Tip 13 Recovery after the race

It's the evening of race day. How did it go?

Congratulations if you finished, particularly if you got the time you wanted. Hopefully, you will have enjoyed the experience.

You have put a lot of effort into training for Ealing Half Marathon and so the question is now what happens next?

If you are an experienced runner, perhaps with more than one race in your calendar, you've already worked out your plan and know what to do

If you run half marathons infrequently, then here are a few tips

• be ready to have a few days (1-3 days) of normal living, no running, as your passive recovery

• if you want to use the time you would normally be running to do something running-related, have a think about how your training went and if there's anything you would change for next time

• you might also want to think about your next race to give yourself another target - but remember to allow yourself sufficent recovery time before you start another training plan

• after your passive recovery, it's worth having a phase of "active" recovery in which you do exercise but less than you would do in a normal training schedule - the reason for this is to encourage your body to heal after the race - this phase might last about seven to 10 days, giving you a total recovery period of eight to 13 days (one rule of thumb is that the number of days for which you shouldn't do serious training after a race is the number of miles in the race)

• Listen to your body to determine when you have recovered and are ready to start serious training again.

• if you have enjoyed increasing your mileage, you might want to consider a regular training routine in which you maintain your mileage at a higher level

Tip 12 The Final Week before Race Day

First of all, commiserations if, despite your best efforts, you won't be able to run on race day. Sometimes it happens - other stuff gets in the way or you get an injury. Don't worry - there will be other opportunities to run a half marathon; to do that fundraising you want to do; even to run Ealing Half Marathon another year. What you don't want to do is get an injury or make your injury worse by trying to do too much in this final week or on race day.

Congratulations to everyone who has been able to train and is now counting down the days to RACE DAY.

• It’s generally accepted that it takes 10 days to 4 weeks to benefit from a run so running further in the final 10 days will only make you more tired before race day without providing any benefit. Do sufficient running to keep you in practice without making you tired (perhaps 2 x 5k in the final week if you have time)

• Get some good nights' sleep earlier in the week as you may find that you are too excited to sleep the night before

• Check your toe nails a few days before the race and trim them if necessary

• Make sure you're well-hydrated in the day or so before the race

• Think about your strategy if it's cold or raining on race day - if you know someone who will be spectating in the earlier part of the race, it might be worth taking an extra layer which you can give to them when you've warmed up after some running (but beware if there's any risk that you might miss seeing one another)

• If you can avoid it, try not to do anything new in terms of new kit or diet (and know your strategy for gels / fuel during the race) - you don't want to find out on race day that the new shirt chafes or that a dish / gel doesn't agree with you

• Make sure you know how you are going to get to Walpole Park for the race - check if any roads you want to use will be affected by road closures for the race

• Remember your race number and don't forget to fill in the emergency contact details on the back and any medical conditions - just in case (read the race instructions email that has already been sent to you)

• The temptation is always to start too quickly when you're fresh; be content to go with the flow and don't waste effort overtaking in the first mile or so if everyone is going at about the right pace

• Enjoy the day!!!

Tip 11 The Art of the Taper (or how to be in peak form for your race)

I have been encouraging everyone to do their longest run (whether it's the full HM distance or not) about two weeks to 10 days before race day. It’s generally accepted that it takes 10 days to 4 weeks to benefit from a run so running further in the final 10 days will only make you more tired before race day without providing any benefit. Undertrained but fresh on race day is better.

So what are we meant to do in the final weeks before race day? I've had a quick look at articles on the internet and my main piece of wisdom is that tapering is an art, rather than an exact science, because it can vary so much from person to person. Here are some thoughts.

• Unless you've got a niggle, don't change your weekly routine (eg how many runs) too much because this will confuse your body - it's volume we want to reduce so that you have a chance to recover from all the training

• Don’t do any workouts that are going to leave you feeling sore. Rather than having your body trying to get back to normal health, repairing damaged muscle, you want it recovering beyond your previous strength levels.

• Reduce your overall weekly volume, but by no more than 25-30 percent (this presumably is why the suggestion for the penultimate week is to do 10miles) as the body may otherwise feel flat

• Often a taper comes after some of the heavier training loads building up to a goal race, and this can lead to immunosuppression and we see many getting taperitis or illness during the tapering phase, then blaming the taper for the onset of such illness or injury (Yes, the rest made you injured).

