As a race approaches, the haze of training fatigue lifts and a healthy anxiety appears. What you do with this new found energy in the weeks preceding a race is often an indication of the quality your race will be. Instead of taking out your race day anxiety on the roads, I suggest diverting some of this energy into putting together a complete race day plan.
A comprehensive race day plan includes consideration of the following topics: fuel during the event, fuel before the event, gear choice and a test of these in a race simulation.

Fueling during the run

What is Fuel? Fuel can be thought of as any food, drink or combination thereof that sustains your body. During a run, simple carbohydrates found in energy drink, gels and even bars that are easily digestible during your run are you best fuel choices.

Fuel choices: Your best choice of fuels on race day will always be the ones you have been using on long runs or during other training sessions. In the event you have had mixed success with your chosen fuels thus far, or are able to avoid fueling during most of your long runs, you need to evaluate your options. The first consideration should be what will be available to you on the race course and how frequently it will be served. With some investigation and testing you can determine what refreshments will be provided at your race, and if they will accommodate your needs. Most race websites will indicate what will be served on the course and where. In planning for this, keep in mind a few factors.
1. Ideal concentrations of ‘energy drink’ for fueling during a marathon or run over 2 hours are a mixture of 4-8 g/L of a simple carbohydrate solution with salt (NaCl) present in concentrations of 0.5 to 0.7 g/L of fluid, consumed at a rate of 600 – 1200 ml/hour. For mixing your own drink these guidelines are easy if you consider that your drink will be primarily simple carbohydrate. Therefore find out what one serving size is in grams and attempt to mix your 4-8 grams of this in 1 L of water for proper concentration. Many races will have their energy drink in greater concentrations than this. If the drink tastes strong when consuming make sure to follow a gulp of energy drink with one of water if available.
2. The main carbohydrate present should be a simple carbohydrate that can be quickly converted to glucose for use in the blood stream. I feel that products containing glucose, dextrin or maltodextrin as the first ingredient are ideal products to consume as liquids or gels during an event. These products are converted quickly to glucose for energy use via the blood stream and absorb at a consistent rate in the gut, minimizing gastrointestinal distress. Drinks containing sucrose, fructose or high fructose corn syrup can present GI issues for some runners.
3. Energy drinks, gels or hard foods are for fueling purposes and therefore needs to be consumed BEFORE the need arises in the body for such fuel. Don’t wait to feel thirsty or tired before fueling. Think of yourself as topping off your tanks as you take your gulp of energy drink every 2-5 miles of your next marathon.

Use this as a guide for determining your choice drinks or gel substitutes during your marathon. Begin reading product labels the labels and make informed choices of what you consume during your runs.

Frequency of Fueling: The frequency of fueling during an event is different for each athlete. Whether via energy drink or energy gel + water fueling should be at a rate around of 30 – 60 g of carbohydrate per hour. A simple guideline for how much to drink during you marathon or next long event is to take a swallow or two of energy drink at the correct concentration every 2 miles. There is no substitute for practice for fueling during the run. Find out how much, how often and what types of fuels work best for you on long runs and make a plan to have those available when you need them at your next event.

Fueling before the run

Days preceding event: An entire article could be devoted to fueling before a race, so I will just cover general concepts and keep it simple. In the week leading up to the marathon you should continue to eat well rounded meals at regular intervals during the day that satisfy the widely accepted need to have 55 -70% of ones calories from carbohydrates, 10-20% from fat and 10-15% from protein sources. Perhaps most importantly, you should strive to refuel your body by making sure to consume 7-10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight a day. Keep in mind there are 2.2 pounds in a kilogram and 28.3 grams in 1 ounce when estimating these numbers for yourself. The evening before a race make smart simple choices by eating a familiar meal in moderation. Hydration with and without energy drinks should be continued up until bed.
Day of event: The morning of a race presents challenges for some marathoners as early start times often force changes to morning rituals. Keep it simple by eating a well known, moderately sized breakfast 3-5 hours before the start of the race while continuing to consume liquids in moderation once the urine runs clear.

Developing a race plan

Creating a race plan is a necessary exercise to ensure that you are knowledgeable about the terrain you will be running and what your mile or kilometer splits need to be to maintain goal pace.

