There are less than three weeks left until VHI Women's Mini Marathon on Saturday, June 4 - and if you are looking for some tips on what to do in the weeks and days beforehand, we've got you.
The 10km mini-marathon has a great atmosphere every year and it's a huge opportunity for fundraising as well. Whether you're out there competing and have been preparing for months, or you're running for fun and just decided to sign up on a whim, there are various things you can do to ensure you have as much fun as you can during the marathon - and make sure you cross over that finish line.
We talked to an expert about the best workout routines, nutritional tips and even outfits for the upcoming 10km road race. Emer McGlade is a personal trainer and a women's strength and conditioning coach at the Irish Strength Institute in Dublin. She gave us nine tips on how to finish the marathon.
Read more: VHI Women's Mini Marathon 2023: How to register, location, and everything you need to know
What do in the buildup for the big day
Try not run every single day if you can, Emer advises. Do some strength and conditioning on alternate days. She said: "Get into the gym, seek out a coach. Do some resistance training, some weights training so that you can build up good lean muscle mass that's gonna help with your recovery. It's gonna help with your endurance, with your overall performance on the day as well. It's gonna help reduce or eliminate potential injuries too."
Be mindful of what you eat
On the big day itself, aim for a balanced meal at least a couple of hours before the event. Make sure you have a good, balanced meal of proteins, fats and carbs. At the same time, try not to have it too close to the event since "you don't want to have cramping with a big meal in your tummy".
Stay hydrated - but not with plain water
Don't let yourself get dehydrated. Emer says: "Aim to drink two to three litres of water a day, definitely more on training days. If you’re sweating a lot, you're losing a lot of essential salts, so you want to make sure that you're getting some electrolytes in there as well."
According to her, a good balance of sodium, potassium and magnesium would really help with muscle function, help prevent muscle cramps and it will also regulate your blood pressure and keep you energised. Coconut water is a good natural solution, or hydration sachets. You can make up your own simple version as well, Emer explains - with water, lemon juice and pink Himalayan rock salts.
Don’t make this rookie mistake
If you're eyeing a new pair of trendy runners, don't wait until the week of the marathon, get them now. Emer said: "One thing that people often overlook - and it might seem really, really obvious - is your footwear and your clothing. Don't run out the day before or a couple of days before the event to buy yourself some brand new shoes to wear and then, two or three miles in that, they're causing friction on your feet or your new shorts are causing chafing around the waist."
Have your running shoes well broken in beforehand instead, give them a wear and make sure you've done a few miles in them so that you're comfortable on the day of the marathon. Emer added: "It might seem obvious, but those kind of things can be quite distracting."
In the 48 hours before the marathon
In the two days leading up to the marathon, Emer advises plenty of rest and only light exercise. She said: “One of the most important things that you can do in the 48 hours before the event is to actually rest... Give your body time to recover and to just be at your best on the day."
Emer recommends gentle activity such as light stretching or gentle yoga, as well as at least seven to nine hours of sleep the night before the event. Get to bed early.
After the marathon
Stretching after the event would help with your recovery. Emer also suggests drinking plenty of water and electrolytes again, having a nice warm bath with Epsom salts, or even treating yourself to a massage. She adds that dry flotation therapy is also really good to help with recovery.
If you haven't been preparing for the marathon until now
It's okay if you literally decided to sign up for the marathon today. You've still got a couple of weeks to go. Emer said: "Get out and start walking now. I would say walk the event, don't try and run it at this stage. If you haven’t done any preparation, there's a lot of people that just join in and they walk for fun, they walk in groups, they walk as organisations, they walk for fundraising. There's a great amount of support out there as well. So just get out in comfortable shoes, start walking daily now."
She added: "It's great for overall health anyway but it will definitely help with endurance if you can get out and build yourself up to an hour or 90 minutes walk and over the next couple of weeks, kind of building up each day. Start off with 30 minutes, build up to 40, 50, 60, and so on, or break it up into a couple of sessions over the day if you can. And that will be enough to take it over the finish line on the day."
Last but not least, don't drink alcohol in the days beforehand - especially the day before - and remember to enjoy the experience and have fun.
McGlade is a personal trainer and a women's strength and conditioning coach at the Irish Strength Institute in Dublin. You can find her on Instagram where her username is Dream_life_coaching.
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