Many runners find themselves wondering what to do the day before a half marathon or marathon. While it is important to get some rest, it is also important to do some light exercises to keep the muscles active. No matter how many races you have run, the day before always brings some anxiety.
No matter how much training, planning, and preparing you do, last-minute changes and unexpected events will always happen. The day before a race is typically full of excitement and nerves. Many runners find themselves having to answer questions that they previously thought were resolved.
What should you do the day before a half marathon?
Many runners fail to plan for the logistics of the day before a race, resulting in a last-minute scramble. It is helpful to create a plan the day before a half marathon or marathon to ease nerves and have time to prepare mentally and physically.
Should you work out the day before a half marathon?
The day before a half marathon or marathon, you can decide whether or not to train. Some runners take a day off to travel or visit the race expo. Certain runners find it helpful to calm their nerves before a race by going for a short, easy run, or by doing some other type of light exercise. Whatever you choose, remember to take it easy. The day before a half marathon is not the time to do a long run, fast intervals, or intense cross training.
What should you eat the night before a half marathon?
Most people have heard of “carb-loading” before a long-distance run or race. The day before a race, runners typically carb load in order to have enough energy to complete the race. However, as race day approaches, they must decide how to best do this.
It is beneficial to know what to consume the evening before a marathon or half marathon in order to maintain energy levels and avoid encountering any issues during the race. However, every runner is different, so it’s important to note that. Some people prefer simple pastas, while others prefer breads or even meat.
It’s important to try out different meals during training, so you’ll know what to eat the day before your race.
When training is almost over and race day is near, it can be helpful to have a plan for the week and day before the race. This can help you stay relaxed and focused on what you want to achieve. If you want to feel confident, rested, and excited on the day of a half marathon or marathon, it is important to know what to do the day before the race.
Here are 8 things that will help ensure your success in a race if done the day before.
8 Things to Do the Day Before a Half Marathon or Marathon
Preparing for the day before your half marathon or marathon is key. If you want to feel refreshed and confident when you start the race, you will need to plan and execute what you do the day before well. Ten things to do the day before a race for success are as follows. Get a good night’s sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, hydrate throughout the day, wear race gear to bed, lay out your race gear, check the weather, make a race plan, eat a light dinner, relax and stay off your feet, and get to bed early.
The Day Before The Race
After you have arrived at the race location and taken some time to relax, it is time to start getting ready for the race. You’re carbo-loading. Now what? It may seem like running the day before the race would make you tired, but it’s actually the best thing you can do. Stretching before a workout will make your muscles feel looser and your nervous system more alert.
The neuromuscular system is responsible for the communication between the brain and the muscles. Make sure that they are communicating with each other effectively and efficiently. The following text is about how to keep your running superior right up until race day. Every time you run, you start the process, and you want to keep it going until race day. You don’t need to do a lot of running to prepare for a race. A 3-mile jog the day before is sufficient. After your main workout, do some strides — short sprints of around 20 seconds — to really fire up your muscles and blood.
The Night Before
You want to avoid eating a large dinner the night before. Make sure you’re eating enough and that the majority of your calories are coming from carbs. A bowl of pasta is a great meal to eat when you are training for your first half marathon. It is best to avoid alcohol as it can dehydrate you, be sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
Arrange your clothing, water container, gel packets, footwear, and racing bib in a neat row. If you don’t want to have any problems during the race, use already broken-in footwear. Blisters can ruin your run if they’re from new shoes or insoles.
Get some rest. If you’re finding it difficult to sleep because you’re feeling nervous, don’t worry as this is perfectly normal. You will be so full of adrenaline on race day that one night of poor sleep won’t bother you.
The Morning Of The Race
Most runners think that the performance-impacting meal is the pre-race dinner. But your breakfast is just as important. Some of the stored energy from carbs (glycogen) will be used up overnight (remember, you are still burning calories even while sleeping). Jackie Berning, Ph.D., points out how crucial it is to keep your body’s energy supply topped up: “Glycogen helps to stop your blood-sugar from dropping during exercise.” A nutritious breakfast will help you to make it through your marathon without flagging.
While this may be the case for some, many of us are nervous about eating too much before a big race. The key is timing and type of food.
- What to eat: Your breakfast should be mainly carbohydrates. You digest them the fastest, so they become easy fuel for your body to go on. A small amount of protein ensures you won’t be hungry later in the race. Avoid fat, fiber, and caffeine. Fat can be hard to digest while caffeine and fiber can cause GI issues. Try bagel and peanut butter; oatmeal with milk and banana; yogurt and toast; banana and high-carb energy bar; or smoothies, juices, or sports drinks for those with sensitive stomachs.
