plan. All the hype, buzz and adrenaline on the day will tempt you to push yourself (particularly at the start when the crowds rush off). Starting at a faster pace than you’ve been preparing for will affect your working heart rate for the rest of the run causing you to work 10-20% harder than you are used to. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out this can have dire consequences on the latter part of the race. So don’t get caught up in chasing the crowds, run conservatively and stick to the pace you’ve been training at (even slower for the first couple of kilometers). If there is still energy in the tank in the last few kilometers, that’s when to use it.
8. Once you have crossed the line take a moment to get your breath but soon after begin thinking about recovery. Hydrate, get some carbohydrates into your body, do a cool down jog/walk and even try using compression tights. Once you have cooled down get yourself in warm clothing.
9. Lastly enjoy the run. You’ve trained hard for this and deserve to have a great day. Good luck!