This is the last of 3 posts I wrote about learning to run. Here are the first one and the second one.

Post 3! Here’s what I learned leading up to and during the big race.

Academic Research and Advice

Drink water after exercise, not before

I remember reading advice about drinking lots of water after, but not before, a workout. Some sports doctors have been known to force athletes to drink something like 2 liters of water immediately after finishing exercise, but not let them drink before or during.

Recently, some have recommended that athletes drink more than their thirst, or before they become thirsty. But it turns out that this is only necessary in cases of extreme fluid loss through lots of sweating. In most cases, it is best to drink according to thirst. Drinking too much before or during exercise can cause lightheadedness, confusion, or nausea, and even death.

My reasons for not drinking lots of water immediately before and during exercise are mostly related to cramps. I’ve always noticed that I’m more prone to stomach cramps or “side stitches” the more recently I’ve eaten or drank. So for me, unless I exercise for a very long time or in hot conditions and sweat a lot, I wait to hydrate until afterwards. Rehydration is very important though, so after exercise I try to drink as much as I can, usually 2 liters.

Nutrition

What to eat before a race

I wanted to make sure I ate the right things at the right time before my race, to be sure I had the right nutrition and avoid cramps. I read several common meals that champion endurance athletes ate and settled on my own that you can read about below where I talk about race day ↓.

Something high in carbs and with a little protein was a common thread. Bananas, peanut butter, and oatmeal. The idea is that carbohydrates are the macronutrients you will most absorb and make use of in time for the race. The type of carbs is not important, but it’s a good idea to avoid excess fiber.

For portion size, the shorter the race and the closer to the race you eat your meal, the smaller the portion you should eat. Since my race is relatively short but I’ll be eating 2 hours ahead to avoid cramps, I decided to shoot for the middle.

Equipment

Foam rolling

My friend Riri Nagao told me this would change my life, and heh, well, you should buy one.

If you hadn’t heard of foam rolling, or like me heard of it and had no idea why it was useful, think of it like a massage you give yourself. Some you lie on, some you use with your hands.

It’s good at reducing muscle soreness, and increasing range of motion and performance. And firmer rollers are better, because they squish your tissue around more instead of acting like a pillow.

My calves are always the most sore part of me after running because of my forefoot strike. Using this thing on my calves for a few days was amazing, they were less sore and restless and twitchy. Convincing someone around you to give you a massage is always better, but I totally recommend this thing.

Race Day

Getting there

The day before my race I was out at a halloween party until 3am, and had a few glasses of wine. Race prep!

The race start was at 8:30am, so I woke up at 6am and ate a breakfast of leftover squash soup for carbs, one fried egg, and a glass of milk. I took my usual suite of supplements, most of which have to do with general nutrition and vegetarianism, not athletic performance.

I also mixed the things I had researched in a small water bottle to drink 30 minutes before the race start. 1/2tsp of Matcha green tea for the caffeine, and 5g of Creatine for performance and muscle hydration.

When I arrived at the start, I understood why I had to pay for a ticket; everything was very professionally organized. There were numbered bag drops, people conducting the like 40 bathroom lines, free water, and a lettered start ordered by pace…the NYRR did a great job!

The race

Waiting for the start

The race organization requires you to report your pace so they can sort you into groups that run roughly the same speed, keeping the race organized. All of my easy runs have been around the 10:00+ area, and since this race was 5 miles I decided to say my pace was 10:00.

The start of the race was kind of intoxicating. Everyone stands with other people who share their pace, and you all walk towards the starting line, then a hundred yards or so before the start, the river of people starts to run. That transition is really cool, and I’m glad I caught it on video.

During the race once you get past the start and the cheers from the onlookers, is all about rhythm. The sound of all the feet is like an encouraging rain. Being surrounded by a bunch of other people who are a combination of happy and in pain is motivating.

Miles 1 and 2. These were mostly riding out the high from the start of the race. I took some videos and pictures, and focused on getting into a comfortable stride that let me breathe through my nose.

Mile 3. I started checking my pace often and noticed that I was well under 10:00. In fact, I was down around 9:20. I had spent most of the race weaving between my fellow 10:00 pacers, working my way up to the 9:00ers. Adrenaline really started kicking in when I thought of the possibility of getting my average pace down under 9:00, and I started maintaining a faster pace; I even caught myself mouth-breathing up a few hills. It took a lot of discipline to keep my pace, thinking that I would need my energy for the last mile.

Mile 4. I really started feeling good, better than I had on any of my shorter runs. Still feeling like I had energy left, and with a faster and faster pace without losing control of my breath, I started extending my stride. Since I wasn’t nearly as exhausted as I expected to be, I decided to really go for it on the 5th mile, and maybe even see if I could get my average pace down under 9:00. I kept to my nose-breathing pace and waited to pass the 4-mile marker.

Mile 5. When I passed the 4 mile sign I increased my pace and started breathing through my mouth. The competitive side in me came out a bit. Not only was I surrounded by a bunch of other people doing something difficult, but sometimes my old varsity sports brain looked at the person in front of me and said “you can’t get beaten by them”, and I ran a little faster.

About halfway through the last mile I wasn’t exhausted or gasping, so I went to maybe a 90% speed. I knew I was close to getting my average pace down to 9:00, and thought that would be a cool record to break when my goal was 10:00.

When I got within 500 yards of the finish, I sprinted. I dodged through the crowd of people and started gasping for air. I crossed the finish as fast as I could. I put my hands over my head and walked it off, and went to get a few water bottles and chug them to rehydrate.

At the finish. My goal was 10:00, but I wanted 9:00. I checked my phone app, which I hadn’t started exactly at the starting line…it said 45:05 😱. I was really happy with my performance, but it would suck to have come so close to the 45:00 time and 9:00 average pace only to miss it by a few seconds!

The results

Thankfully, there were the official times that I could check. I walked to the pavilion and asked, but they said I had to wait and look at it online. So later, when I went home (and after lots of foam rolling), I looked.

I did it! I got 44:56 to beat 45:00/9:00 by 4 seconds!!! When only 3 weeks earlier I couldn’t even finish the course. I’m super satisfied with that.

Last Words

This was a really great experience. Even though it’s only been 3 weeks, I only ran 10 times, and I only did one race, I feel like I learned a lot about running and exercise in general.

I want to thank Riri Nagao For pushing me to sign up for the race, without which I never would have gone off on this adventure to learn how to run.

If you’re curious about why so many people do this seemingly boring and pain-inducing thing called running, I urge you to try it out. I thought I would be bored out of my mind but as you can see in my posts, there was so much to learn (and I’ve really only just begun).

And, as this was the #PoptartPentathlon, here’s my last victory snack. A toasted limited edition Red Velvet. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you on the running path, Mitch.