Racing - Before the Race
You have trained week after week, building up your endurance and the other aspects of your running. You have almost given up, but the desire to succeed always pushed you to go further. After all the preparations you've made, everything now boils down to one thing: the day of the race itself.
Just thinking about the race day is enough to make cold sweat run down your temples. It only goes to show that preparing for a race does not only entail the physical aspect of running but also the mental one.
So how do you prepare yourself mentally? The key to doing it successfully is by never stressing yourself too much over thinking negative thoughts. Things like repeatedly asking yourself if you are prepared enough to race can surely bog you down even before the race has started. Relax. Try to clear your mind of the things that bother you and get some rest. It will be more beneficial to your overall performance during the race than being anxious.
Another thing to look out for before the race is your diet. It is advisable that you load yourself with carbohydrate-rich foods at least in the three days before the race. This is called "carbo-loading." Carbohydrates provide you with the energy that you need to run especially the longer distances. For more on carbo-loading and how carbohydrates help in your performance, please refer to our section on the, Food for Runners.
At this stage of your preparation, you should also avoid eating food that you are not familiar with. Try to stay on the safe side, especially if you do not know how a particular food can affect your body and your performance.
Aside from your diet, you should also keep yourself well-hydrated. Always drink at least six to eight glasses of water everyday in the days before you compete. On the day of the race itself, drink a glass of water no less than an hour before you run. In connection to this, go to the bathroom in the venue as early as you can because they tend to be crowded prior to the race. One good way to estimate if you are well-hydrated is by checking the color of their urine. The darker the urine, the more water is needed by your body.
Beware too, if you start getting thirsty while running. Some runners think that it is merely a sign for them to drink water when it is in fact a sign that you are already dehydrated. Therefore, it is important that you stop it before it happens by keeping yourself well-hydrated before the race starts.
Those things are not enough, however, if you are planning on running in a long race such as the half-marathon. You should also protect yourself from chafing and blisters due to the incessant friction while you're running. You can do this by lubricating the areas of your body such as your nipples, underarms, inner thighs and your feet.
When you have made every possible preparation before the race, you now come and face the inevitable. It's now time for you to take your place in the starting line and wait for the signal of the start of the race. But what should you do after the starter pistol is fired? It will be discussed in further detail in our article entitled, Racing: During the Race.
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