running my 1rst 13.1

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midmomike2
midmomike2 Posts: 213
in Food and Nutrition
I will soon be running my 1rst 1/2 marathon and it has me excited,nervous,anxious,and scared to death...other than that I am pretty stable:laugh: I did have a couple of questions if anyone could help....1) I have heard of "carbing up" before a bigger race like this, my question is how often and how much? I have heard evrything from the night before have a pasta dinner to increase your daily carb intake for 2-3 weeks before a big race....2)how to train mentally....I've been following(mostly) a training program for about 10 weeks now,gradually increasing mileage along the way. I think if the race was today I could do it, however when I'm on those longer runs of 8, 9 ,10 miles it really becomes a struggle at times to mentally keep going. Any advice?

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  • Lauraph
    Lauraph Posts: 79 Member
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    First, you need to start practicing your race day nutrition with your long training runs... including how you fuel and hydrate in the 2 days before your long run. That will help you know what to expect race day.

    I generally follow a lowish-crab diet and don't really "carb load" the night before. I just start adding a few more carbs into my meals starting 2 days before the race.

    So where my regular diet might look like this:
    B: sausage/veggies
    L: salad with protein
    D: protein, veggie

    My pre race days would look like:
    B: sausage, veggies, sweet potato
    L: salad with protein and fruit
    D: protein, veggie and butternut squash and fruit

    Note - I eat more than this, but this is just an example...
    Also, making sure you are hydrated starting slowly a couple days before... not getting water logged the day before.

    Race morning - I am up a couple of hours early.
    Coffee
    B: sweet potatoes/protein - 1.2-2 hours before race
    S: banana one hour before race
    race
    recovery meal

    During your long runs you should also be practicing fueling. I do believe in using gels for this, but you have to practice before the race to know what is going to sit well with your body. I like Accel Gels because they have carbs and protein. You also have to practice the frequency. Some people like every 30 minutes, etc.

    Good luck! When is the big day?


    Edited to add....
    I forgot the mental part. That is the hardest part for me and it takes consistent practice. I found a book called "With Winning in Mind" by Lanny Bassham that has a lot of good techniques.
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
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    During your long runs and on race day, glucose is your friend. The week before the race, I'd watch sodium primarily. The night before, it might be a good idea to eat some pasta or something, but it probably won't make that much difference. The morning of races, I've been eating a serving of Oatmeal with Dark Karo syrup or Molasses as a sweetener. My plan on my next half is to drink 250mls of 7% glucose solution 5 minutes before the race, then to take a gel at miles 2, 5, 8, and 11 and hydrate when I take the gels.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    My personal philosophy is to eat high carb every day to support the training load. That normally is between 300 to 500 carb per day depending on that day's training. For a race week you probably should be reducing training all week to rest and increasing carbs some all week to ensure your carb stores are full on race day. Don't make the mistake of overheating the night before. The morning of the race eat several hundred calories a couple hours before and then if you want to another hundred or so right before the race starts. A gel is good for that last hundred because it digests quickly and is available for energy.

    Also, make sure you get to the race early so you can go to the bathroom. I guarantee that you will need to go and the lines will be long.

    As far as the mental part, I think that just gets easier with more training. As you continue to get in shape those longer runs become less of a stress on the body and easier to handle mentally. For training I also usually listen to podcasts on an iPod to keep my mind entertained.

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