Before you take the thousands of steps you need to cross the finish line, you’ll have to do some planning. We’ve reached out to Under Armour ambassadors – Kevin Yeboah (Personal trainer), Ruben Rapetti (Professional chef) and Laura Sanhueza-Miller (Ironman participant and running influencer) – to provide their best tips to prepare for race day. Whether you’re new to running or just looking for tips on how to improve your time, below are a few ideas to help achieve your spring running goals.
Nutrition
The key to any fitness goal is to complement your training with a balanced diet. Ruben suggests ditching those white sugars and opting for a more balanced mix of complex carbs, vegetables and protein like chicken or tofu. The night before the race, load up on carbs! You’re going to be expending more energy than usual, so heavy pastas will help keep you going. Ideally, Ruben recommends aiming for a 3:2 complex carbs to protein ratio. The morning of the race, leave yourself at least a 1.5 – 2-hour window to eat. You want to be able to fuel your body but if you eat too close to race time, your body is going to expend its energy trying to digest. Hydration is also key! To ensure your body is ready to perform, you should be drinking 2 – 3 litres a day.
Training
If you’re new to running, it’s best not to wake up on race day and hope for the best. Starting your training several weeks prior will help ensure your goals are met. To avoid injury and carefully increase mileage, Laura suggests the following steps:
- Warm up with an 8-minute brisk walk to get your muscles moving
- Light jog for 2-3 minutes, followed by a 5-minute brisk walk (repeat 3-4 times)
- Cool off with a brisk 5-minute walk
- Finish off with static stretching – holding each stretch for 30 seconds.
As the training continues, you can steadily increase the amount of running by 1-2 minutes each week and decrease the amount of walking.
Kevin suggests adding in weight training in between running days. Try for 3 days a week, with 1 day focusing on upper body, 1 on lower, and 1 on a full body routine. Keep weights light and reps high! He also recommends wearing training shoes like the UA Project Rock 2 for gym sessions instead of running shoes so that you can maximize ground contact and get superior stability.
Motivation
The hardest part of the race won’t be the actual running but rather staying motivated. Laura is all about vision boards. Set your goals and grab some images on the internet to stay inspired. If crafting isn’t your thing, Ruben suggests setting a playlist of songs you love. Putting your phone on shuffle risks playing a song that will lower your energy and you want to ensure your energy levels are always at their best. Organization is also key to success! “Plan out your schedule ahead of time,” says Kevin. “Write things down and set small, achievable goals.” By writing down your goals and results, you’ll make yourself accountable and be able to see the progress you’re making in real time. Check out Under Armour’s HOVR Machina running shoes which are digitally connect to MapMyRun. The shoes provide real time results so you know how you’re tracking against your goals.
Final suggestions
Kevin – Before a race – don’t eat spicy food!
Ruben – Enjoy yourself!
Laura – Run for you and get after it – that medal has your name on it!
Read the official UA Spring Run-Off Training plan here and show us how your applying these training tips on Instagram with #TheOnlyWayIsThrough and #UASpringRunOff.
