Meredith’s Training Diary: Nothing New on Race Day
Welcome to Training Diaries, a new Lifehacker series about my journey to the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon. This series will chronicle all the ups, downs and hills of repetition on my journey to the world’s biggest marathon. Ahead of race day on Sunday, November 5th, I’ll talk about proper fueling, injuries and setbacks, treadmill tips, wardrobe malfunctions, the logic of long-term running, and just some thoughts on what it takes to cross the marathon finish line. I live by a mantra that is simple and true: a marathon is actually hundreds of miles; Race day falls in the last 26 or so.
With race day less than two weeks away, I’m in the midst of an alarmingly shortened marathon. As I detailed in my last post , one of the best ways to redirect your pre-race nerves is to plan your race day. It’s funny how planning a marathon starts to feel like planning a vacation. Even finding transportation to the starting line is akin to preparing for the airport. You carefully consider what you’re wearing, what you’re going to eat along the way, what emergencies might arise.
With so much on the line and no place to put your nerves, it can be tempting to try something exciting and new—before or during the race—to gain an edge. Perhaps some fresh push or a new expensive fuel strategy. However, most running experts advise sticking with what you know to avoid setbacks on race day. This advice can be boiled down to a familiar running aphorism: “Nothing new on race day.”
My first marathon, I was young and daring. This is very different from who I am today: young and humble. And perfect! Although I had heard the advice of “nothing new on race day,” I assumed it was really just about fuel and shoes. I wanted to wear the brag-worthy new race shirt I bought along with my jersey. I mean, they are made for each other , right? Unfortunately, my new shiny shirt had a too high neckline, which started to annoy me around mile seven and didn’t stop annoying me until I tore it off after the race. It sounds like a minor detail, but it colored the entire race experience for me. When you’re running a marathon, you need to be able to focus on the mile you’ve completed . Not an unbearable irritation happening who knows where.
Moral of the story: Your desire to try something new will lead to easy self-sabotage. Here are all the variables that might tempt you to try something new on race day, and how you should resist their charm.
How to follow the “nothing new on race day” rule
Here are some tips for following the “nothing new on race day” rule.
Choose a fueling mode and stick to it.
Race day nerves can wreak havoc on your digestive system. Introducing something new can lead to GI problems that will ruin your race. Stick to the routine that has worked for you in your training and trust your preparation.
This means you should stick to your normal pre-race breakfast and normal training snacks and fluids. Do not try new energy gels, drinks or solid foods immediately before or during a race.
I can’t stress this enough: you should experiment during your workouts to see what your stomach can easily digest. The sugar and electrolytes in most gels and sports drinks can cause gastrointestinal distress if too much is taken. If you haven’t tried it on a run during training, don’t even think about trying it on a race.
Here’s my full post on proper marathon fueling.
Prepare your equipment in advance
The chafing is so real and so painful. Wear the same shoes, socks, shorts and shirt you wore for your long runs. Don’t release a new GPS watch or heart rate monitor. If you’ve never run a marathon before, you’ll be surprised how much of an impact gear can have on your mood during the race. I consider myself a pretty easy-going person, but a hat that’s too tight, headphones that are too lost, or an itchy sock will turn even the coldest of us into whiny monsters by about mile 20.
Plan your course strategy
Control the pace and splits you’ve trained for. Resist the urge to run too fast or deviate from your plan mid-race. This advice applies to all races, but it applies to the New York City Marathon more than most races: go slow. From the adrenaline of the cheering crowd to the pressure of over 40,000 runners, it’s hard not to accidentally speed up. But if you come out of the gate too fast, you’ll screw it up at mile 20 . Here’s my post about the power of what I call “cruise control.”
Plan your recovery strategy
Use the same post-race fueling and hydration strategy that you used during long-distance training. Don’t try new protein powders or recovery drinks.
Trust the process
Bottom line: Marathon training is all about trusting the process. But for the process to be at least somewhat trustworthy, the controllable must be controlled. On race day, the course itself will be new—don’t make new equipment, fuel, or strategy. Follow the “nothing new on race day” rule so that the only surprise is how good it feels to be cheered by the crowd at the finish line.