Less Obvious Race Day Prep

I've done a lot of races in my life, probably 60 road races and a few OCRs. The obvious key to race preparation is a great taper, whether it's a couple days or a couple weeks. But there is so much that goes into preparing yourself mentally and physically for a race that is NOT as obvious as "eat more carbs."

1) Trim your nails. Toes and fingers. If you have long or manky toenails you will live to regret it. With OCR, fingernails being short are also critical. I normally keep nice, long fingernails, but a few days before the race I trim them as short as I can stand, and make sure I have no hangnails. Toenails must be as short as possible. Don't trim them on race day, since if you screw up you want to have some recovery time.

2) Take the day before a race totally, completely off. This is as much for mental excitement as physical recovery. You want to be DYING to get moving. You want to feel like a hyper dog that has been let out of a kennel. To that end...

3) Read a book that makes you feel like a BAMF. Some of my faves: "Off Course" by Erin Beresini; Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Education of a Bodybuilder;" "The Long Walk" by Stephen King (seriously. You cannot feel sorry for yourself after reading a book wherein teen boys are shot in the head for stopping).

4) Make a list, like a physical paper list, of all the stuff you might need before, during or after the race. Start packing a week in advance. If you need a fuel belt or a Camelbak, revise your list down to bare essentials. Make sure you know what you're doing with your car key. Is there a bag check at the event? Know and plan for all of this in advance. You don't want to be stumbling around trying to get everything together on race day, or even the night before. Have all of your directions to the venue printed out beforehand, or plugged into an app or whatever the kids are doing these days.

5) I'm not much of a drinker. When someone asks me how many drinks I have I'll say "I dunno, maybe 2." They'll ask "2 a day? A week?" and I'll say "maybe two a year." But make sure one of those drinks isn't in the days before a race. Save the beer for after the race. It might not hurt but it certainly won't help. And do not, in the week before a race, introduce any suspicious foods into your diet. Thursday night is not the time to try the popular sashimi joint when you have a Saturday morning event.