In case you were wondering...

Hi All!

As the days wind down, with just over a week to go...I thought you may be interested in what a Marathon trainee does the week before! My friend from High School, Rory, just completed his first marathon in Phoenix, within the past month. This was his first endurance event and he also completed it with Team in Training's support. Since finding out about his accomplishment we have been connecting, aka I'm trying to get every possible detail out of him in order to be completely prepared. So take a look at the upcoming week in the life of a marathon trainee!! Thank you again, Rory!!

Lindsay,

You're almost there...Hope you're getting excited! Be prepared for an emotional roller coaster of a week coming up. As you are tapering and exercising less, your body is in the process of repairing itself. This will undoubtedly cause various aches and pains. Don't be alarmed by these, as they are completely normal. At the same time, mentally, you're going to be up and down battling excitement, nervousness, anxiousness, fear, confidence, and about 1,000 other emotions. All I can tell you is that you're not alone, and it's completely normal.

I spent the entire week before the marathon on my couch resting up, when all I wanted to do was go outside an run. You are prepared enough, and any additional running will not make a difference for race day. You're better off resting up and keeping your mind focused on other things.

Here is a bit of advice on "the week before" preparation from a good friend of mine who has run several marathons and was kind enough to pass along to me:

With regard to this week, here’s my approach and my suggested approach:
1. HYDRATE
2. EAT
3. REST
It’s really that simple.

Starting today drink as much water as you possibly can. Try to get down 3-4 liters each day of this week. You’ll be peeing every 15 minutes earlier in the week but you’ll be saturated later in the week and your bladder will be able to handle it better. You’ll want your body to be as hydrated as possible and you’ll want to be able to absorb a lot of water on race morning … the only way to do that is to start drinking yourself silly now. (of course don’t drown yourself … really no need to consume much more than a gallon or so in a day).

Start eating a LOT … but in the right way (of course this may be a bit different for me and my extreme metabolism). BUT, the key is to eat VERY well this week. Basically try to avoid any crap that could seemingly slow you down. Avoid: grease, trans fat, sweets (including soda), creams, etc. Consume: lots of lean meats, lots of pasta (especially at lunches so you process it all), lots of vegetables, sauces, oatmeal, etc. Mainly looking for a lot of complex carbohydrates and lots of proteins … and not a whole lot else.

The key will be Thursday and Friday … you’ll want a lot of carbs those two days and nights. It’s a bit of a myth that you should pound pasta the night before the race … at that point you really need proteins more (though I always have pasta WITH it because I figure it can’t hurt).

Oh, and consume lots of salt. Put it on everything. Forget about cholesterol for this one week … you need the salt in your body (again, especially the nights before the race) to help you absorb all the water and stay hydrated. (new information to me!)

Get as much sleep as you can. Don’t stress your body more than you have to. Don’t go to the gym this week … except if you want to do a stretching session.

Follow the running plan for the week and only that. Give your muscles (all of them) the whole week to recover so you are primed for the weekend. If you workout you’ll fatigue your CORE and you will need that tip-top more than any other part of your body for the race … trust me, your core is what carries you through the last 10K. With regard to sleep, try to get to bed early on Thursday and then on Friday. The sleep you get Saturday night (which won’t be much if you’re like 95% of the population) is farrrr less important than the sleep you get on Friday night. Thursday is straight butter.

Other things to do this week:- Pack before Thursday so you don’t have much to do and can go to sleep early.
For the plane: make SURE that everything you need for the marathon itself (aside from GU) … shoes, shorts, socks, singlet, etc … are either in your carry-on or on your body. Dress comfortably for the flight.
Stretch … but nothing you wouldn’t do normally or haven’t done recently … and make sure your muscles are warm as not to strain anything at this point.
Wear your marathon running shoes when you’re just hanging out/ lounging around/ going out to meet people. Just to make sure that they are broken in and settled around your foot. Do everything you can to avoid potential blisters … do not wear flip-flops, until the race is done. You don’t want to get weird chafing on your feet. Treat your feet like gods this week – you need them.

Mainly, have fun. You don’t need to be home, alone, bored and asleep at 7pm every day or anything. Not bad to throw in a bunch of movies this week, though … I always tend to watch: Rocky, Miracle, Hoosiers and maybe others in the week leading up. Figure it can’t hurt. I make my play list for race morning, too. Something to listen to early in the morning before the race and while killing time before the run. I do not run the race with headphones, though … I’ve never understood that … you’re surrounded by people cheering you on and often calling you by name (oh, yeah, put your name on the front of your race shirt with marker) and why would you want to zone that out?"

Get ready for one of the most exciting weekends of your life.Good luck, and be sure to check in with me next week!


With that said....
I-CAN'T-WAIT!!!!