Race Advice re: "water stations"

Is winning your goal or to have fun?

Whatever you do during your training plan to mimick in your race. If you find that you don't need to hydrate during your training, you will probably be fine. If you start to amp up your mileage and realize you need to hydrate or add some energy, do the same thing during your race. I have heard many people who do longer runs say that the best advice they ever got was to walk through the water stops. I haven't done any runs that long *yet* so I can't give an opinion on that.

i always walk stations - grab a cup of water at the first, drink while walking and then grab one towards the end - for a 15k likely won't need food

I have a little 6oz bottle that is in an easy access pouch with a magnetic flap on it - I don't want to stop for aid stations either and carry it if I think I'll need it. It's light enough and secure enough that I barely notice it. I didn't reach for it at all on my last 10k but I was glad of the option.

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Silent_Soliloquy wrote: »

Thank you so much @Duck_Puddle ... that gave me a real feel for what to expect.

I guess i expected like a place where people actually stopped and ask for water, or a sports drink. The ability to have a quick gulp on the fly sounds awesome... and wont impact my time on the scale i am aiming for (90 minutes was my original my goal).

It’s absolutely a quick on the go thing. Even if the cups are on the table; you still just grab and go.

If they have Gatorade and water at the same stations, they are usually split apart the same way at each stop so you know what you’re grabbing.

If you do need to actually stop (for anything at the water stop) - wait until you get after the actual table and then go off to the side - otherwise you’ll get run over.

It’ll all flow perfectly and you’ll see lots of people in front of you-just do what they do. It’ll be great.

Good luck!

Most people are not going to need much water at all, or a gel, for a race of that distance in early spring.
I would guess you are going to want to run through the water stations, maybe grabbing a paper cup of water as you do, and drinking it as you run.
Have fun!

Silent_Soliloquy wrote: »

Thanks!

Little off topic ... but if a 55 minute 10k is easy ... do you guys think a goal of sub 90 min is a good time to shoot for ?

I think sub 90 minutes might be a bit conservative. You're already doing 10km at 5.5 min/km and 90 minutes is 6 min/km. By race day, the adrenaline and the crowds and the mass of people running with you will probably make you a bit faster than your training runs. Personally I'd say around 80 minutes might be a better goal if you want to race it.

On original topic, I would recommend you slow to a walk and drink something at each of the four stations (funnel style as suggested above), just because you might be running harder than you think you are, and dehydration is really uncomfortable, even for 15km. I don't think you'll be needing much carb intake for this distance, but if they have sports drinks at all the stations, you could drink some at station 2 and/or 3 just to make sure you don't tank. This will add maybe a minute to your total time. Personally I might skip station 4 to save 10-20 seconds depending on how I feel.

Oh and you've totally got this. There is very little possibility of hitting the wall at 15km. Fitness-wise, you could probably run that race tomorrow if you wanted to. Just try to resist going out too fast. Aim for negative splits and enjoy your race!

We're running the same race! Hopefully it won't be cancelled again (last year there was freezing rain/snow/mix and they cut it to only the 5k).

As for water, I agree that whatever you do in training is what you should do on the day of the race. Definitely hydrate beforehand. Have you been training outside? You might find you need more or less based on the weather.

For me, getting behind on fluid is impossible to catch up. Walking the water stops to have a quick drink is unlikely to significantly affect your time. On the other hand, being trashed the last 5k will.

Sounds like you are well in control. That time of year for an 80-90 minute event you shouldn't have to be too concerned with heavy hydration. Take it when your body is asking for it, no need to force. It's easy to get caught up in the race excitement and go out too hard, so if you focus on taking the first 5K on the easy side and get into a comfortable cadence you'll be in good shape. Picking off people in the last half will be plenty incentive to increase your pace and race well if you have something left in the tank. Good luck and have fun!

Silent_Soliloquy wrote: »

Full disclosure, i dont even know what a corral actually is ... like physically.

If i have to start way back, does the time getting me up to the official start count against me ? Im inagining that could be 3 minutes or so ?

Usually corrals are marked with signs within the starting line area. You just line up in the area for your corral and then start in waves.

The majority of races I've run in that have corral start times have a "gun time" and a "chip time." The gun time is when the first wave starts, the actual start of the race. But your official time is your chip time, when the timing strip on your race bib (or a little plastic thing attached to your shoelaces) crosses the actual start line. That way the time doesn't count against you, everyone is timed from the same spot no matter when they actually begin the race.

I was in corral 4 for a marathon last weekend and we probably started 8-9 minutes after the first group started.