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Race Preparation

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Things you need to know before your first race that are not to do with training

In the days before a race, particularly a long one, make sure you eat well and drink more water than normal. On the last day, it’s probably better not to eat curry or anything that may upset your digestion, but don’t take the idea of ‘carb loading’ to extremes. A good meal of something easily digestible, such as pasta, chicken, jacket potato etc. is fine. No alcohol would be ideal, but in the real world, one drink won’t affect your performance and may help you to relax.

Put ready everything you will need the day before:

  • Number, race pack & Timing chip (if you have them), and pins to attach the number to your shirt.
  • Club shirt/vest – take alternatives if you have them, and layers depending on the temperature.
  • Sun cream and hat if appropriate
  • Waterproofs, fleece, trousers etc for after the race. A bin bag with a hole for your head makes a good disposable cover-up if the weather is bad while you wait at the start.
  • Drinks and snacks for before, during and after the race, as appropriate. You may not know what works for you until you have done a race or two, but more experienced runners can advise. There will be water stations on most races, and certainly 10k and above, but many runners prefer to carry their own water or hydration drink. On longer races you might want to carry gel sachets, jelly babies etc. Practice what eating and drinking routine works for you on your training runs
  • Tissues (toilet roll, just in case!) and
  • Wet wipes/towel if it’s rainy, muddy, and/or you want to go to the pub afterwards!

Make sure you know where the registration and start are. Plan your journey. You will need to allow time for:

  • travelling (plus as much spare as makes you comfortable that you won’t be late),

plus

  • registration,
  • getting from the car to the start,
  • trips to the loo, which will involve queuing

Get an early night if you can. Sleep is the best preparation, whatever training you have done beforehand.

Assuming it is a morning race, get up in plenty of time to:

  • Drink juice, tea, coffee, as normal
  • Eat some breakfast – what you have is up to you, but for longer races things like porridge, banana, yoghurt, wholemeal toast, peanut butter, honey will keep your fuel stores topped up. 2 hours before the start is ideal.

Continue to drink small amounts of water/hydration drink until the start of the race.

At the start don’t stand too near the front of the pack of runners. You will probably start off too fast, and may get in the way of faster runners. It’s better to overtake people if you find you are faster than they are when everyone settles into their race pace.

Be careful if there is a narrow path near the start where you could be held up by slower runners, or could get in the way of faster ones. Also, be careful to avoid falling over in the jostle at the start or through running too close behind others, especially over rough terrain.

Plym Valley Challenge – 09/06/2013

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Race Report by Guy Boswell

A large elite team of Muskie racing snakes tackled the tough Plym Valley Challenge at Estover.

This is largely a trail race, with mostly well-defined paths, some tricky rocky riverside and some road.

Thankfully, although it was a hot sunny day, most of the race was under the cool shade of trees. This is a most beautiful scenic route which belies its strenuous nature.

Those who survived the sevenish-mile race were: 15th Eroy A in 56m; 19th Tom J 56m 57s; 21st Guy B 58m 27s; 31 Steve M 1h 2min 15s; 35th Craig F 1h 2m 39s; 45th Mike S 1h 3m 58s; 51 Dave M 1h 5m 23s; 52 Neil W 1h 05m 22s; 57th Rodney H 1h 6m 58; 63rd Ken K 1h 8m 39s; 69th Roy U 1h 1om 43s; 73rd David C 1h 11m 47s; 98th Sharon L 1h 17m; 99th Jane H 1h 17m; 106th Lucy S 1h 18m 44s; 107th Marie Hannam 1h 18m 44s; 122nd Maggie L 1h 23m; 123rd Sarah Horton 1h 24m 27s; 125th Mark Wilcocks 1h 25m 33s; 129th Ian L 1h 31m 27s; 130th Penny HB (hon Musketeer) 1h
31m 27s; 131st Kate H 1h 31m 27s; 132nd Louise K 1h 31m 27s; 133rd Sarah A 1h 34m 29s; 134th Caroline W 1h 34m 29s.

A notable triumph was by Rodney who won a trophy for winning his age group. He may make rare appearances, but when he does, Rodney makes an impact. Long may his non-injured period last.

Everyone deserves a medal (which we all received) for finishing a testing course with some long hills, one particularly cruel one was about two miles from the finish which last almost to the end and was too steep for many to run or even walk up.

The multi-terrain lived up to its name with the rocky path by the river being especially demanding of close attention with many an obstacle threatening to trip up the unwary or those in a reckless hurry. The flights of steps were also very hard to run down, being of uneven width and having sunken surfaces, leaving trip hazards. That is not to forget the gates, hurdles, stream, random cyclists and a short steep slope that almost had runners on their
hands and knees.

However, the friendly myriad marshals and tasty cakes at the end helped reward all.

I will come back next year – this was the first time at the shorter distance and new start location for a very well organised race by Instinctive RC, who are to be congratulated.

Tavistock Half Marathon – 24/03/2013

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A strong team of Musketeers triumphed in the Tavistock Half, despite strong head winds.

