Marathon Race Week - Race Week Logistics

Your marathon training required a lot of discipline, commitment and effort. Now that you have successfully completed your marathon training you are guaranteed success in your race – right? Wrong! You still need to prepare for and properly deal with marathon race day and race week logistics. Don’t do anything this week that could cost you even a minute off your finishing time. Here are ten ways to insure marathon race day (or week) success.

Plan Ahead

I touched on this one earlier, but this is so often ignored I want to go over it again. When marathon race day arrives you do not want to be unsure of where to go or what to do. If you are driving to the starting line plan your route and locate your parking areas before race day. If you are taking public transportation figure out the schedule and pick up locations early. Read the marathon race day information packet carefully so that you know what the routine and schedule is for getting there, lining up and finishing.

Become Familiar With The Course

This is another important but often ignored tip that was mentioned earlier. Knowing the terrain and landmarks of the marathon race course can give you a big advantage. If you know where the hills are, the location of hydration stations, placement of spectator viewing areas and major landmarks you will be able to a better job of planning your marathon race strategy. It is especially important to be familiar with the last mile of the marathon course. A good way to become familiar with the marathon race course is to do some of your training on the actual course. If that is not possible then study a map of the course. Most marathons will have a marathon course map in their informational materials or on their web site.

Avoid Activity Before Your Race

You did a good job with your taper. Don’t screw it up know with too much recreational activity. Try to avoid walking around a lot the day before your marathon. Many of the larger marathons are destination marathons. Runners often use them as a personal or family vacation. Many marathon runners make the mistake of touring the city or area attractions the day before their race. They may walk many miles during their tours. All of that walking will fatigue your legs and decrease your ability to run your best marathon. Take in the area attractions after your race rather than before. You will start your marathon with fresh legs instead of exhausted ones.

Carbo Load But Don’t Over Load

One of the great traditions of marathon running is the pre race carbo-load dinner. The carbo-load dinner the evening before your race is a great place to socialize and meet your fellow competitors and marathon runners. The social aspects aside the pre-race carbo-load dinner has been touted as essential for top off your body’s stores of energy supplying carbohydrates. Several helpings of heaping plates of pasta, bread and salad are a common sight at these occasions. But do you really need all of that food? Not really. You do want to eat a high carbohydrate meal the evening before your race. That is important for maximizing the carbohydrate stores in your body, but avoid over eating. All of that food can disrupt your sleeping pattern and even make you a bit sluggish on race morning. So, enjoy your carbo-load dinner and eat a normal portion of high carbohydrate foods, but don’t over do it.

Get Ready The Night Before

It’s common not to sleep well the night before a marathon. You are nervous, excited, apprehensive and probably have some adrenalin racing through your system. That can all add up to sleep difficulties. You may be a bit tired on race morning. Avoid adding to the stress of marathon morning. Don’t wait until race morning to prepare your race gear. The evening before your race, lay out your running outfit, warm up gear, race number and anything else you are taking. You don’t want to add any additional stress of trying to find all of your gear on race morning.

Dress Appropriately

Dressing for race day can be a bit tricky. Many marathons start early in the morning and the temperatures can range from bitter cold to comfortable. Always bring along some throw away clothes. A long sleeve shirt, some old sweat pants or warm ups, old running gloves and hat. You will probably be waiting around at the staging area or starting line for some time. If the weather is cold you can wear your throw away clothes. When the race starts you can discard the clothing on the side of the road. Volunteers will pick up the discarded clothing and donate them to a charitable organization. Also bring along a large plastic trash bag. If it is raining you can cut head and arm holes in the bag and use it to keep dry. Avoid over dressing. You should be just a bit cold before you start. If you are warm at the start you may start to over heat after you start running.

Arrive Early

Give yourself plenty of time to get to the starting line or staging area. Parking, public transportation and access points can all get very congested before the race. You can use the extra time to prepare yourself both mentally and physically for your upcoming marathon.

Don’t Do a Long Warm Up

I have seen many marathon runners performing a long warm up before their race. A long warm up is not necessary because of the moderate pace of a marathon. You can use the first mile or two of the actual marathon to warm up. A long warm up will burn valuable carbohydrates in your body and hurt your performance. Just before the start of your marathon you should do some dynamic stretching drills such as high knees, heel kicks and walking lunges. Those exercises will warm up your muscles and improve your functional range of motion without burning a significant amount of carbohydrates.

Hydrate Properly

Start your race properly hydrated, but don’t over hydrate before the marathon. The night before and on race morning drink normally – when you are thirsty. Don’t force fluids down when you are fully hydrated and not thirsty. If you are over hydrated you will probably need to make stops at the portable toilets during the first part of your marathon. That will cost you valuable time. During the race consume the sports drink that is available to you at each hydration station. The minerals and electrolytes in the drink will help keep your blood sodium level from becoming diluted. The carbohydrates in the drink will replace part of the carbs you are burning. Do not drink plain water exclusively. That can lead to hyponatremia or low blood sodium.

Line Up Properly

Many of the larger marathons will stage you in the position that is appropriate for your estimated pace. If they do not stage in that way, be sure to line up properly. Faster runners should always be towards the front and slower runners towards the rear. If you line up with runners that are faster than you are you could be “pulled along” at a pace that is too fast for you. That will prove disastrous in the last miles of the marathon. If you line up behind slower runners you may have problems falling into your planned pace and you could lose time.

