Nicks Running Tips: Race Preparation

This month’s running tips from coach Nick Haugher: Race Weekend Preparation

So, you’ve completed the training block, and your target race is upon you. Congratulations! Race day itself, and the days leading up to it can be chaotic, exciting and stressful all in one. A lot of work has been put in to this performance and I understand the feeling of wanting everything to go according to plan. The final piece of the puzzle is focusing on the race weekend necessities and executing these things to the best of your ability. Focusing on the small things surrounding race weekend can make or break your performance. So here are some tips on how to nail the logistics along with the things I focus on personally to make race weekend a success.

Plan ahead!

Whether your race is in a different country or merely down the street from home, planning ahead is an absolute must. What does your travel look like? How soon before the race will you arrive? How early will you begin your warmup and for how long? Running through the logistics of travel, expo/packet pickup, and even planning breakfast or dinner in advance takes the worry out of race day. The thing I tell my athletes is: “the less thinking on race day, the better”. Conserving your mental energy for race day itself will allow you to bring the best version of you to the most important part of the weekend and that is the race.

Stick to a routine that you know best.

My next piece of advice I tell my athletes is, “when in doubt, do what you normally do”. The last thing you want to do on race weekend is make any changes to your normal routine. This can be tricky when traveling for a race. Being away from home and away from a normal routine can be stressful. I travel a lot for my races and understand how this can feel. Some things I like to focus on are meals/meal times, hydration, and sleep/wake times. There is a lot going on during race weekend and sticking to my normal routines keeps me grounded and calm. To execute this well, ask yourself what you normally do before a workout or long run. That will look like, waking up and going to bed at the same you normally do, or eating a similar meal the night before and morning of the race that you would normally eat. This makes everything feel familiar and reduces the stress associated with race day.

Weather!

As we just saw with the NYC marathon, weather can play a big factor in the outcome of a race. While we can’t change what the weather will be, we can absolutely change how we prepare for it. The first thing to focus on no matter what the weather looks like, is hydration. Hydrating the days leading up to a race is a must. Intake of plenty of water and electrolytes will prep the body for what is to come. For the recent New York weekend, I had my athletes drink electrolytes before bed and first thing upon waking up, as the heat and humidity was high compared to years past. Another strategy was to hold something cold in their hands before and after their warmup as well as during the race itself. This strategy helped my athletes stay cooler as the palms are a spot where heat dissipates quickly and efficiently. But, sometimes the weather is cold. In this instance, I advise my athletes to have layers on before and after the warmup. The key here is to avoid shivering, as that burns a lot of energy—energy you want for the race. Having layers on for as long as possible then shedding the layers once completely warm and racing is a great strategy.

Nutrition!

We’ve all heard it before, “CARB UP”. Well, I am here to reinforce it. Carbs are a key piece to race day. The body’s storage of glycogen is going to be the main fuel source for most races. The body will burn glycogen almost exclusively during aerobic exercise and if prepped properly, will fuel you to the finish. My suggestion is to start consuming more carb heavy meals and snacks around 5 days in advance to race day. If you find it difficult to get more within the 3 standard meals, then I suggest adding 1-2 snacks in between meals to help give you a buffer. The key here is focusing on this days in advance. Your body will store these excess carbs more efficiently as you increase the carb intake leading up to the race. The excess carbohydrate will leave you feeling better than you think as you push to new levels chasing that PR.

Visualize the race.

We all want race day to be a success. After weeks and months of preparing, and pushing to new levels of fitness, nailing the race is an incredible feeling that should be a priority. An intangible thing that I incorporate in my racing and believe leads to a lot of success, is taking time to visualize both success as well as failure/adversity. The way I do this is I sit down and close my eyes. I picture the race unfolding, I see myself making strong moves, feeling my best and hitting my top goal. After taking myself through this, I then restart and visualize something happening in the race that is difficult. This might be losing contact with the group I was running against, or stopping to tie my shoe, anything that is a hardship within the race that I don’t want to happen I try to see clearly. The key here is, I then see myself overcoming this obstacle. I see myself catching the group, and running hard against them and maybe even winning the race. Taking yourself through these types of mental exercises will prepare you for anything that may happen in the race, and will lead to more successful races.

Have fun!

My final piece of advice for race day/weekend is enjoy it! We train hard for the moment where we get to see just how far we have come. Racing should be the most exciting part of the running journey. You will get to discover more about yourself not only as a runner but as a person as you push yourself to your limits. Giving yourself the space to be excited about the race will only help you preform to your absolute best on the day you care about most. So go out there and enjoy every moment of it!

About the Author:

Nick Hauger is a two time All American from the University of Portland. He has been running professionally for NAZ Elite sponsored by HOKA for 3 years. His PR’s consist of 13:55 in the 5k, 28:43 in the 10k, 1:03:48 in the half marathon and 2:12:59 in the marathon, and he holds the American Record for 10 miles run on the track. Nick likes to place an emphasis on assigning a variety of workout types so that runners can toe the line with confidence knowing they have felt all sorts of pacing types in training.

“Running is a discovery of finding out just how far you can go, and that begins with confidence in yourself.”

If you’d like to work with Nick, contact us to learn more about our virtual running training programs.