My Secrets

My Secrets

There's really no trick to trimming seconds off your run time other than working real hard at it, but here are my "tricks", rituals, and superstitions.

Food, Supplements, and Medicine

No Food Within Two Hours the Start of a Race
I don't know the exact science of this, but it just seems logical to use what little energy I have available to RUN, not process food. I can always eat the free food at the end if I am hungry. Having no food within two hours should also prevent unneeded potty urges during the race.
Yogurt 2 hours before a run
Two hours before a run, I have a yogurt. A Yoplait Original, of course. I don't go for the rich and creamy or the ultra fluffy. I like French Vanilla and Banana, but any flavor except Blueberry will do.
Guru 30 minutes before a run
A half an hour before a run, I usually drink a Guru all-natural energy drink and lots of water.
FLUID Muscle Recovery after a run
I'm pretty new to the concept of muscle recovery nutrition, but I'm learning it's very important. After each run or training session, I use FLUID.

Clothing, Technology, and Equipment

Nifty GPS Watch
I have been able to track my runs with tons of data since I got my Garmin Forerunner 405cx. I'd recommend this.
Running Shoes
I run in only Brooks Adrenaline running shoes. I found out I pronate all kinds of goofy, so these these are the best I can get for my feet. I imagine I could order some custom shoes, but I insist on off-the-shelf.
Wii Fit
It's too late to know if my addiction to Wii Fit is helping on my Couch-To-Victory goal, but I do know the technology is pretty darned neat. We bought it so my wife could use it, but it has become a major part of my workouts on days I can't run. Any time I mess up, it knows it. And it does actually work muscles that might not get worked. Maybe some day Nintendo will want to sponsor me in my future quest for Couch-To-Marathon!

Thinks that don't work for me

Carb-Up before the race
When I first ran the EP5K is when I first learned you're supposed to "carb up" before running a marathon. Then some how your body knows it has some reserve energy when you hit about 12 miles. So I figured, since I was in such bad shape, I should probably carb up before a 5K too. What I found out was that the only impact was that it made me full and didn't give me any energy for a 5K run. In fact a couple of times, my pastathon only made me throw up the night before the race. I no longer do the pasta gig the night before the 5K races.
Split Pea Soup the night before a race
The night before my first Pikes Peak Ascent, I had homemade split pea soup. De-lish! But around mile 4 I started cramping. Or I thought it was cramps. Actually by mile 5 I realized I just had gas. So for the next 5+ miles, I took care of that problem. One poor girl behind me commented that, due to her height and the mountain's slope, her face was at butt-height, so she wasn't appreciating my agony any more than I was. Luckily for her, I wasn't in front of her too long.
Staying up until 5AM before a race
Sometimes you have to do something that just has to be done. That was the case when I had to finish a painting project the night before a race. I got to bed by 5 AM and my body wasn't at its peak performance by race time. Duh.