Less Than 24 Hours Away

For the past several days, people have been asking me if I feel ready for this weekend's race. While I think it's only natural to feel a bit nervous, overall, I'm feeling pretty confident about this one. After weeks - months - of prep, I'm ready to toe the start line and finish with the time I want.

Although it's too late to make any fitness gains, here are some last minute steps I'm taking to help me race my best:

Today

• Reminding myself of everything I've done to prepare (upping mileage, three overdistance training runs, countless speed workouts, etc.)
  
• Reviewing my race strategy and visualizing how I want to run this race (going progressively faster through these three distances: 5 miles, 5 miles, 5k)
  
• Drinking extra water throughout the day
• Eating pasta for lunch and dinner

Tomorrow Morning

• Drinking 16 oz water + 10 oz sports drink
• Drinking a can of Ensure (my standard pre-race or long run meal)
• Pre-race warm up: one mile slow running, 4-6 strides, dynamic stretching

In addition to these steps, I also skipped this morning's shake out run. It was a tough decision to make since I hate missing scheduled workouts, but I think it was the right decision to make in light of a bit of soreness around my left knee. Nothing major though and it should be fine by Saturday morning after a day of rest.

How do you prepare yourself for a race both physically and mentally?

- ST