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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Give Yourself a Treat Before Race Day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The clock is ticking. Race day is March 30.
And former Boston Marathon winner Gayle Barron says mid-level runners training for the ING Georgia Marathon should start thinking about how to taper down their runs.
Another thing, get a massage.
“During long runs lactic acid builds up,” she said. “A massage pushes that out. It’s going to help you with flexibility.”
Barron says ideally, runners should get two to three massages before race day.
Do you usually get massages to prep for race day? Which type do you get and where do you go?
This weekend Barron will trim long runs in her marathon training program, USA Fit/Team Spirit to 14 or 15 miles.
Keep in mind there’s no pat training program. Olympian Jeff Galloway says he has runners in his program, Run Free with Jeff Galloway, train 26-30 miles before marathon day.
In following Barron’s suggestions, my longest training run was 18 miles two weekends ago. Followed by a 15-mile run on rigorous hills last weekend.
This coming weekend Barron suggests I return to Silver Comet Trail and run no more than 16 miles.
“It’s not normal that I would have someone do 16 miles [at this point], but you started out late in getting your long runs in, ” she said. “But I don’t want you to get hurt or your legs to give out.”
After that Barron says I should trim my next long run to 10 to 12 miles.
Where are you in your training? What’s going to be your longest run before race day?
MORE: State of the Art Marathon Training. USA Fit/Team Spirit Active Trainer. Peachtree Road Race. Road Rules. ING Georgia Marathon. Run Free with Jeff Galloway.
