Yesterday I presented to a group regarding preparation for the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge 3.3m run. At this point the group has one week until their race and a lot of great questions were asked. So I thought I’d share with you guys some of the topics and my advice. Keep in mind that this can translate to any race x1 week out.
Diet
Photo by Jannis Brandt
At this stage into your race preparation you probably shouldn’t change too much of your diet, I know it’s not something you want to hear… But of course if you’re eating fried/sugary foods then you may want to start to back off those foods and focus on eating a bit more healthy, something that falls within these categories:
- Lean Protein: chicken, sea bass, buffalo, etc…
- Good Fat: almonds, avocados, olives, etc…
- Fruit: banana, grapefruit, blueberries, etc…
- Vegetables: spinach, kale, broccoli, etc…
- Unprocessed Carbs: rice, oatmeal, sweet potato, etc…
The key thing is that you don’t want to make too many changes all at once. Doing so will allow you to recognize whats working with your body and what is not. For example, say you decide to significantly uptake your carbohydrates, this potentially can make you bloat, which negatively effect your race. With that said, on the extreme end cutting out pizza and ice cream on a daily basis will clearly have a positive effect. The point being is that x1 week prior to a race is not the time to really start playing around with your diet. After the race you can then play around with carb cycling and what works best for your body etc…
Warm up
Your warm up should mimic your regular routine. With that said, if you’re feeling beat up and currently do not foam roll or utilize some type of fascia release, it’ll probably be a good idea to implement a few of these modalities:
- Roll out your feet with a hand ball.
- Foam roll- legs, hips, and back.
- Compression band: ankle/feet, calf, knee, and upper thigh.
- Fascial traction stretches: calf, hip flexor, hips, hamstring.
After this you can do a simple dynamic warm up routine like this:
- Cat and camel x10
- Downward dog – cobra pose – spider man (elbow to in-step) – thoracic rotation and repeat x3-5 on each side.
- Hip circles and trunk circles x5-10 each way.
- Walking lunges x10 yards
- Squats x10
- Planks x20sec
- Striders – (think exaggerated run) x20 yards walk back and repeat x3-5 times.
Keep in mind that you don’t want to change up your routine all that much right before the race because we’re not sure how you’ll adapt to the warm up and if it’s actually beneficial for you or if it’ll tax you. If you do decide to do something similar to the above warm up I’d make sure to integrate it during your tempo runs and see how you’re feeling from it.
Running
The NYC J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge race starts on on the west side of Central Park, 79nd street, looping up the 102nd st cross drive and ending next to Bethesda Fountain Terrace to complete the 3.3mile race. As with any run course you should know the route and the points of the race that will challenge you. If it’s not a scheduled run you may want to take a bike out, you can rent a bike in Central Park too, and take the exact route to get a feel of where the hills are and where you believe it’ll be difficult for you. After you’ve completed your research and feel comfortable with the course, I would suggest that in the next training session or the one after, to run the course at a nice tempo’d pace. This will allow you to get a better feel for the route. Developing a game plan similar to this will not only help you prepare mentally but also help you strategize a pace and tempo for the race.
Example Layout:
*There are many variables that will come into play with your training so please keep in mind that this is a VERY generally template.
- Thursday: bike the Central Park route and keep a log where the turns are.
- Friday: tempo run through the race route.
- Saturday: you can take the route again or do shorter repeats (400-800m).
- Sunday: you can take the route if you didn’t run on Saturday or do shorter repeats.
- Monday: Short repeats or some other light cardiovascular work that will not make you sore.
- Tuesday: Regeneration workout- foam roller, massage, stretching, contrast bath, etc.
One of many reasons why you don’t want to start playing around with variables the day of your race…
Conclusion
You maybe a bit annoyed at this point with my answer, as I didn’t give very specific things to change or a lot of things that should be fixed x1 week prior to the JP Morgan for a reason. The answers aren’t what most people want to hear but it’s the truth. I could say that you should fix your running gate, breathing pattern, give you a more specific diet, etc… but the truth is that’s not how you prepare for race with x1 week left. That’s the whole point of preparation ahead of time 🙂
To explain a typical program should be broken up into blocks of focus, something like this:
- Block A: Build up general strength through weightlifting, general medium distance running, and flexibility.
- Block B: Build up specific strength through weightlifting- this can include more hamstring and quad focus, running mechanics – work on increasing stride length via plyometrics and striders, introduce more specific running , and recovery work.
- Block C: We’ll focus less on general strength and specific strength and now really focus our main attention to competition like conditions. This may mean to run more 3.3 miles, do greater distances, more intense repeats, etc…
As you can see during Block A and some of B should you be focusing on the finer points of your diet, running mechanics, breathing patterns etc… this will allow you to experiment with what works for you and doesn’t. Tweaking too many things x1 week before your race, in my opinion is not the best move. There are just too many negative variables. As stated earlier my advice would be to do the simple things, cut down the junk food, focus on recovery, and develop a basic strategy. But of course you could be a running freak of nature like my buddy Dave, who randomly decided the morning of to run a half marathon after drinking a few pints and slices the night before.
I hope this was helpful and best of luck in your race!
Train smart,