Should i run a 5k the day before a race

More: How to Fuel for a 5K. During race week, your running mileage should decrease. At this point, your training is really about "storing up" rest so your legs are ready on race day.

During the week, include two to three short runs with a few, small pick ups—short, snappy segments that get your legs moving faster and prepare you for the faster tempo of the race—to keep your legs fresh. Two days out from the race, take a day off for total rest.

The day before the race, do a short minute run with up to five pick ups under 45 seconds to sharpen your legs. On race morning, be sure to eat the breakfast you've practiced in training. Aim to eat about 2 hours prior to the race. Keep it simple—a bowl of oatmeal with dried fruit, a sports bar, bagel with peanut butter. Eat something high energy and easily digestible. Be sure to include hydration—water, sports drink if it's warm outside to give you the electrolytes you need, and coffee if that's part of your normal routine.

Even a quick minute run will help shakeout the travel. Keep it simple — the important queues to remember are to break a sweat, loosen the muscles up, and relieve some of that nervous energy. Your team of expert coaches and fellow runners dedicated to helping you train smarter, stay healthy and run faster. We love running and want to spread our expertise and passion to inspire, motivate, and help you achieve your running goals.

In the never-ending quest to give runners more data and more reasons to upgrade and spend more on their watches , watch companies are squeezing every. We have looked at the ins and outs of using a heart rate monitor to track your training in our article a few months ago. Good post and advice. As said in the link, the week and day before an event should be hard running, but in short spurts.

This should not leave a runner fatigued. As you bring up in your article, keeping the neuromuscular system ready to go is very important.

Spending two weeks doing nothing but LSD and reduced volume is not ideal before an event! Your email address will not be published. Allie Burdick. Race day is almost here. No, but not running could make the race more difficult for you. In fact, it will greatly improve your chances of running well. Nothing changes. Improves blood flow A run the day before your race helps improve blood flow to the muscles, which allows them to loosen up and delivers the nutrients and oxygen they will need for the intense running the next day.

Here are some quick pre-workout options:. Fruit is mostly carbs, which means it quickly delivers much needed sugar to the bloodstream.

Basically, any piece of fruit will help give you energy before a workout, and many athletes opt for bananas, berries or apples. Eating just dates will give you enough energy for a workout lasting less than 60 minutes. Here are some lists of healthy snacks you can buy and make to help you fuel in a hurry. First, try to stay as hydrated as possible during the days leading up to the race. On the morning of the race, drink at least 1 full glass of water. This means a pound athlete should drink ml, or roughly ounces of fluid, each hour in the hours leading up to a run.

Your email address will not be published. Submit Comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Table of contents What to eat before a training run hours before a run hours before a run minutes before a run What to eat the night before a 5k What to eat the morning of a 5k Pre-race snack How to hydrate for a 5k.

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It's the day before your half-marathon and you are looking forward to the race. Should you go for a run today, or take it easy and rest? There are lots of opinions about whether or not you should run the day before a race, regardless of whether you're running a shorter race like a 5K or a long-distance event such as a marathon. The bottom line is that you really need to see what works best for you.

Every runner is different. Those who are in favor of exercising or running the day before a race cite several reasons for doing so. Day-before running may have benefits for specific distances. Running the day before a 5K can help improve your stride and flexibility on race day.