• Record what you have done as part of your record of your training so that you know what works or doesn't work for you for next time.

Tip 10 Rehearsal for Race Day on your longest run

Most people training for a half marathon will do their longest run (whether it's the full HM distance or not) about two weeks to 10 days before race day - so around 10 September for Ealing Half Marathon on 24 September. It’s generally accepted that it takes 10 days to 4 weeks to benefit from a run so running further in the final 10 days will only make you more tired before race day without providing any benefit. Undertrained but fresh on race day is better.

If you can, it's worth making this longest run a rehearsal for race day on the basis of (Tip 7) "Nothing new on race day".

• Try out the full kit you will wear on race day to make sure nothing chafes or rubs in the wrong places

• If you're intending to use gels, test your strategy

• If you can start your run at 9am, that will allow you to think about what you might have for breakfast or for dinner the night before.

Any other things to include in your race day rehearsal (and perhaps to purchase or to source in the weeks / days leading up to your dress rehearsal?

Tip 9 I've fallen behind in my training plan - what should I do?

Some people fall behind because they've been injured; others because life outside running has been too busy. So what are the best tips in this situation?

1. Don't run on an injury or if you're ill or recovering from illness. Peer pressure (including the pressure from fundraising) to encourage one another to get active is all very good but it's not worth the risk of making an injury worse or extending the period for which you are ill.

2. Don't try to fit all the missing runs into the shortened time period or otherwise overtrain - you simply run the risk of getting injured or overtired.

3. The Eagles / EHM training plan for people who started their 12 week training at around 10k level allows for a full distance recce 2 weeks before race day. Other training plans don't expect a HM distance before race day - you may find that you can do the extra distance on race day because you're rested or with the excitement of race day.

4. Know where you are and increase your distance gradually.

5. Adjust your race day expectations to allow for the training you've missed and appreciate that you may struggle a bit more on race day because of the missed training.

6. Keep to your two week taper / peaking period (when you reduce the amount of training you do) - it’s generally accepted that it takes 10 days to 4 weeks to benefit from a run so running further in the final 10 days will only make you more tired before race day without providing any benefit. Undertrained but fresh on race day is better.

Tip 8 Holidays and Recovery

So who has already been on holiday?

And who is about to go on holiday?

And do you run when you are on holiday?

This is a big question for people training for Ealing Half because the middle four weeks of a 12 week training plan are in August when many people are affected by school holidays.

In her blog, Eagles coach Rachel Job gives some tips on how to run on holiday (and still enjoy your holiday!)

Rachel’s #3 is “Be Realistic”

If you’ve got a two-week beach holiday in a hot location or an action-packed sight-seeing jaunt, are you really going to have time to fit in [insert list of all sessions for those two weeks]? Maybe this is an opportunity to factor a cut-back week (or two) and use it as an opportunity to rest and recover. You might find that you’re doing plenty more walking than you would normally do at home, which is great ‘time on your feet’ training.

And a cut-back week (or two) - as opposed to simply taking a rest day between runs - is good for you. The theory behind this is that we get fitter when we allow our bodies to recover / rest and the training we do is simply to stress the body so that it has to recover and heal stronger. The problem with giving the body a lot of stress by a lot of training is that most people won't know until afterwards when a lot of stress becomes too much stress and leads to injury.

Eagles who are not on holiday will find that the training plan included a cut-back week for the w/c 24 July with another one coming up w/c 21 August. If you are taking holiday at some other time, it makes sense to adjust your training plan so that the week(s) you are on holiday count as your cut-back week(s).

Tip 7 Nothing new on race day

Week 6 of your training plan will start in w/c 7 August 2023.

We are reminding you of the mantra "nothing new on race day" now so that you have time to check out anything new you might want to use on race day - perhaps

• that new Eagles vest (will it chafe in all the wrong places?)

• the new running shoes (shoes do wear out but will the new shoes be comfortable for a long run with my old socks?)

• new gels or even jelly babies (will they disagree with me?)

• the pasta dish I haven't tried in the past (again will it disagree with me?)

