Twenty days until the Runner’s World Half & Festival

With only twenty days until the Runner’s World half, I hope your training has been going well. Here’s a few things to think about during the next three weeks.

Get the miles in

Not quite time to taper yet, so don’t slack off now! Getting in regular runs, including a long run or two (depending on your training schedule) in the next few weeks will benefit you on race day.

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Yoga and/or other stretching

As your body gets stronger, you also want it to stay flexible. If you are a person that naturally stays more flexible than others, good for you. If not, you might need to spend some time focusing on stretching. Not static, cold stretches before you run, but instead stretch naturally with warm-up and cool-down walks and/or some lunges.

I’ve found the stretching that happens when doing yoga prevents many of my running aches and pains. I fail at holding some of the yoga poses for any length of time, so as the class does those poses, I just do more stretching (down dog or rag doll).

If you are new to yoga, look for a beginners or restorative yoga class. Or do yoga at home with all this info from Runner’s World “Yoga for Runners” page.

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Cross-train with care

You’ve been pushing your body with more training than normal and while some cross-training can be beneficial, make sure you do it with care, so you don’t cause any injuries that could mess up all the training you’ve been doing.

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How you eat will affect how you run

Food is fuel for your body and food closest to it’s natural state provides the most fuel. So over the next few weeks, as much as possible, aim for naked food. (naked means nothing extra)

Banana versus a banana muffin
Baked potato versus french fries or potato chips
Homemade sports drink versus a commercial one
Grilled or baked pumpkin versus a spiced pumpkin latte
Edamame (young soybeans) versus tofu or other processed soy product

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Realistic race day expectations

In years past when I signed up for a race, I would have grandiose ideas about what my finish time would be. During training, I would not be able to run the pace I dreamed of, but I’d tell myself that I’ll be able to run a minute or two faster per mile than I could in training.

Yes, there’s adrenaline in doing a race, especially if it is your first time doing that distance, and you get some energy from spectators, but in reality, your body will probably be capable of the pace you’ve done in training. So with at least 10 weeks of training under your belt, you should know what your pace is likely to be. So don’t set yourself up for a disappointing race by assuming that you will be able to run a lot faster than you have during training.

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How’s your training going?
And what advice do you have for the final weeks before a race?