*MUSIC. If you run with music, make sure your i-pod is loaded and charged. This would be a great time to add a few new songs.
*ENERGY. Stock up on gels and bloks now. You may decide you don’t need them, but if you’re bonking at Mile 6 and you don’t have a double-caffeinated expresso Gu…bummer. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, right?
*REST. Plan to go to bed early tonight (Thursday). If you can get extra sleep on Friday night as well, great, but that’s always harder. I have a hard time sleeping the night before a new challenge, and besides, it’s Friday night in the holiday season! How many holiday parties are you planning to visit? So turn the TV off early tonight and hit the sack.
Note: Don’t panic if you don’t sleep well on Friday night. Some of my best runs were the day after a bad night’s sleep! The body steps in when needed, the endorphins start flowing early, and all of a sudden you’re going strong at Mile 5 with a huge smile on your face. And boy do you ever sleep well after the long run...
*HYDRATE. Drink up on Friday. Don’t drink a ton of water on Saturday morning, you could dilute your electrolytes and you’ll have to visit the bushes every half mile. I drink extra water on Friday afternoons. And since running should be part of a fun life (not a chore), don’t skip the party on Friday night. Just drink more water. Either skip the alcohol or make sure you drink 2 glasses of water for every alcoholic drink you consume. No more than 2 drinks on Friday night and we mean it!
Note: If you’re running in San Francisco on Saturday, you’ll run by water fountains at The Ferry Building. If you’re doing your own route, plan ahead for water. Either carry it with you in a hand-held water bottle or waist-belt, or make sure your run goes by water fountains. Public parks, grocery stores and shopping malls all make good water stops. You’re not going to want to drink loads of water on the run, that will just slow you down (slosh, slosh). But you’ll want some.
*EAT. Eat a dinner full of complex carbs on Friday night. Try to avoid new foods. This is not the time to have an “I can eat spicier food than you” contest at a Mexican restaurant, OK? Eat pasta. Eat bread. If you avoid gluten, eat brown rice and potatoes. Check the blog for more recipe ideas.
*EAT AGAIN. Be sure to have breakfast on Saturday morning…but don’t overdo it! By now you should know what your body likes to run on. Don’t get creative the morning before a long run. Eat your usual oatmeal or bagel or energy smoothie and eat it by 7:30 a.m. so you have time to digest it.
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Hey team! I did it! I ran 8 miles! I only "stopped" to walk 2-3 blocks while I ate a cliff bar. Really helped! And the tip of eating well the night before made such a huge difference. I hadn't really been paying attention to that before, and this time I made the potato/kale enchilada recipe from Veganomicon and ate about 6 of them! I sure can eat now that I am running this much. And I had a nice oatmeal breakfast... plus the weather was perfect in DC, in the low 50s I think. When I ran around the Lincoln Memorial I thought of all of you and for the first time felt like I could really do this!
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