The first Sunday in November is always an exciting day for us – it’s the New York City Marathon!  It’s such a great way tobring the New York City community together, especially after Hurricane Sandy.  We especially love to go cheer for and support all of our friends, clients and other runners.

For all of our followers who are planning on running the race, we hope you make it safely to New York City after the devastation of the hurricane.  Here are a few tips for race day (and the few days before!):

Make sure you get enough sleep (for us, that’s 7-8 hours!)– starting tonight!  It’s often said that the most important night of sleep is the night before the night before the event (or more simply put, two nights before the event.)

Start “carbo-loading” today.  As a taper, you’ve been running so much less than usual these past few weeks so your body isn’t burning as many calories per day.  Therefore, you don’t need to eat tons of extra food – eating the amount you normally ate during training should be plenty to give you extra calories.  And don’t overdo it on the carbs.  If you normally eat meals that are veggie heavy with a light side of carbs, for the next two days make them slightly more carb heavy – but keep the veggies in there!  Those veggies have important nutritional qualities that will help you during the race too.

Try to wake up four or five hours before the race on Sunday so you can eat a nice sized breakfast.  Eat something with mostly carbs and some protein and fat.  A bagel with peanut butter and jelly works well.  Make sure to also be sipping an electrolyte-enhanced drink all morning.  Whatever you do choose to eat, make sure this is not the first time you have eaten this meal before running.  Choose a meal that is tried-and-true for you so you are can be certain it doesn’t cause you unpleasant side-effects like a sloshing stomach.

About an hour before the race, have a light carb-heavy snack, such as a piece of toast or half a bagel with jelly (or another similar snack that you know works for you).

During the race it’s important to get enough liquids, electrolytes, and calories.  The most efficient way to do this is with a sports drink – it has all three!  You can also take gel packets or salt packets with water.  Try to get 4-8 oz of liquid at almost every fluid station (there’s a fluid station almost every mile in the NYC Marathon!).  To drink from the cups without spilling too much, pinch the top of the cup to create a small opening and pour it into your mouth.

Best of luck to everyone running on Sunday!  Please report back to us and tell us how you did!