My previous post didn't include a lot of the events that transpired before, during, and after the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. I wanted to keep it about the marathon its self and not about the other things... You'll see what I mean.
Tip # 1 : Travel with Friends
If you're doing an endurance event and it requires traveling, I strongly suggest finding a friend to do the event with you or just go along for support. I would not have had such an amazing time if it wasn't for my friends. Not only did I get to travel with them but we also ran together. AND you never know when you'll need someones help.
Tip # 2 : Be Sure Your Roommate Sets Their Alarm
I
always use my phone for my alarm clock. It doesn't matter if I am at home or if I am traveling. My phone alarm clock is always there and never fails. This was not the case on race day! We were to be in the lobby at 4am. Yes, you read that correctly. 4. a. m. I set my alarm for sometime around 3am, plugged the charger into my phone and then into the wall across the room (so I actually had to get out of bed to hit the snooze), and crawled into bed. I randomly woke up and hadn't heard my alarm yet so I thought I was doing good, until I rolled over and took a look at the hotels alarm clock and had the red numbers reading "4:00" peering at me. I frantically woke up gathered our belongings, throwing clothes on quickly, and ran down stairs to the lobby with shoes untied. Erika didn't set her alarm. When I asked her why she didn't she said, "well, you set yours." haha. It's all good. We didn't miss our bus!
Tip # 3 : Layout Your Gear for Race Day
This was a
lifesaver for Erika and I. Because we had taken the time the night before to get our race gear together, we didn't have to worry about finding everything we needed. It was already in a pile, ready to go. If we hadn't taken the time to do that, we probably would have missed our bus.
Tip # 4 : Pack ALL the Fuel You Need
On our race course, it was said that at mile markers 13 and 17 that there would be GU aid stations. I did the math and calculated how many GUs I would need for the marathon but subtracted the two stations out so I didn't have to carry so much. Bad idea. Very bad idea. When I made it to mile marker 13 they were ALL out of GUs! I needed to take one then but since they were out, I thought they would be out at mile 17 as well so I went into conservation mode. I decided I would wait until about mile 15 to take my next GU. You might think, what can two miles really do. Well, prolonging taking the GU caused my body to start shutting down because it didn't have the fuel it needed. That is NOT what you need when you still have half the race to go!
Tip # 5 : Do NOT forget Sunscreen
So, you would probably think that a 25-year-old, pale skinned woman would know such a common sense thing: wearing sunscreen. Well, I do, I'm not blond (although I did dye my hair blondish during the summer). I guess the early morning wake up along with a frantic run for the door made me lose some logic at the same time. I had plenty of time to apply sunscreen while we were waiting in the park to line up for the race and I did apply it to my face, ears, neck, and arms. For some illogical reason I didn't think my legs would burn. I mean, they never get color in Indiana, so why would they in California? I figured my legs could use a little bit of color. Well, they got color alright, along with a few nice big ol' polka dots (blisters)! I didn't know you could custom order a sunburn! Needless to say, this cost me severe swelling in my calves and feet, blisters that were growing by the second, and unimaginable pain. I was diagnosed with second degree burns when I returned home. Yes, that's right, I flew home from sunny California with second degree burns that were getting worse. I noticed they were red in the morning when we were getting ready to leave but I didn't have blisters until we made it to the San Diego Airport to catch our flight to Denver, and even then they were pretty small. On our flight, I could feel the blisters growing and by time we got off my legs were huge, feet were swollen, and I had very large blisters on my legs. (I have pictures of what it looked like if you're interested alli dot bulmahn @ gmail dot com. I thought I would spare those that wished not to see.) Thankfully, there was a nurse on my team that was able to pop and drain the blisters, and then wrap my legs with gauze so I could get home. I was then unable to really do anything but lay on the couch for the following week. It was torture.
Do you have any pre-race day or race day tips you have learned?
