Evansville Half Marathon: Prep Yourself

There’s no better way to put an end to the weeklong fried food debauchery of the Fall Festival than trying to run off all those excess calories in the 4th annual Evansville Half Marathon. The race begins at 8AM sharp. The race starts atop Reitz Hill in the Reitz High School parking lot. Parking isn’t exactly abundant around the Reitz area so shuttles will run from 5:45AM to 7:15AM approximately every fifteen minutes from four downtown locations: Vectren, Old National Parking Garage, Integra Parking Garage and the YMCA.

14WFIE reports that the high will be 92 degrees tomorrow, so don’t exactly expect a cool breeze while you’re running. The average high temperature for this time of year should be hovering around 71.2 degrees. Here’s some advice to prepare you for your big run tomorrow.

Carb up: For experienced runners and athletes this is probably common sense, but you want to avoid eating salads and vegetables the night before the race and instead focus on energy providing carbohyrdates. My suggestion? Pasta with a simple marinara sauce. Avoid those high fat sauces like alfredo and pesto.

Cut the caffeine and booze tonight: As tempting as it might be to put back several beers or Diet Mountain Dews tonight while you’re at dinner, stick to water. Caffeine and alcoholic beverages are diuretics, which contributes to dehydration. Caffeine will also keep keep you up at night, which leads me too…

Sleep well, runners: Make sure you get to bed early enough to get a full night’s sleep. On the morning of the race, you’re going to want to wake up early enough to eat and take care of your morning rituals, so going to bed early might not be a bad idea.

Find a ride home: After the grueling 13.1 mile run, it’d be a good idea to find a ride home. You’re most likely going to be exhausted, so have a friend pick you up and put you in front of the TV to recover for the rest of the day.

Good luck!

photo courtesy of Seamus Murray