HOW TO COPE ON RACE DAY

Press, 29 May 1981, Page 12

HOW TO COPE ON RACE DAY

By

JOHN DREW

A large- number of entrants in the Nike City of Christchurch International marathon on Sunday will be tackling a long-distance road race for the first time. Some might be a little worried about how to cope with the stresses and strains of the big day if a telephone call I received from a nervous novice can be taken as a reliable guide.

The caller was a woman, aged 31. married with one small child. Her training has often been as little as eight kilometres at a time because of her commitments to her family and her job as a teacher. She wanted to know how she should go about tackling the Nike halfmarathon. and what her expectations should be.

“As far as the Nike halfmarathon is concerned,” I told her, "it is too late to alter her training pattern very much. But you will have a better chance of coping to your satisfaction if you treat it just as a training run and a stepping stone to greater adventures later.”

The caller wanted to know about carbohydrate loading on the three days proceeding the race. Packing of carbohydrates for storage in the liver and subcutaneous tissues by stoking up on sweet things can prove helpful for some and not for others. The main fuels for running are carbohydrates and fats and what you eat of these the day before provides the fuel you need for the run. I go for three slices of toast, with plenty of butter, and tea on race morning.

That got me through the New Brighton 50 miles on April 4 okay with only water to drink on the wav.

I suggested, for my caller, a modified form of carbohydrate stuffing such as having a few more sweet things to eat or more starchy foods the day before the race. But, I . said, take very little food on the morning of the event. Have your last meal about three hours before. The Nike marathon has a 10 a.m. start so have your meal over by seven o'clock.

The caller explained she usually has toilet demands after eating breakfast so she always does her morning

training after just a cup or two of tea. She wanted to know if she could expect to finish on just a cup or two of tea and no breakfast as she didn’t want to be faced with pit stops on the run.

“Just do what you are ussed to doing,” I said. This brings up an important general principle to follow on race day: don’t do anything you are not used to or alter your routine or eat anything you do not know by experiment suits you. The slightest stomach upset can spoil your run.

That is because the first call on the blood supply is to deal with anything in the clcr.-ich which should not be there and, consequently, there is less blood supply available where it's needed to help you run:, to the heart, lungs and legs, to carry the fuel to the muscles and carry away the waste products generated by the contraction of the muscles. In this context, it’s worth noting that when the wellknown Australian ultra-dis-tance athlete. Tom Gillis, won the New Brighton 50 in Christchurch last month he had nothing on the morning of the run except two cups of black coffee. And he did a personal best time at the age of 40. Also, the “big sleep” should be two nights' before the run — not the night before. Regenerative sleep patterns go in 48 hour cycles. Anyway, I said, as far as the half marathon is concerned, you don’t need to get screwed up because it’s only a short distance. This remark caused a nervous laugh. But I assured her she need have no bother as long as she ran at a talking pace, with her peer group. You will go much better than you expect because you will have the excitement and emotional’ stimulus of being with a big group of others, and seeing the others running.

Don't be too proud to have brief walks long before you feel you want to walk, or have to walk. The investment in a few walks early in the piece can mean a considerably better overall time than if you force yourself to run non-stop.

Be sure to walk and talk or just dawdle at the feed stops so as not to rush your fluid intake. And ask your running companions, by arrangement beforehand, to adopt the same tactics. More important than food on race day is taking plenty of fluid. You can take fluid up to lOmin before starting time. And keep taking small, frequent drinks of fluid at each regulation feed station. Drink before you feel thirsty. If you wait until you are

The course for the Nike City of Christchurch International Marathon, shown above, is the same as that used for the Christchurch Commonwealth Games marathon in 1974. That race was won by lan Thompson, of England, in 2hr 9min 12s, still the fourth fastest time in marathon history.

- It is hardly surprising that the course has a reputation for being a fast one. The start and finish are at Queen Elizabeth II Park. The course is of the out-and-home variety, with the turnaround point being just short of Christchurch Airport in Memorial Avenue.

Those contenting themselves with the halfmarathon, which will begin lOmin after those going the full distance leave, will run as far as Peterborough

parched, an intake of fluid can be devastating in terms of cramp or vomiting, or tyorse.

Drink only what you are used to in training. Water is the best bet. Take sweet drinks only well on in the race. If you take sweet things too’ early, insulin secretion will nullify the fuel value of the sugar before you have time to use it.

If the day is damp, you will need less fluid, but take plenty all the same. Wear your well-tried and tested bld shoes. Bind up all toes and other foot areas which you know from experience can tend to blister on a long run with zinc oxide tape. And put plenty of vaseline on your feet over the top of the tape before putting on your socks.

Street before returning to the park.

In an unusual but sensible move, the organisers have provided for those who might get “caught short” on the journey. Seven rented toilets will be placed along the course — three at 6km, two at 11km and two at 16km. Seven wheelchair athletes have entered for the race, including the world champion wheelchair sprinter, Graham Condon, of Christchurch, who plans to complete the 42 kilometres in less than three hours. The wheelchair athletes will leave the start lOmin before the full-marathon runners depart at 10 a.m. The halfmarathon runners will start at 10.10 a.m. and most of these should have finished before the full-marathon runners reach the park.

Put plenty of vaseline on areas likely to chafe, like inside of legs and under arms, as well. Evaluate the weather. If it is cold, have extra clothing, say a singlet over a t-shirt, perhaps .with a long sleeved skivvy to protect from heat loss at wrists and elbows: and gloves too. If it is hot. make sure you dress appropriately Watch the forecasts. Weather can change abruptly in Christchurch. Set your watch at a zero mark at the start of the run so as to keep check on your elapsed time, easily, without having to do the simple arithmetic which can be difficult when the blood supply is deflected from the head to the legs, heart and lungs. Plan your pace. Check

your pace at each time call station. Start off really slow. Keep the pace down in the first third of the race. Throttle back in this phase because vou will be going faster than you think you are. anj’way. And if you go too fast for yourself in the first part of the journey your overall time will be worse and so will be the ordeal of coping with the closing stages. Try to sort out a group likely to go at your pace so that you will have companions at least for most of the run. Plan to pick up the pace in the middle stages and thus be able to pass your opponents who are by this time failing, faltering and strug; gling in the closing phases of the third sector of the journey.