• running in the morning (people who normally run in the evening might want to think about what to have for breakfast or supper the previous evening so that they are sufficiently fuelled for the race)

Tip 6 Running in the rain

How have you been getting on with your training in some of the wet weather we’ve been having?

• Races will take place even if it is raining unless it is actually dangerous so it is worth doing some training in wet conditions to work out your approach (NB Thunder and lightning nearby counts as danger).

• Please take even more care when crossing the road (you may want to consider wearing hi-viz)

• If you do any significant amount of training off-road, then trail shoes (which have a greater grip) are a good idea for wet conditions

• You should also take into account how you will be travelling to and from the training run / race and whether or not there is a bag-drop

• If there is a bag-drop (or you are happy to carry a rucksack), it may be worth having some dry clohes into which you can change after the run and a towel (NB make sure that the dry clothes are in a bag that will keep them dry)

• A peaked cap or visor is useful to keep rain off your glasses or out of your eyes.

• A waterproof may keep the rain out but also stop your sweat from evaporating; if you do decide to wear a waterproof running jacket, it’s worth wearing a long sleeve top underneath to absorb the sweat and prevent condensation on the inside of the jacket as a wet jacket will then stick to your wet skin

• One approach is to acknowledge that you will get wet anyway and so to dress according to the temperature rather than according to the rain

• Think about how you will deal with puddles - depending on how many people there are around you, you may break your running rhythm (or risk turning an ankle) if you try too hard to avoid running through puddles

• Kit for a training run or race is often a matter of compromise

Tip 5 Listen to your body

aka it's not a good idea to run through pain.

More experienced runners should know their own bodies and when to investigate something that feels wrong. If you are in pain, it is a good idea to wonder why you are in pain so that you can decide if you need to rest or perhaps to get some medical advice. If you diagnose the problem early, you may be able to get away with simply resting whereas a pain that has been made worse by more running can stop people running for weeks or longer.

For many new runners to Ealing Half Marathon, the problem could be simply doing too much running in a short period of time and you may be able to solve it by resting and starting again later.

Tip 4 Recce - or at least check out - the route (if you can)

So is Ealing Half Marathon flat - or are there undulations or even "hills"?

There are a lot of places, even in the UK, by comparison with which Ealing is flat. One tip we've seen is "The three 'hills' (they're not terrible hills at all) are all over by mile 8, then it's flat/down from there on in. Really not worth worrying about!"

On the other hand, there is the great story of Ealing Eagles club runners training for the first Ealing Half Marathon with our normal training runs along the river and south of the Uxbridge Road and being a little surprised to find that Ealing north of the Uxbridge Road can be a little more undulating than Ealing south of the Uxbridge Road.

So, if you can, check out the route before race day.

Ealling Eagles is co-ordinating opportunities for local runners to check out the route - the first evening recce run is this coming Wednesday 19 July at 7pm meeting in Pitshanger Park by the cafe.

Tip 3 Increase your running gradually

If you've not been running much, for any of the numerous reasons why running is put to one side, don't try to get up to the current week of training for Ealing Half in one week. In particular, if you've missed the first week, don't try to do all the runs for the first and second week in the second week.
Look at:

• where you are (honestly),

• how much increase in mileage your body can normally cope with (do you get injured easily, can you cope with distances up to 10k easily but need to build up after that?)

and design your training plan based on these.
Here's a useful article about increasing mileage

Tip 2 You don't have to be great to start but you do have to start to be great

Really!!!

12 week training plans for Ealing Half Marathon start on Monday 3rd July.

Do you know what you plan to do the first week (to make sure that you spread out your training over the week and get sufficient rest in between)?

If you want some ideas for a training plan, do go over to the dedicated page for Ealing Half training.

And I know this is a silly point but, if you’re intending to put in all this hard work, please remember to enter!

Tip 1 Enjoy the training and the race

First tip - while you’re planning your training.

Don't over think it! If it's your first half marathon, the best advice is enjoy it! Don't stress about food, or water or special runs at special paces, that's just unnecessary tweaking. The most important thing you need to practice is RUNNING! Slowly. Unless you're injured then don't run! Get out there and get those miles in the bag. Everything else just falls into place.

If it’s your first half marathon, don’t even think about time. Go at a pace which is comfortable and at which you can enjoy the atmosphere.