Are you ready to FTS out of the Charlotte Marathon? / Final Pre-blast

It is race week. If you’ve trained hard, you can consider this the victory lap. It just happens to be the race itself. I first heard Fishwrap call the race a victory lap and thinking of it that way feels right. The hay is in the barn. Now it’s just time to get your mind right and do it.

To best prepare each participant to do just that, below you’ll find your race week playbook. It’s a collection of wisdom from F3’s fairy godmothers of running (read: most of the below is a near exact cut and paste from correspondence with Freeloader, Postfontaine, Subway, Fishwrap etc.). Thank you guys, and you’re welcome everyone who reads it.

Before that though, here’s the #1 rule of race day / race week / race prep… don’t try anything new. You should have rehearsed everything. No new shoes or clothes race day. No new meals the night before, or gels, drinks day of. Race day should be auto-pilot, an auto-pilot victory lap that is.

TAPER / PEAKING WEEK
The Art of Peaking – Greg McMillan
There is an art to peaking and over the last 20 years, I think I’ve figured it out. It’s about resting the body and mind yet keeping the engine revved with a few workouts. It’s also about having a relaxed and confident mindset and strong belief in yourself.

Remember to get in a couple of easy runs, a tempo run, and most importantly some good rest.

RACE LOGISTICS – runcharlotte.com

FRIDAY

10:00 am – 9:00 pm Novant Health Charlotte Marathon health & wellness expo will serve as the packet pick-up for all events at the Charlotte Convention Center (501 S. College Street, Charlotte, NC, 28202) in Hall C-2. You must present a photo ID to pick up your Race Bib.

**Lunch**
Dudes uptown are grabbing lunch and picking up their packets. For those that want to gather and talk race strategies, we will plan to meet at 12:30 p.m. in the lobby of the convention center, at the top of the expo escalator. We’ll plan to walk across the street to one of the restaurants near The Green.

SATURDAY – RACE DAY

• 7:04 am Arrive at Roman Bearden Park and look for other F3’ers (we may or may not have a dedicated space #workingonit)
• 7:15 am Must be in start corral
• 7:30 am Full marathon, half marathon start

PRE-RACE ROUTINE / WARM-UP

• Wake up at standard F3 time 5 am- ish.  Immediately eat small bagel OR half bowl of oatmeal and peanut butter OR almond butter. Maybe half a banana (OR whatever you have tested and decided on). Start drinking water. And, take a slam … or 5. Always good to get that out of the way pre-race (be sure to use the confetti text-message feature on your iPhone to notify your fellow runners of your pre-race success).
• 7:04 am arrive at the park for BOM and/or pep talk from Fishwrap about how you are about to FTS out of your race. It will be chilly so no need to get there much earlier.
• Then, we run a warm up 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile and dynamic stretches
• 7:15 am – Arrive at start corral, take a Gu.
• 7:25 am – Move to front of the line pre-race
• 7:30 am RACE START
• Half marathon fuel strategy – Take Gu or Gatorade on the course at 4 mile and 8 mile marks
• Weather will be perfect.  Upper 30’s to lower 40’s. For the race, can wear throw away gloves and throw away hat (can discard somewhere in the first few miles).

FREELOADER’S PEP TALK CORNER
At this point, you are all well prepared. Physically, you are in a great position. The only thing now that is of equal importance is where you are mentally. At the end of the day, running is just pain management. For every one of us, there is going to be a point in the race where a little bit of you wants to quit. You will debate in your head and say “it’s not my day” or “it’s too cold” or “cold air hurts my lungs” or “gosh just a minute slower than my goal is ok”….this is all normal. Yep…normal people will give in. They will become what is referred to as a convenient competitor. And, you will achieve a normal result. Congrats. But….we are not normal nor should we accept normal. Believe me, you will remember the exact point where you lost a bit, where you decided that normal is ok….and…you will regret it. If you do only one thing, try this. When the body hurts and you want to slow down, DON’T! Step up. When you win that battle, it will stay with you.

And, for anyone not running, we would love to see you out on the course — your support and encouragement is greatly appreciated.

#1:30orBust

– 20/20 & Matlock