#OMTOM: Time to lace up

Less than a month to go until the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon which is taking place on 19th and 20th April.

By now you should know your training program by heart, clocked in your miles, worn in your shoes and even planned your race day nutrition. If not, well we hope you haven’t planned to do Ultra Marathon.

Here are some tips and tricks to help get you race ready.

Ultra and Half Marathon

Depending on which race you will be running you would have, before even beginning your OMTOM training program, have been clocking in 18 – 30km a week.

Tapering

You have put in the hours, kilometres and training. Now it’s about sharpening your focus and peaking for race day.

We know that you may be questioning if you have done enough and you may be tempted to add in a bit more training. Rest days and easy runs are built into your plan for a reason, make sure you are adhering to them. Overtraining will undo all your hard work.

Know the route

You should be familiar with the course so you know what will be coming up along your route and what you have to look forward to should you hit a particularity tough section.

Having this foresight can help push you through.

Dress for success

Make sure your outfit is on point and we don’t mean colour coordination.

You should be 100% comfortable in what you are wearing. Go for breathable fabrics that won’t soak up your sweat.

Test your outfit on long runs so you don’t end up with bleeding nipples or chafe. Do the same for your socks and of course, break in your shoes.

Eat to perform

Plan you race nutrition and make sure you have tested out all goos and sports drinks and found the ones that suit you best.

On the day you should not be trying anything new. Always stick to what you know and do not be tempted to try something in the hopes of improving your race.

Also, refrain from trying any new foods in the days leading up to the race.

“Your body might not respond well to the change in diet, which can cause problems leading up to race day.”

Nolene Conrad, legend and winner of the Two Oceans Half Marathon

She also suggests increasing your water intake in the week leading up to the event.

Mental training

Your mind will give up before your body does.

Ryan Hall who has run OMTOM in a time of 59:43 suggests working on your mental game during training by turning every negative thought into a positive thought. This is a great tool you can use during the race when things may get tough.

The Trail Run

The Old Mutual Two Oceans Trail Runs are 12km and 24km long take runners to the forests above UCT.

The tips listed above also apply to the train run. Here are a few more things to consider

All terrain

According to Jenny Hadfield by now you would have been run at least twice a week on trails (50 per cent of your runs) and the rest on roads as balancing the two will allow you to adapt to the new demands of the trail while maintaining the ability to run on harder surfaces without soreness.

Pace yourself

Whereas most road runners will be focusing on a particular pace you will have learnt to measure your rate of exertion.

“You can generally go into a road race with a goal pace that you can expect to hit pretty consistently each mile. Your pace on the trail will vary greatly based on the terrain.”

Sara Kurth, Trail Races vs Road Races: A Beginner’s Guide to How They Differ.

Use your effort level to guide you, not your watch.

When in doubt, walk.

Fun Run

This is 56m Nappy Dash, 250m Toddlers’ Trot, 5.6km and 2.1km

Once again your training has also been tapered and your coach is on speed dial.

You have decided on your most leak-proof nappy that will not wedgie while running/tottering/crawling.

The 5KM

Now for the 5km. The cool thing about the 5km is that you still have time to put in some training for it should you want to go for a Personal Best time.

There are various 4-week training plans that you can use but we like this one by Olympian Jeff Galloway on Refinery.com

The first week you will start slow with run/walk/run method. This aims to get your body (and brain) accustomed to this new activity.

The second week will introduce you to how to train on non run days.

The third recovery and stretching.

And then its race week! You would be cutting it pretty fine as you have exactly 4 weeks and would need to start ASAP!

But should you start following this plan you will have a far easier race and get some time on the road.

To wrap it up there is one piece of advice that is absolutely non negotiable and probably the best trick we could share to all would be racers: have fun.

Make sure you take in the race and really enjoy what is “the world’s most beautiful marathon.”