- How much to eat: A half-marathon is long, one piece of toast won’t cut it. A 150-pound runner needs to consume around 1,000 calories (mainly carbs) for breakfast. That may seem like a lot, but it’s necessary to give you the energy you need for the race.
- When to eat: The key to making sure you digest your breakfast (and turn it into fuel for your race) is timing. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, you should eat your breakfast 3 to 4 hours before the race starts. Most races start early, so this means setting your alarm for a bright-and-early wake-up. If this seems unrealistic, try breaking your breakfast into separate parts. Eat about 2/3 of your total breakfast two hours before, and then the rest around an hour before.
- Don’t forget a pre-race snack. Around 90-minutes before the race, have some easy calories from sports drinks and energy gels.
Plan your race day parking and travel.
It is crucial to plan your parking for race day if you are running a half marathon or marathon. There’s nothing worse than being surprised on race morning. If you don’t plan ahead for parking, you might end up causing yourself a lot of delays.
Although a few races have plenty of free parking nearby, most of the time parking lots close at a certain time, cost money, and are far from the actual start line.
If you don’t plan your parking and travel logistics before your marathon or half marathon, you’ll probably end up feeling stressed and anxious on race day. It is important to plan out your travel to the race start on race morning. You should know exactly where you will park, what time you need to leave, how far you will have to walk to the start, where you will discard any throwaway items, and anything else involved in the travel process.
Although it might not seem fun, planning out the details of your race the day before will help you stay calm, focused, and in control on race day.
Pick up your packet and attend the expo.
The expo the day before a half marathon or marathon is the perfect place to get inspired! To avoid being stressed on race day, try to pick up your packet ahead of time whenever possible.
There will be an area with various stands set up in advance of the race that offer free samples, running gear, and other potential useful products. Even if you don’t plan to buy anything, it’s still worth checking out the race expo. Walking around and seeing all the race-related booths and vendors is a great way to get motivated and excited for the actual race.
Get your legs moving to shake things out.
Many runners have to travel to get to where their race is. Sometimes people travel a short distance by car to get to their destination, while others fly across the country or internationally.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been driving for 30 minutes or several days—it’s important to walk around and loosen your legs the day before your marathon or half marathon.
If you spend a lot of time traveling or sitting around, your muscles will get tense and you might start to feel pain or soreness before you even start your race. Get your blood moving by walking around the day before your race.
Completing a short, easy run the day before a race can help runners loosen up and keep their legs fresh. If you’re taking a break before your race, go for a walk around town or look around the expo to get your legs moving after your trip.
Prepare your race day fueling.
One of the most important things to remember before a marathon or half marathon is to fuel your body properly. After months of successfully fueling during training runs, many runners find that they have run out of supplies or simply forget to get things ready beforehand on race day.
Trying something new or forgetting your fuel on race day can impact your performance during a long distance race.
When planning for a half marathon or marathon, you should give yourself time to make sure you’re fueled and hydrated. Be sure to have a plan for everything so you won’t forget anything important, especially where you will store your fuel during the race.
Start Carbo-Loading For The Race
Now is a good time to start eating more carbohydrates so your body can store up the energy it will need to get through your first half marathon. Your body needs a certain amount of glycogen and fat to function throughout the day. You want to make sure that your glycogen levels are high before the race because it is much easier to burn glycogen than fat.
You should consume mostly carbs like pasta, bananas, oatmeal, rice, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tortillas, yogurt, juice, pancakes, waffles, and bagels in the few days before the race.
Avoid fat, fiber, caffeine, and alcohol. This calculator will tell you how many calories and carbohydrates you need to finish your marathon without running out of energy.
You Finished Your First Half Marathon — Now What?
You crossed the finish line with you arms up. You received a medal, a t-shirt, and a foil blanket. After you’ve achieved your goal, take some time to celebrate and then help your body recover.
Within 30 minutes of completing a race you should consume carbohydrates and protein in order to help your muscles recover. A bagel with peanut butter and a banana is a great option for a person who weighs 150 pounds. Re-hydrate with water or sports drink. You should keep eating a lot of carbs and only a small amount of protein for the 48 hours after the race is over.
Your muscles will most likely be sore after the race, and could be for up to a week. Hot tubs and warm baths can increase muscle inflammation, so it’s best to avoid them. There are a few things you can do to help relieve the pain of shin splints, like icing the affected area, using foam rollers, or getting a massage.
It is also important for your body to take a break. If you just completed your first half marathon, it’s probably a good idea to cut back on running for a little while and focus on lower-impact activities like swimming, biking, or walking. If you continue to run high mileage, you will be more likely to get injured, such as with plantar fasciitis or stress fractures.
You did it. You can check “run a half-marathon” off your bucket list.
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