My first race back after almost 3 years of not racing got me thinking a lot about pre-race rituals. It’s easy to get a little too ritualistic about them, but at the same time, having them can make the day before your race a lot more simple. Ideally, the day before a race, especially your big A Race of the season, should be as routinized and unsurprising as possible. The less surprises, the less stress. But sometimes, that’s easier said than done. Depending on where your race is, you might end up thrown off because you can’t get your standard pre-race meal, or you don’t have the exact thing you need in your hotel room. That’s why our pre-race rituals and routines should exist—but they should be Flexible and Easy.
For example, my pre-race meal is almost always pizza. That’s because a) pizza is delicious, b) I once did an article interviewing pro marathoners and they all eat pizza pre race, c) pizza is easy to eat in a hotel room (I don’t love eating in restaurants pre-race, which I’ll get to) and d) most importantly, it’s readily available pretty much anywhere.
In a worst case scenario, there are frozen pizzas that you can microwave in a hotel (thankfully it’s never come to that). But almost always, there is SOME type of pizza available in town, almost anywhere in the world. Rice bowls are also good options here, especially if you’re not super picky about the style (i.e you may have to opt for Thai over a burrito bowl if that’s what’s around). If you travel fully stocked with a rice cooker and a hot plate, you can make your meal at the hotel, but that’s not how most of us travel. Regardless, think through a pre-race meal that will almost certainly be available anywhere.
On the note of eating in a hotel room, like I said, routine matters. I’ve tried restaurants pre-race, but for me, I’ve realized that I do best with a pizza and my own company, Peter or my parents in a hotel room eating casually and not at all constrained by wait time at restaurants, or eating all at once. I’m a grazer at best the night before a race, which means that I want to start dinner around 4:30 PM and will likely still be nibbling at 7:30. It’s how I roll.
I also like eating while watching something relaxing that will take my mind off of race day. I have fond memories of my first Ironman, staying at a Motel 6 with my dad in Kentucky, eating pizza and watching Wonder Woman (the cartoon featuring Keri Russell, not the Gal Gadot live action). Before this 100-miler? Wyndham AmericInn with Peter, eating pizza and watching Wonder Woman (the cartoon featuring Keri Russell, not the Gal Gadot live action).
I have other, more mundane pre-race routines that are part of the checklist:
- Laying out gear for the morning on the spare bed, with exactly what I’m putting on laid out, everything else tucked into the race gear bag
- Check and recheck hydration packs/food
- Pre-packing/organizing stuff if we’re leaving the hotel in the AM
- Setting 2 alarms on my phone, plus a backup on Peter’s
- No work after 5PM—no matter what! Also stop checking social/avoid phone in general
- Snuggles with DW
- Sipping water throughout the day, electrolytes when not eating pizza
And sure, I try to add in things like using my NormaTec compression boots, walking, picking up my packet and number at registration if possible, checking out the start/finish if I haven’t already, doing my usual yoga routine again in the evening, chatting with my dad for a pre-race pep talk, and so on, but I try to keep my list of non-negotiables as short as possible, so that I don’t feel like my whole evening is spent ticking of boxes.
WHAT NOT TO DO PRE-RACE
A non-exhaustive list, but try to avoid things like…
- Choose a different outfit than what you had already decided on
- Try that new extra-hot hot sauce
- Switch your hydration plan to use the new drink mix that was at registration
- Any grooming rituals that are out of the ordinary (trying a new face mask that could cause irritation, shaving if you don’t usually shave, and so on)
- Watching anything that will give you nightmares or increase your stress levels
- Try to go to bed hours and hours before you usually would (I am, however, all for lying down and reading a boring book. I just mean don’t try to force yourself to sleep 5 hours early!)
- Panic (easier said than done)
If you’re racing this season, especially if you haven’t in a while, I highly recommend thinking through this pre-race stuff long before the day before your race—I love making an actual list, writing it down and printing it out so that you have it on hand and can actually check things off pre-race so you feel as prepared as possible race day!
(Need more time? I also wrote about the two weeks heading up to your big race and what I did for mine.)
