Friday Five: 5 Things I’m Doing in Preparation for the Marathon

These next two weeks will (obviously) be mostly centered around the upcoming marathon. I’ve put in 16 weeks of work towards this one day, but I still have some things left to do to prep for the big day. These are probably so obvious, but here’s what I’m up to!

Making my bag-check packing list
For fall races especially, I do like to pack a post-race bag. I’ve been keeping a running list of things I need to pack in it so that I don’t have to scramble the night before the race to remember what I want/need. It’s usually pretty simple: some sweat pants, some kind of dry shirt/pull over, face wipes, a snack, etc.

Tweaking up my playlist
I haven’t been running with music during this training cycle so this actually won’t take much, but I know there are definitely some songs I tend to skip that can be taken off and some new ones I want to add. My plan is to take my shuffle with me, but I likely won’t start the music until later in the race when it gets quieter (but more on this another time).

Planning my race day clothes
I think I know which shoes I’m wearing, but the weather is still in limbo right now for me to completely pick out what I’m going to wear. I have two different things in mind, but it will really matter what happens over the next few days. It’s been in the 50s/high 40s most morning’s lately, but last year the temperature considerably dropped the week before the race and we found ourselves in the high 30s at the start.

Straightening up the house
My parents are coming into town for the race! I don’t want to wait until a few days before they arrive to try to get everything ready, so I’ve been doing some stuff in small bits around the house so that there is little to do race week before they arrive.

Focusing on recovery
I’ve been focusing on stretching, foam rolling, and getting enough rest. Not only do I want to make sure I’m fully recovered for race day, I want to make sure I avoid any last minute injuries. Walking the dogs seems to be the most dangerous task for me (I’ve strained my hip flexor and rolled my ankle on separate occasions). I visited my chiropractor on Monday who said my legs are in good shape for having run 22 miles on Saturday, so now I am working on keeping up with proper recovery.

16 days to go!

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