Race Week Flight Plan

Photo Credit: Flickr | Jan Kraus licensed under CreativeCommons

You’ve logged the miles, you’ve done the crosstraining, you’re just a few days away from race day. BUT, do you have everything covered? With just a few days left until you toe the line, we've outlined a 'flight plan' for you that practically guarantees you'll have a positive experience on race day.

Monday–

–Identify your race day wardrobe.

Make sure whatever you choose is something you’re comfortable running in. Ideally, whatever you wear is something you've used during your training cycle. You want to avoid trying anything new at this stage in the game.

Additionally, keep a close eye on the weather forecast and plan accordingly. You want to plan for both ideal and 'less' than ideal conditions. Bringing a few different wardrobe options accounting for both scenarios would be wise.

–Scout the course.

Any race worth its salt posts course maps, elevation charts, course descriptions, and other relevant information about the course on their website. Set aside some time to review all of this content. Where are the challenging parts of the course? Are there any hills? Is there anything about this course that's different from what you've done during your training?

Take note of anything you find and keep it in mind as your formulate your pacing strategy. You may need to dial back your pace/level of effort during hilly segments. Conversely, you might want to leverage downhill segments to pick up a few seconds. It’s always a good idea to get the lay of the land before race day!

Tuesday–

–Nail down your travel plans.

You want to plan on getting to the race start AT LEAST 30-45 minutes in advance of the actual start. Figure out how you’re getting to the start of the race NOW. Don’t wait until later this week.

Arriving well in advance of the start of your race will give you time to use the restroom, warmup, and make your way to the start. If you're driving to your race in the morning, allow PLENTY of time! It will likely take time to find parking.

–Schedule a sports massage.

After weeks (months?) of diligent training, you may have some residual soreness/tightness. Now is the time to take care of this. Schedule a quality sports massage later in the week (a couple days before your race) to help knock out those last few kinks.