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Before you Run
If your goal is to take part in an organised running event you will need to gear your training plan toward the specific date. You will need to prepare your body to feel at its best on race day so you can enjoy the experience.
About two weeks before a race, runners begin a process known as tapering. That means starting think about reducing your training levels, reducing the speed or length (or both) of each run/session.
In this final countdown period it is best to err on the side of caution. A gradual reduction of the length and intensity of training, as you begin to prepare for the race is advised. General wisdom is to start reducing training from about 10 days prior to race day, possibly by about 15 to 25%.
The important thing to remember is how your are feeling – the reduction in training should leave you feeling more refreshed and “bouncy” in your legs, and any aches and pains due to heavy/long training sessions should begin to disappear. If, in the week immediately prior to your race, you are feeling very tired, then ease back even further, say 40% on your runs.
Continue to reduce you training during the final week before race day. You should still train a number of times this week as too much rest will leave you feeling stiff.
Your runs during the final week should be shorter and/or slower. At this stage there is not much that can be done to improve your performance on race day. In fact, the old adage is that all you can do in the last few days is over-train – you certainly won’t be able to gain additional fitness that will benefit you on race day. Since it takes a few weeks for the body to benefit from a training session in a physiological sense, any hard training sessions this week will only use up energy and make you feel tired and your muscles heavy. Simply enjoy running at an easier pace, and the feeling of your new-found fitness level.
Whilst the aim will have been to find time to train adequately to compete in your race, in some instances you may have struggled to do much training at all, for any number of reasons. It is important to be responsible and ensure that you do not put yourself in any danger, especially in longer races such as a half marathon or marathon.
Following concern about the lack of preparation by some runners entering marathons and half marathons, the organisers and medical teams of some of the larger races in the UK have got together and produced an advice sheet published by the London Marathon.
Please go to www.runnersmedicalresource.com and click on the “Fit To Compete?” link.
