Rich's Pre and Post Marathon preparation

Richard is store manager in the York store and is doing the Virgin London Marathon this year (he's done a few and is aiming for a good time this year).  He has written the piece below outlining his Marathon preparation and has been kind enough to let you into some of his tricks and tips.   Enjoy. 

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RICH'S PRE AND POST MARATHON PREPARATION

Although it may seem stupidly obvious , here are some pointers to get you to the start line stress free;

RACE CHECKLIST

TRAINERS
VEST / SHORT SLEEVE
SHORTS
SOCKS
SPARE PINS
BODYGLIDE / VASELINE - ( KEEPS CHAFFING DOWN)
PLASTERS (AS GOOD AS BODYGLIDE BUT PROVE PAINFULL TO REMOVE AFTER RACE)
PRE / POST RACE CHANGE OF CLOTHES
MARATHON REGISTRATION FORM
SPARE LACES - (GROWN MAN IN TEARS WITH SNAPPED LACES AT START LINE IS NOT A PRETTY SIGHT)

PRE RACE

When going to collect your number (either london expo or berlin or New York). Make sure you soak up the atmostsphere. These are great places to get hyped up for the Sunday. Meet fellow runners , have some pasta , check out other marathons to do and most of all....collect your number

**DON'T FORGET YOUR REGISTRATION FORM**

You will not be running without this or if you are late to the expo. Leave plenty of time to get there. If you are going down on the Saturday to London the expo closes at 5.00. Make sure you are there in time. At 5.01 all remaining numbers are schredded .

FOOD

A common misconception is that the important pre marathon meal is the night before. This is incorrect. All the energy you will need for the marathon will come from a meal on the Friday night (if you are racing Sunday). There is no sense is filling your stomach will spag bol the night before the marathon as it will have little or no effect.

Alot of races will of course have water station and then special drink stations ( london - lucozade / berlin - bassica /New york - gatorade) . In either case if you are intending to take on these additional drinks it is advised you practice with them on your training runs. It is not uncommon to see running ill by the road side because their body does not get on with a certain drink / supplement. This should also be taken into consideration if considering carrying extra gels / bars extra. Especially bearing in mind ;

* bars / sweets are not easy to consume when you are runnning and dog tired
* Some gels such as lucozade require water to help absorbtion into your system. It usually takes around 15-20 minutes for a gels effects to get into your system. For for example there is little point consuming a gel at mile 24 in a marathon.
* If you do not want to have the hassle of consuming water with your gels , you would want to be looking at isogel by HIGH 5 or GOGEL by SCIENCE IN SPORT.

Whether it is night before or morning of the race, always stick to your normal pre run eating habbits. Never do things you wouldn't normally do. Some people run very well with porrage or mussli. Personally I have always got got on well with scrambled egg on toast with a touch of marmite and then a bannana about 90 minutes before the race start. When consuming fluid mid race , little and ofton is the best policy . It is quite difficult to consume liquid without slowing down too much or feel like it is sloshing around inside your self. I would reconmend drinking half and then throw the rest away (there are enough water / energy drink stations)

MID RACE

Soak up the atmostsphere and have fun. Thats what it's all about

FINISH

Keep smiling (you maybe on tv). Once you are through and have regained your baggage from the trucks. Get some of your post race clothes on . It maybe pouring down or it maybe 28 degrees. Either way in a marathon your body has a natural cooling procedure to get rid of sweat and this carries on after you have stopped and so you will get cold quickly once you've stopped. Remember to pack bottoms + a top / maybe 2 + coat and hat. Have change of clothes for all finish line weather conditions. Also baring in mind you maybe having a long journey home after the race.

One final thing to remember....

**HAVE A GREAT RUN, A FANTASTIC TIME AND SEE YOU IN THE PUB **

best of luck

Rich , Daz and Andy (other York staff)

Darren is competing on Saturday April 9th in Birmingham at the National 12 stage road relays. He will be proud to be representing the york shop as part of the steller Leeds city AC a team. A week later Darren will again be flying the Up and running flag as well as the Leeds ac flag again when he will be competing at the Virgin London marathon.

Andy our resident track runner and talented musician in his spare time will be making his marathon debut at the Brighton marathon on Sunday the 19th April. Andy is hoping for anything under 4 hours. But as we all know, finishing a marathon in itself is a huge achievement. Upon finishing this Andy is hoping to return to the track to have a dabble with 500m and 800m.

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So there you go.  Thanks to Richard.  Of course Virgin London Marathon is one of the key events on the calender but the tips above can be used for any marathon.  If you need some advice about running any distance then please do feel free to contact any of the U&R shops and speak to one of our experienced staff.