I realized last Sunday night that I am running a half marathon THIS Sunday morning. Directly after that, I realized that I have done nothing (other than training) to prepare for this. I have a vague idea of when my flight leaves the Bay Area and arrives in Orange County. I kiiiinda know where we’re staying (what’s the name? No idea.) I semi-know that the weather is probably going to be pretty warm. Sort of. I definitely do know that Meridith and I will be watching Outlander together, because we are both obsessed. But that is one of the few things I unequivocally know. Otherwise?
I am just Not. Prepared. At all.
Paralyzed by Idontknowitis. Very serious.
So, I started freaking out a bit. Making lists. Making plans. Making playlists. Painting my nails (very important.) I’ve gone on a couple short runs, but is this the right thing to do? I don’t know. I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.
And it dawned on me: I don’t know what to do because I’ve never done this before. I mean, truly, this is like new frontier type stuff for me. And realizing that helped take some (not all) of the panic away.
That said, I am still completely in the dark about what my week-before-running-my-first-half-marathon-oh-god should look like. I want to know. I want to make sure I’m not missing anything. Should I be running or not? Should I be taking it easy? Eating a lot of carbs? Eating no carbs? Stretching? Upping my water intake?
I know I always ask you lovely people for advice, but…well, I’m doing it again. Because so many of you have done this! And I want to do it right. I like doing things right.
So please, tell me: is there anything special I need to do before the race on Sunday? Is there anything special you do before your races that I should adopt? And finally (maybe most importantly?), what songs should I add to my half playlist?!
First – STOP PANICKING!!!! Second – hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. NOW. Third – Bruce – Born to Run, Bon Jovi – Bad Medicine, Planes Soundtrack- Nothing Can Stop Me Now. There. Now you’re all good. 🙂
Thank you for ALL of that, Kimberley! I am drinking water (and peeing) with intense frequency!
I like to look at it as UTI prevention, lol!
Best Western Stovall’s Inn.
Two days!!!!!!!!
ONE DAY NOW.
-2 days now. Wompppppp.
Just enjoy yourself – it’s a FUN race!!!!! Have a great time!!!
Thanks, Kristen!
(1) In terms of pre-race routine, rule #1 is to NOT try to change anything. Nothing new on race day. So whatever you’ve been doing during your training, as long as it works for you, stick with it. That includes your eating routine. If you carb-load prior to your long training runs, do that. If you haven’t, don’t here. Very simple. Trust that what you’ve done is going to get you to the finish line. Because it will. Beyond that, get that water going and hydrate like whoa. There are plenty of water stops, but you WILL dry out quickly on the course, so be prepared by hydrating in advance.
(2) For music, you’re going to want two types of songs on your playlist: songs that will push you and keep your energy high, and songs that you really enjoy that will distract you when you start tiring. (Ideally, those two categories overlap!) For me, I listen to a lot of heavy rock, but nothing too too screamy. I can promise you that my soundtrack for Sunday will include plenty of Coheed and Cambria!
Relax and have fun! You’re gonna do great and have a fantastic time!
Thanks, David! This is all such great advice – especially not deviating from my normal routine. 🙂
Good luck running the race!
Yay good luck! I felt the same way before my first Half, but you’ll be awesome! My advice: make sure you’re drinking a lot of water in the week before the race because it takes a couple days to get completely hydrated, eat a carb filled meal 2 days before the race (for your Sunday race that would be Friday’s dinner) and then try to stick to white carbs the day before so that you don’t have any weird digestion issues on race day. I try to eat bland stuff so I don’t get an upset stomach the day before. And plan out an awesome place to eat after the race because that’s the best part! Have fun, and I can’t wait for the recap!
Now *all* I can think about is what we’re going to eat after the race. I am going to eat allllll of the breakfast food! Thanks for the advice!!
Lots of water! Don’t go overboard on the meal the night before – it’s our tradition to have a light pasta dinner 🙂 And most importantly music… I just added to my playlist: Fancy (Iggy), Happy (Pharrell), On Top of the World (Imagine Dragons), Ain’t it Fun (Paramore), Sing (Ed Sheeran), Work B*tch (Britney), Shake it Off (Taylor), and Something that I Want (Grace Potter, Tangled). #notashamed
Oh man, I am OBSESSED with Shake It Off. I was just listening to it, in fact. It’s going on my playlist! Thanks for the advice, Nita! I’m sipping water as I type this. 🙂
I sent you a tweet as well, but hydrate this week, rest up until race day, eat a light carb meal the day before the race and most importantly, HAVE FUN and enjoy the ride! So proud of you!
Thanks, V!! We’ll keep you updated, of course. 🙂
and now you can tell me what you thought of Outlander, since I am the one who got Meri to read the books (her mom might’ve had something to do with it too).