27th was Guy in 1h32m 2nd in age category, 40th Eroy 1.36 and 17 in age, 61st Craig F in personal best 1.42 25th in age, 79th Chris W 1.46 80th Jenny K 1.47 4th in age, Claire Squires 1.55, 136th ,Sarah H 1.56 4th in age, 139 Jane H 1.57, 3rd in age, 157 Sharon Stevens (ex Muskie) 2.04 6th in age, 158 Bob C 2.04 1st in age, 176 Sam G 2.08 personal best.

This was a very good set of results with personal bests and high age category results and everyone is to be congratulated.

The race is generally well organised except it was let down before the start by the lack of race numbers. This led to long queues for those who registered by post and had to have their chips marked with a number by felt tip. Therefore, those who joined on the day could do so very fast.

Another consequence of the numbers was lack of obvious visual identity so the commentator could not call out
names as they entered the finishing circuit of the Tavistock College running track which meant a lack of atmosphere. Though of course, the Muskies stayed in force to applaud their colleagues in true team spirit.

The course is not an obvious one for fast times, having about one mile of hill half way through and a long road into a head wind for about three miles. The route takes the runners along a spectacular high viaduct overlooking the town, new to many non-Tavistock residents.

By Guy

Dig Deep 10k – 10/03/2013

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Plymouth Musketeers made a strong showing the first event of the first ever Dig Deep series – this month’s 10km at Sibleyback Lake.

72 runners finished which was pretty encouraging for the Dig Deep team as the weather was terrible, strong freezing winds with rain and hail were enough to deter runners from making the longish trip to a remote race.

So only the tough got going to dig deep into their stamina, fitness and determination. Tough Musketeers included first home for the club in a very impressive 13th was Martin French in 41.07, 2nd Muskie was Guy Boswell in 24th in 43.37 and third Muskie in 39th was Ken Kingston in 50min.

The weather can only get better for the Dig Deep next series of 5km races and September’s 10km, not to forget the triathlons. For those keen enough to trial the new race it was a worthwhile challenge and I forecast many more runners will be attracted to a spectacular location and a great route which should appeal to those who
want an intro to trail races.

Sibleyback Lake is high up on Bodmin Moor, near Minions village, Liskeard area. Despite the remote site, the facilities are luxurious compared with many off-road runs, boasting indoor changing, showers, under-cover registration, toilets excellent café with home made food and friendly staff.

The race was well organised with good marshalling and pre-race briefing. The route is easy underfoot and basically a level trail surface twice round the lake.

Scenery varies from twisting puddly, firm woodland where you have to watch your feet on slippery tree roots, to soft to firm loose surface where you can run with more confidence and even admire the scenery. Two laps of the lake means you do get the chance to get familiar with the circuit and push on for a fast finish – even with a gale in your face.

Most runners were slower by about two minutes than their average 10km due to the conditions. But it was a very good event all round and we even received an
early Easter egg in the goody bag and a medal.

By Guy

Bideford Half Marathon – 03/03/2013

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A flying quartet of Musketeers were successful in the Bideford Half with Vic, Lucy, Craig and Guy flying the flag in N.Devon.

Small in numbers, but not lacking in quality — from Lucy’s long legged stride to Vic’s rubber-burning starts and Craig’s lung-bursting finish.

Having run with him I at least know Craig’s efforts were rewarded with a fantastic PB. But not sure about the others. The course is renowned for PBs which is surprising considering there are flatter courses at Cardiff, Bath, Exeter and Bristol for instance. Maybe the secret is in the lay-out which is ideal for Musketeers who train for negative splits – faster second halves and on hills.

The course begins in a tightly packed crowd with the field only thinning out about a mile later when we sadly had to pass Lucy. The route is very pretty on a wide gently undulating road above a wide river which proves a welcome distraction from the running sometimes, as does a special bagpipe band
accompaniment.

This was probably the coldest start in the race’s 19-year history which took everyone by surprise. There was a scramble in kit bags for long-sleeved shirts before the start. At least after the first hill we were warmed up considerably and it was easier then to get into a regular breathing and running rhythm.

Now was time for Craig to crank up the gears and consistently over take those running ‘targets’ in front. It is sooo easy to run at the pace of the surrounding pack. Overtaking also gives you a shot of adrenalin and confidence – especially when it is Vic. But it took us an amazing five miles.

Once over the river bridge, not long after half-way we came down to the canal and onto the Tarka trail, a more or less flat cycle and walking route. This is where Craig injected a surge of pace and settled into it until he felt comfortable – though he might dispute the comfort…

However, his leadership seemed to inspire others to tack onto him and a small ‘peleton’
formed with non-Muskies tagging on. The pace settled at about 7min 30sec until about three miles from the finish when the interlopers dropped off the hot pace.

The only danger of running on a straight flat path is that it feels unrelenting and can lead to a lack of concentration. This is when mind games kick in and you start spotting more running ‘targets’ and looking forward to lunch as distraction.

After exiting the spookily dark tunnel (which did not take us into the bowels of the earth) we maintained the pace for a while until Craig slightly slowed. But still managed to push on past the old railway carriage café and then into town across Bideford’s splendid river bridge and cheered along the quayside to a famous finish.

I saw Vic and Lucy finish and they may also have PBs. But whatever the times, deserve credit for finishing strongly on a race where you can’t help but give your all due to the fast finish.

By Guy