YOUR WEEK 10 TRAINING PROGRAM
April 11th – 17th
LONG COURSE
Developed for participants entering the 14.38km course
- Monday: 40min walk/run (5km)
- Tuesday: rest
- Wednesday: 30min walk/run (3km)
- Thursday: rest
- Friday: 20min walk (2km)
- Saturday: rest
- Sunday: Run for the Kids 14.38km event
SHORT COURSE
Developed for participants entering the 5.2km course
- Monday: 10min walk (1km)
- Tuesday: rest
- Wednesday: 20min walk/run (2km)
- Thursday: rest
- Friday: 10min walk (1km)
- Saturday: rest
- Sunday: Run for the Kids 5.2km event
WE HAVE turned into the home straight and are heading towards the finish line of our marathon journey, with only six days to go until race day.
The training for this week is all about freshening up physically and mentally for the big event.
What I have listed is the most you should do in this lead-up week and, if you feel like it, you can do less.
I actually like to keep my legs ticking over right up until the race, but it is very much an individual thing.
What you need to do is remove all other distractions from your life this week.
No interstate trips, late-night parties, filling in for your friend as a replacement in the mid-week sports team or unusual physical work.
These activities can disrupt your body's need to store up all its energy, or add mental stress that will lessen your focus towards race day.
I often find that people have all this extra energy in the last week as they have reduced their training, and so they offset this by doing other activities.
Do not let this simple mistake spoil more than two months or more of dedicated training. Here are a couple of other tips.
MAKE sure you get plenty of sleep in the nights leading up to the night before (just in case nerves or the early rise to get to the start mess with that final night of sleep).
EAT plenty of carbohydrates (pasta, rice and/or potatoes) in this final week before the event to maximise your energy levels.
DON'T drink alcohol for a couple of days before the event as it dehydrates you. Continue to drink plenty of water and electrolyte drinks right up to race time.
PLAN ahead by putting your clothes and shoes out ready with numbers and timing chip in place. And have your bag packed the night before and carry some spare toilet paper on you for emergencies.
LEAVE early for the event as traffic and public transport may be disrupted or slow you down unexpectedly.
REMEMBER, you will be exercising with 20,999 or 11,999 other people, so try to be patient before, during and after the race.
Most of all, enjoy the day. You deserve to make the most of it after a road well-travelled.
And I'll see you there at the starting line on Sunday.
