10k Do's & Don'ts

Pre-event thoughts for those of you running or walking the Bellin run (or any 10k)

1. The number one rule: Don’t do anything new on race day. That goes for new socks, shoes, shorts, shirts, foods, energy drinks and many other things you’ll be tempted to try. Bad idea!

2. Try to be well hydrated by race day. For sheer simplicity, this means that your urine should be very pale yellow or clear. An extra glass of water or two the day before will usually do it. That said, overdoing it can make for a very uncomfortable run.

3. Eat a normal light breakfast two to three hours before the run, but nothing too hard to digest. Most runners choose a ripe banana and cereal or peanut butter toast. If you haven’t eaten this breakfast before a run, pick something that worked well for you on a regular training run.

4. For a 10k, no special meal is required the night before. For this length event, your muscles already have the glycogen they need, so gorging or ‘carbo loading’ is unnecessary. Eating spicy foods or heavy, hard to digest foods is generally a bad idea. A light pasta meal and a salad can be a good choice.

5. If you normally drink coffee, be sure to have some with the light breakfast 2-3 hours before the run . A caffeine headache is the last thing you need! If you don’t drink coffee, now is no time to try it unless you’ve tried it on a training run with good results.

6. Use the bathroom at home or at the gas station on the way to the run. Waiting to use a porta-potty right before the run starts qualifies as my least favorite thing to do.

7. In the week and a half leading up to the run, you should be tapering your workouts. Your body gains fitness when it gets a chance to recover. With this in mind your last run should only be 2 miles two days before race day and the day before is a usually a 1-2 mile walk.

8. The most important tip: Smile. How amazing is it to be able to walk or run an event like this? Smiling will make you feel energized and help you in ways too numerous to mention.

Good luck to all of you! Karin too!!!