A week before the half-marathon

Blame it on the democratization of the mouse and the keyboard that all of us novices also get to write blogs on running!

This one is rather on the last week’s run-up to a half-marathon; and the ideas purely belong to the time spent with feet on street last night (on the practice run).

Here are 7 of my mantras that might work just fine in the last week before your run:

1.       Patience vs Practice: Have the patience to wait for the final run and not get carried away to go all out in practice run and also keep that practice going on, though taper it.

2.       Familiar roads: Running on the actual event route makes a lot of sense. You get a feel of the local conditions like road surface, bumps and twists & turns. In the case of Surat marathon, it’s the headwind you gotta get acclimatised with. Since it’s on VIP road, there’s reasonable headwind in one direction.

3.       The real rehearsal: Use the same gear and accessories planned out for the race day. Same clothes, shoes, hydration pack, etc. You would know what hampers and what compliments your run.

4.       Hydration: You already know hydration is mandatory. But what and how much are you going to carry? How often will you drink and hence need to refill? I’m sure there’ll be many like me who get tempted to not stop for hydration during the run and jeopardise the distance and stamina. Practice runs will also instil this discipline in you.

5.       Chaffing: Nipple chaffing is one of the most common physical discomforts (especially in men) when one runs long distance wearing a dry-fit t-shirt. (Add to it the humid climate of Surat in April and the prickly sweat it will give you.) If you’re running half-marathon or 10K, at least apply some lotion/ cream if not apply some taping on them.

6.       Run-tracker dilemma: Don’t get into the temptation of starting the run-tracker (watch/ phone) at the last time before the run. It’s a lot stressful and diverts attention. In the event, you’d anyway know the exact distance and also the time so chill out, start that tracker a little in advance and get over with it.

7.       Playlist: Ready that playlist well in advance and run with it too; you might be surprised how many of those songs on that list don’t make sense change it, change it again if the need be, and run with the final one to ensure it’s just the right music for your ears.