I'm running my first half-marathon this weekend. Any advice?

Question

What kind of breakfast should I have? The night before I'll probably have some kind of pasta. I never know what to eat the morning of. I usually just eat crackers and water, but since this is a much longer run I think I should have some kind of energy bar. What's the best kind, and should I take some Goo with me?

Any advice is appreciated.

Answer 1

tell mom i'll see her tomorrow.

Answer 2

If you have been training long runs, eat the same food you ate before those long runs.  Other then that, if you haven't used it before, don't try it now.  Now is not the time to experiment.

I've tried Goo.  It made me throw up, literally.  I puked.  Some of the foods and gels are really difficult on the stomach if you haven't trained with them or even tried them before.  You won't run out of energy with 13.1 miles, but you can take a pack of gummi worms or gummi bears and they'll give you energy.  Chocolate will dry your mouth out.

Otherwise, a PBJ with a banana would be the best thing to run on.  Drink PLENTY of water the night before to hydrate your body.

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 3

shock blocks

eat cereal

Answer 4

I like Goo, well, not the taste, but I like the effect.  Also a banana is a good choice because it's loaded with carbs and lots of nutrients.  Of course plenty of water.

Enjoy yourself mostly! How proud you will be when you are finished!

Answer 5

good luck!

Answer 6

I never eat anything before a marathon but lots of energy foods like pasta for dinner. no breakfast cuz you could cramp.

Answer 7

The time to experiment with energy bars and Goo and similar foods is right before your training runs.  Don't try anything new on race day, you'll be asking for trouble.  Go with what you have been doing in training, and trust that.  In a half marathon you aren't going to run out of fuel once your body starts burning fat.  

Make sure to stay well hydrated not only the night before, but right up until about 1/2 hour before race time.  If you are properly hydrated you should take on fluids until your pee is nearly clear.  Steadily drink liquids all morning before the race  with the goal of hitting the bathroom about 1/2 hour before the race starts.  If you drink too much in that last half hour you might need to pee during the race which is unpleasant.

In long races, i always drank half strength gatorade during the race, and I rarely ate more than a banana before hand.  I had pretty good sucess with chocolate goo during marathons, but only if I ate them lots of water. anything shorter than a marathon I never ate anything during the race.

Good luck!  Trust yourself and you'll do fine.

Answer 8

Go to the Marco Marathon calculator page.   Play with the numbers until it gives you your pace time for the half.  It will show you what pace you should run (time interval for each and every mile).   If this is your first half, always better to try to run negative splits.  If you are shooting for 2 hours, that would be ~ 9 minutes a mile and therefore your first 5 or 6 miles, run at a 9:15 pace or so.

Get with pose running.

Answer 9

Try eating a big bowl of oatmeal in the morning and a couple egg whites.

If thats too much get a Cliff bar, they are high carb bars which are very good!

I would carry a pack of goo along in case you need it as well.  

Make sure you keep well hydrated before as well.

Good luck!

Answer 10

ok u want ot wake up ahve 2 eggs over easy, a vitamin water, the pasta from the ngiht before will give u the carbs for the day. So just eat anythign light dont eat like meat or anythign, id eat an egg or fruit jsut dotn wake up and eat a bunch of frosted flakes or lucky charms. and for energy bars i dunno i dont eat them. GOOD luck with ur marathon, adn remmeber drink water but the key to stayin hydrated and not havign to drink a lot of water is only drink abotu 1/2 an ounce at a time adn wait or maybe aroudn a ounce. jugging water is nto good and will might make u feel good at virst but is not the right thing. Baby sips i like to call it is all u need too stay hydrated good lukc again on the marathon

Answer 11

RUN ***** RUNNNNNNNN

Answer 12

dont rush keep it slow and steady 1...2...1...2....1....22

Answer 13

bacon

Answer 14

Lol Wish i could help but i steer clear of anyyyy exercise..

Good luck tho!

Answer 15

cerial and oj

drink lots of water

Answer 16

water and lots of it the night or if possible 24hrs b4 the big day,ps grab some iron (either tablet or liquid,ie asparagus)but it`s all up to you ,the mind runs the body.Wish you well and good luck

Answer 17

yeah, get lots of rest the night before.. and good luck! wear good shoes!

Answer 18

Dont push yourself over your limits and keep hydrated! lots and lots of water :) and a good night sleep and diet for the next few days :)

Answer 19

country music marathon huh it will be cool huh, my dad always does then

Answer 20

Have a food that will give off loads of energy

Answer 21

Hey, I've ran 2 5km marathons and a half..... You do need to be well prepared....

Start the day off with an energy kick start breakfast i.e Musli, porridge and a peice of fruit-banana.

Make sure you have good trainers for it (if not a bit obvious)

Stretch you body.

Take an Mp3 player, ipod with you.

Take a couple of plasters incase your feet rub from the running.

But most of all.... enjoy yourself!!