Getting Ready to Run a Marathon

Video Transcript

"Hi, I’m turner and I’m here to talk about race preparation as in the day before a race, what you should do, and the morning of a race, what you should do. Most important thing of all and I know you’ve heard it before, hydrate. Hydrate until you are practically super hydrated. There is a danger of over hydration, but I would not worry about it. Most of us are smart enough to realize when our body has had enough water. But the safe indication and I know its kind of gross, is that your urine is clear. Use that as an indication. Make sure that happens. If you have to get up and go to the bathroom several times during the night, that’s a good indication you’re hydrated. Drink the whole day before, especially if you have a morning race, because if you wake up at 5am thinking ok, I feel kind of dehydrated so I’m going to drink as much water as I can before this race, no. You will get bloated and you need all of that coursing through your system to make sure you’re body is used to it before hand. You do not want to feel that thirsty during a race, whether it be a 3 mile or a half-marathon it makes no difference whatsoever. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Stay away from alcohol entirely. I’d recommend doing this during your entire training regime, but that’s a different story entirely. Some people do not abide by that. Caffeinated drinks, sodas, anything with carbonated water I try to stay away from. Its no always the worst idea if you cant find a water source or don’t have a bottle of water on you and you say I’m gonna grab some lunch and have a soda with it. It is still hydrating your body, but I wouldn’t recommend putting that much sodium in your system the day before hand. So try to stay away from that for like a week before the race or so. Dinner. Dinner is probably the most key. If you’re running a 5k or a 3 mile race, I’d go with a simple pasta dinner, pasta and chicken. If you’re running a longer race in which you know you’re gonna need that extra bit of energy, get yourself some protein throw some beef in there, steak, spaghetti and meatballs, tofu if you’re used to the taste. Anything that will help you get that extra bit of protein.. And breakfast. For breakfast the next morning I would encourage you if you’re just doing a 5k or a 10k or anything like that, where you know you’re not going to be out on the race course that long, just eat a full breakfast, cereal on the lighter side, oj, milk isn’t that bad as long as you don’t do it in excess. But I prefer un-concentrated orange juice because it helps give you that vitamin c burst and its got real oranges in it. Take an energy bar so you can consume it about 30 minutes before hand. If you’re running anything longer than probably 10 miles, you really want to build up on your protein because you really don’t want to feel hungry during a marathon. "