This weekend is the Adelaide marathon festival. Good luck to everyone who is racing the 10, 21 or 42km events. While there is little you can do to get fitter as we approach race day there are things, we can explore in the final days to make sure we run to our potential. In the end there are always misfortunes that can happen to anyone on the day, but as Jack Nichlas the world’s greatest golfer said, “the harder I worked the luckier I got!” At this point you can make some luck by investing into your prep-race preparation.
- Taper down, over the last few weeks you should have been progressively reducing your workloads, while maintaining some intensity. The final 3-5 days is the time to switch off and let your body recover. You can still run if you need to but nothing that creates fatigue or soreness. Done correctly you should find fatigue levels actually increasing as your body finally starts to catch up on recovery. Have faith it will all come good on the day.
- Carb load. The faster you run the more carbohydrate you will potentially need. Elite marathoners race pretty much on 100% carbohydrate while a 4hr runner will have a more of a carb/fat balance. Carb loading is where you consume up to 10-12 grams of carb per kg of body mass per day. I find it easier to eat normal meals, (not huge) and drink a lot of calories.
- Logistics, work out your timing on everything- registration, wake up time, breakfast, parking, toilets, warm up, equipment checklist. Don’t rely on there being enough parks in the parklands to cater for everyone.
- Breakfast, make sure you consume enough carbohydrate to replace liver glycogen stores used overnight. Maybe 60-90grams worth. Will you use caffeine pre-race. It certainly offers performance enhancing benefits around masking fatigue.
- Know the course. There are three climbs in the first 6km (park tce, Adelaide oval, Morphett bridge), then it is mostly flat with a little rise up off the Torrens and up to North Tce. While it twists a lot it is great for spectators. Know the checkpoints, 5km at Cathedral, 10km at Frome Road, and 16km North Tce. 2 laps for the marathon.
- Have a nutrition plan. This will again be personalised based on what works for you and how fast you plan on running. Infinite is available on course but the rest you will need to carry yourself. Most will need between 30 and 60grams of carb per hour.
- Pacing is the most important thing. Pace should feel too slow to start with, with the effort level increasing while the pace remains the same through the run. Done right you should have the ability to press harder over the back end lifting the pace just a fraction as you push for home. Know your numbers HR, pace, power and be clear on how you expect to feel through the run.
- Done correctly this race will hurt, so expect some pain and fatigue. The key is to make sure you have mental tools ready to employ to embrace and work with it- break course up, distraction. focus on technique, smile and joke with the volunteers, sing songs, count steps, use motto’s…
Athletics events like the marathon are the purest of all sports. While the Matilda’s was fun, for me they don’t compare to the drama and pure athletic brilliance on show at the current World championships. If you haven’t watched it yet, log onto SBS on demand and watch the highlight packages.
The women’s 100m was a race for the ages as we sawa a potential changing of the guyard and someone who may be able to threaten Flo-Jo’s world record, then we had the drama of athlete’s falling, favourites pulling hamstrings, athletes who take it on and lead from the front (the Latvian 19year old who took everyone on in a heat just to qualify for the women’s 5000m final) and others who play the patience game, and then there is one of my favourites- the men’s discus. These are the giants of the games, with most 200-210cm tall and weighting well over 120kg. This year we had the reigning world champion Ceh taking the lead with his final throw. This left Olympic champion Stahl who had been leading all the way through to the final round, one last chance. And just as you may find in the marathon, there is always more we can find as Stahl launched a throw out over 71m to reclaim the lead and take the gold.
So never forget there is always more you can find. Even under pain and fatigue the body can unlock more, so embrace the pain, grab the opportunity and see what you can discover.
Good luck to everyone racing, feel free to contact me if you have any last-minute questions.