Course profile: Most race websites offer a glimpse into their course profile including mile points as well as an elevation profile. If the course is unknown to you and/or inaccessible for a reconnaissance run, ask friends or chat rooms if others who have raced the course for your goal event can inform you of points on the course where significant (2min or longer) up hill AND down hill sections are present. Additionally it will be helpful to know if there are areas of the course near rivers, lakes or other consistently windy areas. Finally if you plan to receive aid or even encouragement from family and friends, find spots they can easily get on to and off of the course to cheer you on.

Time splits: Take into account information you can gain from others on your race course when putting together your splits for the race. When racing out of the United States determine if and where splits will be present in miles. If not available make sure to determine your splits in kilometers! Using your goal time, determine what your average mile or kilometer split is to be and develop a way of documenting these for race day reference. Simply writing these on you hand or arm, or on a bracelet are useful for quick reference. Regardless of how you keep yourself on pace memorize significant splits of 5, 10, 13.1 (half marathon) and 15 miles or 5, 10, 20 and 25 kilometers to ensure that if all else fails you know how close you are to goal pace going into 20 miles or 30 kilometers. If going into 20 miles you have maintained goal pace under a reasonable effort you have set your self up for a great day. Focus your efforts on maintain goal pace during the last 10K and refrain from significantly deviating from it until the last mile no matter how strong you may feel!

Race Simulation

One of the best ways to shake pre race jitters is to set up a race simulation workout in the weeks leading into the marathon. Select a route you can easily track so that each mile of the run mirrors the profile of your race course. Ask family and friends to show their support by providing aid to you along your route at the intervals you plan to drink. Provide them with small bottles of the pre-mixed drink you will be using in your race. Commit to your apparel and footwear for your race and use these during the race simulation. Take the details of this trial run seriously to the point that you wear the same socks in the trial you will take to the marathon.
If attempting to simulate a marathon, cover your 14-20 miles of run with a portion of it at goal race pace. Mentally approach this as you would your race, being patient and focused during your run. Take any unplanned pit stops or other hiccups in the trial run with a grain of salt and address them as you would on race day. Use your mock aid stations as you would in your race and practice drinking on the run and let your friends grab your bottle off the ground for you when you’re done.
Done 3-5 weeks before your marathon, this run should provide you plenty of time to make needed changes to fuel, gear or race strategy.

Race day logistics: Getting the most out of your upcoming race means being prepared. Make sure you have a ride to the start line or plans for parking. If traveling to your goal race, make appropriate plans for the days you are traveling. These should include travel days, rest days from running, running while out of town, items to pack when traveling to a goal race, where to eat while traveling and the weather in your race city. For a list of items to pack for your marathon please see below.
Finally make sure all your hard work is rewarded by making plans to be taken care of after your race. Keep walking afterwards to a minimum by making arrangements to be picked-up and consider how and when you will refuel.

Have a great race

With a plan for your race and a little practice executing it, your next race or marathon can be a memorable one for the right reasons. Go to the start line with the confidence in your race plan and training to get the most out of your ability. Enjoy the experience of the race and when through take some time to reflect on it and to learn from it.

I hope you find the content and topics of this article useful. I encourage comments and suggestions for future articles. See you next month.

Long may you run,

Sean Coster

Race day kit:
-race singlet*
-race shorts*
-socks*
-shoes*
-safely pins
-body glide/blister shield
-hat
-gloves
-throw away shirt (long sleeve)
-garbage bag (for rain at start line)
-energy gels/drinks/foods for the event
-race day breakfast food
-water bottle and energy drink for travel
-snacks for travel
-foul weather gear to race in, just in case!
* make sure these items have been used during long runs prior to your race.

Sean Coster
“Fluids and Performance in Prolonged Endurance Performance,” Nutrition, Volume 20, Issue 7-8, pp651-656; S. von Duvillard, W. Braun, M. Markofski, R. Beneke, R. Leithäuser
“Sports Nutrition: Fluid, Electrolytes and Minerals,” Report from the World Forum on Physical Activity and Sport, Quebec City, Canada, 19th - 21st May, 1995; Noakes, TD
“Foods, Nutrition and Sports Performance; a final consensus statement,” Journal of Sports Sciences 1991; 9 (Suppl 9):iii. Devlin, J.T., Williams, C.
“Guidelines for Daily Carbohydrate Intake: Do Athletes Achieve Them,” Sports Medicine, Volume 31, Number 4, 2001, pp. 267-299(33) Burke L.M.1; Cox G.R.1; Cummings N.K.1; Desbrow B.1

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