Your Sunday runs can accomplish many things, not just training your body.  An important part of your training is the mental preparation for your race.  This is where you can get a bigger “bang for your buck” out of your Sunday runs.

Treat Your Long Run as a Race Day

You should treat your long runs as if they were a race day.  Doing this accomplishes many things and it does this by creating a familiar pattern.  When you follow this pattern for your race day you will be on familiar territory and so your nerves should be less affected with the result that your adrenaline levels will be lower and your heart rate should be affected less.

If you just turn up at race day having not practiced this routine you will be hyped up well before your race starts and this will definitely affect your race.

Prepare the Day Before your Long Run

Your long run should start the previous day, so a Sunday run should start on Saturday where you should prepare your running kit.

You could even possibly pin on a number as though it were race day (practice makes routine and routine makes for a relaxed race start).

You should plan and prepare your food strategy and get everything ready as if you were packing for race day.  Saturday evening you should eat a high carbohydrate meal and preferably get an early night.  Lastly, you should mentally walk yourself through your Sunday morning pre-race plan.

The Day of the Long Run

On Sunday morning (or whenever you’re doing your long run) you should rise early and eat your pre-race breakfast well in advance of your run.

Complete the run as per your schedule, not as if it were a race.  Remember, this is training for the race and not racing it.  However, mentally and physically you are replicating everything else to ensure you are well prepared and practiced for your race day.

 

There's a Lot More Where That Came From…

This article is a condensed snippet taken from Nick Mitchell’s information-packed manual How to Run a Marathon. Your essential manual to enable you to run a successful marathon includes training schedules, advice on everything you can think of and lots you probably haven’t even thought of! You need this manual if you want to cross the marathon finish line with energy to spare, in a personal best finishing time and with a big smile on your face. More details here: VirtualHealthClub.com/marathon