Tuesday Training: Know Your Course

Happy March, everyone! We are finally down to the single digits when it comes to counting down the weeks until marathon weekend!
We are officially less than 8 weeks out and we are incredibly excited about our finalized marathon course.

A few weeks ago I discussed ways participants can properly fuel up and essentially have a fuel plan in mind come race day. Practicing proper fueling techniques is important to incorporate in your training regime leading up to the race. 
Getting familiar with how your body reacts at certain miles and being aware of what it needs/can handle will be incredibly important.
Speaking of awareness, this week I want to encourage racers to become more familiar with our racing course. Oftentimes when we think of “training” we initially think of the physical part. The runs, how much volume to do, and the amount of strength to incorporate.
These are all important factors of the journey, no doubt! Though if we are considering optimizing our performance, we have to consider the small details; and knowing your race course is one of them.
As you are practicing fueling up during long runs, make an effort to run part of your long run (or the entire long run) on our finalized course. 
Not only will this help you to know the course inside and out, but it will also give you an indicator on areas that might be more challenging. This will physically and mentally prepare you for race day.
The more practice and familiar you are running the course, the more you will be able to run the tangents. Now some of you may be wondering “what the heck does that mean?”
Running the tangents simply means running the shortest distance on a race course. This means becoming familiar with all the turns, curves, hills, etc. 
“Okay, there is a hill at this mile mark. I should focus more here.“

“This mile is a great spot to take advantage of the downhill.. I can gain some momentum here.” 
There are some great advantages in knowing your course and becoming extra familiar with it. Another advantage is knowing exactly a spot to hydrate/fuel up. Knowing where you want to have your fueling station for race day is also another way to help prepare yourself for race day.

As you continue your training in March, make this the month you know the ins and outs of our marathon course!
Wishing you all the best of luck this month and look forward to giving you more tips next week!
Find all of our course maps below. Link also provides team relay legs and 5k race maps!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feature Runner Friday: Jimi Brantingham

Image
This Friday we are featuring Louisville runner Jimi Brantingham. Brantingham will be competing in his first half marathon this April for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon weekend. “I work for a company that has ties to the marathon race timing industry, so I have seen many bibs during my time there,” Brantingham said.” After many years of applying timing tags to various bibs, I decided to run a 5k. My first race was the Steelers 5K Labor Day weekend 2018 at Heinz Field. Since then I  have been hooked. I have completed a total of 16 5ks since my first race and last year did the half marathon relay at the Rock HOF in Cleveland. My most recent runs included 2 5ks within 3 days of each other in Clearwater, FL. I am very excited to be doing the combo 5k and half marathon this April!” Brantingham contributes a lot of his success to trainers and fitness instructors who have helped guide his training along the way. “Without the help of all my trainers at myFitLife, I wouldn
Read more

Feature Runner Friday: Ashley Dunbar

Image
This week's "Feature Runner Friday"  goes to Ashley Dunbar; who will be competing in our half-marathon race this late April. Born and raised in East Canton, Ashley know resides in Cuyahoga and will be completing her first half-marathon. Check out how the East Canton native began her running journey. "I used to think runners were nuts," Dunbar said ,"In high school, I never would have dreamed of running more than a mile for "fun." Once I got into college, I started thinking a little more about trying to run a few 5k's for the heck of it since a lot of my friends were doing them... "At the time, I worked at a tanning salon and my boss was part of a running group that was training for the Akron Marathon," Dunbar said. "A few of the girls at the salon had decided to join her group to run a few times a week, just for the health aspect of it. One of the girls had asked if I would do it with her, and at first I thought she was c
Read more

Feature Runner Friday: Wendy Ramsey

Image
For this week’s "Feature Runner Friday" we are featuring local road racer Wendy Ramsey! Wendy started running three years ago with daughter Katie Ramsey.  Her goals for this spring are to complete her second half marathon at our 7th annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon Series in April while bettering her time from last year. Check out her running journey! “3 years ago my daughter Katie, 27 years old, gave me a challenge to try to do a 5k with her. Neither of us have ever been runners. I accepted her challenge and we did a 5k. We walked/tried to run and completed it in 45 minutes. It was such an amazing feeling crossing that finish line and knowing we accomplished what we set out to do...   “That race got us hooked on running. We wanted to improve on our times every race we did. We basically did 5k’s and a few 4 milers. By the next fall I had signed up to do a 10K without my running partner, Katie. She was out of town on business and I honestly hadn’t trained
Read more