With the AJC Peachtree Road Race upon us, I thought I'd pass on some pre-/post-race basics I've learned over many years of competition and recreation alike.
For distances of 10k or less, your regular FitWit training (4-5 workouts/week) is adequate preparation if completion is your goal. For the more competitive, or if you have a specific time goal (eg: a sub-30-min. 5k), you can supplement your FitWit training with sport specific training outside of camp (running for runners, biking for bikers, climbing for Chuck, etc.). If you're going further than 10k on foot, I recommend that you do train outside of camp, but be smart about it and talk to your trainer. I'll post more on this in the future.
Most of us are simply interested in the occasional road race and FitWitting is about all we need to get through it, even excel at it. The recommendations below are aimed to guide you through this scenario as race day approaches.
2 Days Before: Nothing special here. Doing a normal workout/run is fine; preferably something you've done before where you know your limits, expected performance, and expected soreness/fatigue. Get at least 7 hrs of sleep tonight. Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Eat as clean as possible: veggies, fruits, lean meats.
The Day Before: The goal here is to keep the body ready for the work tomorrow. All of your physical preparation is complete. You just want to stay loose and work out any lingering soreness from the week. At minimum, do a warm-up and a cool-down stretch. This only takes about 25-30 min. If you want to workout or practice, keep the workout to 20 min or less and the distance to 10%-50% of your race distance performed at race pace. No need to over do it here. If possible, try to complete the workout a minimum of 12 hrs prior to race start time. Again, get at least 7 hrs of sleep. Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Eat as clean as possible.
Race Day: Absolutely nothing new today. From your warm-up to your food and drink, if you've never done it before, do NOT do it today. Treat the event like a workout. Drink the same amount of liquid and eat the same amount and types of food you would before a workout. Go through a full warm-up, and make sure you have a good sweat going before the gun goes off.
Race: Give it your best effort!
Post Race: Make sure you do a cool-down stretch, and drink plenty of fluids. I find that a celebratory adult beverage at this point is a great reward for a PR!
Day After: Listen to your body. If you need to rest do it. If you want to do more, do it. At a minimum, go for a walk or do some light stretching. Move through the soreness. Continue with (resume) the fluids and clean eating.
2 Days After: See you at camp!
That's really it. Have fun and good luck!
If you're running the Peachtree this year, post a comment and let us know how it goes!
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5 comments:
good luck Peachtree runners!
Jose - If you still want to run the Oakhurst 3.1, let me know.
Tina
tlatham@emory.edu or 678.485.0810
In case anyone wants to join, Tina and I are running the Oakhurst 5k @ 7am Saturday morning. We're meeting at Mojo's Pizza.
Here's the route:
www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ga/decatur/576124547859411602
Hope to see you there!
The Peachtree went really well. For the first time in my seven years participating, I ran the entire thing. I also finished under my goal of one hour! I absolutely couldn't believe it. We'll see if I can walk tomorrow ;).
I was pleasantly surprised that there was so much downhill running! I would definitely like to do it again next year. Catherine, I thought about your goal of running the whole thing but I did end up walking about half of each hill, but I still finished in 1 hr, 55 seconds. I have never run more than 3.2 miles consecutively, so I felt really good about the whole thing. Ben, thanks for the encouragment (and conditioning!).
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