What to Do in the Last Week before your Marathon
Blogs, / By Shi Qi Yap
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2022 is around the corner! If you’ve signed up for it, the final weeks are almost upon us, and the clock is counting down! We have shared about how to prepare for a marathon 6 months ago. Today, we decided to share you the topic about what to do in the last week before your marathon.
Read this blog to make sure you’ve got a plan for the last week before your race.
What to do the week before Marathon?
1. Getting the taper right
Why is tapering so important? The aim of tapering is to reduce the amount of body fatigue, help you avoid being over trained and keep you fresh and limber for race day.
2. Get your nutrition right
Eat abundant and nutritious foods two nights before the race, not the night before. Final 24 hours before your marathon, eat light, avoid heavy food and cut down on protein and fiber to avoid being bloated.
3. Get enough sleep and hydrate right
Getting enough sleep is the best form of recovery. Keep yourself hydrated but don’t overdo it. Extra water consumption may bring extra burden to your body as they try to manage with the extra fluid.
4. Stick to your plan
The time to experiment has passed; adhere to your plan, avoid trying with new foods or sports nutrition, and make sure you are executing your usual workout schedule. Don’t change anything now.
5. Prepare yourself and trust it
Now is the time to make sure you’ve got all of your race day info and check what you’ve got left to do. The most important thing to remember is to have fun and not worry too much if anything doesn’t go according to plan. Good luck!
The Plan
Here’s the suggested schedule for the final week before the marathon
- Reduce mileage by 50-60% the 6 days before the marathon
- Keep the frequency
- 4 x 5 minutes at goal pace (2 minutes recovery), in order to get your legs used to running at your goal pace
- Ignore the gremlins out there that you’re feeling to do more or add extra things. It’s going to make no difference whatsoever to your performance!
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Easy run (30 mins)
Wednesday: Easy to steady run 30 mins + 4 x 100 strides
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Pre-race run 1km easy+ 3km at marathon pace + 1km easy.
Saturday: Race
We have posted a short video ‘how to grab a cup during marathon (without making you exhausted!)’ on our instagram. If you are not sure how to do it, watch this!
If you have any more questions or would like our physiotherapists to assess or treat your back pain, feel free to drop us a question, talk to us, or fill in the form below. Do check out our Instagram page too.
Yap Shi Qi
Rehab Therapist
Shi Qi graduated with Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Hons), awarded by Anglia Ruskin University, UK. Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioner (CKTP®). She practiced as a physiotherapist in a Malaysian private physiotherapy center with a special interest in musculoskeletal and neurological rehabilitation. Her previous experience inspired her to combine active approach along with patients’ education to optimize the rehabilitation outcome in sports-related injuries and postural pain.
In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, singing, and playing piano.