Hello Marathoners- What you need to know RIGHT NOW for race day!

It has been a while since I have posted- life has gotten a little crazy!  Despite that, I am have gotten all my marathon training runs in and am getting super pumped for the big day!   Since I am going to be living, breathing and thinking marathon nonstop for the next two weeks, my blog posts will follow that trend.  Stay tuned here for everything you need to know about running, spectating or possibly even entering the event some day!

The Chicago Marathon is exactly two weeks away.  If you are racing, you should have received your above confirmation packet.  There is no turning back now!  At this point in your training, there are some things that you need to have figured out.

TWO WEEKS OUT FROM THE MARATHON YOU SHOULD:

1) Be able to run 13 miles easily.  Most of you probably ran 13 miles this weekend.  It should have felt short.  You have to run twice that in two weeks. Enough said.

2) Have your nutrition plan down. Know what you are going to eat, and when you are going to eat it.  Will you drink Gatorade or just stick to water?  Are you taking any salt tablets?  Have you practiced eating the exact foods you plan to eat on race day?  The long runs are over so your chances to practice this are behind you!

3) Have a warm weather and cold weather outfit picked out.  Thankfully this year in Chicago we had very hot days, cool days, rainy days and sunny days to get our long runs in.  This means we should be prepared for anything on race day.  You should know what you are going to wear if it is 40 degrees or 90 degrees on October 9th.  Wearing a new shirt or shorts for a 26 mile run is never a good idea.  Can you say chafe?

4) Have an idea of what your race pace will be.  Provided you were doing your long runs at an easy, sustainable pace, you should be able to knock 30-40 seconds off per mile on race day.   How do you know if that is the case for you?   If you could walk around town, take care of your house/kids, etc after your long runs, you should be good.  If you have ever done a marathon and gone your fastest, think of how you felt afterwards.  Chores and chasing kids is not likely after running at your peak speed for 26.2.

5) Have race weekend logistics down.   Do you have to travel? Where are you staying?  When are you picking up your packet?  Figure out all the logistics now so marathon weekend can be as stress free as possible.

If you haven't got some of these figured out, get on it today!  Questions about any of it?  You know where to find me!
-Coach A www.sparkmultisport.com