This Saturday is the big day and we couldn’t be more excited!  And anxious.  And all the other emotions that come along with race week.  Three of our runners are newbies to the half distance and the rest of us are looking to log yet another 13.1 mile par-tay!!

We have been training for twelve weeks for the Cap City Half Marathon.  Through snow, sunshine, wind, rain, schedule conflicts, sleepless nights, El-Vaquero-food-coma-hangovers, injuries and lots of miles… we have almost made it to the starting line.  Our ladies have worked hard and are going to finish strong and look fabulous in our new race tees ~ we are ready!

Thank you #momo_inspire

Five Things To Keep In Mind During Race Week…

1.  Stay hydrated and eat healthy foods (with some clean carbohydrates).  Do you need to ‘carbo-load?’  Not necessarily.  Click HERE for an interesting article on carbs and racing.   A full-on PASTA PARTY isn’t necessary if you are running for two hours or less, although we are having one! Some favorite meals;

• Pre-race dinner ideas; grilled chicken (or other protein), small serving of pasta or rice (your carbs) and lots of vegetables. Fruit for dessert.  Nothing too heavy or spicy.  One glass of wine may help you sleep, but too many will dehydrate you so find some balance.
• Breakfast; your standard, pre-long-run breakfast ~ don’t try anything new.  For shorter races I just have a banana with natural peanut butter.  For longer races (halfs and fulls) I’ll throw in a piece of bread or half a bagel.
• Be careful of drinking too many fluids on race morning as you may be in the looooong port-a-pot line at the beginning of the race!

2.  Try to get a good night’s sleep on the-night-before-the-night before your race.  I’ve learned that its the ‘night before the night before’ race day that you have a chance of getting some rest… because the Eve of the race, most of us are a pile of nerves and don’t sleep well.  So for a Sunday race, you may not sleep well Saturday night (pre-race jitters, early morning rise & run), but try to get a good night’s sleep on Friday night.  Some bed-time yoga or a glass of wine may help you fall asleep on Race Day Eve.

3.  Make arrangements to get your packet at the expo.  Don’t forget this important detail!  This can be a challenge if you’re doing an out of town race and the expo ends at say, 7PM the night before, so plan accordingly.  We are meeting tomorrow, see details below.

4.  Plan out race morning.  Have your clothes, socks, shoes, race bib, safety pins, Garmin, race fuel, music ~ anything you need ~ laid out the night before (or even two nights before!)  Figure out where you will park, what time you need to leave, etc.

5.  RELAX!!!!!!  You have done the hard work!  You have likely logged a training run somewhere close to your race distance [we got in a 12 miler].  YOU GOT THIS!  Some like to do a yoga session or short, easy walk/run the day before to relieve some jitters and a SHORT jog to warm up the morning of.  Breathe, get some rest, be ready to take some fabulous pictures at the finish line!

Living Fit [Columbus] Run Club Event info ~ join us if you’d like! 

Thursday, May 1

• We will be meeting at Abitec (Peggy’s office) in the Short North @ 5:30 to go to the Health & Fitness Expo Party & Packet Pickup.  Abitec is close to Goodale Park and has plenty of easy parking.  The address is 501 W 1st Ave, Columbus, 43215.  We can carpool or caravan from here to the Expo.
• We will grab a bite to eat after (probably 6:30 or 7:00ish) at Northstar Cafe ~ Short North, 951 North High Street, Columbus, 43201.

Friday, May 2

• Chicken & pasta meal at the Gellenbeck’s @ 6:30[ish]

Saturday, May 3 – race day!

• Pre-race – We will be meeting at the Columbus Commons garage @ 7:00AM.  This gives us time for last minute potty stops and time to find the starting line.  The race starts @ 8AM, but runners are asked to be loaded into their corals by 7:40.
• Post-race – Join us at the Finish Line Party for some refreshments, high-fives and of course, photos!  We will determine a meetup spot when we get together Thursday night at the Expo.

Feel free to email Teresa @ LivingFitColumbus@gmail.com if you’d like to meet us for any of the events or if you have any questions.

That’s all folks!  

Have a great week and pray for no rain!  See you at the starting line, if not before.  We will close with some motivation…

 Photo credit to WalkJogRun