The week before the marathon

The week before the marathon

Have plenty of rest, an easy training.
The last three days before the race, eat a lot of carbohydrates. Carbs provide the body with glycogen. Glycogen is our fuel to run. Eat pasta, rice and potatoes for lunch and dinner.
Drink plenty of water. Proper hydration is important to succeed a marathon.

4) Mental preparation: be focus

If you want to succeed your marathon, you have to prepare it also mentally. This is an important part in your success, more than what you think. You have to be focus. If you are focus, the race will be easier. If you are focus, you will take the good pace from the start, not too fast, not too slow.
Take few minutes everyday to think about your race. Imagine when you arrive at the start, the start, 5k, 10k…21k…30k…40k…42k, see you Successful and Happy. For the ones who never run a marathon, feel the Happiness to finish your 1st marathon, for the others, imagine a PR. Believe me, it’s not a joke. I run for 30 years and the races I prepared the most mentally were the most Successful. I could give you many examples of friends or me who ran wonderful races without to be at our top physically but perfectly prepared mentally.
To be Happy to run your marathon is important. You’ve chosen to run it; you’ve prepared it for weeks, now go for it.
To prepare mentally, relax during 15’ morning before you get up or evening after your shower or before to sleep and visualize your race. Be positive and grateful. On the race day, it will make the difference.

5 )Race day

- Not easy to sleep with a start a 2 am but you have to try to sleep few hours.
- Eat carbs for your dinner.
- Drink water and energy drinks. If you lose as little as 2% of your body weight in fluids it
can affect your performance by 10%. Drink small amount but often. If you expect to run
4hrs or slower, be careful not to over drink and develop hyponatremia (water
intoxication: when a runner loses a lot of sodium through sweat and consumes a great deal
of plain water. This combination may dilute sodium level in your blood).
- Prevent chafing by applying some Vaseline on your nipples, armpits, inner thighs, feet.
- Run at even pace (be focus).
- During the race, eat some bananas, gels, energy bars… it will provide you some
carbohydrates that will help you to last the race.

6) Don’t do…

Nothing new on the race day:
- No new shoes, try them at least 3 times before.
- No new drink.
- No new food.
- No new clothes.