Coach Violet is here to pump you up for marathon day with her valuable insights, experience, and positive spirit in this bonus mini-episode .
Hi, this is Coach Violet and I am from the South Loop. I've been running for 13 years and have completed just under 35 marathons, some of which are ultra distance. My first race was in 2009. I ran Chicago in six hours and three minutes, and my personal best is in Berlin, where I ran three hours in 28 minutes in 2019. I love that I can say I've run every pace in between. It's been fun and I've also run Boston, which is as magical as they say. So I just wanted to share some tips and tricks for you as you are preparing for your marathon. It's not like cramming for a test. You can't try to hydrate or carb load the night before the race or test your fitness by running your shake out too hard. Just like with your training cycle, everything requires a gradual buildup. So start increasing your hydration and carb intake a few nights before start going to bed earlier, at least the week before. It's a good idea to try to bank your sleep. Don't try to bank your time on race day. You know, if you start out too fast, chances are you might bonk towards the end, and that's not the race experience you wanna have. So a good race strategy is to start out with a pace group for your desired time. And if you're still feeling good, you can start to pull away. You know, some people start to pull away at the half marathon mark. It just really depends how you feel. But I mean, mile 22, you feel good, push to the finish. You know, if you run the race smart, you're going to feel like you have energy towards the end. I also like to do a lot of visualization the week of the race. I focus on when I have felt my strongest and something that can be like a great race or how I felt in some of my stronger training runs. I had a good set of eight hundreds or just any time you felt good, remember these moments and then think of them during the race when things start to get rough. It's not an easy thing to do to run a marathon. You know, you're gonna get tired. You're gonna feel like you wanna stop, You're going to go through all of these emotions, but don't let how you feel at a certain mile affect your race because everything can change. You might feel super crappy at mile three, but that doesn't mean that's how you're gonna feel at mile thirteen. Your body goes through so much. So just call on good race memories and use that to push you through to the next mile. Also don't let what's happening around you impact you. And I'm thinking about Chicago, just past Chinatown, there's a via duct you run under and you're gonna hear the zombie shuffle echoing loudly. People are tired by this point and they start to drag their feet and you just hear that incessant shuffle and your body is going to wanna react and do the same. This is the time to get loud, sing, focus on light steps. You know, just have fun. Get yourself out of that area and keep going. You're almost done and you know you're gonna get to Mount Roosevelt and that's it. You're gonna see the finish line. So just think about how hard you work to get here. Enjoy it and like Kipchoge, smile through the rough. Your body will naturally respond by relaxing, and just don't stress about what you can't control. Focus on what you can and just believe in your ability. You've done the work. Now it's just time to reap the rewards and have a good race. And even if you haven't had the best training cycle, it's the whole picture. You've had a series of runs, good, bad, ugly. You know, that's what's prepared you for this moment. So focus on that. Set your A goal, B goal, C goal, and just show up on race day, ready to cross that finish line with a smile, and then celebrate. Feel the victory, and know that you can do it, and I will be there cheering you on. Good luck and have fun.