Planning For A Race

Planning for a race! 

This one doesn’t seem terribly applicable this year, but having a plan going into a race of any distance can make race day more efficient and a more enjoyable experience! Obviously, what you need to plan for changes depending on the distance of the race, but there are even some great approaches for those shorter ones!  

Planning for a race shorter than a half marathon: 

The logistics of shorter races make them a more approachable ‘problem set’, but there still are a few things worth considering before race day. For the shorter distance races, pre-race nutrition becomes more important and can often make or break a race. I suggest planning out a 'day before' and 'day of' nutrition plan a month to 6 weeks in advance and use it at least once/week in those weeks leading in. You can practice with this plan before key workouts or long runs and know what sits well on race day! 

For example: If you have a long run on Saturday, eat something rich in carbohydrates the night before and something that you know sits well the morning of. Eat this every Friday and Saturday for a few weeks to a couple of months before your goal race to have some confidence in the plan! 

Additionally, (and this rule applies to races of every distance) have a ‘gear and apparel plan’ for race day! You don’t want to wake up the morning of the race and be unsure what shoes, socks, shorts, etc… that you will be wearing! 

Lastly, practice running at the time of the race. This is probably most important for the shorter distances as you want to be sharp at that time and be ready when the gun goes off! As with the nutrition practice, target long runs or workouts for these runs just so your body gets used to firing on all cylinders at that time! 

Planning for a marathon or 50k:

Similar to the advice above, make sure you have a nutrition plan for the night before and day of the race. Running at the same time as your race is still important as these races can go out a little faster and it’s good to be ready at the go time!  

The biggest difference between these and the shorter ones is that nutrition during the activity becomes more important. You can run a half marathon without any calories on board and have a solid performance. However, with this distance, being able to get 200-300 calories in per hour will help!  

My suggestion is to start practising with nutrition on long runs now and then really hit the running nutrition hard in the final two weeks before the race. The lining of the gut is made up of the fastest ‘turning over’ cells in our body. Cells in the small intestine last for 3-4 days, so making any adaptations a few months out from a race isn’t all that helpful. Instead, focus on making these short term adaptations when they count most.  

Similar to digestive adaptations, adaptations to the heat and altitude are short lived and are both made and lost quickly. In the final two weeks before a race, focus on these aspects if possible and if your race warrants it! We’ll talk more about both of these independently in a future newsletter!

Longer than a 50k: 

I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but the same rules described before apply here! I wouldn’t be as concerned about running at the same time as your race is or perfecting your pre-race nutrition as the additional variables in these longer ultras tend to alleviate the need for being sharp on the starting line! 

Logistics start to become important at distances 50 miles or more and having a plan for yourself and your potential crew before race day is a must!

Go over things like:

• What will you be eating at aid stations?

• What do you want to be carrying on you? 

• Will someone pace you through sections? 

• Are drop bags allowed? What do you want in them?  

  
  

It can feel overwhelming, but it’s always nice to remember that your plan is often thrown out the window immediately. You run 5 miles, realize you don’t like the taste of the gel you packed for the next 95 miles and go with the ‘flow’. Additionally, you have time! As you taper off of training, it’s really nice to focus on these logistics with all of that extra energy. 

Practicing with gear also becomes more important for these races. Don’t test out a new headlamp on race day and make sure that you have spent some quality miles in your shoes and pack if you plan on wearing one!

Gear Advice: Waist Lights

Admittedly, I don’t spend too much time running in the dark. Some of you are running before the sun is up and others after it sets. Occasionally, we have a fun adventure or race that extends past daytime hours as well. In these scenarios, having a reliable source of light is a must, but headlamps aren’t the only option! A great addition to a headlamp (especially useful if you’re on a technical trail) is a waist-light. I had never used one until last year and absolutely fell in love with its ability to light up the trail immediately in front of my feet and cancel out weird shadows created by a headlamp! I have a magnetic clip light that I can attach to my shorts or really anywhere that would be useful! Ultraspire and Kogalla make a lot of awesome waist lights that I have heard awesome things about!