Are You Ready For Your Running Event?

It sounds simple but can easily go wrong if not planned and practiced. Many a race has gone wrong through missed drinks or failed attempts to drink while running at full speed.

How often will you drink? What will you drink? Will you drink on the run or take a few walk steps?

How will you combine drink and food intake?

The best results come from taking on energy in the same way you have trained. This is not always possible as some days, often hot ones, your normal food is harder to take. What is plan b?

Most important is to test in training the type and frequency of your food and the way you will carry it.

If you are starting the race with a partner it is easier to plan and you can agree on how you will run together. How you talk to each other, the pace you run at, drink stations, toilet breaks and to split up or stay together are some of the issues to resolve.

If you find a partner or someone joins you along the way how will you react?

Be careful not to get caught running at someone else's pace. Also if you don't want a run partner then a polite "you go on while I fix my shoe" is a good way to say good bye if you can't run off an leave them behind.

Planning ahead makes you ready to act when need be. Maintaining speed, climbing hills, overcoming pain and dealing with problems are all common challenges for runners. Here are a few suggestions:

Maintaining speed - pick a person just in front of you, imagine a rope joining the two of you and stay the same distance apart.

Going faster - swap the rope for a rubber band and imagine you using the tension to zoom past the person in front. Once you do shift your rubber band to someone further in front.

Climbing hills - Take it one tree, light pole or other marker at a time - just get to the next one.
Overcoming pain - Assuming it is the normal pain from running a good way to avoid it is to focus on something else by talking to another runner, visualizing yourself crossing the line and/or eating your favorite post race meal. You might also find thinking or talking about a work or family problem distracts you from the pain.

This approach for a few minutes often ends the "pain" that was bothering you.

Does you event include hills? Up, down or both? Are you running in extreme hot or cold conditions?

Altitude, trail, road or track? Is your event early morning, noon, afternoon or evening? Will you have a gap of several hours between your breakfast and race start? Will your normal food be available?

There are so many variables to consider. When you identify the challenges you can train accordingly and improve your success.

Two challenges that can ruin a good race are hills and crowds.

Hills you can practice and for most of us running at the same level of effort is the best way to climb a hill. This means going slower up the hill but it also means you can keep running at your desired pace for the rest of the race.

When it comes to crowds sometime you just need to modify your race goal. Be careful to avoid injury if you try and go around people and step up and down on to the kerb.

If you start with an existing injury it is easier to plan for than if something new occurs. Either way it is good to plan ahead. How will you use walk breaks? Will you take pain relief tablets? Will you stop at a medial station? Will you pull out of the race?

Cramps are a common problem and one you can plan for in terms of how you treat them.

You can never plan for everything but you can identify most of the likely challenges.

When we pre-program our mid to take certain actions we are able to quickly and effectively implement. By thinking about what to do before the event we make clear decisions and avoid making poor decisions on the run.

Having a written race plan helps you focus and encourages you to consider all the issues. A written race plan is also vital for review and learning.

Running when it is hotter that you are used to can be tough. In most events it is wise to modify your race goal and develop a plan for dealing with the heat.