Race Day Pacing

Running a smart, strategic race can make the difference between meeting or failing to meet your race goal. Running a smart race starts with proper pacing. There are a number of possible pacing strategies. Each of these strategies has advantages and disadvantages. The proper strategy will depend upon your strengths, your weaknesses, course conditions and race logistics. Here are the possible racing strategies and most appropriate uses.

• Even Pacing – Using even pacing you would maintain roughly the same pace per mile throughout the race. This strategy is favored by many athletes and results in very good performances. Many studies have shown that the top runners in most races tend to run both the first half and the second half of the race in nearly equal times. This is an especially good strategy for the marathon because of the difficulty in performing negative splits in long races.

• Even Effort – This type of pacing is very similar to even pacing but relies more on effort level rather than actual chronological pace. With even effort pacing you try to maintain the same perceived effort level throughout the race. This type of pacing is more appropriate for beginning runners. Even effort pacing will result in slowing throughout the race due to the perceived effort level rising as you fatigue. This type of pacing will allow you to finish comfortably, but will not result in optimal performance. Even effort pacing is also a good strategy for more experienced runners in mountain races or very hilly races. Attempting to maintain even pace on steep hills can result high fatigue levels and difficulty in maintaining a quality pace in the last part of your race.

• Negative Splits – Negative splits involve running the second half of your race faster than the first. Many coaches favor negative splits, because the easier start will reserve strength and energy for a fast finish. This type of pacing can be very enjoyable because you will pass a lot of runners in the last half of the race. If the course is flat and conditions are good, it can also give very good results. This is not always the best strategy if the second half of the course is harder than the first. It can also become difficult to catch competitors that run stronger in the first half and open up a large lead. This type of pacing is good strategy for a highly experienced and very fit marathon runner that is able to stay strong in the last half of a marathon. More inexperienced marathon runners will probably struggle to run a fast second half of their marathon.

• Surging – Surging is a race strategy in which your change your pace throughout the race depending upon course conditions and where your competitors are. Surging is a very useful strategy and if used properly can give excellent results in any race. If you are a competitive runner and are competing for top positions you will use this strategy in nearly every race. Surging can also be a valuable psychological tool. If used properly it can demoralize your opponents.

• Front Running - Starting strong and trying to hang on throughout the race is an example of front running. This is not recommended for most runners. The idea of this type of pacing is to open a large lead and then try to hang on for the remainder of the race. This will always lead to a lot of pain in the last half of the race and very seldom results in top performances. There are some runners that have a very efficient stride that can maintain a quality pace when very fatigued. This type of runner may have success with this type of pacing, but for most runners, this is a bad pacing strategy. This is usually a poor choice for the marathon because you will burn too much valuable glycogen early in the race.

• Strong Start/Middle Float - Starting strong, then running at a quality, but relaxed pace in the middle and finishing strong. This is a modified type of front running. Using this strategy, a runner will start strong and create some separation from the other runners. This runner will then slow to a strong but relaxed pace and try to recover while maintaining a lead. Then when partially recovered will finish strong. As with front running, only a runner that is able to handle a lot of pain and has a very efficient stride will have success with this strategy. For most marathon runners this is a poor strategy choice.

• Middle Push/Strong Finish - Starting at a relaxed pace, pushing hard in the middle miles and try to hang on for a strong finish. This is a very popular strategy that consistently results in top performances. Using this method, the runner will start with a relaxed pace in the early miles. In the middle of the race, the runner will pick up the pace to just over race pace and try to maintain this pace through the middle and ending miles before accelerating to the finish with a sprint kick. If you have the mental and physical strength to maintain that quality pace through to the finish, you will get very good results with this strategy.

Strength Training Countdown

Beginning Runner Level

Key Workouts

• Key 1 - 4 miles @ endurance pace

• Key 2 - 3 miles @ endurance pace

• Key 3 - Marathon Day

Suggested Workout Sequence

Recreational Level

Key Workouts for Finishers

• Key 1 - 4 miles @ endurance pace

• Key 2 - 6 miles @ endurance pace

• Key 3 - Marathon Day

   

Key Workouts for Pacers

• Key 1 - 4 miles @ goal pace

• Key 2 - 6 miles @ goal pace

• Key 3 - Marathon Day

Suggested Workout Sequence

 Competitive Level

 Key Workouts for Pacers

•  Key 1 - 6 miles @ goal pace

• Key 2 - 6 miles @ goal pace

• Key 3 - Marathon Day

 Key Workouts for Racers

•  Key 1 - 6 miles @ goal pace

• Key 2 - 6 miles @ goal pace

• Key 3 - Marathon Day

   

Suggested Workout Sequence

Elite Level

Key Workouts for Pacers

• Key 1 - 8 miles @ goal pace

• Key 2 - 6 miles @ goal pace

• Key 3 - Marathon Day

Key Workouts for Racers

• Key 1 - 8 miles @ goal pace

• Key 2 - 6 miles @ goal pace

• Key 3 - Marathon Day

   

Suggested Workout Sequences

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