Folkestone Marathon Club Meeting Four:- 1.Taper 2.Final preparations

The Taper Why do I need to taper? You need to cool down your training before the Marathon so your performance peaks at the right time – on race day. To give the race your best shot, you’ll need to arrive feeling fresh and fully recovered from your training. How do I taper? Tapering doesn’t mean you should stop training altogether, just that you should cut back on the volume and intensity. It’s also a good idea to use the time you save on training during your taper to get some rest.

How long should I taper for? The length of your taper depends on the event you’re preparing for. For the Marathon (26.2 miles), a 3 week taper is recommended. If you’re running a half marathon or a 10km distance, taper for 2 weeks. For a 5km race, you’ll only need to taper for a week before. How will tapering help my body recover? Your training will probably have caused some muscle damage, left you mentally and physically fatigued, and used up the stores of carbohydrate in your muscles. Tapering your training before the race will help reduce the impact these factors have on your performance.

Muscle damage Marathon runners often find their legs give out towards the end of the race – the risk of this happening is increased if you’ve got sore muscles and tired legs before you start. Cut down your training nearer the race, particularly the long or intense speed sessions, and you’ll arrive at the Marathon with fresh legs. Fatigue When you’ve been training hard for a prolonged period of time (10 weeks or more), you’re likely to suffer from fatigue. And the longer you’ve been training, the longer you’ll need to taper to recover. Tapering will also help to combat mental fatigue and give you a fresh burst of energy – taper before the Marathon to give yourself the focus you need to keep going in the final stages of the race.

Carbohydrate stores Your body can only store a limited amount of energy in your muscles (around 600g of carbohydrate and a small amount of fat), and this store will have depleted during your training. So it’s important to maximise your intake of carbohydrate, and build your energy levels back up before the Marathon. Usually food intake is relative to your training - the more you train, the more you need to eat. But, by tapering your training and keeping your food intake the same, you’ll replenish your carbohydrate stores. Another good tip is to time your meals so you eat no later than 30 minutes after training – this will ensure you store less food as body fat and more as muscle glycogen.

Weeks to go MonTuesWedThursFriSatSun 3During By about This 10% of Week what Cut You Down normally Mileage Do miles no more than 1.75 hours 2Cut Last Down by week another10% onWhatYou did8-12 miles no more than 1.5 hours 15-6 milesStrides on the grass 6x90s 3-4 milesRest 1-2 miles Up to you RACE

Don’t worry, you will start to think if you are doing less training then all the good work you have done will disappear however your body will retain most of the benefits of endurance training for around 30 days Massage Many runners get a sports massage in the week before the Marathon. If you don’t regularly get massages and you’re not used to them, just get a very light massage or avoid it all together.

FINAL PREPARATIONS IN THE WEEK BEFORE TRAVEL 1.Arrange for your number collection at the expo, when are you going how are you going to get there (driving to London you will need to pay for parking at ExCel centre) 2.Read all instructions about race day travel until you clearly understand where you are going and how your going to get there. 3.Buy train tickets in advance, saves messing around on the morning causing extra stress 4.Do everything possible to make sure that you will arrive at the start line as smoothly as possible

KIT Make sure you have worn everything you are going to wear on race day and it has been through the wash. Do a trial run on your last long run a week before. A nice new charity vest looks good but if not tried out it could rub or chaff. Again shoes make sure your have worn your race day shoes, don’t go to expo get tempted by a new pair and wear them!! Put your number on your vest and your chip on your shoes the night before (you wont believe the people I seen struggling to get them on at the last minute). Take spare clothes so that you have a complete dry set of warm clothing to put on at the end of the marathon. Kit bag – I usually take a ruck sack with all my kit in which I can carry on both shoulders. This will then fit neatly into the plastic kit bag they provide. I found if you just use their bag it starts to cut into your should when it is heavy and you are tired!! Make a list of everything you think you will need

Kit-List. NumberTowelPhone ChipToilet PaperMoney VestLucozade Drink ShortsRecovery Drink SocksMalf Loaf Racing ShoesBanana GelsSpare T-Shirt Gel BeltSpare Leggings VaselineSpare Jumper Sun GlassesSpare Socks PlastersSafety Pins GarminRunning Gloves WatchBlack Sacks InstructionsTrain Tickets

General  Toenails – cut them mid-week not the night before!  Sleep – Try and get a few early nights in the week before. You will probably feel excited or anxious on the Saturday night and feel that you can’t get to sleep. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got the extra rest in during the week this wont affect your performance

FOOD & DRINK Week Leading up to Marathon o Make sure that the foods you are eating are high in carbohydrates. Mid morning snacks have dried fruit (cranberrys) or seeds, nuts. o In the last three days they recommend you take 7g of carbs per KG of body weight – so someone who weighs 72kg would need 504g per day. This could include rice, pasta, baked potatoes, porridge etc. o Also in the week before get you body well hydrated, what I tended to do was have a 500ml bottle of water on my desk and drink a bottle in the morning and a bottle in the afternoon. (Beware you WILL make more toilet trips). As well as my normal liquid consumption. Most of us are guilty of not drinking enough!!

RACE DAY Breakfast Don’t try something new on the day, practice before your last long runs what you are going to eat. My self I would have a small bowl of porridge and a toasted bagel with jam on and a cup of coffee. I would also make sure that I have this at least 3 hours before the race starts. On route to the start I take with me a 500ml bottle of Lucozade Sport (or whatever you preference) and sip it over the 2 hours before the start. You should be well hydrated from all the extra water you have been having all week. If you drink to much then you will arrive on the start line feeling bloated and even if you have just been to the toilet I can guarantee you will want to go again!! During Race After 3 miles there is water at every mile marker, so plenty available. Beware though if you drink to much your body wont be able to absorb it and it will just be sloshing around in your tummy. I think a good option would be to take on water every 3 miles. But it is your personal preference and I will leave it up to you. You will also get a couple of Lucozade /Gatorade stations and some gel stations. I would recommend you take your own gels which you are used to. You need to take the gels before your body actually needs them as it will take some time for the body to absorb them. I would probably go for something like 6m, 12m,18m & 24m.

FINAL PREPARATIONS RACE DAY Breakfast – Already covered Kit – Already covered and packed night before Travel – Already covered BUT arrive at station in plenty of time. TOILETS – Go before you leave home, try on the train, try again as soon as you arrive at the venue. If you leave it too late then you will probably have to wait in some long queues. Take a couple of black dustbin liners (or poncho’s if you have them), one to sit or lie on whilst you are waiting and one to wear once you have handed your kit in. Men – plasters on your nipples (might want to do this before you leave home), if it is a cold damp day it can avoid a lot of pain later!! Vasaline – under your arms, tops of legs, top of your bottom

Get ready fairly early and have your kit bag ready to take to the luggage trucks, leave it to late and the queues will build up again. Once this is done, if you still have time go for that last wee, or sit on your black sack and relax. Check your shoe laces are double tied and done up tight, the last thing you want on your big day is to be stopping to tie your laces back up, which will be difficult in that big crowd.

FINALLY RELAX SAVOUR THE ATMOSPHERE FEEL PART OF IT BECAUSE, YOU ARE!! You have done all the training, you have run through rain, wind and snow countless times to get to this position. There will be thousands of people there who have not trained as hard as you, so BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

HAVE A GREAT DAY BE POSITIVE ENJOY THE CROWDS SUPPORT & THOSE AT LONDON MEET ME AT THE END TO TELL ME YOUR NEW PB!!!!!!